August 2020:
Makeda Duong's solo exhibition Mixed Race Female opens at the Nexus Arts Gallery on Thursday August 6th. The exhibition features work by the artist which focuses on the themes of race, sexuality and mental illness. Makeda's exhibition was nominated for a Don Dunstan Foundation SALA Award, in acknowledgement of her focus on social issues in her artwork. I was thrilled to be able to contribute to Makeda's exhibition with my catalogue essay, which you can read in the gallery or online. Mixed Race Female runs from August 6th until September 17th at Nexus Arts Gallery.
http://nexusarts.org.au/event/mixed-race-female/
Makeda Duong's solo exhibition Mixed Race Female opens at the Nexus Arts Gallery on Thursday August 6th. The exhibition features work by the artist which focuses on the themes of race, sexuality and mental illness. Makeda's exhibition was nominated for a Don Dunstan Foundation SALA Award, in acknowledgement of her focus on social issues in her artwork. I was thrilled to be able to contribute to Makeda's exhibition with my catalogue essay, which you can read in the gallery or online. Mixed Race Female runs from August 6th until September 17th at Nexus Arts Gallery.
http://nexusarts.org.au/event/mixed-race-female/
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February 2020:
I am very excited to announce that this year I will be a Community Ambassador for Catherine House, an amazing organisation in South Australia helping women experiencing homelessness. If you would like to read more about Catherine House and donate to my fundraiser have a look at the link on Everydayhero below. https://chcommunityambassadors.everydayhero.com/au/lizzy |
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August 2019:
ANU Press has just published Everyday Revolutions: Remaking Gender, Sexuality and Culture in 1970s Australia, a collection of essays on a range of themes centred on 1970s Australia through the lens of gender and sexuality studies. You can read my published chapter, Subversive stitches: Needlework as activism in Australian feminist art of the 1970s online and in hard-copy by ordering the book from ANU Press. Thank you to ANU Press for the opportunity to contribute my writing to this excellent collection of essays. |
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November 2018:
Stitching Yarns curated by Ursula Halpin is on show at Art Pod, 25 Pirie Street, Adelaide. I have two pieces in this exhibition which features some other really talented and interesting SA artists using textiles in their work. Makeda Duong's work (below) is a particular highlight for me with her incredibly intricate embroidery on cotton hankies, which detail the lived experience of the embodiment of gynaecological pain. My artwork, Memoriam for a Curtain, is made from recycled lace curtain dyed with onion skins and embroidered with cross stitch. The embroidered text reads 'I am here.' This piece is a memoriam to the ghosts of women who traverse the domestic space, ghosts who have done work that has historically gone unrecorded. This 'women's work' is not only physical labour but can be seen as a manifestation of women's emotional labour. Their ghosts are present in the absence of their historical recording. The exhibition is on display at Art Pod until January 2019.
Stitching Yarns curated by Ursula Halpin is on show at Art Pod, 25 Pirie Street, Adelaide. I have two pieces in this exhibition which features some other really talented and interesting SA artists using textiles in their work. Makeda Duong's work (below) is a particular highlight for me with her incredibly intricate embroidery on cotton hankies, which detail the lived experience of the embodiment of gynaecological pain. My artwork, Memoriam for a Curtain, is made from recycled lace curtain dyed with onion skins and embroidered with cross stitch. The embroidered text reads 'I am here.' This piece is a memoriam to the ghosts of women who traverse the domestic space, ghosts who have done work that has historically gone unrecorded. This 'women's work' is not only physical labour but can be seen as a manifestation of women's emotional labour. Their ghosts are present in the absence of their historical recording. The exhibition is on display at Art Pod until January 2019.
Lizzy Emery, Memoriam for a Curtain, embroidery on cotton, onion skin dye on lace, 2018.
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Makeda Duong, Provoked Vestibular Vulvodynia, embroidery on cotton, 2017.
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May 2017:
I am very excited to be involved with an upcoming exhibition and publication, Cut Cloth: Contemporary Textiles and Feminism, curated by Sarah-Joy Ford. This UK based project involves an exhibition of contemporary textiles focusing on the connection between textiles and feminism, as well as series of workshops, and a publication. My article for the publication, From Stitching by Candlelight to Crafting Online, examines the histories of women's domestic needlework in connection with digital culture and online space. I feel very humbled to be involved with this project and to be featured alongside such illustrious scholars as Christine Checinska, Janis Jeffries and Alexandra Kokoli. The project has been supported by funding from Arts Council England. The full article will be available online from July 10th through the Cut Cloth website. You can read the abstract below...
I am very excited to be involved with an upcoming exhibition and publication, Cut Cloth: Contemporary Textiles and Feminism, curated by Sarah-Joy Ford. This UK based project involves an exhibition of contemporary textiles focusing on the connection between textiles and feminism, as well as series of workshops, and a publication. My article for the publication, From Stitching by Candlelight to Crafting Online, examines the histories of women's domestic needlework in connection with digital culture and online space. I feel very humbled to be involved with this project and to be featured alongside such illustrious scholars as Christine Checinska, Janis Jeffries and Alexandra Kokoli. The project has been supported by funding from Arts Council England. The full article will be available online from July 10th through the Cut Cloth website. You can read the abstract below...
From Stitching by Candlelight to Crafting Online: Textiles, self-representation and continuing histories of subversive stitches.
In her seminal 1984 text The Subversive Stitch Rozsika Parker famously chronicled the history of women’s needlework as a tool of subversive communication used to covertly challenge patriarchal domination. While these subversions in earlier histories of women’s needlework were created in private, domestic spaces, contemporary feminist textiles now utilises online space, the most public of platforms, to craft dialogue around a range of political issues. Combining what have traditionally been domestic activities with open, public platforms of discourse, contemporary feminist textiles can be seen as a continuation of the subversive practices of past generations of women who created transgressive, poignant communications in private. Contemporary subversive textiles are not simply a ‘revival’ of past traditions, but rather it can be understood as a continuation of a long thread in the history of women’s subversive stitching. This article positions current feminist textile practice as a new stitch in a continuing narrative of women’s crafty-work. Through an examination of contemporary textile artists, from the UK and Australia, the article explores how feminist textiles are used within online space to represent issues of diversity, body positivity and politics of difference. The article reflects upon textiles subversive past and the continuation of textile traditions within new modes of digital communication. The use of platforms such as Instagram, facebook and Twitter now enables feminist textile artists to disseminate the subversive message of textiles to a larger audience than ever before. The history of women’s domestic needlework is brought to life in present day forums of online space, thereby intersecting private and public, tradition and innovation, and critiques the continuing devaluation of ‘women’s work.’ While their foremothers stitched covertly by candlelight, these crafty feminists pay homage to the past by positioning the stitch as a voice of self-representation in the most visible of public platforms. Through online space the subversive voices of the past are kept alive in the crafty-work of contemporary feminist textiles.
In her seminal 1984 text The Subversive Stitch Rozsika Parker famously chronicled the history of women’s needlework as a tool of subversive communication used to covertly challenge patriarchal domination. While these subversions in earlier histories of women’s needlework were created in private, domestic spaces, contemporary feminist textiles now utilises online space, the most public of platforms, to craft dialogue around a range of political issues. Combining what have traditionally been domestic activities with open, public platforms of discourse, contemporary feminist textiles can be seen as a continuation of the subversive practices of past generations of women who created transgressive, poignant communications in private. Contemporary subversive textiles are not simply a ‘revival’ of past traditions, but rather it can be understood as a continuation of a long thread in the history of women’s subversive stitching. This article positions current feminist textile practice as a new stitch in a continuing narrative of women’s crafty-work. Through an examination of contemporary textile artists, from the UK and Australia, the article explores how feminist textiles are used within online space to represent issues of diversity, body positivity and politics of difference. The article reflects upon textiles subversive past and the continuation of textile traditions within new modes of digital communication. The use of platforms such as Instagram, facebook and Twitter now enables feminist textile artists to disseminate the subversive message of textiles to a larger audience than ever before. The history of women’s domestic needlework is brought to life in present day forums of online space, thereby intersecting private and public, tradition and innovation, and critiques the continuing devaluation of ‘women’s work.’ While their foremothers stitched covertly by candlelight, these crafty feminists pay homage to the past by positioning the stitch as a voice of self-representation in the most visible of public platforms. Through online space the subversive voices of the past are kept alive in the crafty-work of contemporary feminist textiles.
April 2017:
I have a new article published in Orlando 02: Discourse. The article reflects on Marie McMahon’s 1979 artwork Lest We Forget the Women Raped in Wars in relationship to the subversive use of textiles as a creative strategy of resistance within the history of women’s domestic labour and in feminist movements. The issue is full of really interesting writing on theme of 'discourse.' I am very excited to be featured in this vibrant independent publication alongside some really excellent writers and artists.
