Residencies

 

Current/upcoming

 
 

RAVI AVASTI
Summa
21 September ––21 December 2024

Ravi Avasti's practice spans installation, sculpture, and drawing. His work examines the relations between body/self and the temporal/spatial nature of the world and its phenomena, both naturally occurring and human-made. His recent work has focused on the material exploration of timber, bringing to bear his knowledge and skills as an accomplished furniture maker. These investigations have led to the production of the Cherry Exposure series, temporary images created by the exposure of timber to ultraviolet light; the use of electronics in The Current Time As The Value of Light From A Seven Segment Display (2018), which provides a non-linear iteration of the current time using light as a medium; and the ongoing Inclusion series of drawings, which re-present tree branches as evidence of inclusion and exclusion. The works reflect Ravi's enduring interest in distinctions and ‘otherness,’ providing alternative channels through which phenomena can be perceived. Ravi completed a Master of Contemporary Art at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, Australia 2018. He was one of eleven commissioned artists invited to produce significant new work for the Kyneton Contemporary Art Triennial 2022, was shortlisted for the 2019 Keith and Elisabeth Murdoch Travelling Fellowship, and was awarded the 2018 Fiona Myer White Story Residency for his work in the Victorian College of the Arts Masters exhibition. Ravi lives and works on Taungurung Country in Kyneton, Victoria, Australia. 

RAVI AVASTI
Summa
21 September ––21 December 2024

 
 
 
 

Past

 

ALI MCCANN
Return to SOCIAL
19 July ––17 August 2024

Ali McCann (Naarm/Melbourne) is a multidisciplinary artist known for still-life photographs and sculptures. Much of her work is informed by outmoded photography guides, amateur artworks, and the decor of educational and domestic spaces of the 1970s and 1980s. Through photography, sculpture, installation, video and performance, her compositions examine the illusionary and nostalgic tendencies of the photographic image and the aesthetics of education and memory. Since the early 2000s, Ali has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including, most recently, Slippery Images at the National Gallery of Victoria (2023). She has been a finalist in several major art prizes, including the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award (2022) and the National Photography Prize (2020 & 2024). Her work is held in public and private collections across Australia and abroad. She holds a Master of Contemporary Art from the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne (2016). Ali also holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne and a Graduate Diploma of Education, University of Melbourne.

Photograph: Ali McCann

ALI MCCANN
Return to SOCIAL
19 July ––17 August 2024

 
 
 
 

AARTI JADU
سخن دل Sokhaneh del – language/speech of the heart 
13 March ––1 June 2024

Aarti Jadu (Naarm/Melbourne) is a multi-disciplinary artist, vocalist and composer who works closely with the voice and installation. Pairing classical elements, referencing chamber music, baroque and various folk traditions, with the timbre of techno-flavoured synthesizers, 808, and pop autotune, the work revolves around the power of embodying sound, exploring their connection with place and state of being, an interest originating from her lifelong relationship with devotional music and group singing practice. Aarti’s 2022 album, L'Ecole De La Caz, was nominated for 18th Australian Music Prize and in 2021, she was finalist in the category of Avant Garde/ Experimental Artist of the Year for Music Victoria.  Aarti performs in various ensembles, solo and collaboratively and is the Director of the experimental art initiative Tincture. They are one of four vocalists in the Khyaal Vocal Ensemble, a group that explores imaginings stemming from the intuitive expression of the naked voice. 

Photograph: Chloe Sobejko

AARTI JADU
سخن دل Sokhaneh del – language/speech of the heart 
13 March ––1 June 2024

 
 
 
 

INBAL NISSIM
سخن دل Sokhaneh del – language/speech of the heart 
13 March ––1 June 2024

Inbal Nissim (Naarm/Melbourne) is a painter driven by the intuitive. Her work deals with the connection between the inner landscapes of the mind and the material, exploring the manifestation of the subconscious. In her paintings, principally ink on paper and loose fabrics, she creates a fictional atmospheric presence, often on the spectrum between esoteric figuration and an ethereal abstract essence. Inbal has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions since 2010 and is represented in public and private collections domestically and abroad. She holds a Master of Fine Art and Bachelor of Fine Art from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, from which she graduated with Honours and received several awards, including the Mitchell Presser Prize for Excellence in Painting. 

Photograph: Madz Rehorekolas

INBAL NISSIM
سخن دل Sokhaneh del – language/speech of the heart 
13 March ––1 June 2024

 
 
 
 

JAVAD (JODI) KASHANI
سخن دل Sokhaneh del – language/speech of the heart 
13 March ––1 June 2024

Javad (Jodi) Kashani (Naarm/Melbourne) is a multidisciplinary artist and academic researcher who makes mixed-media works on paper informed by a profound and abiding passion for literature. Incorporating poetic text and tender pictorial elements, both figurative and abstract, Javad uses their visual language, research and lived experience to explore the theme of gender and the wider human condition. سخن‭ ‬دلت Sokhaneh del was the first time that Javad has presented their visual artwork to audiences. They hold a Bachelor of Science in Arts and Cultural Management from the University of Science & Culture in Iran. They are in the final stages of completing a Master of Arts and Cultural Management with the University of Melbourne, where their minor thesis focuses on Gender Inclusivity in the Australian
Arts context.

