2017

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Mission Australia

Tuesday 14 November - 18 November  

Opening Tuesday 14 November, 6 – 7PM

Mission Australia's Creative Youth Initiative's annual art exhibition is the culmination of two semesters’ worth of work from students participating in the ###em! program.

Artworks! is a visual arts course for young adults aged between 16 and 25 who may be experiencing difficulties or challenges in their lives. Students' creative practice is a form of personal expression, conceptual ideas and skill development. The exhibited artworks creatively explore a range of themes and media from painting and drawing to printmaking and collage. All artworks are for sale.

Come and support the amazing talents of these gifted and creative young people!

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众 | Everyone

2 November - 4 November

Opening Night: Tuesday 1 November 5 - 7pm

众 | EVERYONE is a cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary exhibition of work from Australian and Chinese students in the Master of Art program. The Mandarin character 众 (zhòng) means “everyone” and is reflective of the varied conceptual foundations found in this exhibition. Through discussion among this diverse group, it became apparent that the human condition is a common element that ties together each of our personal practices. Whether it be the harmful misrepresentation of reality in the mass media; how memory connects us with our youth; gender and sexuality across cultures; sensory perception and interaction with the world; or the cycle of life and death, everyone will be able to empathise with the themes explored in this exhibition.

Image: Gaga Zheng, SAMSARA, 2017. Wool and bamboo. Dimensions variable

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Dysfuntional Human

Lock Han, Amanda Lim, Lu Ma, Dongning Qui

24 October - 28 October Opening Tuesday 24 October 5pm - 7pm

Dysfunctional Human brings together the capstone projects of four UNSW Art & Design postgraduates exploring the complexities of ‘being human’ from unusual perspectives. HAN’s digital illustrations are visual critiques drawn from contemporary culture and politics. LIM’s multi-media installation imagines a material evolution of human beings as a response to the anxieties wrought by mass surveillance. MA’s surreal images reveal the transcending between the conscious and the unconscious. QIU’s art game deconstructs the existence of humanity in the light of materialism. Together, this exhibition offers lesser-known perspectives for us to reflect on ourselves as human beings and questions our understanding of what is ‘normal’ and what is ‘dysfunctional’. 

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Deconstructing Code That Works

Peter Wildman

8 November - 11 November 2017 

Opening Night Tuesday 7 November 2017, 5 - 7pm.

'Deconstructing Code that Works' is a practice led research project that frames theoretical critique as practice in a gallery setting. The work uses a deconstructive methodology derived from Jacques Derrida's practice of 'sous rature' to perform critique upon a particular moment in the historical formation of the field of 'codework' that focuses on the executable/non-executable divide of codeworkers. The artefacts presented in the gallery are an outcome of the procedural deconstruction of the thesis itself and the artefacts are presented as the final chapter of the practice based research project. 

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The Ulmer Hocker Brief

11 September - 21 October 2017 

Opening Tuesday 10 October 2017, 5 - 7pm.

Students in the Object Design studio design and prototype functional three-dimensional objects. They use a conceptual and narrative-driven approach to the design of contemporary products such as furniture and lighting for domestic, commercial and other contexts.

In this exhibition, first semester Object students present contemporary re-imaginings of the classic, post-Bauhaus, Ulmer Hocker stool. Convened by Guy Keulemans and Julia Charles, lecturer and photographer.

The Ulmer Hocker Brief is featured as part of the 2017 Sydney Craft Week program. For more details about 2017 Sydney Craft Week click here.

Image: Jun Min Kim

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Jewellery and Object Exploration

11 September - 21 October 2017 

Opening Tuesday 10 October 2017, 5 - 7pm.

Students in the jewellery studio design and produce wearable objects and small-scale interior objects. They use conceptual and practical knowledge of materials, techniques and processes to inform their design and production of jewellery and other small objects. The work presented in this exhibition shows a range of diverse project-based outcomes including ‘one-off’ pieces and work for small-scale production designed and made by undergraduate and post-graduate students.

Curated by UNSW Art & Design jewellery lecturers Bic Tieu and Melinda Young, the exhibition features work by undergraduate and post-graduate jewellery and object students at UNSW Art & Design.

