Melbourne 1993 - 2003

I'd only bought a ticket to Australia lasting for 3 weeks. If I didn't like it, I was just going to scat. But when I got here I was shocked - so many people knew about my work. Despite all of the years away I've realised that deep down I'm very Australian... funny isn't it?

Vali fell in love with Melbourne and its people and held her first Australian exhibition at the Emerald Hill Gallery. In 1995 Vali returned to Australia to set up her beloved studio gallery in the Nicholas Building overlooking Swanston Street in Melbourne and began to show her work regularly.

The last years of Vali's life were spent flying between her burrow in Positano and her studio in Melbourne. Vali had known many famous people in her life but her real feeling was for ordinary people from all walks of life - especially anyone who'd done it tough or alone and pulled through.

Art, music, risk and danger - it all went hand in hand for Australia's vagabond artist, Vali Myers.

I always loved a good fight.