Creative Sparks

Curated by Chira Grasby and featuring Julia Boros, Lilly Buttrose, Carly Tarkari Dodd, Lucia Dohrmann, Jaquie Hagan, Nami Kulyuru, Rosina Possingham.

Textile art is one of the oldest forms of creative practice in human civilization, utilized for both practical purposes and storytelling. Its rich history, forged predominantly by women, laid the foundations for contemporary textile artists. Now considered a respected fine art, creatives are continuing to push materials to new realms and question societal norms associated with gallery spaces, and in turn the format of wall-based artworks.

Even though this field of craft has crept its way triumphantly into the world of fine arts, humble origins remain grounded at its core. I’m interested in this embedded history that we continue to associate with textiles despite the shifts it’s experienced in recent times. As technology has evolved and mass production of fibre items became part of daily life, artist still choose the labour of love that comes with the handmade. The process of creating a work becomes as important as the final outcome, with materials becoming physical extensions of the artist’s hands.

Reflecting on this, I was reminded of Black Hole Entropy and Soft Hair, a research paper by Sasha Haco, Stephen Hawking, Malcolm Perry, and Andrew Strominger. Completed just days before Hawking’s passing in 2018 the paper discusses a phenomena called ‘soft hair’, proposing that when matter falls into a black hole, beyond it’s event horizon, it doesn’t entirely disappear. Instead, a gentle wave of particles would remain along the black hole’s edge, the ‘soft hair’, serving as a memory of what once was. Information lingers in these particles as they blend into an infinite sea of material remnants. Suddenly the original object no longer exists, and yet at the same time it does. Just in a different form.

I can’t help but draw comparisons between ‘soft hair’ and the world of textile art. An artwork of thread and fabric holds within its fibres the memory of its maker, and in turn the memory of textile craft across human history. At many points throughout textile creation the makers and materials were one, yet they now exist separately. Viewing a completely woven or embroidered artwork in the setting of a gallery the artist does not exist, and yet at the same time they do. Just in a different form.

Soft Hair, Woven Threads is presented at the Adelaide Town Hall and Mankurri-api Kuu / Reconciliation Room as part of ART WORKS Early Career Curator Program and is delivered by Guildhouse in partnership with the City of Adelaide. 

Image: Jaquie Hagan, Constrain, Contain, 2023, merino wool on linen, felt frame. Image courtesy City of Adelaide

Long before social media, postage communication was one of the easiest and most reliable ways to connect with distant loved ones.

Greetings From My Living Room takes direct inspiration from postcards, inviting artists to portray elements of their everyday lives and share them with audiences as a form of visual communication. Through predominantly painting and illustration, Caitlyn Davies (Dustin-Koa), Millie Hopton, Michelle Joy Magias, Kevin Lee, and Billy Oakley provide glimpses into their lives through still life setups, depictions of home environments, and responses to personally significant landscapes. Much like postcards their artworks portray snapshots of a particular time and place, with audiences standing in as the recipients.

The exhibition ties in a range of personal spaces that extend from the macro to the micro – they exist as messages traversing landscapes to arrive quietly at their terminus. The vibrant palette of a landscape is presented alongside the depiction of an old bathroom sink, and a painted dog resting outside a family home is hung opposite a kitchen bench laid out with fresh dinner ingredients. These varied moments of domesticity are linked to one another through the carpeted floors and homely interior of Adelaide Town Hall, elements that mirror aspects of typical Australian homes, whilst juxtaposed as a public space shared amongst the community.

Greetings From My Living Room is presented at the Adelaide Town Hall and Mankurri-api Kuu / Reconciliation Room as part of ART WORKS Early Career Curator Program and is delivered by Guildhouse in partnership with the City of Adelaide. 

IMAGE: KEVIN LEE, A BREAK FROM THE GAME, 2020, OIL ON CANAS. IMAGE COURTESY THE ARTIST.

Self-evaluation can highlight aspects of ourselves that we wouldn’t typically acknowledge. Revealing what we truly value in ourselves and the world at large, these realisations can highlight the divide between how we view ourselves and how we project to those around us.