Jewellery and Object Explorations is featured as part of the 2017 Sydney Craft Week program. For more details about 2017 Sydney Craft Week click here.

Images: Stories in fingerprints by Gavino Pili. Courtesy UNSW Art & Design

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Ceramics @ UNSW Art & Design: Recent Works

11 September - 21 Ocrtober 2017 

Opening Tuesday 10 October 2017, 5 - 7pm.

An exhibition of works from the UNSW ceramics studio. Students design and create artworks, custom-made artefacts, and commercial products for the table, interior and built environments. The program investigates conceptual approaches and a wide range of ceramic processes including handforming, slipcasting and digital 3D technologies. The work presented in this exhibition includes diverse project-based outcomes including artworks and work for small-scale production, designed and made by undergraduate and post-graduate students. Selected by lecturer Kate Dunn, the exhibition includes students from the undergraduate and postgraduate program. Ceramics @ UNSW Art & Design: Recent works is featured as part of the 2017 Sydney Craft Week program. For more details about 2017 Sydney Craft Week click here.

Images: Ceramics by Rachel Rigg. Courtesy UNSW Art & Design

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Galeecha: Cultural Textile Design

11 September - 21 October 2017 

Opening Tuesday 10 October 2017, 5 - 7pm.

Adrina Manon, Alexandra Micallef, Arabella Poole, Gemma Geyer, Eliza Smith, Gabrielle McShane, Bridget Long, Caroline Frecker, Heike Stephan, Jacalin King, Ruby Shapiro, Rumpa Paweenpongpat, Amanda Lim, Andrea Larkin, Alia Buhre, Angela Bekiaris, Edwina Straub, Jillian Clarke, and Nerida Bourne.

Galeecha: Cultural Textile Design exhibition presents the work of students enrolled in the immersive 2017 January/February Cultural Textiles course in Gujarat, India. The final project of the course required students to design motifs for block printed rugs and yardage. The featured designs were block printed with natural dyes onto handwoven cotton dhurrie rugs and cotton yardage by the studio of master block printers, Dr Ismail Khatri and Sufiyan Khatri in Ajrakhpur, Kutch, Gujarat, India. This exhibition translates the patterns and motifs of the student’s bespoke experience, resulting in the integration of local and international design expertise to produce contemporary, handcrafted and exceptionally unique outcomes. Curated by Liz Williamson and students from the 2017 Cultural Textiles Fieldwork course. Galeecha is featured as part of the 2017 Sydney Craft Week program. For more details about 2017 Sydney Craft Week click here.

Images: Bridget Long, Gujarat India, 2017

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WORKSHOP 1

Leila el Rayes, Romy Cole-Groth, Mika Benesh, Meng-Yu Yan, Sabella D'Souza, Gianna Hayes and Ponaya Devi. Curated by Valerie Schlosberg and Isabella Cornell.

22 August - 16 September 2017 

Opening Tuesday 22 August 2017, 4.30 - 6pm.

Workshop 1 began as a revamping of an exhibition called "Dissonance," which was run collaboratively between Kudos Gallery and the UNSW Women's Collective between 1997 and 2015. Workshop 1 carries on the legacy of radical activism that the original exhibition was born of, pushing the boundaries set between political content and tangible intervention in the gallery setting. An open ended, collaborative project that is not quite exhibition nor public programming, Workshop 1 exists as a platform for gender diverse practitioners across a range of mediums and contexts to find common ground and lead conversations about their own interests and practices. Avoiding the trope of a "showcase of diversity" that tends to reduce artists to their oppressed identities,Workshop 1 refuses to leave women and non-binary people out of conversations about their own art. Workshop 1 has involved a series of conversations between the participating artists, allowing for shared threads and contradictions to be uncovered, independent of a prescriptive curatorial framework. Curated and facilitated byIsabella Cornell and Valerie Schlosberg, Workshop 1 exists as a publication and concurrent group exhibition featuring the works of Leila El Rayes, Romy Cole-Groth, Mika Benesh, Meng-Yu Yan, Sabella D'souza, Gianna Hayes and Dileepa Dayananda. The publication, benefiting from an Arc @ UNSW Art & Design Grant, was conceived not only to contextualise the work and practices and to find common areas of interest for the artists in Workshop 1; but to actively engage the audience as a further participant in a way which generates further investigation and understanding. A collection of works by participating artists of Workshop 1 will be on display at AD Space between 22nd August and 5th September. A launch of the adjacent publication Workshop 1: Process Collateral will accompany the exhibition opening. 

