After staring at the art on our own walls for too long, we’re ready to indulge in some gallery visits!
From the immersive and beguiling work of Yayoi Kusama, to the thought-provoking presentations in the 23rd Biennale of Sydney, these are this year’s must-see exhibitions across Australia.
We first met Kaantju woman Shonae Hobson when she curated the groundbreaking Piinpi: Contemporary Indigenous Fashion exhibition at Bendigo Gallery in 2020. Spanning numerous mediums and artists, and organised according to the seasons, the landmark show challenged traditional modes of gallery storytelling and Shonae herself made an indelible mark on Australia’s curatorial scene.
Now the curator of Indigenous art at the National Gallery of Victoria, Shonae spends her days liaising with artists and formulating new exhibition ideas. Her world is filled with local talent and creativity. This is a day in the life of one very impressive woman!
Brigitte Owers-Buccianti was frustrated with the predominantly digital nature of her interior design degree. With her background in ceramics and sculpture, there wasn’t enough hand-making in the digital-dominated realm to satisfy the kind of design Brigitte was looking to practise.
A stint in Canada introduced Brigitte to furniture-making, and she hasn’t looked back! (Except to graduate from her interior architecture course with Honours, of course.) She launched Real Non-Real in 2020, the brand under which she designs curvy steel pieces that defy the traditional single-purpose functionality of furniture.
Miranda Skoczek is an exceptionally talented and accomplished artist, but it’s not work or money that motivates her – it’s family.
Previously living in an inner-city apartment, Miranda moved to the Dandenongs five years ago with her son Harper (11) to be closer to nature. The pair share a home with Miranda’s aunt, Margaret/Gosia, which has afforded Miranda immense support as a parent, artist and individual.
We’ve featured Miranda’s work numerous times on The Design Files over the years, so it’s wonderful to gain this insight into her personal world.
The best thing about doing what we do, is that we’re constantly on the hunt for the next big thing – and we’ve gotten pretty good at discovering emerging Australian creatives over the years.
From political art practices to pandemic pivot projects, these are just a handful of the artists, designers and makers who inspired us most in 2021.
When a homewares brand we love is designed and manufactured locally, we like to shout it from the rooftops. Look over here! These creative people are doing a really cool thing, in a really thoughtful and responsible way!
This is These Walls – a wallpaper and textile company based in Burleigh Heads, Queensland, that was started by illustrator Sarah Hingle in 2014. Each design is hand-drawn and made to order, printed locally on sustainably sourced materials. It’s the bees knees!
The small side project biz has grown as grown to collaborating with artists such as Llewlyn Mejia and Mia Taninaka, and to stockists in the US. And we can see why!
At the beginning of this year, painter Emma Creasey started to share her work with a small number of followers on social media – just for fun. Now, mere months later, she’s busier than ever – working full time as an artist, looking for a bigger studio and completing works for a group show next year.
From abundant feasts abandoned in a forest clearing, to bright interiors that tread the boundary between comforting and somehow sinister, Emma’s paintings dance between the weird and the familiar. By concocting a distinct mood through a mixture of food, homes and bodies, her scenes are charged with a narrative surrealism we don’t often see.
We’re sensing an appetite for a different kind of art, and Emma Creasey hits the spot!
Being the fan favourite on a cult television reality show (in arguably its best season ever!) was just the beginning of everything for Marion Grasby. After Masterchef, she started Marion’s Kitchen with her mum, Noi, to bring the family recipes from her childhood to local kitchens and dinner tables.
Eleven years and 8 million digital followers (!) later, Marion’s products are stocked in supermarkets and speciality grocers in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia (and direct-to-consumer in the US). She generally describes herself as a creator and founder, but these days her job encapsulates author, chef, publisher, food product developer, dishwasher, coffee-maker and soon-to-be homewares and lifestyle product developer!
This is a day in her tasty, colourful, super fun Noosa life.
Entering the work force is a challenging time for any new graduate, but the pathways for a creative career are often the hardest to navigate! Words from the Wise is our new series produced in collaboration with Monash University, where we pair current students from Monash Art, Design + Architecture with leading professional creatives, to uncover some of the very best wisdom and advice for anyone at the start of a creative career.
For our second instalment in the monthly series (see the first with Chelsea Hing here!), PhD candidate Grace Slonim interviews public artist, professor of Fine Art and director of Monash Art Projects, Callum Morton, about his illustrious career as an internationally renowned artist from the 90’s until now, and the many, many lessons he has learned along the way!
Clementine Ford is instantly recognisable, which is both a blessing and a curse. As…