This exhibition, Introspection, is considered the final instalment of a trilogy. Expanding upon Erin’s previous two ART WORKS exhibitions by blending our familiarity with environments, textures and the experiences we carry to present an exhibition focused on ‘the self’.

As stated by artists Simone Kennedy “I explore the realm of being human, discovering themes on a mutable ‘self’ I devise systems and structures that are highly symbolic, interpreting memory, psychology, and my own emotional experience.”

There are many facets at play in creating the ‘self’; places, objects, people and experiences that help to build us. With a focus on looking at these factors, and how we as individuals view ourselves, we can pick apart these aspects. And form a picture of who we are and why we see ourselves in a particular light.

Drawing from their life narratives artists Barbara Chalk, Zoe Freney, Brad Holland, Simone Kennedy, Kristal Matthews, Caroline Oakley, Kylie O’Loughlin, Deborah Paauwe and Charlotte Tatton share pieces of themselves. Working across various mediums such as photography, collage and paint these artists impart feelings and experience through visual acumination.

Introspection is presented at the Adelaide Town Hall and Mankurri-api Kuu / Reconciliation Room as part of ART WORKS Early Career Curator Program and is delivered by Guildhouse in partnership with the City of Adelaide. 

Charlotte Tatton, Stripes and Knitting Charts (detail), 2022, oil on board, 30x30cm, photograph Sam Roberts.

There is a distinctive dichotomy between man-made environments and nature. And yet when you observe architecture, maps and manufactured creations there is also a notable duality. Strong and soft. Seeping into engineering, style and functionality is the common patterns, textures and shapes found in nature. Observing our city from above you can liken the branching and reconnecting streets and laneways to the veins of a leaf. Keeping us structurally sound and full of life.

Biotic and abiotic surfaces and structures appear in so much of what we create. There is a harmonic correlation to the manufactured world around us and the markings of the environment. Introducing these textures and materials into our living spaces generates a sense of comfort through the use of forms that are familiar and organic. They sustain us, and we call on them for comfort and for stability.

Life lines inquires how we incorporate nature into our lives, be it consciously or not. Exploring organic forms and textures and how it effects the way we interact with the spaces we inhabit. Exhibiting the works of Sera Waters, Asha Southcombe, Cedric Varcoe, Anna Révész, Jonathan Kim, Kay Lawrence, Anna Dowling, Loren Orsillo, and Janette Gay, Life lines demonstrates how these artists explore ideas of nature and the environments around us.

Life lines is presented at the Town Hall as part of ART WORKS Early Career Curator Program and is delivered by Guildhouse in partnership with the City of Adelaide.

Asha Southcombe, Marker, 2021, Graphite drawing on paper, 59.4 x 84.1cm. Photograph Sia Duff

Curated by Erin O'Donohue
ART WORKS Early Career Curator 2022

Moments and memories are essential to the growth and wellbeing of humanity. On different levels they help us evolve as communities and as individuals. But there are nuances between the two which change the way they’re contextualized. Intrinsically linked, moments are the points that form memories. Likened to the pictures that make a flipbook, the beautiful little stills are the moments that feed a story. Revealing the journey and the destination.

Individually we have particular memories that imprint on us and moments that we consider precious. Holding these experiences in high regard, it’s natural to incorporate them into our creative processes and draw from them as a source of inspiration. Considering different artistic processes and approaches Memory Bank exhibits the works of Sonya Rankine, Annelise Forster, Jingwei Bu, Alex Frayne, Caitin Bowe, Aunty Ellen Trevorrow and Kate Kurucz to explore how moments and memories can be captured into visceral, tangible artifacts.

Not to recreate a memory or moment, but geminate the emotion and essence of the experience to viewers.

Memory Bank is presented at the Town Hall as part of ART WORKS Early Career Curator Program and is delivered by Guildhouse in partnership with the City of Adelaide.

Caitlin Bowe, time changes many things but memory like the ivy clings (West Terrace Cemetery), detail. Image courtesy the artist.

