Although Erica McGilchrist's 50 year career boasts more than 40 solo exhibitions, her artistic merits remain relatively unknown to the Australian art world.

Her works mine the realm of the subconscious, often drawing upon her own experiences and allowing her mood to dictate her stylistic approach. She therefore alternated between abstraction and figuration, often combined both, and cemented her contribution to Melbourne Modernism of the 1950's.

Setting her apart from her female counterparts, however, was Erica's determined support of women's rights and artistic movement. In 1975, Erica and Lucy Lippard, amongst others, established the Women's Art Register, aimed at forwarding the feminist movement in the arts.

After ...