Now, after years hidden from view, works by provocative artist eX de Medici, commissioned by her alma mater St Clare's College, have been rediscovered.

When the school invited her to create some artworks in 1986, de Medici never anticipated the furore that would erupt once the works were hung in the school's hall.

The five large panels were painted on scorched canvas and depict different historical interpretations of mothers, including one of Mary holding the body of Jesus Christ alongside a description of in vitro fertilisation.

Twenty-six years later, she is one of Australia's leading contemporary artists who revels in causing consternation among audiences, and had all but forgotten about what happened when she unveiled her works.

Reminded of what happened all those years ago, the Canberra artist, who has a major survey of her works showing at Drill Hall Gallery as part of the Centenary celebrations, recalled that the reaction had been fierce.

When contacted, the school had no immediate record of the circumstances surrounding the works, and in fact had long since taken the panels down and stored them.

But a query as to their whereabouts from The Canberra Times prompted some extended searching through storerooms.

The panels had been taken out of their frames, folded and stored away, probably due to renovations, said the school's principal, Paul Carroll.

Even today, such works would be controversial, especially in a Catholic all-girls school, but back in 1986 the reaction among the parent body was such that the school organised a public forum to discuss the validity of the art.

De Medici said that in the '70s, when she was a student at the school, art was not taught, but by 1986 things had changed.

She was part of a collective working out of what was then known as the Bitumen River Gallery in Manuka.

''A couple of the teachers had come along to see me working, and they were really keen. They had no idea I was a former student of St Clare's, which was then called Catholic Girls' High Griffith,'' she said.

The school invited her to create some works and de Medici recalls the Catholic Education Office organising an artist-in-residency for her.

She said the works had a raw, unfinished look because of the materials she used - canvasses filched from a burnt warehouse in Sydney - and the way they were created.

''I wanted every piece to be finished within a day, and so I conducted all the research for weeks and weeks before I actually went into the school. So I knew exactly what I was going to do. I mapped it out and made a piece in different locations in the school over a five-day period,'' she said.

The works were framed and hung in the school hall, overseen by principal Sister Joan Smith, and weeks passed before de Medici heard that parents and lay teachers had complained.

After several meetings, she said, the school decided to convene a public forum, one that was so heavily attended that Sister Joan had to order the doors be locked. Sister Joan, a formidable figure in the school's history, died just six months ago, in February.

''The commissioning of such paintings in 1986 was very inspirational by Sister Joan,'' Mr Carroll said.

''The challenging and thought-provoking presentation was quite open-minded and empowering for a Catholic girls' school in the 1980s.''

Julie Ewington, who at the time was head of art theory at the ANU School of Art, was at the 1986 forum, having been invited by the school to speak. Now the head of Australian art at the Queensland Art Gallery, she remembers a ''vigorous and interesting debate'' in which

members of the audience were perturbed by de Medici's works.

''My contribution was to set eX's work into the context of work by women artists both in Australia and internationally, which had in recent decades repositioned women in terms of images about godhead, about divinity, about goddesses, in fact,'' she said.

She said that having been to a Catholic school herself, she was impressed by St Clare's approach to art and feminism.

''I felt that I wanted to support what St Clare's was doing and what eX was doing, because they were passionately devoted to making sure that their students entered the world in the most positive and capable forms. It was fabulous, really,'' she said.

''The leadership of St Clare's College were very interesting and liberal-minded people, who took the commitment of education for girls very, very seriously, and they had very thoughtfully commissioned work from eX de Medici, knowing her strong views about the independence of women.''

De Medici said that eventually the archbishop at the time, Thomas Cahill, intervened and ordered that the paintings remain hanging in the hall, although the panel dealing with IVF was subsequently covered up by lockers.

Today de Medici is a well regarded artist with works in many of Australia's major galleries and several private collections, many of which command large sums to acquire.

The works at St Clare's, although of a different style, would be worth considerably more now than they were then. ''I think I got $600 for my trouble,'' she said. ''That was to cover coming to the school, buying materials and an artist's fee. ''It was a really lame payment, but I didn't really care. I was more interested in doing work at my old school.''

eX de Medici: Cold Blooded ends at the Drill Hall Gallery on Sunday, August 11. The artist will be speaking at 1pm that day.