Curated by Ann-Marie Green
ART WORKS Emerging Curator 2021

In its most distilled essence, digital art encapsulates an artistic work or practice that uses any form of digital technology as part of its creation or presentation process.

These selected artists employ digital devices as mediators and silent collaborators in their art production. Working with digital tools implies an undeniable connection to machines, science, and the mathematics of data coding. This collaboration may not always be evident in the end product. However, it is fundamental to how these artists communicate their ideas about the built environment, nature, narrative, identity, and how we interact with art itself.

Artists Dave Court, James Holdsworth, Jesse Price, and Catherine Hewitt use technology to investigate natural and built environments. Interrupting what we know to create new perspectives.

Seiichi Kobayashi, Susan Bruce and Will Nolan explore the relationship between digital and analogue techniques. Bruce unpacks a film’s textural qualities by creating moving images from handmade collages. Kobayashi calls on the restraint of Japanese Rinpo painting to investigate the ever-changing relationship we have to images. Will Nolan expands the traditional notions of still life and sculpture through collages and installations and documents them through his camera to create new ways of engagement.

Ali Gumilya Baker, Sue Kneebone and Min Wong look at cultural identity through traditional portraiture. The merging of digital and analogue techniques in these works expand the narrative on culture, identity and place.

Embedded is presented at the Adelaide Town Hall as part of ART WORKS Emerging Curator Program and is delivered by Guildhouse in partnership with the City of Adelaide.

IMAGE: Dave Court, Hallway 2, courtesy the artist

Curated by Ann-Marie Green
ART WORKS Emerging Curator 2021

Scholar Lois Bloom defines language, somewhat paradoxically, as a ‘conventional system of arbitrary signals’ that form a code whereby ideas about the world are expressed. Although art does not always use conventional systems for communication, it is responsible for a range of communicative experiences and is comfortable with multiple readings. Art can tell us stories, explain concepts, propose ideas, and evoke emotions. Art, as a predominantly visual language, usually has something to say.

Sue Ninham’s work tells stories informed by writing, imagery, and personal experience. Likewise Kasia Tons examines personal experiences through the lenses of mental health, technology, and connection to the environment in her complex textile constructions.

Emerging Aboriginal artists Iteka Ukarla and Amanda Westley investigate relationships with place, Iteka combining familiar landscapes with culturally significant symbols, and Amanda communicating her family’s long relationship to the southern coastal region. Annette McRae also explores the complexities of family relationships through an intricate textile composition alluding to the secrets and lies families keep.

Printmaker Olga Sankey probes the duality between image and text, combining textual fragments with appropriated imagery. Weaver Michelle Driver also references other image sources. asking us to interpret handwoven anatomical x-rays in her work connected to medicine, technology, and craft. Similarly, Kate Little uses grids, graphs, and mathematical systems to make sense of the world.

Mark Niehus depicts life in the contemporary urban landscape using moving images, poetry, and text. While in comparison, Monika Morgenstern’s vibrating threshold images invite the viewer out of the present and into a liminal world, where perception, psychological analysis, and interpretation of colour are carriers of meaning.

Together, the artists invite us to unpack art as a visual language of exterior, interior and liminal landscapes, via found and constructed images, text and symbols.

Art as a Visual Language is presented at the Adelaide Town Hall as part of ART WORKS Emerging Curator Program and is delivered by Guildhouse in partnership with the City of Adelaide.

Curated by ART WORKS 2021 Emerging Curator Ann-Marie Green

The idea that ‘art is for all’, inspired by ArtPOD artist in residence Ruby Chew has informed the underlying premise of this exhibition. Artists working across media including collage, assemblage, painting, printmaking, and video have been chosen for their innovative use of materials, and their unique world perspective.

The processes involved in any form of art creation are often innovative, intuitive, and challenging, and can be as complex and diverse as the viewers’ response to it. The artists exhibiting in PRACTICE are committed to testing their ideas, exploring methods to create works that push the boundaries of what constitutes art and at the same time ask the viewer to consider the ‘act’ or ‘process’ used in its creation.

