Meet Milly, twenty years old and she's riding the top of her game right now. We've got together with her to ask her about her current jams, her study and her work as an artist. Come check her out During Artsweek. 

With a artistic portfolio spanning sculpture, performance, installation, textiles and interactive media, her artmaking passions lead her everywhere from drawing, designing through to physical instalment. She has a philosophy of chasing fun in her artistic pursuits.

What's your favourite song to get down to? 

‘Screwed’ by Janelle Monae. She’s a boss.  

What do you study?

I'm in my second year of Advanced Science/Fine Arts (dual degree). Majoring in Biology, Sculpture/Installation/Performance and Interactive Media (so far!).

How did you get your start as an artist? 

I guess I started making art partly because both my family always encouraged my brothers and I to be curious about the world and to always be making stuff. My mum is a bad ass artist while my dad instruct us in the art of circuit boards and woodworking, so both these aspects definitely helped shape my love of making. However almost all my exhibitive art experiences have been through friends and connections made at university. 

Where can I check out your work?

I keep my portfolio on my instagram account @millycaleyart

What themes do you explore in your work? I am fascinated by the interaction of art and science, and am always striving to bridge this gap, bringing ideas and images from biology to my artmaking and bringing communication skills from my artmaking to my science. Personal themes of desires, loss and longings are also always present in my work. 

Where do you draw your main inspiration from? My study of biology, my life experiences and the people and places I surround myself with.  

Tell us a little bit about your creative process

Everything starts with either a scribbled idea or drawing on paper, usually when I’m meant to be doing something else (like sleeping or studying).  

Describe some of your favourite past works, and what made them meaningful to you.

This textile sculpture is one of my favourites, as it represents the direction I would like to take my artmaking as far as integrating science and art, bringing the non-living to life and making art that is not only a visual but a full sensory and interactive experience.  

How would you describe the concept and context of the piece? 

The concept behind this work was to explore and challenge the human desire to classify despite our complex interrelationships with our surroundings by drawing attention to the basis of all things that are or were alive – cells. While a basic element of biological classification, the imagery of cells and spores also encompasses the universal basis of life and connectivity.