I have a new article published in Orlando 02: Discourse. The article reflects on Marie McMahon’s 1979 artwork Lest We Forget the Women Raped in Wars in relationship to the subversive use of textiles as a creative strategy of resistance within the history of women’s domestic labour and in feminist movements. The issue is full of really interesting writing on theme of 'discourse.' I am very excited to be featured in this vibrant independent publication alongside some really excellent writers and artists.
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March 2017:
How the Personal Became Political: Reassessing Australia's revolutions in gender and sexuality in the 1970's, ANU Gender Institute, March 6-7
This month I traveled to Canberra to attended a marvelous conference at The Australian National University, Gender Institute. How the Personal Became Political was a two day symposium which focused on the revolutionary changes that took place during the 1970's to influence Australian attitudes toward gender and sexuality and important political changes that occurred during Women's Liberation. The two day event was incredibly eye-opening and I met some amazing women who were involved at the front-line of Women's Liberation, gay rights activism and Aboriginal Rights activism during the 1970's and 1980's. These women put their bodies on the line to bring about significant political change to the treatment of women and minorities in Australia during the seventies and listening to their stories of activism and resistance was deeply inspiring. Keynote speaker Elizabeth Reid was the first adviser on women's affairs to ever be appointed to any Australian government, coming to her position as adviser to Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1973. Reid spoke of the deep resistance that was felt in Australia at the time to the very notion of having a woman adviser to the Prime Minister, revealing the hostile climate widely directed toward feminism and Women's Liberation at the time. Reid also revealed the ideological and philosophical debates within the Women's Movement itself, which centered on the discussion of whether feminists should fight outside of the institution to bring change, versus the importance of having women within institutions to activate change. In her role Reid found herself trying to bridge the divide between radical activism which opposed institutions and feminism being brought into institutions to effect change from within. Women's Liberation made the personal political through making the lived experiences of women palpably visible. These women collectively worked to create Australia's first rape crisis centers, domestic violence services, abortion reform and access to thorough medical information which allowed women greater autonomy over their bodies.
It was quite overwhelming to speak at this event among so many experienced and accomplished women, but I was made to feel incredibly supported by this network of activists and scholars. My PhD supervisors Prof. Barbara Baird and Dr.Catherine Kevin, from Flinders University, also spoke at the conference and offered me so much support and comradery over the two days at ANU. This is what I love about the area I work in; the network of generations of feminists from diverse backgrounds supporting and encouraging each other to continue the legacy and gains made by activists and scholars in the past. It feels pretty good to be a part of this big feminist family.
How the Personal Became Political: Reassessing Australia's revolutions in gender and sexuality in the 1970's, ANU Gender Institute, March 6-7
This month I traveled to Canberra to attended a marvelous conference at The Australian National University, Gender Institute. How the Personal Became Political was a two day symposium which focused on the revolutionary changes that took place during the 1970's to influence Australian attitudes toward gender and sexuality and important political changes that occurred during Women's Liberation. The two day event was incredibly eye-opening and I met some amazing women who were involved at the front-line of Women's Liberation, gay rights activism and Aboriginal Rights activism during the 1970's and 1980's. These women put their bodies on the line to bring about significant political change to the treatment of women and minorities in Australia during the seventies and listening to their stories of activism and resistance was deeply inspiring. Keynote speaker Elizabeth Reid was the first adviser on women's affairs to ever be appointed to any Australian government, coming to her position as adviser to Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1973. Reid spoke of the deep resistance that was felt in Australia at the time to the very notion of having a woman adviser to the Prime Minister, revealing the hostile climate widely directed toward feminism and Women's Liberation at the time. Reid also revealed the ideological and philosophical debates within the Women's Movement itself, which centered on the discussion of whether feminists should fight outside of the institution to bring change, versus the importance of having women within institutions to activate change. In her role Reid found herself trying to bridge the divide between radical activism which opposed institutions and feminism being brought into institutions to effect change from within. Women's Liberation made the personal political through making the lived experiences of women palpably visible. These women collectively worked to create Australia's first rape crisis centers, domestic violence services, abortion reform and access to thorough medical information which allowed women greater autonomy over their bodies.
It was quite overwhelming to speak at this event among so many experienced and accomplished women, but I was made to feel incredibly supported by this network of activists and scholars. My PhD supervisors Prof. Barbara Baird and Dr.Catherine Kevin, from Flinders University, also spoke at the conference and offered me so much support and comradery over the two days at ANU. This is what I love about the area I work in; the network of generations of feminists from diverse backgrounds supporting and encouraging each other to continue the legacy and gains made by activists and scholars in the past. It feels pretty good to be a part of this big feminist family.
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December 2016:
The year is coming to a close and there are so many exciting things already happening for next year. I will be presenting a paper at a very exciting conference at the Australian National University in Canberra in March next year. The two day symposium, How the Personal Became Political, will be presented at the ANU Gender Institute and focuses on the revolutionary changes and developments that occurred in gender and sexuality during the 1970's. I will be presenting a paper on 1970's feminist art and the emergence of textiles as an important form of personally driven political activity within Women's Liberation Movement. I am beyond excited to be speaking at this event and to be visiting Canberra for International Women's Day.
Read more about the conference:
http://genderinstitute.anu.edu.au/how-personal-became-political-re-assessing-australias-revolutions-gender-and-sexuality-1970s
The year is coming to a close and there are so many exciting things already happening for next year. I will be presenting a paper at a very exciting conference at the Australian National University in Canberra in March next year. The two day symposium, How the Personal Became Political, will be presented at the ANU Gender Institute and focuses on the revolutionary changes and developments that occurred in gender and sexuality during the 1970's. I will be presenting a paper on 1970's feminist art and the emergence of textiles as an important form of personally driven political activity within Women's Liberation Movement. I am beyond excited to be speaking at this event and to be visiting Canberra for International Women's Day.
Read more about the conference:
http://genderinstitute.anu.edu.au/how-personal-became-political-re-assessing-australias-revolutions-gender-and-sexuality-1970s
November 2016:
Wow it feels like everything is happening at once! The stars are aligning, the good juju is in the air and I am feeling the vibe!
I am super excited to have been invited to submit essays for two different publications next year. The first is for a publication called Cut Cloth: Contemporary Textiles and Feminism to be launched in June 2017. I will have an essay in this book alongside other notable textile theorists. The other publication is a short essay for the next print edition of Orlando. I will be contributing a visual analysis piece on feminist material culture for their issue on discourse. Very excited to be writing for both of these projects.
http://www.weareorlando.co.uk/about.php
Wow it feels like everything is happening at once! The stars are aligning, the good juju is in the air and I am feeling the vibe!
I am super excited to have been invited to submit essays for two different publications next year. The first is for a publication called Cut Cloth: Contemporary Textiles and Feminism to be launched in June 2017. I will have an essay in this book alongside other notable textile theorists. The other publication is a short essay for the next print edition of Orlando. I will be contributing a visual analysis piece on feminist material culture for their issue on discourse. Very excited to be writing for both of these projects.
http://www.weareorlando.co.uk/about.php
October 2016:
The Red Tent Project - 16 Days of Creative Activism, raising awareness and solidarity for disadvantaged women in SA.
Today we launch our creative activist project to raise funds for the incredible organisation Essentials 4 Women SA. They are a grass roots organisation that raises money and collects sanitary products and other essentials for homeless and economically disadvantaged women in South Australia. I am working with my good friend Hanah Williams on a series of creative events that will raise awareness and funds for Essentials 4 Women and the issues faced by women in social disadvantage, with a focus on the very real and personal issue of access to hygiene products for women living on the streets or in economic hardship.
The Red Tent Project - 16 Days of Creative Activism uses music, art, craft and other creative practices to raise awareness and solidarity for South Australia's most vulnerable women. We see creative arts as a really vital way to raise consciousness about the struggle of women's poverty and the connecting issues of violence and institutional misogyny.
Our project correlates with the international campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence. Follow our events as they unfold, and get involved where ever you can!
Follow is here ----> ----> https://www.facebook.com/16CreativeActivism/?fref=ts
The Red Tent Project - 16 Days of Creative Activism, raising awareness and solidarity for disadvantaged women in SA.
Today we launch our creative activist project to raise funds for the incredible organisation Essentials 4 Women SA. They are a grass roots organisation that raises money and collects sanitary products and other essentials for homeless and economically disadvantaged women in South Australia. I am working with my good friend Hanah Williams on a series of creative events that will raise awareness and funds for Essentials 4 Women and the issues faced by women in social disadvantage, with a focus on the very real and personal issue of access to hygiene products for women living on the streets or in economic hardship.