Through this practice of exploration, repetition and discovery, artists Ruby Chew, Callum Docherty, James Dodd, Lucia Dohrmann, Jackie Saunders, Damien Shen and Laura Wills attempt to make sense of the world, discuss issues, and ask us to consider possibilities from new perspectives.

PRACTICE is presented at the Adelaide Town Hall as part of ART WORKS Emerging Curator Program and is delivered by Guildhouse in partnership with the City of Adelaide.

Image: Callum Docherty, Passing Light (detail), 2020, photograph courtesy the artist.

Curated by ART WORKS 2021 Emerging Curator Ann-Marie Green and Heidi Kenyon.

We are adjusting to a new world order in which the recognition of nature’s therapeutic power will likely grow, and may become critical to counteracting the lasting effects of isolation.

ART WORKS Artist in Residence Rebecca McEwan states ‘I have a profound fascination with the visceral connection humans have with the natural world. Through my work I attempt to find ways to reconnect us with ancient wisdoms and intrinsic knowledge.

Biophilia explores the idea that humans possess an innate tendency to connect with other life forms. This intuitive relationship is explored through the lens of established and early career artists Ahli Atomalia Emu (Amanda Radomi), Carly Tarkari Dodd, Gail Hocking, Mark Kimber, Brad Lay, Rebecca McEwan, Deborah Sleeman and James Tylor.

Curated by ART WORKS 2020 Emerging Curator Steph Cibich

Like it or not, things have changed. The current pandemic has impacted every aspect of contemporary life. Since the birth of the Industrial Revolution, more and more people are living in dense urban city centres. Now, COVID-19 has capsized how we go about our daily lives. It has called into question our deep-seated methods of contact and the way in which we navigate and experience our domestic, urban and ecological environments, forcing us to find new meanings and new ways of working in the wake of this existential virus.

S P A C E S explores the way we navigate through and experience our surroundings. Examined through the lens of emerging and established South Australian artists, the works in this exhibition resonate with existing interpretations of ‘everyday spaces’ and encourage new meanings which align with a globalised, COVID-safe environment. Inspired by conversations between ART WORKS Emerging Curator, Steph Cibich and ART WORKS Artist in Residence, Jane Skeer, S P A C E S conveys an eclectic representation of personal and shared experiences.

Alongside Skeer, S P A C E S includes work by Steph Fuller, Jonathan Kim, Hailey Lane, Tara Rowhani-Farid, Darren Siwes, Rhoda Tjitayi and Tony Wilson. Together, these artists offer a reflection of our pre-COVID way of life, and advocate for continued agility, empathy and creative thinking during these challenging times. The collective power of these works inspire new ways of navigating future S P A C E S whilst offering a poignant demonstration of the ways in which art is a necessity to make meaning in our darkest hours.

Curated by ART WORKS 2020 Emerging Curator Steph Cibich

We are bound by something we cannot see. Our emotional and intuitive responses are part of every human experience. When strong, these feelings spark connections with other people, objects, surroundings and create meaning in our lives. Such bonds inform our personal identity and facilitate relationships within communities. Despite our differences, we are all connected by what we feel.

You’re only human, after all offers a safe and immersive space to consider these ideas as expressed through art. Inspired by ART WORKS 2020 Artist in Residence, Jasmine Ann Dixon and her investigations into emotionally charged paintings, this exhibition features a breadth of emerging and established South Australian artists. Alongside Dixon is the work of Maxwell Callaghan, Tony Kearney, Anna Platten, Margaret Richards, Lee Walter and Raymond Zada. These artists draw on themes of emotional expression and human connectedness in an eclectic display of works of various mediums and styles. In this way, You’re only human, after all offers creative insight into the authentic, relatable and sometimes uncomfortable truths regarding how it feels to be a human being.

This exhibition was presented at the Adelaide Town Hall Foyer and Reconciliation Room/Mankurri-api Kuu as part of the ART WORKS 2020 Emerging Curator Program, delivered by Guildhouse in partnership with the City of Adelaide.

