Minderoo Foundation Residency in Exmouth

Photo from The West Australian newspapers, 21 July 2022.

I am thrilled to have been awarded a Minderoo Foundation Residency as part of their 2022 Artist Fund. In September 2022 I will be staying in Exmouth to lay the groundwork for developing a new body work towards 2024.

I will be focusing on marine fauna in three habitats: in sea grass and kelp areas, around the Ningaloo reef and in the Deep Sea. I will be learning about the changes that are threatening these three habitats from Indigenous Elders and from researchers at Minderoo. Being based at the Minderoo Foundation Exmouth Research Laboratory will provide me with the unique opportunity to create corrosion casts of vascular systems on the spots. I have used this type of casting in my Tributaries exhibition to depict the ebb and flow of life systems, then showing the vascular systems of horses and sheep. While these were created in conjunction with the University of Ghent Morphology Museum, I now intend to conduct the process myself. The Exmouth facility offers me wet lab space and people with professional lab skillsets.

The grant allows me to spend time there to experiment, develop, learn and create for a month. My ultimate aim is to visualise some unique and fragile ocean life along the West Australian North West coast in sculptures and jewellery, and to contextualise this with writing and photography for future exhibitions and publications.

My sincere thanks to the Minderoo Foundation for this amazing opportunity. It is going to be a very exciting creative journey, one that I could not do without this support. Find out about the other artists and projects supported for 2022 here.