The end of the year always makes me a bit emotional. I’m someone who is sappy and sentimental at the best of times, and there is truly no better occasion to be so than a time of year which calls for us to be reflective.

I remember a conversation in probably 2020 or 2021 with my best friend, Lotte, about making a combined site where I reviewed art and she reviewed theatre. So clearly Lowbrow has been a thought at the back of my head for a long time, even though it only came to fruition this year. This all started as a project for my Masters, and I think I needed the push from that formal structure in order to finally put pen to paper and start writing. This article is fittingly timed as I graduated that Masters degree this week, and you know what - I will put in a photo of me in cap and gown because a) I look excellent b) I’m proud of myself and c) I never got to have a graduation ceremony for my undergrad bc I was a 2020 covid grad. Please, for your viewing pleasure, enjoy this photo of Charlotte and I sweating though our polyester in Wednesday afternoon’s heat. And yes I did refuse to take off my silly little hat for the rest of the day.

In lieu of a review this week, I’m looking back at some of the art that stuck with me this year. I won’t lie to you and say these are all strictly things covered for Lowbrow or Lowbrow-esque (the AGNSW was my first gallery of the year), but they are my picks, and I am inherently lowbrow. Please enjoy my top 11 picks from 2025 in chronological order (of course I couldn’t whittle it down to just 10).

January 3: Just like drops in time, nothing by Ernesto Neto at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The installation of this 2002 work overtook my senses. For the first time in my life, I smelled an artwork before seeing it. The stockings, filled with spices poured onto the floor, overtaking the space with their smell and colour. Having just been in San Francisco at the SFMoMA days before, I was immediately reminded of Ruth Asawa’s sculptures in the shape and feel of Neto’s installation.

There’s something in the air, or is it in the oven- food has been a trend all over clothes (why are we so obsessed with tomatoes, and lemons, and canned fish?) that is now bleeding into the art world. For me (and most of us) food has shaped my life.An unconventional (read: international) upbringing exposed me not only to art at a young age, but a wide variety of foods. I grew up counting down the days towards meals- Canadian Thanksgiving (immediate family, Mum’s brûléed sweet potatoes), Christmas Eve (California, Auntie Lynn’s kielbasa hors d'oeuvre), Christmas (flaming plum pudding), Easter (ham), and Mother’s Day (Les Fougeres’ house salad). It was these moments at tables that made up the year more than the holidays themselves. In so much of the art I’ve seen lately, these links have been reflected back to me. Cooking and art are labours of love, they feed us, and often don’t get the appreciation the time and effort deserve.