The Red Tent Project - 16 Days of Creative Activism uses music, art, craft and other creative practices to raise awareness and solidarity for South Australia's most vulnerable women. We see creative arts as a really vital way to raise consciousness about the struggle of women's poverty and the connecting issues of violence and institutional misogyny.
Our project correlates with the international campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence. Follow our events as they unfold, and get involved where ever you can!
Follow is here ----> ----> https://www.facebook.com/16CreativeActivism/?fref=ts
September 2016:
Intersections: 2nd Annual Gender and Sexualities Conference, September 19-20, 2016
This was such a wonderful event! Two days of feminist research, activist politics and comradery among those of us working here in SA in gender and sexuality studies. It is so good to have an annual event her in Adelaide that brings together researchers from our three universities, Adelaide Uni, UniSA and Flinders University. We were joined by some incredible speakers from interstate including Quinn Eades and Michael Flood who spoke about their research practices and how academics can use their work as activism. I came away from the two days feeling incredibly inspired.
Intersections: 2nd Annual Gender and Sexualities Conference, September 19-20, 2016
This was such a wonderful event! Two days of feminist research, activist politics and comradery among those of us working here in SA in gender and sexuality studies. It is so good to have an annual event her in Adelaide that brings together researchers from our three universities, Adelaide Uni, UniSA and Flinders University. We were joined by some incredible speakers from interstate including Quinn Eades and Michael Flood who spoke about their research practices and how academics can use their work as activism. I came away from the two days feeling incredibly inspired.
August 2016:
No Goddesses, No Mistresses...
In my line of work I get to look at some pretty interesting artifacts from the material culture of feminist history. At the moment my favourite artifact, which no longer exists in a physical state, is a small embroidery created by Frances Phoenix and Marie McMahon during the time that they worked on Judy Chicago's seminal art installation The Dinner Party, 1978-'79. Chicago's work was meant to be a collaborative project that brought women together to write unacknowledged women back into the history of art. The artwork consists of a dinner table setting with place mats made for women of significance, a re imagining of women in history (Chicago's choice of women for The Dinner Party has itself been critiqued for focusing heavily on white European women). The large scale project saw Chicago call upon the collective input of women from around the globe to help construct the monumental project. Women came from all over the world to participate with the expectation that the project would be a collective celebration of women's creativity and would also break away from patriarchal art history. Australian feminist artists Frances Phoenix and Marie McMahon were among the many women who participated in Chicago's project. However what they found upon their involvement was that the project was overseen by a hierarchical approach by Chicago who treated the volunteers not as equals in a collective but as merely workers to bring the artwork to fruition. Phoenix speaking of the project said, 'we weren't used to this sort of very authoritarian type of feminism, we were used to doing things as a collective effort.' In a subversive act of defiance against what they saw as a dominant/subordinate structure of creative labour, Phoenix and McMahon created a small embroidery of their own. The embroidery reads, 'No Goddesses, No Mistresses,' a play on the anarchist phrase, 'No God, No Master.' The embroidery critiqued what many women saw as Chicago's use of patriarchal structure to work with the volunteers, rather than employing less hierarchical methods of working as a collective. Phoenix and McMahon were themselves closely involved with anarchist-feminist activism in Australia, at odds with Chicago's authoritarian way of running the project. The small embroidery was sewn into the underside of one of The Dinner Party's cloth panels, a small act of rebellion within the project. The embroidery itself was signed with the insignia of a feminine sign with an 'A' in the circle, a symbol of anarchist-feminism. Phoenix and McMahon's subversive embroidery was however discovered by Chicago, removed and discarded. It remains however a potent and subversively humorous middle finger to rigid power dynamics that are still found within the creative arts.
No Goddesses, No Mistresses...
In my line of work I get to look at some pretty interesting artifacts from the material culture of feminist history. At the moment my favourite artifact, which no longer exists in a physical state, is a small embroidery created by Frances Phoenix and Marie McMahon during the time that they worked on Judy Chicago's seminal art installation The Dinner Party, 1978-'79. Chicago's work was meant to be a collaborative project that brought women together to write unacknowledged women back into the history of art. The artwork consists of a dinner table setting with place mats made for women of significance, a re imagining of women in history (Chicago's choice of women for The Dinner Party has itself been critiqued for focusing heavily on white European women). The large scale project saw Chicago call upon the collective input of women from around the globe to help construct the monumental project. Women came from all over the world to participate with the expectation that the project would be a collective celebration of women's creativity and would also break away from patriarchal art history. Australian feminist artists Frances Phoenix and Marie McMahon were among the many women who participated in Chicago's project. However what they found upon their involvement was that the project was overseen by a hierarchical approach by Chicago who treated the volunteers not as equals in a collective but as merely workers to bring the artwork to fruition. Phoenix speaking of the project said, 'we weren't used to this sort of very authoritarian type of feminism, we were used to doing things as a collective effort.' In a subversive act of defiance against what they saw as a dominant/subordinate structure of creative labour, Phoenix and McMahon created a small embroidery of their own. The embroidery reads, 'No Goddesses, No Mistresses,' a play on the anarchist phrase, 'No God, No Master.' The embroidery critiqued what many women saw as Chicago's use of patriarchal structure to work with the volunteers, rather than employing less hierarchical methods of working as a collective. Phoenix and McMahon were themselves closely involved with anarchist-feminist activism in Australia, at odds with Chicago's authoritarian way of running the project. The small embroidery was sewn into the underside of one of The Dinner Party's cloth panels, a small act of rebellion within the project. The embroidery itself was signed with the insignia of a feminine sign with an 'A' in the circle, a symbol of anarchist-feminism. Phoenix and McMahon's subversive embroidery was however discovered by Chicago, removed and discarded. It remains however a potent and subversively humorous middle finger to rigid power dynamics that are still found within the creative arts.
July 2016:
I had a great time at The European Conference on the Arts and Humanities in Brighton, England this year. The conference theme of Justice brought together a range of speakers from diverse areas including education, social policy, human rights, grass-roots activism and the creative arts. It was so informative to hear from a range of presenters from around the world and I was deeply moved to hear of the issues effecting other communities globally. I was especially pleased to meet so many strong, articulate women working for social justice and change. I am always so touched to hear from other women, their lives, their struggles and it is at the same time painful to see how the fight for women's justice is so palpable around the world. We have to keep this shared goal of eliminating the global oppression of women in mind and not allow cultural differences from keeping us from working together. It is only through unity that we can activate serious change in our world.
I had a great time at The European Conference on the Arts and Humanities in Brighton, England this year. The conference theme of Justice brought together a range of speakers from diverse areas including education, social policy, human rights, grass-roots activism and the creative arts. It was so informative to hear from a range of presenters from around the world and I was deeply moved to hear of the issues effecting other communities globally. I was especially pleased to meet so many strong, articulate women working for social justice and change. I am always so touched to hear from other women, their lives, their struggles and it is at the same time painful to see how the fight for women's justice is so palpable around the world. We have to keep this shared goal of eliminating the global oppression of women in mind and not allow cultural differences from keeping us from working together. It is only through unity that we can activate serious change in our world.
July 2016:
In just over a week I will be in Brighton, UK, to present at the The European Conference on the Arts and Humanities. The conference theme is Justice, with speakers from a variety of different disciplines presenting thought provoking papers on the topic of social justice. My paper will focus on radical crafting as a manifestation of activism within contemporary feminism. Read the abstract for my paper below...
Crafting Justice: The radical potential of women’s crafts as a vehicle for challenging social injustice and inequality
Throughout history textile crafts have served an important role in the formation of bonds and collective community among women. In times of oppression by dominant patriarchal culture activities of crafting have been used in subversive and liberating ways for women to express themselves, when other forms of public expression have been inaccessible. Challenging the stereotypical idea that crafts are merely domestic ‘women’s work,’ this paper will discuss how crafts have allowed women to construct alternate forms of discourse which can critique manifestations of social injustice and inequality. Through a feminist methodology this paper will argue that crafting can be radicalised when women use it to express personal and political defiance against oppression. The paper will discuss a range of examples of contemporary ‘radical crafting’ such as subversive knitting, public ‘yarn bombing’ and politically situated embroidery. These acts of crafting are often positioned in public space or on the very front line of political protest and activist demonstration. Such acts reveal that crafting, rather than being merely domestic work, has a radical and liberating potential in the face of injustice and oppression. The paper will show how through acts of politically motivated crafting women can reclaim space, language and knowledge which has been historically taken from them. I situate crafting as a potentially liberating act, one which can give voice to marginalised and oppressed members of a community in the fight for social justice.
