Seeing and being with the unimagined
In 2019, through the season of Lent, I worked with Rosemary Burdett to lead the congregation at St Stephen’s Anglican church in Warrandyte, in the creation of a painting which embodied moments of prayerful …
Making art during COVID-19: thoughtful advice from La Trobe Alumni
Have you thought about making art, but don’t know how to get started? This article, written by Sez Wilks, was recently published in the La Trobe University Alumni magazine. Hands-on hobbies can help us during …
Sink like a stone
Last year I was privileged to work with the Centre for Music, Litury and the Arts to explore the idea of painting my contribution to a conversation about the lived experience of incarnational worship. Over …
Who is an artist?
Watch: ‘What does it mean to be an artist?’ What are we claiming when we say, ‘I am an artist’, and why is it that some people are able claim this sense of identity whilst …
The immediacy and the durability of art
Few contemporary artists have sparked our imaginations like Christo and Jean-Claude. Now both are gone. I look forward to a series of retrospective exhibitions and moving image dedications. Art for everyone….. Patricia Fenner (Assoc Prof, …
Painting for memory in a time of isolation
Figure 1. Ava Byrne, (2020). NGV. Gouache on canvas. Figure 2. Ethan Byrne, (2020). NGV. Gouache on canvas. In this time of isolation, I have 2 paintings hanging on the wall in my home office that evoke …
Tension on the surface
There are tensions on the surface of this image that have resulted in a furious working toward solutions with whatever materials are at hand. Having attempted to cover the content of this ambiguous and organic …
Living and healing as studio practice
Art making has been an important part of my healing process. Ellen Dissanayake claims that making art offers the opportunity to engage with the art of repetition to elaborate on our experience of desire, instilling …
The art of paying attention
JOY Joy arrives in the space between what has passed and what is still to come. We can never plan to experience joy but we can live in such a way as to be …
Making marks and making sense
Art helps us to navigate particular challenges in human existence, giving shape and form to our ephemeral and yet lived experiences. Mikel Dufrenne (1973) submits that the work of art is grasped in the aesthetic experience. …