Nancy Whittaker, Tarrangower Times
And now for something completely different in the MANet Art Gallery. Just in time to celebrate the Goldfields Gothic Festival, but extending into September. The Maldon Artist Network Gallery invites you to the opening of the exhibition 100 Coffins by Emily N3ver. Join us from 3.30pm to 6pm Saturday 2 August with a special guest appearance by Sir Gregory, Knight of Kryal Castle and his Dragon! It has been described as ‘Memory, mortality and the beauty in the macabre’.
100 Coffins are the work of artist Emily N3ver, who invites viewers to “wander through a graveyard of miniature monuments, 100 unique hand-crafted coffins, each a vessel of mourning, memory, and meaning. Ornate, playful, eerie and tender, these intimate forms speak to our shared mortality while celebrating the creative act as a form of reverence and rebellion.”
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Emily and found out that she has always been interested in art, as both of her parents are artists. Her work is highly influenced by The Cure (an English band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith and Lol Tolhurst), the poetry of Edgar Alan Poe, as well as Charlotte Sometimes. Hence, she became Emily N3ver.
Step into a gothic dreamscape of handcrafted miniature coffins — 100 unique vessels exploring memory, mortality, and the beauty of the macabre. In this playful yet poignant collection, Emily invites viewers to reflect on death not as an ending, but as a celebration of life’s mystery and impermanence. 100 Coffins is not a funeral. It is a procession of dreams, artefacts, and forgotten things, laid gently to rest by hand and heart.
They are hand-painted in gouache on pine board. Emily is a Gothic pen and ink artist who works at Kryal Castle on Wadawurrung Country in Ballarat, together with knights, elves and dragons. She started work there as a squire but has been promoted to being an elf, whose role includes handing out scrolls, and selling elf ears amid other fun-filled activities.
Chain Mail and Garlic, Decorative cat, Prancing horse. Photos: Tarrangower Times
Kryal Castle is a replica medieval castle located eight kilometres east of Ballarat, at Leigh Creek, just north of Dunnstown, in the foothills of Mount Warrenheip. The castle features a moat and drawbridge, a maze, castle towers, stocks, and an armoury. As well as Emily’s Studio. Kryal Castle is open at weekends, on public holidays and for school excursions.
Emily has said that, “I’m hopeless at filming progress videos. I get so wrapped up in the process of creating I forget to film the beginning, and I’m constantly tweaking and adding that I never know when a piece is fully ‘finished’. I just know I’m happiest when I’m drawing.”
The Exhibition is open from Friday 1 August to Sunday 7 September.
For further information or by appointment, contact: 0419 119 047.
MANet Gallery 27 Main St Maldon. Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11am to 3pm and late during the Maldon Goldfields Gothic Festival.
This article appeared in Tarrangower Times, 1 August 2025.