In just over a week I will be in Brighton, UK, to present at the The European Conference on the Arts and Humanities. The conference theme is Justice, with speakers from a variety of different disciplines presenting thought provoking papers on the topic of social justice. My paper will focus on radical crafting as a manifestation of activism within contemporary feminism. Read the abstract for my paper below...
Crafting Justice: The radical potential of women’s crafts as a vehicle for challenging social injustice and inequality
Throughout history textile crafts have served an important role in the formation of bonds and collective community among women. In times of oppression by dominant patriarchal culture activities of crafting have been used in subversive and liberating ways for women to express themselves, when other forms of public expression have been inaccessible. Challenging the stereotypical idea that crafts are merely domestic ‘women’s work,’ this paper will discuss how crafts have allowed women to construct alternate forms of discourse which can critique manifestations of social injustice and inequality. Through a feminist methodology this paper will argue that crafting can be radicalised when women use it to express personal and political defiance against oppression. The paper will discuss a range of examples of contemporary ‘radical crafting’ such as subversive knitting, public ‘yarn bombing’ and politically situated embroidery. These acts of crafting are often positioned in public space or on the very front line of political protest and activist demonstration. Such acts reveal that crafting, rather than being merely domestic work, has a radical and liberating potential in the face of injustice and oppression. The paper will show how through acts of politically motivated crafting women can reclaim space, language and knowledge which has been historically taken from them. I situate crafting as a potentially liberating act, one which can give voice to marginalised and oppressed members of a community in the fight for social justice.
Knitting Nannas Against Gas, protest outside New South Wales parliament, June 25th 2016.
June 2016 - Research interest...
"Goodbye to all That False Instruction!" :: The Anarchist Feminist Poster Collective
"Goodbye to all That False Instruction!" :: The Anarchist Feminist Poster Collective
The Anarchist Feminist Poster Collective (AFPC) are one of the most interesting groups to emerge from within the Australian feminist art movement of the 1970's. The AFPC were a group of feminist activists based in Adelaide South Australia in the late 70's to early 1980's, who used printmaking as part of their activist project. Combining the core principles of Women's Liberation with the anti-hierarchical philosophy of anarchism AFPC produced an array of posters, murals and collaborative projects which merged art and politics with humour and subversion. While the AFPC has not been as well known as their east coast comrades, such as the Tin Sheds and Earthworks print collectives based in Sydney, their work as an art/activist collective had a profound impact on South Australian Women's Liberation and the Women's Art Movement (WAM) in Adelaide. Their particular focus on anarchist-feminist collectivism rejected individual leaders in favour of collaboration; in contrast to the historical positioning of singular male 'genius' in the canon of Western art history. Working as a collective, AFPC challenged these myths of individual genius in art and demonstrated the transformative power of collective activism as art. The collective itself was not solely comprised of professional artists but was made up of artists, activists, anarchists, social reformers and women who were just at the beginning of their feminist awakenings. As many women in Australia during the 1970's and 80's struggled to find a place where they fit within male dominated art schools, collectives like the AFPC opened a space where they could be included. In these collectives untrained (in the art curriculum sense of 'training') female artists were not treated as amateurs but as equals. The Anarchist Feminist Poster Collective encouraged women to learn from each other, to speak openly without judgement and to create art that would strengthen the feminist cause through solidarity.
A number of artworks by The Anarchist Feminist Poster Collective were included in an excellent exhibition, Mother Nature is a Lesbian: Political Printmaking in South Australia 1970's-1980's, at The Flinders University Art Museum in Adelaide in 2014. Read more about the exhibition here in Stephanie Radock's review in Artlink: https://www.artlink.com.au/articles/4198/mother-nature-is-a-lesbian-political-printmaking-i
A number of artworks by The Anarchist Feminist Poster Collective were included in an excellent exhibition, Mother Nature is a Lesbian: Political Printmaking in South Australia 1970's-1980's, at The Flinders University Art Museum in Adelaide in 2014. Read more about the exhibition here in Stephanie Radock's review in Artlink: https://www.artlink.com.au/articles/4198/mother-nature-is-a-lesbian-political-printmaking-i
"Mother Nature is a Lesbian," The Anarchist Feminist Poster
Collective, 1981, screenprint.
April 2016:
Recently I have been thinking a lot about language; our reliance upon it as a source of classification and in turn its use as a tool of systemic oppression. Through language we come to define ourselves, but equally to define that which is other. At a recent feminist reading group meeting we read the introduction to Dale Spender's seminal 1980 text Man Made Language (if you haven't read it, run and get a copy!). I had read this text a few years ago when first at university and re-reading it reiterated again just how entirely our construction of reality is dependent upon our understanding of language. In Man Made Language Spender writes, "Language is our means of classifying and ordering the world: our means of manipulating reality. In its structure and in its use we bring our world into realisation, and if it is inherently inaccurate, then we are misled." Feminists have long been accused of 'wasting time' talking about male-centered language when there are more important issues to address. But what is more important than the very basis of how we understand the world, each other and reality? That is, through language.
In my new series of embroideries I am exploring the inherent danger of language as the tool through which we perceive reality. For women in particular language has historically been taken from them, kept silent as Hélène Cixous has written, "driven from ourselves." And for Cixous social structures and the structures of language are inextricably linked, "poetically political, politically poetic." Silence as the absence of language is something I am really interested in; the silences forced upon women and marginalised groups throughout history. What does this silence speak?
Recently I have been thinking a lot about language; our reliance upon it as a source of classification and in turn its use as a tool of systemic oppression. Through language we come to define ourselves, but equally to define that which is other. At a recent feminist reading group meeting we read the introduction to Dale Spender's seminal 1980 text Man Made Language (if you haven't read it, run and get a copy!). I had read this text a few years ago when first at university and re-reading it reiterated again just how entirely our construction of reality is dependent upon our understanding of language. In Man Made Language Spender writes, "Language is our means of classifying and ordering the world: our means of manipulating reality. In its structure and in its use we bring our world into realisation, and if it is inherently inaccurate, then we are misled." Feminists have long been accused of 'wasting time' talking about male-centered language when there are more important issues to address. But what is more important than the very basis of how we understand the world, each other and reality? That is, through language.
In my new series of embroideries I am exploring the inherent danger of language as the tool through which we perceive reality. For women in particular language has historically been taken from them, kept silent as Hélène Cixous has written, "driven from ourselves." And for Cixous social structures and the structures of language are inextricably linked, "poetically political, politically poetic." Silence as the absence of language is something I am really interested in; the silences forced upon women and marginalised groups throughout history. What does this silence speak?
Silence (Man Made Language), embroidery on vintage sheet, 2016.
April 2016
The Australian Women's History Network 2016 conference Intersections in History was an excellent event that brought together scholars from a diverse range of areas of scholarship. I was so thrilled to speak at this event in Melbourne and it certainly gave me A LOT to think about. I am always so inspired to hear from other academics working in the field of feminism and was genuinely blown away by the quality and depth of scholarship presented. Intersectional feminism in particular is such an important and timely topic.
Thanks for having me Melbourne! <3
The Australian Women's History Network 2016 conference Intersections in History was an excellent event that brought together scholars from a diverse range of areas of scholarship. I was so thrilled to speak at this event in Melbourne and it certainly gave me A LOT to think about. I am always so inspired to hear from other academics working in the field of feminism and was genuinely blown away by the quality and depth of scholarship presented. Intersectional feminism in particular is such an important and timely topic.
Thanks for having me Melbourne! <3
February 2016
Another year is upon us and already getting busy with new projects and adventures!
I am excited to be speaking at this years Australian Women's History Network conference in Melbourne March 31-April 1. The theme is Intersections in History with a particular focus on intersectionality in feminism. You can read my conference abstract below. This is bound to be an exciting, lively and stimulating conference. Check out the link for more details... http://www.auswhn.org.au/awhn-conference
Another year is upon us and already getting busy with new projects and adventures!
I am excited to be speaking at this years Australian Women's History Network conference in Melbourne March 31-April 1. The theme is Intersections in History with a particular focus on intersectionality in feminism. You can read my conference abstract below. This is bound to be an exciting, lively and stimulating conference. Check out the link for more details... http://www.auswhn.org.au/awhn-conference
December 2015
The Magic of Indigo, Adventuress Textiles, 116 Lipson Street, Port Adelaide
This month marks the beginning of a new collaboration with Adventuress Textiles in Port Adelaide, an exciting new Textiles shop and gallery in the heart of the Port. I will be running two new Indigo and shibori workshops in December and am now developing new workshops for 2016. Adventuress is a fantastic enterprise and I am thrilled that we are developing a working relationship for bringing the magic of Textiles to people.