In her inaugural exhibition for the ART WORKS 2020 program, Emerging Curator Steph Cibich has curated an exhibition of South Australian contemporary artists titled Our Future in the Landscape.

Climate change is affecting us all.

In 2020, there is not one country, nor one city, unaffected by factors relating to climate change. In light of recent national and international events, the urgency for climate action dominates political, social and cultural debate. Despite differences in opinion, the issue now extends beyond harrowing environmental concerns into all aspects of contemporary life including urban and regional environments, energy consumption, food production, scientific and technological advancements, business development, council strategies, community engagement and the arts. Ironically, in an increasingly divided society, it is one issue that has the potential to bring people together.

Our Future in the Landscape harnesses the power of multiple voices to illuminate urban and ecological responses to climate change, as explored through the lens of South Australian artists.

Featuring work by Nici Cumpston, Louise Flaherty, Jake Holmes, James Tylor, Lara Tilbrook and the SA Artists for Climate Change collective, presented at the Adelaide Town Hall as part of ART WORKS Emerging Curator Program and delivered by Guildhouse in partnership with the City of Adelaide, this exhibition demonstrates and encourages positive climate action declaring our collective responsibility to actively address one of the most pressing issues of our age.

INTERSECTION by Callum Docherty will explore and capture moments of the city and its visitors through contemporary art practice. The project aims to showcase the City of Adelaide’s dynamic and vibrant culture, providing an opportunity to pause and reflect.

Callum’s most recent work has been informed by and created from processes such as the collection, observation and conservation of found objects, photographic documentation, and multidisciplinary collaboration with a focus on responding to site-specific materials and areas of interest.

A series of participatory experiences will enable visitors to collaborate with Callum in art making including contributing to the photographic print series displayed across the front window of the ArtPOD; looking at human forms and our presence in the urban environment; focusing on the intersecting elements such as architectural features and citizen behavioural patterns as observed within the City of Adelaide.

INTERSECTION will be driven by community engagement and will consider accessibility for all visitors.

ART WORKS is a collaborative program of residencies, curatorial mentorship, and creative engagements, designed by City of Adelaide in partnership with Guildhouse as part of the exciting, dynamic range of partner-led initiatives that deliver outcomes as part of the City of Adelaide’s Cultural Strategy.

Image: Callum Docherty, photograph by Sia Duff

Since March the ArtPOD resident artist, Sally Parnis, has been busy telling the story of our City, through her ART WORKS project ‘Collected’.

This collaborative community effort has seen Sally repurpose objects found in the City and Parklands into a series of colourful animated digital artworks, multimedia projections, printed pieces and mixed media works.

Sally is inviting the community to contribute to this evolving project by gathering objects found within the City boundary and delivering them directly to Sally in the ArtPOD. These items will be reimagined and incorporated into Sally’s future works and then disposed of responsibly, using the City of Adelaide’s Waste, Recycling and Composting systems and the Reuse and Recycle Hub located at the Customer Centre.

ART WORKS is a collaborative program of residencies, curatorial mentorship, and creative engagements, designed by City of Adelaide in partnership with Guildhouse as part of the exciting, dynamic range of partner-led initiatives that deliver outcomes as part of the City of Adelaide’s Cultural Strategy.

IMAGE: SALLY PARNIS, IMAGE SUPPLIED BY THE ARTIST.

Your Turn to Listen project aims to amplify Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices on political and social justice issues facing Aboriginal people within South Australia. The ArtPOD is being turned into a homage to Aboriginal protest movements and a space for Aboriginal people to engage in conversations about issues facing their communities. Carly and Dominic will also respond to these conversations by creating art work and writings.

Carly Tarkari Dodd is a Kaurna\Narungga and Ngarrindjeri artist and curator. Within her practice as a weaver and painter, Carly mixes traditional and contemporary techniques, to produce works that are conceptually and culturally driven.

Dominic Guerrera is a Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna person living on Kaurna Yarta. His practice includes poetry, writing, podcaster, photography and pottery. Dominic’s work focuses on Aboriginal rights and lived experiences.