Image: Video Still from 22/F/Aus, Sabella D'Souza, 2017

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Not A Stat

Amy Bruce, Bailee Lobb, Ben Adams, Plum De Noone, Jennifer Brady, Jeremy Smith, Lisa Carrett and Monica Rudhar, Rhiannon Hopely.

13 September - 16 Septe,ber 2017 

Opening Tuesday 12 September 2017, 5PM - 7PM. +Bailee Lobb's Performance Weightless at 5.45pm + Poetry slam 6.30pm sharp!

Not a Stat reflects on lived experiences of mental illness, including mental health practices. The exhibition provides a visual translation of what is often difficult to articulate, thereby offering an opportunity to communicate experience beyond that of verbal disclosure. Included artworks range as much in materiality as they do in conceptual reflection; from the ever present stigmatisation of mental illness to being in a state of severe depression; from paralysis at the hand of anxiety to means of finding relief. The exhibition title takes inspiration from the common reduction of lived experiences to scientific statistics (“1 in 4 people experience mental illness”) and the emergence of understanding mental illness through a purely biological or neurochemical lens. The exhibition shifts focus onto the reality of living or dealing with mental health difficulties. 

Image: video still from Bailee Lobb’s performance Weightless Shells (2014).

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Tim Olsen Drawing Prize 2017

2 August 12 August 2017 

Opening Tuesday 1 August 2017, 5 - 7pm.

With the intention of encouraging excellence and promoting research and practice in drawing the Tim Olsen Drawing Prize, now in its seventeenth year, and the accompanying exhibition has been an important event on our school's calendar. The Tim Olsen Drawing Prize has been a collaborative initiative between the Tim Olsen Gallery and former Department of Drawing and Painting, School of Art since 2001. This collaboration has been continuously supported by Tim Olsen Gallery and the new venture - Olsen Irwin. Since 2014 Tim Olsen Drawing Prize has been open to all Postgraduate and Honours students across the faculty, nominated by lecturers and supervisors, who use and demonstrate drawing as a very significant part of their research practice. The open exhibition is a platform for finalists to showcase their work and contribute to the dialogue and understanding about drawing. 

Image: Sharon Leslie Watkins, New Geometries, Mixed media on paper, 52 x A7, 2016 .

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Brightside - An exhibition of works by high school students from the PCYC Woolloomooloo

28 June - 30 June 2017 Opening Wednesday 28 July 2017, 3 - 6pm.

~ Art. Creativity and Confidence ~

Brightside is a mentorship program between UNSW Art & Design students and highschool students from the PCYC Woolloomooloo. The students have explored a wide range of mediums from painting, ceramics, to 3D modelling. The students have worked with some of Sydney's best up and coming artists including Caoife Power, Bronwen Williams, Claudia Nicholson, Katy Plumer and Cam Scott. The Semester one Brightside mentors are Amy Gee, Bridget Orehov, Rachel Bryant, Tallulah Moore and Voictoria Durand.

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This is Where Your Taxpayer Dollars Are Going

Tejashwini Rao, Lucy Rae Pickering, Rumpa Paweenpongpat, Hero Knight, Natalie Korompay, Yenara White, Kay;a Newman, Lily Fenwicke, Georgia Jane Burkitt, Yang Qiu, Lisa-Jane Van Dyke, Cordelia Blaze Morrell, Harriet Waters, Sian Kelly, Cathryn Jung, Rebecca De Gorter, Claudia Osborne.

21 June - 24 June 2017 Opening Night Wednesday 20 June 2017, 6 - 8pm.

This year’s 3rd Year ceramics class have been working hard all semester to come up with ground- breaking, message-sending, life-ful lling ceramics so they could put on this self-organised exhibtion for you, the Taxpayer. If you enjoy well made ceramic work that have hints of propaganda, in uence and persuasion, then this is the show for you! 