The Magic of Indigo, Adventuress Textiles, 116 Lipson Street, Port Adelaide
This month marks the beginning of a new collaboration with Adventuress Textiles in Port Adelaide, an exciting new Textiles shop and gallery in the heart of the Port. I will be running two new Indigo and shibori workshops in December and am now developing new workshops for 2016. Adventuress is a fantastic enterprise and I am thrilled that we are developing a working relationship for bringing the magic of Textiles to people.
Diverse Feminisms
Curated by Lizzy Emery and Lauren Mustillo
Artists: Makeda Duong, Audrey Emery, Alyshia Eming, Amy Herrmann, Nonna Reckless
Westbar, 58-60 North Terrace, Adelaide
September 4th - 30th
Curated by Lizzy Emery and Lauren Mustillo
Artists: Makeda Duong, Audrey Emery, Alyshia Eming, Amy Herrmann, Nonna Reckless
Westbar, 58-60 North Terrace, Adelaide
September 4th - 30th
Diverse Feminisms presents the work of five emerging artists whose work each explores feminist politics in a contemporary context. While the 'F' word is often used as a generalised term by mainstream media and politics, as this exhibition aims to highlight feminist identity encompasses a diverse array of meanings and practices.
Upcoming Spring Workshops with Lizzy Emery at Pepper Street Arts Centre
Bookings can be made directly by email to: [email protected] or complete a contact form on this website
Both workshops are held at Pepper Street Arts Centre, 558 Magill Road, Adelaide
Bountiful Baskets, Saturday September 5th, 2:30-4:30pm.
Learn to make a simple coiled basket using a range of beautiful plant materials including natural raffia and native plants. This workshop will allow you to make your own small basket, or range of baskets, that can be decorated in a personal style with decorative materials including beads, shells, feathers and fabrics. This fun, relaxed and interactive class will give you the skills to explore basketry with experienced artist and lecturer Lizzy Emery. The class is suitable for all levels of experience including beginners. Cost includes main basketry materials, weaving needle and light afternoon tea.
$45 per person, main materials included for making baskets, plus small list of suggested extra materials.
The Magic of Indigo, Saturday September 19th, 2:30-5:00pm
Indigo is an ancient dye colour that has been a source of inspiration for thousands of years across the world. Explore this fascinating dye in this fun and relaxed workshop working with experienced artist and lecturer Lizzy Emery. You will have the chance to explore a real indigo dye vat and learn to dye cloth printed with shibori tie-dye patterns.
This workshop is suitable for all levels of experience including beginners.
$70 per person, cost includes all dye materials and light afternoon tea, a supply of cotton or silk needs to be provided by students.
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July 2015:
I've seen London, I've seen France... I had the amazing experience of visiting London (and Paris for four days!) this month for The Tenth Annual Conference on the Arts in Society as well as for a study research trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum Clothworkers's Centre to visit Elizabeth Parker's 1830 cross stitch text. It was an incredible trip full of wonderful experiences, presenting my research on nineteenth century women's embroidery was an absolute highlight of my career as was being able to see Parker's work up close after more than two years of studying this incredible artefact. |
Above: German embroidery sampler, 1500's, The Clothworker's Centre
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Above: Viewing Elizabeth Parker's 1830 stitched text at the Victoria and Albert Museum Clothworker's Centre in Olympia Kensington, London
Below: Detail photos of two of the other embroidery artefacts I viewed at Clothworkers both produced in the 1800's
Below: Detail photos of two of the other embroidery artefacts I viewed at Clothworkers both produced in the 1800's
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June 2015:
Being There, Urban Cow Studio, June 4th-27th 2015
Exhibition is now open at Urban Cow! Excellent opening night, thanks to all who came along x
Being There, Urban Cow Studio, June 4th-27th 2015
Exhibition is now open at Urban Cow! Excellent opening night, thanks to all who came along x
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Gallery install photographs of exhibition, image credit Alyshia Eming
Top image: Morning, hand-stitched, leaf cocoons, found leaves, cotton thread. Shedding, onion and eucalyptus dyes on silk.
Above left: Heartbeats, rust dye, batik wax resist pattern, silk. Above right: All That is Solid (River of Wax), indigo, wax, silk, cotton
Top image: Morning, hand-stitched, leaf cocoons, found leaves, cotton thread. Shedding, onion and eucalyptus dyes on silk.
Above left: Heartbeats, rust dye, batik wax resist pattern, silk. Above right: All That is Solid (River of Wax), indigo, wax, silk, cotton
Developing work for Being There, opening June 4th at Urban Cow Studio
This is a piece about love and loss
We, everything, autumn,
leaf, cotton thread and found twigs
This is a piece about love and loss
We, everything, autumn,
leaf, cotton thread and found twigs
April 2015:
The invitations for my solo exhibition Being There have arrived! Make sure to save the date. Thursday June 4th, 6pm at Urban Cow Studio, 11 Frome Street, Adelaide. The exhibition will run until June 27th.
February 2015:
A new year of Textiles at the University of South Australia
Textiles as a subject in University institutions often has to defend its right to existence among the canonical disciplines of painting, photography and sculpture. I know from conversations with other Textile practitioners from around the world that this is not exclusively an issue of Australian universities but that it is unfortunately an issue facing Textiles as a field of scholarship across the globe. I have been fortunate enough to witness the rebirth of Textiles as an elective subject at the university where I have taught two Textile courses since 2014. These classes offer students the opportunity to work with traditional Textile techniques in a contemporary setting and to create artworks which are informed by textiles history while also relating to current Visual Arts discourse. Both of the courses I have been teaching, Fibre and Structure, and, Print/Dye, have been filled to capacity (over-capacity actually!) and I have found students to be engaged and enthusiastic about seeing textiles back in the Art School program. Textiles as a discipline has much to offer Art School programs and hopefully this renewed interest in it at the University of South Australia may herald the return of its presence on a larger scale. Watch this space.
A new year of Textiles at the University of South Australia
Textiles as a subject in University institutions often has to defend its right to existence among the canonical disciplines of painting, photography and sculpture. I know from conversations with other Textile practitioners from around the world that this is not exclusively an issue of Australian universities but that it is unfortunately an issue facing Textiles as a field of scholarship across the globe. I have been fortunate enough to witness the rebirth of Textiles as an elective subject at the university where I have taught two Textile courses since 2014. These classes offer students the opportunity to work with traditional Textile techniques in a contemporary setting and to create artworks which are informed by textiles history while also relating to current Visual Arts discourse. Both of the courses I have been teaching, Fibre and Structure, and, Print/Dye, have been filled to capacity (over-capacity actually!) and I have found students to be engaged and enthusiastic about seeing textiles back in the Art School program. Textiles as a discipline has much to offer Art School programs and hopefully this renewed interest in it at the University of South Australia may herald the return of its presence on a larger scale. Watch this space.
A flurry of colour in the Textiles studio at University of South Australia, School of Art
Textiles: Print/Dye course using experimental dyeing techniques
Textiles: Print/Dye course using experimental dyeing techniques
January 2015:
The Ballad of Elizabeth Parker: The Production of Selfhood in Nineteenth Century Women's Embroidery
Presentation for The Tenth International Conference on the Arts in Society, London UK, July 22-24 2015
A new year is upon us! And 2015 is already set to be a busy one for Lizzy Emery inc. Lots of curatorial projects in the works, plus lecturing and the very exciting news that I will be presenting a conference paper at The Tenth International Conference on the Arts in Society at Imperial College London, July 22-24. The paper will be based on my recent research project examining women's embroidery in the nineteenth century and how needlework served women as an important form of selfhood and communication. The artefact that has most intrigued me over the past year has been an embroidered text produced by a young English woman, Elizabeth Parker, in 1830. This textile object is a haunting testimony of the tragic events of one young woman's life and a testament to the social conditions and ideology of nineteenth century society that contained and oppressed women. You can read my conference abstract at the publisher's website http://www.cgpublisher.com/conferences/335/proposals/369/index_html and read more about Elizabeth Parker at the Victoria and Albert Museum website: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/sampler/. I am so thrilled to be given this opportunity to present my research in London!