Delivered by Guildhouse in partnership with the City of Adelaide, ART WORKS is a collaborative program of residencies, curatorial mentorship and creative engagements, designed to provide a city-based platform for artists, curators and writers to pursue new ways of working and engaging with audiences.

Now in its fifth year, ART WORKS presents three Artist & Writer in Residence opportunities within the City of Adelaide ArtPOD. These extensive artist engagements deliver on the City’s Cultural Strategy 2020-24 for Adelaide to be recognised as a cultural incubator where people, enterprises and audiences flourish.

Image: Carly Tarkari Dodd.PHOTOGRAPHER: Morgan Sette.

Following a competitive call for applications, the second ART WORKS Artist & Writer in Residence pairing has been selected to undertake a four month residency from 1 July to 31 October 2022.

Jingwei Bu is a multidisciplinary and performance artist, her work explore themes of culture heritage. Her intuitive mark-making is guided by the study of Buddhist teachings, connection to nature, and an instinct for artistic risk-taking and spontaneous experimentation. Eleen Deprez is a philosopher of art and a curator, she is currently working on the uses of Augmented Reality (AR), researching the interaction between painting, photography and curating an exhibition on the contemporary grotesque.

Throughout their residency in the ArtPOD Jingwei and Eleen will collaborate to create a durational live art performance, with in person, virtual and published outcomes. The project, ‘Stop and See’, is a form of visual and literary play between two differently cultured individuals and two different practices. Creating ”a stop”, a moment of standstill, for both the residents and the audience. Jingwei will make marks to create an externalised document of her spatial and temporal observations. The marks becoming – a recording or map-making – of her attentive and embodied experience of the moment and those around her. Eleen will record in writing what she sees: the space, the flow of traffic through the lane, people. The loop between Jingwei and Eleen, stop and see, activity and observation, text and shredding will be ongoing throughout the residency.

Delivered by Guildhouse in partnership with the City of Adelaide, ART WORKS is a collaborative program of residencies, curatorial mentorship and creative engagements, designed to provide a city-based platform for artists, curators and writers to pursue new ways of working and engaging with audiences.

Now in its fifth year, ART WORKS presents three Artist & Writer in Residence opportunities within the City of Adelaide ArtPOD. These extensive artist engagements deliver on the City’s Cultural Strategy 2020–24 for Adelaide to be recognised as a cultural incubator where people, enterprises and audiences flourish.

Image: Jingwei Bu by Sam Roberts

Writer Eleanor Scicchitano and artist Kate Kurucz have been selected as Writer and Artist in Residence at the City of Adelaide ArtPOD from March to May 2022.

The focus of their dual residency will be to experiment with and respond to each other’s writing and making processes, culminating in an Artist Book.

The inaugural pairing of a writer and artist in the ArtPOD creates space for collaborative artist dialogue and experimentation across the written word and painted image.

The Right Honourable The Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Sandy Verschoor says “The City of Adelaide is thrilled to be partnering with Guildhouse to deliver these exciting projects, which will build on Adelaide’s reputation as a creative city and support the creation of extraordinary experiences here in our city,” the Lord Mayor said.

“ART WORKS will support cultural practitioners and artists to grow their art practice while providing them with an opportunity to share their work with the community across our venues.

“We congratulate the appointment of Erin O’Donohue, as Early Career Curator, and both Kate Kurucz and Eleanor Scicchitano as the first pair of Artist/Writer in Residence in the ArtPOD.”

Emma Fey, Guildhouse CEO says “ART WORKS is an exciting, evolving program that literally plugs practicing artists and creative, curious experiences into the fabric of our city and civic spaces. I find it thrilling to continue our strategic partnership with the City of Adelaide to respond to our changing world with this exciting program”

Image: Kate Kurucz and Eleanor Scicchitano in the City of Adelaide ArtPOD. Photograph Sam Roberts.

Sue Ninham will be the ARTWORKS artist in residence at ArtPOD from the 8 November 2021 to 26 February 2022.