Photograph: Dion Van de Kamp

JAVAD KASHANI
سخن دل Sokhaneh del – language/speech of the heart 
13 March ––1 June 2024

 
 
 
 

EMMA OVENDEN
Harmonious Eccentricity
25 January ––7 March 2024

Emma Ovenden is a composer/musician known for her melancholy, unconventional beats. She pushes the creative envelope with a computer-less setup, producing highly crafted and moving works of song with synths, voice and a restricted palette of beats. She grew up playing traditional collected folk music in her family of origin, cementing a deep, natural relationship to harmony and learning by ear. After completing a contemporary music degree in Vocal Performance, Emma's practice brought songwriting to the forefront. A prolific maker of music and visual artwork, Emma has played in the Naarm (Melbourne) underground scene since 2014.

Photo credit: Will Hamilton Coates

EMMA OVENDEN
Harmonious Eccentricity
25 January ––7 March 2024

 
 
 
 

ELYSS MCCLEARY
Harmonious Eccentricity
25 January ––7 March 2024

Elyss McCleary’s (Naarm/Melbourne) practice explores forms found in layers of spaces, shapes, and colours that shift between representation and abstraction. Working predominantly in oil paint, her compositional placement rhythms are both a reflection and response to environments. She creates portals of imagined spaces mixed with cinematic backgrounds of the everyday that are fused with memory and observation, interrupted by ‘cameo’ appearances of significant urban structures. Elyss has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions since 2007. Her work is held in the Artbank, the Deakin University Art Collection, and significant collections in Australia and Serbia. Elyss holds a Master in Contemporary Art from the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne (2016). She is represented by the Nicholas Thompson Gallery.

Photo credit: Elyss McCleary

ELYSS MCCLEARY
Harmonious Eccentricity
25 January ––7 March 2024

 
 
 
 

OUYANG YU
Ekphrasis
6 September —2 December 2023

Ouyang Yu is a Naarm (Melbourne)-based poet, novelist, literary scholar and translator. Over his decades-long writing career, he has published prolifically in both English and Chinese—including, to name but a few, the award-winning novel The English Class (2010), the novel Billy Sing (2017), the poetry collection Flag of Permanent Defeat (2019) and more recently, his book of short stories, The White Cockatoo Flowers (2024). In 2022, he was the recipient of the Australia Council Fellowship for Literature, the awarding of which allowed him to focus on his new documentary novel which is forthcoming. For Ekphrasis, Ouyang collaborated with visual artist Jessye Wdowin-McGregor.

OUYANG YU
Ekphrasis
6 September —2 December 2023

 
 
 
 

JESSYE WDOWIN-MCGREGOR
Ekphrasis
6 September —2 December 2023

Jessye Wdowin-McGregor is a Naarm (Melbourne)-based artist whose practice spans video, performance, photography, drawing, and collage. A relationship to place underpins much of her work, and she is inspired by environments that are sometimes at the periphery of attention, particularly within the urban realm. She is interested in our entanglements with other species, the thresholds between body and landscape, the human impact on the natural world, spontaneous forms of urban nature, and the elemental infrastructures that shape our surroundings. For Ekphrasis, Jessye collaborated with artist /poet Ouyang Yu as part of our inaugural duo residency. 

JESSYE WDOWIN-MCGREGOR
Ekphrasis
6 September —2 December 2023

 
 
 
 

RUBY BROWN
He Whakaari Ātārangi / Shadow Play— A study of movement, shadows & play 
9 June - 2 September 2023

Ruby Brown was born in Ōtepoti, Aotearoa and is of Scottish, Danish and Ngā Puhi descent. She lives on Wurundjeri country in Naarm (Melbourne), where she attended the Victorian College of the Arts in 2014. Ruby uses found objects and re-purposed materials to consider sensory experience, connection and disconnection, creation traditions, painting, sculpture and meditative action. She has participated in solo and group projects and exhibitions with correspondences, CAVES gallery, LON Gallery, C3 Contemporary Art Space, Rubicon Gallery, Sutton Project Space, Bus Projects, Fort Delta and Egg & Dart. Her artworks are held in private collections in Australia, Aotearoa and Europe. Ruby holds a Bachelor of Education (Visual Art) from Otago University. 