The Ballad of Elizabeth Parker: The Production of Selfhood in Nineteenth Century Women's Embroidery
Presentation for The Tenth International Conference on the Arts in Society, London UK, July 22-24 2015
A new year is upon us! And 2015 is already set to be a busy one for Lizzy Emery inc. Lots of curatorial projects in the works, plus lecturing and the very exciting news that I will be presenting a conference paper at The Tenth International Conference on the Arts in Society at Imperial College London, July 22-24. The paper will be based on my recent research project examining women's embroidery in the nineteenth century and how needlework served women as an important form of selfhood and communication. The artefact that has most intrigued me over the past year has been an embroidered text produced by a young English woman, Elizabeth Parker, in 1830. This textile object is a haunting testimony of the tragic events of one young woman's life and a testament to the social conditions and ideology of nineteenth century society that contained and oppressed women. You can read my conference abstract at the publisher's website http://www.cgpublisher.com/conferences/335/proposals/369/index_html and read more about Elizabeth Parker at the Victoria and Albert Museum website: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/sampler/. I am so thrilled to be given this opportunity to present my research in London!
Above: Elizabeth Parker's embroidered text, a confessional autobiography which details traumatic events in her young life and her plunge into suicidal depression by the age of seventeen, c. 1830, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
December 2014:
Being There: An exhibition of new textiles and installation by Lizzy Emery, Urban Cow Studio, June 2015
I am very excited to announce that I will be having a solo exhibition at the fabulous Urban Cow Studio in June of 2015. This will be a wonderful opportunity to work on a new body of work and to experiment with all sorts of exciting materials. The working title of the exhibition is Being There and will particluarly focus on exploring the experiences I have had working as a curator in residence at The Women's and Children's hospital this year. Through a slection of new textiles and installation I will aim to create a narrative inspired by conversations, experiences and memories I have taken away from my time working at the hospital.
Image below: The Inevitable Impermenance of all Things, developing work for Being There to be exhibited at Urban Cow Studio, June 2015
Being There: An exhibition of new textiles and installation by Lizzy Emery, Urban Cow Studio, June 2015
I am very excited to announce that I will be having a solo exhibition at the fabulous Urban Cow Studio in June of 2015. This will be a wonderful opportunity to work on a new body of work and to experiment with all sorts of exciting materials. The working title of the exhibition is Being There and will particluarly focus on exploring the experiences I have had working as a curator in residence at The Women's and Children's hospital this year. Through a slection of new textiles and installation I will aim to create a narrative inspired by conversations, experiences and memories I have taken away from my time working at the hospital.
Image below: The Inevitable Impermenance of all Things, developing work for Being There to be exhibited at Urban Cow Studio, June 2015
December 2014:
The Healing Cloth: An exhibition of contemporary textiles at The Women's and Children's Hospital
My final curatorial project at the Women's and Children's Hospital for 2014 has just gone on display in Gallery B, and runs until the end of January. The Healing Cloth features work by The Chopped Collective, a group of emerging artists who specialise in creating and promoting contemporary textile based artwork in South Australia. The artists featured in The Healing Cloth are; Laurence Coffrant, Makeda Duong, Jessica Gore, Alice Saltmarsh, Jess White and myself, Lizzy Emery.
The Healing Cloth, curatorial statement by Lizzy Emery
Like a hand that always touches, cloth is a constant presence in our lives; from birth, to death we are in perpetual contact with this most humble of materials. Our earliest of experiences with cloth comes with being wrapped in swaddling after birth. Here cloth creates a shield which mimics the protective space of the womb. This relationship with cloth established in infancy follows us right through to rituals of dying and grief; even in death we are wrapped in cloth during burial. Cloth is a witness to our lives, a silent figure always there but so often overlooked. This exhibition of contemporary textiles explores the relationship between cloth and notions of healing and protection, examining how cloth heals both metaphorically and physically. These healing attributes of cloth may be found within the material qualities itself or it may be the rhythmic sensation of making cloth and textile objects which illicit a sense of comfort, grounding and healing for the maker. Each artist has responded to this theme in a personally responsive way to present artworks which speak of their own relationship with cloth and textiles making.
The Healing Cloth: An exhibition of contemporary textiles at The Women's and Children's Hospital
My final curatorial project at the Women's and Children's Hospital for 2014 has just gone on display in Gallery B, and runs until the end of January. The Healing Cloth features work by The Chopped Collective, a group of emerging artists who specialise in creating and promoting contemporary textile based artwork in South Australia. The artists featured in The Healing Cloth are; Laurence Coffrant, Makeda Duong, Jessica Gore, Alice Saltmarsh, Jess White and myself, Lizzy Emery.
The Healing Cloth, curatorial statement by Lizzy Emery
Like a hand that always touches, cloth is a constant presence in our lives; from birth, to death we are in perpetual contact with this most humble of materials. Our earliest of experiences with cloth comes with being wrapped in swaddling after birth. Here cloth creates a shield which mimics the protective space of the womb. This relationship with cloth established in infancy follows us right through to rituals of dying and grief; even in death we are wrapped in cloth during burial. Cloth is a witness to our lives, a silent figure always there but so often overlooked. This exhibition of contemporary textiles explores the relationship between cloth and notions of healing and protection, examining how cloth heals both metaphorically and physically. These healing attributes of cloth may be found within the material qualities itself or it may be the rhythmic sensation of making cloth and textile objects which illicit a sense of comfort, grounding and healing for the maker. Each artist has responded to this theme in a personally responsive way to present artworks which speak of their own relationship with cloth and textiles making.
Jessica Gore, 'Cocooned Flight,' felt, ribbon, hand-sewn, 2014
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Alice Saltmarsh, 'Prima Ballerina,' recycled cloth, coiled, 2014
Laurence Coffrant, 'Tactile Transformations,' raffia and yarn, coiled, 2014
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November 2014:
Sixth Annual Arts in Health Conference, The Art of Good Health and Wellbeing,
The National Gallery of Victoria, November 11-13
I got to spend a week in Melbourne learning more about arts in health with visits to the Royal Children's Hospital and presented a joint paper at the Sixth Annual Arts in Health Conference at the NGV with my mentor and collegue Jill Newman. Our presentation looked at the Women's and Children's Arts in Health Program and the role of art exhibitions in the hospital space. I had the chance to speak about the projects I have curated at the hospital this year, which also allowed me to promote some amazing South Australian artistic talent to a wide audience. The conference was a fantastic opportunity to network with other arts/health professionals and to see how our work at WCHF fits in at a national and international platform. I met some really interesting and inspiring speakers from really diverse backgrounds and came away feeling really validated that the work we are doing at the Children's Hospital is worthwhile and meaningful.
Sixth Annual Arts in Health Conference, The Art of Good Health and Wellbeing,
The National Gallery of Victoria, November 11-13
I got to spend a week in Melbourne learning more about arts in health with visits to the Royal Children's Hospital and presented a joint paper at the Sixth Annual Arts in Health Conference at the NGV with my mentor and collegue Jill Newman. Our presentation looked at the Women's and Children's Arts in Health Program and the role of art exhibitions in the hospital space. I had the chance to speak about the projects I have curated at the hospital this year, which also allowed me to promote some amazing South Australian artistic talent to a wide audience. The conference was a fantastic opportunity to network with other arts/health professionals and to see how our work at WCHF fits in at a national and international platform. I met some really interesting and inspiring speakers from really diverse backgrounds and came away feeling really validated that the work we are doing at the Children's Hospital is worthwhile and meaningful.
October 2014:
This month I am curating the work of Adelaide emerging artists Alyshia Eming and Kacey Boxall in their joint exhibition Animalia in Gallery C at Women's and Children's Hospital. Coinciding with October's World Animal Day, Animalia features dreamy scenes of creatures in both digital and traditional illustration. We are sure the exhibition will bring a smile to the faces of hospital patients, families and staff and bring joy into what can be a stressful environment. The exhibition runs until the end of November.
This month I am curating the work of Adelaide emerging artists Alyshia Eming and Kacey Boxall in their joint exhibition Animalia in Gallery C at Women's and Children's Hospital. Coinciding with October's World Animal Day, Animalia features dreamy scenes of creatures in both digital and traditional illustration. We are sure the exhibition will bring a smile to the faces of hospital patients, families and staff and bring joy into what can be a stressful environment. The exhibition runs until the end of November.
Alyshia Eming, Cloud Animal, watercolour on paper, 2014
September 2014:
I have travelled all the way to the US to attend the Textiles Society of America's 14th biennial symposium at The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The conference includes an amazing selection of textile exhibitions held at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Fowler Art Museum and The Craft and Folk Art Museum, a two day global textiles market, behind the scenes curators talks, not to mention an incredibly impressive list of conference speakers from around the world sharing their textile knowledge. This is an amazing opportunity to attend such a stellar event and definitely worth the eighteen hour flight!