Sue is a contemporary visual arts practitioner and educator with 20 years’ studio and exhibiting experience, her multi-disciplinary practice employs the use of a wide range of techniques and processes and is grounded in experimental creativity and materiality.

Touching on themes of isolation, introspection, transformation and healing, Sue draws inspiration from coastal landscapes and her love of open water swimming. Her recent body of work entitled The Dark Stones was created in response to experiences in Skagastrond, Northwest Iceland as part of a successful artist residency. It represents her personal journey and a process of healing brought about in that place. Her wearable art pieces explore themes of pain, joy, betrayal and hope resulting from personal tragedy. 

During this residency she will be using the space as an artist studio with her focus during the residency being to create an oversized textile work that draws on the public’s responses to news headlines.

Sue welcomes you to engage with her and her work in the space to inspire the creation of an oversized textile artwork. To find out more, drop into ArtPOD when the artist is in residence each Monday and Wednesday from 10am – 3pm, or follow on Instagram @sueninham for more information.

Guildhouse ARTWORKS 2021 – Artist in Residence is presented in partnership with the City of Adelaide.

Image: Sue Ninham, Is-Land, 2020, photograph courtesy the artist

Ruby Chew will be in residence at the ArtPOD from August to November 2021. She will be drawing on her experience as a teaching artist to create new work informed by engagement with the local community.

Ruby is a painter who feels art is for everyone, who employs process-based making techniques to create open dialogue with her viewers. Inviting the public to engage with her and her work in the space that will inspire her residency.

Observe her process and the progress of her work across many stages, participate in workshops, chat to the artist and add to an ongoing collaborative artwork.

Completing a BA Visual Arts Hons. at Adelaide Central School of Art (2010), along with further study at Central Saint Martins, London and the Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Ruby’s work is deeply rooted in traditional painting techniques; the foundation of her practice.

Guildhouse ARTWORKS 2021 – Artist in Residence is presented in partnership with the City of Adelaide.

Image: Ruby Chew, (detail), mixed media dimensions variable. Photos Rosina Possingham

In addition to completing theses at honours, master’s and doctoral level Connal Lee has published in several journals in the area of pandemic ethics. His most recent publication is in the area of art and health and the role of community gallery spaces as vessels of well-being promotion.

Connal is also a regular writer for The Conversation having written on ethical distribution of vaccines in a pandemic and the potential for an ‘infodemic’ during a pandemic; whereby the public is overloaded by information and misinformation. Connal has presented conference papers on pleasure and health, utopian thinking in political philosophy, and developing moral imagination through narratives. He is currently in the editing phase of completing his first novel, which explores philosophical themes associated with trauma, memory and the duty to rescue.

Connal will engage with the ART WORKS Artists in Residence and the Emerging Curator to respond to themes and ideas that are developing across these programs. The resulting work will document the projects undertaken and enable storytelling.

He will be based at the Adelaide City Library from April to September 2021.

Read The River and Death here

Rebecca McEwan will be the ARTWORKS artist in residence at ArtPOD from the end of March to July 2021. During this time she will be using the space as an artist studio to continue her exploration of the human connection to water by delving into the stories and history of Karrawirra Parri (River Torrens) and creating new work that reconnects with this significant waterway. While in ArtPOD Rebecca will be collecting stories, researching the history of Karrawirra Parri, and asking the question “What is your water”? Inviting contributions from the public via call outs on social media, messaging in ArtPOD, and by connecting with passers-by. Call by ArtPOD and let Rebecca know “What is your water”?

With an arts practice based on the Fleurieu Peninsula, Rebecca has a profound fascination with the visceral connection humans hold with the natural world. Through her multi-disciplinary approach to making she seeks to reconnect us with our environment through the exploration of stories, ancient wisdoms and intrinsic knowledge.

Guildhouse ARTWORKS 2021 – Artist in Residence is presented in partnership with the City of Adelaide.

