Hold Me, Hold Me Close explores the push and pull of wanting closeness while also needing to protect what feels uncomfortable. Made from everyday materials such as fabric, cardboard, and paper, these works embody both strength and fragility. Bags, bowls, and boxes become containers, everyday objects that hold, protect, or conceal, mirroring how we carry our inner lives and hide certain parts of ourselves. Through stitching, layering, and slow, deliberate making, the works reflect the ways we repair, wrap, let go and keep safe what feels vulnerable, reminding us that sensitivity itself holds a quiet strength within us all.

Eleesa Howard is a Mornington Peninsula-based artist, whose work was in National Works on Paper 2024.

Image: Eleesa Howard, Hold Me, Hold Me Close (detail) 2025, oil on canvas with thread.

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