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WHAT WE CAN GET - PRESENTED BY REPUBLICANT AND THE INFILTRATORS

~ Thirty Artists. Awful Pleasures ~

Matthew Georgevits, Chanelle Whitty, Amy Malek, Kyra Martens, Molly Anderson, Monique Bedwell, Yoseff Sebban, Mackenzie Benato, Sivaan Walker, Sam Shorrocks, Samantha Triviania, Mirian David, Matthew Grant, Ellen Moran, Nicole Cadelina, Gabrielle Chantiri, Linda Sok, Claire Stidwell, Joshua Reeves, Ka Yuan Lai, Rosalie Waugh, Kerryn Paesila, Laura Moschner, Alexis Wildman, Thomas Husband, Chirstie Brandt, Eleanor Zurowski, Michael Nguyen-Huynh, Kate Ure.

14 June - 17 June 2017 Opening night Wednesday 14 June 2017, 5 - 7pm.

Felt Time

Nilofer Sahail, Jae Thomas, Paula Ngu, Han Xu, Clara Chung

7 June - 10 June 2017 Opening Night Wednesday 7 June 2017, 5 - 7pm.

Relationships and experiences with time, that relentless pace of existence in the fourth dimension, are explored in this exhibition. We encounter fluid time when we pay attention to it in present moments, or consider memories and spaces from our home or culture. We are conscious of the impermanence and fragility of our lives. How we view time can seemingly cause it to slow down or cocoon us with intimacy or nostalgia. Yet, the perspective we adopt can also see time speed by or seemingly pause or even reverse while we take a fresh view of the past or encounter a sequenced loop. A sense of atemporality can arise when we integrate historical matters with the present or promises of the future, or when we enter dreams and other places outside of our current stream of existence. In turn, time shapes our identities and can place us on trajectories that began before us and will continue after us.

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Master of Art Capstone Project: Ami dans L'apprentissage

Edison Zhang, Eric Löbbecke and Susan Thomas

31 May - 2 June 2017 Opening Night Tuesday 30 May 2017, 5 - 7pm.

EDISON ZHANG The light of the garden I remember visiting Chinese gardens full of artistic air on weekends as a child. Classical Chinese gardens are now being replaced by high-rise buildings. It is now difficult to find these "Artful" buildings in the Urban landscape other than in some theme parks. The work is centred around a stand alone transparent Plastic Doorway that can refract surrounding rays and is covered with classical Chinese floral designs adorning a big empty central circular hole. The intention is for the audience to re-examine the scenery of a modern city through this Chinese transparent door. The door is also a symbol of integration and penetration of my past childhood and the contemporary age. My main purpose is that everyone should cherish the present and have no regrets until you have lost. 

SUSAN JACKSON THOMAS Absorbing The Essence The place: "World Heritage, Thirlmere Lakes National Park"(90kms SW of Sydney). Susan Jackson Thomas shares her personal research and immersion into the ancient Chinese practice of Qigong beginning with it's foundations in Confucianism and Taoism working through principles of Yin and yang, the key meditation states of Rujing and Stillness.Learning Qigong recently in China under Master Simon Blow (Australia) and Master Chen (Wuhan) has moved her works through a journey from the mundane or literal to ethereal, supernatural artistic representation.

ERIC LÖBBECKE Drawing Potential Eric Löbbecke is concerned with the aesthetic possibilities of digital drawing. His practice is process driven, looking for a confluence allowing traditional methods of art making to be juxtaposed with time Based new media applications of drawing. The works on show implores projections and other digital output devices to explore his ideas based on his painting practice "Random Thoughts" and observations of the human condition. The Capstone works are a showcase of his inquiry and a springboard to further his studies in a Masters in Research next year. 

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Flow Visualisation and Liquidity: The Influencing Forces of turbulence and Culture on Variation

Scott Elphinstone

17 May - 27 May 2017 

Opening Night Tuesday 16 May 2017, 5 - 9pm.