In Sunny California for the 14th Biennial Textiles Society of America conference at UCLA
September 2014:
Just got confirmation that my conference abstract for the Art of Good Health and Well-being conference with Jill Newman has been accepted! This is terribly exciting and will be a wonderful opportunity to present on our experiences working together in the Women's and Children's Hospital Arts and Health program. The conference is in November this year at the National Gallery of Victoria and brings together artists and health professionals from both Australia and the international community to share knowledge on arts and health activities. It's going to be a blast! http://artsandhealth.org.au/conferences/the-art-of-good-health-and-wellbeing-melbourne-2014.html
Just got confirmation that my conference abstract for the Art of Good Health and Well-being conference with Jill Newman has been accepted! This is terribly exciting and will be a wonderful opportunity to present on our experiences working together in the Women's and Children's Hospital Arts and Health program. The conference is in November this year at the National Gallery of Victoria and brings together artists and health professionals from both Australia and the international community to share knowledge on arts and health activities. It's going to be a blast! http://artsandhealth.org.au/conferences/the-art-of-good-health-and-wellbeing-melbourne-2014.html
August 2014:
I have a nice little article about my experiences working at The Women's and Children's Hospital featured in the latest Helpmann Academy Update magazine. It was great to be given the opportunity to reflect upon and write about my time at the hospital since being awarded the Helpmann Academy Mentorship back in February. I can't believe how much has happened in that time! Check out the article here... http://www.helpmannacademy.com.au/assets/docs/update/Issue%2084.pdf
Me in curator mode at Women's and Children's Hospital with Cheryl Hutchens embroidery work in Gallery B.
Me in curator mode at Women's and Children's Hospital with Cheryl Hutchens embroidery work in Gallery B.
July 2014:
Throughout July and August The Women's and Children's Hospital will showcase the annual staff exhibition, The Talent Within. The exhibition features artwork created by hospital staff and volunteers from across WCH networks. The Talent Within provides an important opportunity for staff to show the hospital community another side of themselves and to explore their own artistic interests. One artist from the exhibition will be selected to have a solo exhibition of their work next year being mentored by Jill Newman and myself to create a body of work for exhibiting in Gallery C. The Talent Within runs until the end of August and is featured in Gallery A and B at the Women's and Children's Hospital.
Read more about The Talent Within exhibition at the WCH arts in health news page https://www.wchfoundation.org.au/arts-in-health/the-talent-within
Read more about The Talent Within exhibition at the WCH arts in health news page https://www.wchfoundation.org.au/arts-in-health/the-talent-within
June 2014:
I have been given the incredible opportunity to work on a conference presentation with my mentor, WCH Arts Co-ordinator, Jill Newman, to present at the annual Arts and Health Australia conference in November this year, at the National Gallery of Victoria. We will be presenting a paper on our experiences working together through the Helpmann Academy Mentorship program and the curatorial projects we have undertaken this year. I am very excited to be given this opportunity and to be working with such an experienced person as Jill.
June 2014:
We are excitedly gearing up for the Women's and Children's Hospital SALA exhibition, The Talent Within, featuring artwork produced by hospital staff in a range of media. The exhibition showcases the talent of those who work tirelessly within the hospital, giving hospital staff the opportunity to explore their artistic interests which is then shared with the community.
In lieu of The Talent Within being installed in mid-July there are just a few weeks left to see the incredible work of Alice Blanch and Cheryl Hutchens in Gallery A and B of the hospital. Make sure to pop by and have a look before their work comes down.
We are excitedly gearing up for the Women's and Children's Hospital SALA exhibition, The Talent Within, featuring artwork produced by hospital staff in a range of media. The exhibition showcases the talent of those who work tirelessly within the hospital, giving hospital staff the opportunity to explore their artistic interests which is then shared with the community.
In lieu of The Talent Within being installed in mid-July there are just a few weeks left to see the incredible work of Alice Blanch and Cheryl Hutchens in Gallery A and B of the hospital. Make sure to pop by and have a look before their work comes down.
Cheryl Hutchens, Scavenger (White Blood Cell), embroidery - on display in Gallery B
May 2014:
Working with my mentor Jill Newman I have just completed curating my first two exhibitions at the Women's and Children's Hospital as part of the Helpmann Academy gallery mentorship program. It has been an amazing experience working at the hospital and we are really pleased with how Alice Blanch and Cheryl Hutchens work has come together in these two concurrent exhibitions; Cloud Watching and InVvivo: Inside the Living. For the curatorial premise of the exhibition I chose the theme of 'looking out, looking in.' The exhibited artwork represents internal and external experiences of landscape, from inside and outside the body. Alice and Cheryl's exhibitions are on display in the hospital until June 30th in Gallery A and Gallery B.
Looking Out, Looking In: Two exhibitions exploring the experience of landscape
Curatorial statement, Lizzy Emery
Cloud Watching and In Vivo: Inside the Living brings together the work of Alice Blanch and Cheryl Hutchens in two exhibitions featured in Gallery A and Gallery B at The Women's and Children's Hospital. These two emerging Adelaide artists were selected to exhibit simultaneously as their artwork represents the experience of landscape from both an external and internal perspective. The exhibitions highlight our position in the world, both in connection to the larger environment outside us as well as to the world inside our own bodies.
In Gallery A the expansive landscape of nature is brought into view in Alice Blanch’s panoramic photographs and evocative cloud studies in her exhibition Cloud Watching. Using analogue rather than digital photographic techniques, Alice’s photographs of clouds and sprawling landscapes bring the experience of being within the expansiveness of nature into the hospitals’ enclosed space. While, Cheryl Hutchens exhibition in Gallery B, In Vivo: Inside the Living examines the inner landscape of the human body by showing a microscope view of the world within us. Cheryl uses medical drawings as a reference point to methodically embroider the inner world of the body, giving a glimpse into the hidden parts of our bodies which ordinarily go unseen.
Working with my mentor Jill Newman I have just completed curating my first two exhibitions at the Women's and Children's Hospital as part of the Helpmann Academy gallery mentorship program. It has been an amazing experience working at the hospital and we are really pleased with how Alice Blanch and Cheryl Hutchens work has come together in these two concurrent exhibitions; Cloud Watching and InVvivo: Inside the Living. For the curatorial premise of the exhibition I chose the theme of 'looking out, looking in.' The exhibited artwork represents internal and external experiences of landscape, from inside and outside the body. Alice and Cheryl's exhibitions are on display in the hospital until June 30th in Gallery A and Gallery B.
Looking Out, Looking In: Two exhibitions exploring the experience of landscape
Curatorial statement, Lizzy Emery
Cloud Watching and In Vivo: Inside the Living brings together the work of Alice Blanch and Cheryl Hutchens in two exhibitions featured in Gallery A and Gallery B at The Women's and Children's Hospital. These two emerging Adelaide artists were selected to exhibit simultaneously as their artwork represents the experience of landscape from both an external and internal perspective. The exhibitions highlight our position in the world, both in connection to the larger environment outside us as well as to the world inside our own bodies.
In Gallery A the expansive landscape of nature is brought into view in Alice Blanch’s panoramic photographs and evocative cloud studies in her exhibition Cloud Watching. Using analogue rather than digital photographic techniques, Alice’s photographs of clouds and sprawling landscapes bring the experience of being within the expansiveness of nature into the hospitals’ enclosed space. While, Cheryl Hutchens exhibition in Gallery B, In Vivo: Inside the Living examines the inner landscape of the human body by showing a microscope view of the world within us. Cheryl uses medical drawings as a reference point to methodically embroider the inner world of the body, giving a glimpse into the hidden parts of our bodies which ordinarily go unseen.
Alice Blanch, 'Cloud Watching,'
Gallery A. Women's and Children's Hospital
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Cheryl Hutchens, 'In Vivo: Inside the Living,'
Gallery B. Women's and Children's Hospital
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Also have a look at the Women's and Children's Hospital Foundation, Arts in Health website...
https://www.wchfoundation.org.au/arts-in-health/looking-out-looking-in
https://www.wchfoundation.org.au/arts-in-health/looking-out-looking-in
May 2014:
'Everything Is Burning,' cotton embroidery
Present Moment, Adelaide South West Community Centre,
May 8th - June 6th
I am exhibiting embroidery work in a group exhibition at the vibrant Adelaide South West Community Centre until June 6th. Present Moment also features work by Alice Blanch, Audrey Emery, Alyshia Eming, Robyn Finlay and Nonna Reckless, presenting artworks which explore the idea of what it means to be connected to the here and now moment. I feel privileged to work with such an amazing group of women, make sure to drop by the Centre to check it out before it ends!
May 8th - June 6th
I am exhibiting embroidery work in a group exhibition at the vibrant Adelaide South West Community Centre until June 6th. Present Moment also features work by Alice Blanch, Audrey Emery, Alyshia Eming, Robyn Finlay and Nonna Reckless, presenting artworks which explore the idea of what it means to be connected to the here and now moment. I feel privileged to work with such an amazing group of women, make sure to drop by the Centre to check it out before it ends!