Image: Rebecca McEwan, 4000 stories (detail), honey, glass, metal, cork, dimensions variable. Photo Steph Fuller

Image: Rebecca McEwan, 4000 stories (detail), honey, glass, metal, cork, dimensions variable. Photo Steph Fuller

We are excited to see Guildhouse's second artist in residence as part of the 2020 ART WORKS studio residency series presented in partnership with the City of Adelaide. Jane Skeer will activating the the Art Pod over the next few months while working on a new body of work for exhibition.

Jane Skeer lives and works on Kaurna Land. Working predominately in sculpture and installation, creating works in response to her observations of people, objects and materiality. In this residency Skeer will be immersing herself in urban culture to discuss, rethink and continue current research on commerce and trade to further build on the #we’reinthistogether art project. This project has become a way for Skeer to map human culture during COVID-19, calming her fears and insecurities in the process. Interested in the way artworks hold ideas, Skeer decided to investigate real feelings in the urban environment, placing herself precariously in the public domain, asking questions, exchanging thoughts, listening, and recording these findings digitally. Discovering reassurance and confidence in our commonalities, strength in each other and surprisingly an enlivened community spirit. #we’reinthistogether is a journal responding to our lived experiences. It is the process of gradually building a collection of information en-masse.

This artwork has recorded the voices of people internationally and will be built on during September in the Art Pod, Pirie Street, Adelaide. #we’reinthistogether is stretching Skeer as an artist to get out of her comfort zone and interact more with the public to find the real conversations waiting to be told.

#we’reinthistogether is Skeers’ way of making art for the now, it’s a documentation of current events, a moment in time to reflect upon, connecting us to the future!

Image: Jane Skeer, #we’reinthistogether, 2020, (installation view). Image courtesy of the artist.

Susan Charlton is a writer and curator, specialising in collaborative projects with artists and archives, communities and cultures. She has recently returned to live in Adelaide after working in film, museums and archives in Sydney.

Susan’s recent projects include the Unity! Strength! Justice! exhibition for NSW Teachers Federation; Museum of Love & Protest for Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras; three Feminism & Film programs screened at Sydney Film Festival; and the exhibition This Woman is Not a Car: Margaret Dodd at The Cross Art Projects in Sydney and Ace Open in Adelaide. Susan has also been commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia to write the catalogue entry about Margaret Dodd for the Know My Name exhibition honouring Australian women artists, due to open later this year.

Susan’s writing and editing skills were refined in the Print Media and Production Department of the Powerhouse Museum from 1990-94. She has written artist and exhibition texts, as well as freelance stories and reviews for the Sydney Morning Herald, Filmnews, Cinema Papers, RealTime and Art + Text, and written about Australian culture for Singapore arts magazine The Esplanade. Susan contributed seven stories to Barbara Campbell’s experimental performance work 1001 Nights Cast.

Read If Dreams were Thunder, Lightning was Desire here

Read Permanent Residency here

This year we were excited to see Guildhouse's first artist in residence as part of the ART WORKS 2020 studio residency series presented in partnership with the City of Adelaide.

Jasmine Ann Dixon was in residence at the Art Pod from February – August 2020, during which she worked on paintings exploring elements of the City of Adelaide’s 2016-2020 Strategic Plan themes of Smart, Green, Liveable or Creative for exhibition in 2020.

Jasmine Ann Dixon was born in 1993 in Adelaide. From an early age she was drawn to painting, and in her later years of school became particularly interested in portraiture. This passion led her to study a Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design at the Adelaide College of the Arts from which she graduated in 2014. Since then Dixon has been a part of the Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition, where she won the Peter Walker Encouragement Award, exhibited numerous times with Hill Smith Gallery, been a Finalist in the Emma Hack Art Prize and the Black Swan Portrait Prize and won the RSASA 2016 Youthscape Prize. Dixon’s practice thus far has focused on combining textiles and colour with hyper-realistic portraits. She sees the face as the window to the soul and hopes to celebrate it in each portrait by highlighting individual’s character and beauty though her detailing.

IMAGE: JASMINE ANN DIXON “GOOD BOY BLUE”