RUBY BROWN
He Whakaari Ātārangi / Shadow Play— A study of movement, shadows & play 
9 June - 2 September 2023

 
 
 
 

YOKO OZAWA
よはくYohaku (blank space)
9 March - 28 May 2023

Japan-born Naarm (Melbourne)-based artist Yoko Ozawa has been making ceramics since 2003 when her design and Japanese painting studies led her into pottery. Today, her multidisciplinary practice encompasses sculpture, ceramics, installation and drawing. Her making is informed by a lifelong interest in natural phenomena - seasonal transitions, fog, breeze, rain, light and shadow – the atmosphere between objects and their surroundings (包まれる tsutsumareru) and the Japanese notion of よはくyohaku (blank space). Yoko has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions and projects in Australia and abroad, including the National Gallery of Victoria, MARS gallery, Melbourne, MPavllion, Melbourne, Jam Factory, Adelaide, Somerset House, London, England, and mina perhonen, Kyoto, Japan. In 2019, she was awarded the Recognition Award for the 2019 Clunes Ceramic Award. The same year, she was a finalist in the Victorian Craft Awards and the Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Awards. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art (Japanese Painting) from Musashino Art University in Tokyo and a Diploma of Graphic Design from The Japan Design College in Tokyo.

Photograph: Yoko Ozawa

YOKO OZAWA
よはくYohaku (blank space)
9 March - 28 May 2023

 
 
 
 

GENEVIEVE FRY W JESSYE WDOWIN-MCGREGOR
Drawing Sound
2 February to 5 March 2023

Genevieve Fry is a multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Naarm (Melbourne). She is interested in exploratory music, drawing inspiration from the natural world, and encouraging an inward journey touching on deep time, memory and sense of place/ self. Genevieve is the co-founder of Eastmint artist-run studios, label and performance space which focuses on presenting and supporting music that promotes deep listening from a diverse range of artists across all genres.

Photograph: Alice O’Brien

GENEVIEVE FRY W JESSYE WDOWIN-MCGREGOR
Drawing Sound
2 February -5 March 2023

 
 
 
 

ALI MCCANN
Campus: A study of educational, domestic, and deep dark space (In perpetual flux)
6 September —26 November 2022

Ali McCann (Naarm/Melbourne) is a multidisciplinary artist known for still-life photographs and sculptures. Much of her work is informed by outmoded photography guides, amateur artworks, and the decor of educational and domestic spaces of the 1970s and 1980s. Through photography, sculpture, installation, video and performance, her compositions examine the illusionary and nostalgic tendencies of the photographic image and the aesthetics of education and memory. Since the early 2000s, Ali has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including, most recently, Slippery Images at the National Gallery of Victoria (2023). She has been a finalist in several major art prizes, including the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award (2022) and the National Photography Prize (2020 & 2024). Her work is held in public and private collections across Australia and abroad. She holds a Master of Contemporary Art from the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne (2016). Ali also holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne and a Graduate Diploma of Education, University of Melbourne.

Photograph: Ali McCann

ALI MCCANN
Campus: A study of educational, domestic, and deep dark space (In perpetual flux)
6 September —26 November 2022

 
 
 
 

EDWINA STEVENS
Moonee Moonee Underpass
3 June —27 August 2022

Edwina Stevens (Otepoti/Aotearoa, Naarm / Melbourne) is an audiovisual artist working across composition, live performance and installation, focusing on sound recordings, synthesized sound, found acoustic elements/instruments and obsolete tech. A self-taught musician, she takes an improvised approach to music and sound design influenced by her involvement in the Aotearoa experimental noise scene. Her work investigates audiovisual processes of engaging with places that are improvisational, collaborative and incidental. Her practice explores the entanglements of the temporal, material and experiential through chance encounters, tangential processes and unanticipated outcomes.

Photograph: Edwina Stevens

EDWINA STEVENS
Moonee Moonee Underpass
3 June —27 August 2022

 
 
 
 

傅红 / FU HONG, 沈嘉蔚 / SHEN JIAWEI, 关伟 / GUAN WEI, 欧阳昱 / OUYANG YU, 匡再 / KUANG ZAI, 何佩佩 / PEI PEI HE, 珍妮喆张 / JENNY ZHE CHANG, 子轩 / ECHO CAI, 昂洪欣怡 / CAROLYN ANG, 梅剑青 / KIM CHENG BOEY, 陳雋然 / CHUN YIN RAINBOW CHAN, 趙明佑 / OSMOND CHIU, 张奕霖 / EILEEN CHONG, 希利尔•蒂姆 / TIM HILLIER, 尼古拉斯•周思 / NICHOLAS JOSE, 莫爾頓•金伯利 / KIMBERLEY MOULTON, 許瑩玲 / JULIE KOH, 昵昵 / NINI, 钱菁华 / JINGHUA QIAN, 孙丽仪 / EMILY SOON, 陳珈祺 / ELIZABETH TAN, 玛丽亚•图马金 / MARIA TUMARKIN, 沈志敏 / SHEN ZHIMIN, 羅南芝 / DR SELINA LO, 刘佳欣 / JIAXIN (SUZIE) LIU & 汤姆逊•艾玛 /EMMA THOMSON.

沉默的对话 / Silent Dialogue
December 2020 —January 2022

 
 

OUYANG YU, EILEEN CHONG, JINGHUA QIAN, DR SELINA LO, KUANG ZAI, CAROLYN ANG, TIM HILLIER & EMMA THOMSON.

Thinking about Immortality & Kindness
5 August 2020 —8 February 2021