At the commencement of developing understandings of flow an obvious ambiguous problem is encountered. Flow has no physicality and is in itself without its own form or direct object. It is a conceptual idea that never exists alone and is always relational to something else. Although flow concepts are often used it is rarely acknowledged for its appropriateness or relevance. It is often used to support modes of reference that identify the influencing forces affecting society and its changing configurations. An investigation of flow systems in cities reveals relationships between the natural and mechanical world. The forces enacting them are similar and provide insights into the evolving variations of cultures. It is important that the appearance and experience of flow phenomenon are revisited to understand the work it does in reconfiguring societies ideas and materiality.  

My artworks articulate an understanding of flow through liquidity that investigates social flow systems and their structures through a process that is equal parts archaeological (excavating one layer to reveal what is underneath) and comparative (comparing and contrasting layers for their indexical authority). An explorative visualisation of the urban environments within its changing spaces aims to reveal the underlying forces influencing society.  

The research suggests the changing configurations of materiality signal the presence of a flow. It becomes a term that does more than simply express relational understandings of the liquid world and motion. Flow becomes conceptually linked to invisible forces that transform the configurations of matter and society. Energy and culture is one such force that causes flow systems and their variations. In a social flow system, culture and natural forces combine in order to configure its structures. Flow is an important metaphor with dual meanings in this context as it is used to explain materiality and the process of liquidity that are invisible. Flow is experienced and therefore perceived as having an integral relationship to culture and its changing beliefs, ideas and materiality.   Image: Scott Elphinstone.

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Secret Garden of Lily Lapalma

Maggie Stebber

Maggie Steber is a photographer who has worked in more than 60 nations champions humanistic values and ideas. She received numerous grants and awards in support of her practice over 30 years including work covering disasters in Haiti. Aperture published a monograph on her work Dancing on Fire in 1991. She has been a photo editor, director of photography, curator and photographer. She teaches workshops around the world including Master Classes for World Press Photo. Steber has served as judge for many grants and photographic competitions. Her work has been exhibited extensively in the US and around the world and is included in the US Library of Congress and the Richter Library at University of Miami. Her honors include Leica Medal of Excellence, World Press and Pictures of the Year first prizes, Overseas Press Club awards and Medal for Distinguished Service to Journalism.

During her time in Sydney, Maggie will also be hosting Walk on the Wild Side: Mystery Workshop with Maggie Steber, exploring the elusive and mysterious nature of ideas.

Head On Foundation (est. 2008) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the work of photographers at all stages of career, encouraging excellence and innovation, making photography accessible to all and raising awareness of important issues through photography. The main activities of the Foundation are Head On Photo Festival and Head On Awards including Portrait, Landscape, Mobile and Student photographic prize categories and collaborative projects.

Head On Photo Festival is a bridge between Australian and international photographic markets. The festival has toured the Americas, China, India, Europe and New Zealand, bringing international and Australian photographic talent and practices into dialogue.

Head On is proudly inclusive. Over the years, Head On Photo Festival has provided $500,000 in cash and products to pracitioners through the Head On Awards.

Image: Head on Photofestival Maggie Steber

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Jenny Birt Award 2017

2017 Finalists: Kayla Amos, Cathy Ball, Sophie Bligh, Danny Giles, Dennis Golding, Robert Hogan, Charlotte Lim, Paula Ngu, Kate Patrikeos, Daniel Press, Jo Regan, Chidiac Reanne, Douglas Schofield, Jae Thomas, Brad Wiseman, Kathleen Travers, Sharon Leslie Watkins, Harrison Witsey.

26 April- 28 April

The Jenny Birt Award was initiated in 1995 by UNSW’s ‘U Committee’ and is the longest running and most prestigious award for Painting within the UNSW Art & Design academic calendar. Candidates are selected by a panel of lecturers for inclusion in the exhibition and for consideration for the Award.

The award has been running for over 20 years and seeks to recognise excellence in the expanded field of painting.

Image: Jenny Birt with 2016 winner Leila El Rayes and her work Untitled (Nail prayer rug), 2015. Photo by silversalt.

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Read in Rocks

Hui Li

20 April - 22 April

The intention of this exhibition is to discuss the relationship between people, nature and culture in terms of exploring the meaning of rocks in human's life. This interrogation takes place through the process of textile making. My artwork shows an interpretation of rock images in contemporary textiles. Apart from representing the shape and colour of rocks, the art making has an emphasis on employing textile materials to interpret real rock surface textures. This is in terms of inspirations that originate from the meaning of rocks from historical, geological and cultural perspectives, including the integration of my personal experiences with rocks. 

The artworks emphasise the small details and subtle textures of rocks. By observing these works my intention is for the viewer to discover the variation and substance of each work. The textile rocks act as a medium to create dialogue between nature and people.

Image: Hui Li, 2017.

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Walk. Paint.

Al Poulet

28 March - 8 April

Opening Night Tuesday 28 March 2017, 5 - 7pm

Walk. Paint. is a masters by research examination exhibition presented by Al Poulet. Abstract Expressionism, walking and the history of walking in Western Art influence this body of work. The exhibition consists of paintings and what Poulet calls painting objects. Together these guide the viewer through the space and demand an immersive and physical understanding of the work.

The context in which this exhibition has been produced is important to the understanding of the work. The changing urban landscape of Inner City Sydney and the Australian landscape have shaped this body of work and research. Objects found on walks are incorporated into my painting practice in a new approach to painting. This has meant that the paintings have become three-dimensional literally coming out of the wall and demanding negotiation.

Image: Al Poulet, northern beaches, acrylic on board, 2016, 156 x64cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Halo - Halo

Marikit Santiago

14 March - 25 March

Opening Night Tuesday 14 March 2017, 5 - 7pm

Halo-Halo is the culmination of a creative research project that investigates a personal conflict of cultural plurality at the conjunction of Filipino ethnicity and Australian nationality. Halo-halo is the name of a popular Filipino dessert typically made of shaved ice, evaporated milk and a mixture of sweetened yams, fruits and legumes. The dessert has no fixed ingredients or culinary techniques involved in its preparation. Therefore it is assembled with any desired toppings immediately before serving. Translated directly,halo-halo means mix-mix. In the context of this research project, the term is used to generalise the process of ‘mixing’ in the exchange between inherited and adopted cultures. 

The foundations of this project advance from autobiographical experiences of being Australian born with Filipino heritage. It details how I experienced and learned to articulate the subsequent contradictory memories and sensations of being both displaced and at home. Halo-Halo aims to reflect the interweaving cultures of my ethnic identity, representing both acceptance and rejection simultaneously; evoking a halo-halo of cultures, techniques and ideas. 

Image: Marikit Santiago, Lechon Buhay (2016), oil, acrylic, Dutch metal gold leaf, found cardboard, pen on ply (pen markings by Maella Pearl aged 2 years), 114cm x 87cm

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Re-Launch

AL POULET, ALEXANDRA RUSSELL-FLOYD, AMY CLAIRE MILLS, BETH DILLON, BRONWEN WILLIAMS, BRUNO PANUCCI, CAOIFE POWER, DAVID EASTWOOD, DEBRA PHILLIPS, DION AVRAMIDES, DOUGLAS SCHOFIELD, GABRIELLE WATTS, GARY CARSLEY, GUY JAMES WHITWORTH, HEATH FRANCO, IZABELA PLUTA, KARAM HUSSEIN, KATHERINE ROOKE, KIERAN BUTLER, KIERAN BRYANT, LACHLAN HERD, LEILA EL RAYES, LISA SAMMUT, LUCY ZAROYKO, MARIKIT SANTIAGO, MICHELLE CAWTHORN, NICK SANTORO, PETER SHARP, PIPI SOUTHALL, ROCHELLE HAYLEY, SABELLA D'SOUZA, TERRENCE COMBOS AND TOM POLO. 

23 Feb - 4 March 2017 

Opening Night Tuesday 28 February 2017, 5 - 9pm.

Re-Launch is the first exhibition @ AD Space for 2017 presenting the work of 34 Sydney based artists. The artists are comprised of current UNSW Art & Design Students, Staff and Alumni. As an eclectic mix these artists are a small sample of the diverse and boundless art practices that emerge within this art and design school community. Re-Launch is a celebration, not just of AD Space and its new direction, but also the people who make up UNSW Art & Design. 

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