April 2014:
April is all about baskets! At Pepper Street Arts Center from April 15th to May 6th I am running a series of basketry classes for a group of enthusiastic textiles lovers. We will be working with coiling, stringing, netting and simple weaving to create beautiful, persoanalised baskets.
I have been teaching textile workshops for the past three years and I never tire of it. Each time I teach a class I always come away having learned so much from my participants. It's a beautifully reciprocal thing, where the teacher learns as much as the students do. I am always blown away by what people come up with and the creative thinking that they bring to making their baskets.
Watching a basket materialise as it is made is a magical process. I have come to think that the basket has a soul of its own, dictating to the person bringing it to life what shape and look it is going to have. Baskets have a life of their own!
If you are interested in participating in workshops I run, leave your details under the Contact heading to be included on my mail list.
I have been teaching textile workshops for the past three years and I never tire of it. Each time I teach a class I always come away having learned so much from my participants. It's a beautifully reciprocal thing, where the teacher learns as much as the students do. I am always blown away by what people come up with and the creative thinking that they bring to making their baskets.
Watching a basket materialise as it is made is a magical process. I have come to think that the basket has a soul of its own, dictating to the person bringing it to life what shape and look it is going to have. Baskets have a life of their own!
If you are interested in participating in workshops I run, leave your details under the Contact heading to be included on my mail list.
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April 2014:
Cheryl Hutchens, 'Bloat Gag Burn (gastric ulcer)'
I'm so thrilled to be working with two of my favourite Adelaide artists, Cheryl Hutchens and Alice Blanch, for my first curatorial project at the Women's and Children's Hospital. Alice and Cheryl are such talent artists and we are looking forward to having them exhibit at the hospital. Their work is going to be a wonderful edition to the hospital environment.
Alice and Cheryl's work was selected for the May exhibition spot at the Hospital for their artwork's focus on interior and exterior landscapes. Alice's work focuses on the relationship of the sky to the landscape below and the affect that nature can have upon us. Her landscapes evoke an ethereal and sublime feeling capturing the sensation of escaping into the beauty of nature. I'm sure the hospital visitors, espically children, will be captivated by her stunning images. Cheryl's work deals with the representaion of internal landscapes, that is the landscape inside the body. Her work explores the condition of being embodied and the difference of this to the description of the body through science. Her scientific investigation of the body results in textiles work which shows the fragilty and complexity of being embodied. Cheryls' work will allow visitors to the hospital to contemplate the inner workings of their own bodies through her poingant and beautifully crafted observations.
Alice Blanch, 'Box Brownie Colour Panorama #9'
March 2014:
As part of my internship at the Women's and Children's Hospital I am doing research into arts in health and the positive benefits of creative based programs in health environments. I am currently working on a research paper to submit for the 2014 Arts and Health Australia annual conference to be held at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne in November this year. I am really looking forward to attending this event and sharing research with arts in health professionals from Australia and abroad.
Read more about the conference and Arts and Health Australia here :
http://www.artsandhealth.org.au/
As part of my internship at the Women's and Children's Hospital I am doing research into arts in health and the positive benefits of creative based programs in health environments. I am currently working on a research paper to submit for the 2014 Arts and Health Australia annual conference to be held at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne in November this year. I am really looking forward to attending this event and sharing research with arts in health professionals from Australia and abroad.
Read more about the conference and Arts and Health Australia here :
http://www.artsandhealth.org.au/
March 2014:
Thanks to the East Torrens Messenger for including an article on my involvment with the Women's and Children's Hospital. Great promotion for the WCH arts in health program!
Read the full article here:
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February 2014:
2014 Helpmann Academy Gallery Mentorship
I am totally thrilled to have been awarded the 2014 Helpmann Academy Gallery Mentorship working with Jill Newman, arts coordinator of the Arts in Health program at The Women's and Children's Hospital. The twelve month mentorship position will involve working alongside Jill assisting with curating the hospitals exhibition program and other arts/health projects at WCH. The mentorship is an amazing opportunity to work alongside arts in health professionals and gain greater knowledge of the role of arts in healing. I am so excited at this opportunity and look forward to working with Jill, the hospital community and visiting artists throughout the year. One of those dreams come true kind of moments.
Left: Me with Jill Newman at the Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition where the mentorship award was announced.
I am totally thrilled to have been awarded the 2014 Helpmann Academy Gallery Mentorship working with Jill Newman, arts coordinator of the Arts in Health program at The Women's and Children's Hospital. The twelve month mentorship position will involve working alongside Jill assisting with curating the hospitals exhibition program and other arts/health projects at WCH. The mentorship is an amazing opportunity to work alongside arts in health professionals and gain greater knowledge of the role of arts in healing. I am so excited at this opportunity and look forward to working with Jill, the hospital community and visiting artists throughout the year. One of those dreams come true kind of moments.
Left: Me with Jill Newman at the Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition where the mentorship award was announced.
February 2014:
I am eagerly saving my pennies toward the upcoming Textiles Socety of America, New Directions, symposium in Los Angeles California this year. Held over five days in September between the UCLA campus and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, New Directions will bring together textiles scholars, artists and innovators from all around the world to discuss the significance of textiles history and where we are heading in the future. The conference also inlcudes a two day textiles market featuring hand crafted goodies from across the globe, interactive workshops and tours to city and regional art museums featuring significant textiles collections. Suffice to say I am crazy excited about this oppurtunity! Check out the conference details here...
http://textilesocietyofamerica.org/tsa_symposium/symposia-2014/
And I can not believe my good fortune that there is going to be a number of textiles exhibitions coinciding with the Spetember conference at UCLA's Fowler Museum, LACMA and the Craft and Folk Art Museum. I am espically looking forward to seeing the exhibiton Embroidery as Activism in Post-Apartheid South Africa at Fowler Museum, featuring work by women's embroidery collectives commenting on post-apartheid South African society.
http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/embroidery-activism-post-apartheid-south-africa
http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/embroidery-activism-post-apartheid-south-africa
February 2014:
Bountiful Baskets, four week introduction to basket making, coming in April
I am excitedly gathering basketry materials for an upcoming workshop series in April. Held at Pepper Street Arts Centre this four week introduction to basketry will equip participants with the skills to create beautiful but simple basket creations. Students will be introduced to coiling, netting, string making and different stitching and adornment techniques to use in creating their own basket project over the four weeks.
Workshop cost is $85 for four weeks
Time: Tuesdays 2pm-4:30pm April 15th - May 6th, at Pepper Street Arts Centre
Places for this course are strictly limited and bookings essential. To book a spot or for more information fill out the contact sheet under the Contact heading on this site.
I am excitedly gathering basketry materials for an upcoming workshop series in April. Held at Pepper Street Arts Centre this four week introduction to basketry will equip participants with the skills to create beautiful but simple basket creations. Students will be introduced to coiling, netting, string making and different stitching and adornment techniques to use in creating their own basket project over the four weeks.
Workshop cost is $85 for four weeks
Time: Tuesdays 2pm-4:30pm April 15th - May 6th, at Pepper Street Arts Centre
Places for this course are strictly limited and bookings essential. To book a spot or for more information fill out the contact sheet under the Contact heading on this site.
January 2014:
I have been invited to speak to an Arts in Health research group about my current research into the use of textiles in healing rituals. I'm really excited about this oppurtunity to give a presentation about a topic I find so interesting and important. I have become especially fascinated by the connections between repetitive textile processes such as knitting and crochet and their ability to elicit a meditative response similar to the Buddhist concept of mindfulness. There may very well be a Zen centre to the most ubiquitous of crafts. It will be an enriching oppurtunity to discuss the connections between creative practices and healing with a group of arts in health professionals.
Left: Mindfulness Squares, knitted yarn, 2012-2014.
Mindfulness Squares is an ongoing project I began in 2012 which explores the meditative qualities that arise through the process of knitting and crochet, and how these crafts may be used as a form of mindfulness practice.
Left: Mindfulness Squares, knitted yarn, 2012-2014.
Mindfulness Squares is an ongoing project I began in 2012 which explores the meditative qualities that arise through the process of knitting and crochet, and how these crafts may be used as a form of mindfulness practice.
January 2014:
This year kicked off with two successful workshops at Pepper Street Arts Centre, one on coiled basketry and the other a plant dye workshop. Participants of the classes were so enthusiastic to learn these techniques and as always I was blown away by what they came up with. The atmosphere at Pepper Street is always so relaxed and welcoming allowing for workshop particiants to focus on exploring the materials rather than worrying about the finished result. Lots of cups of tea and chatting too.
Below: Workshop particpants experimenting with plant dyeing techniques at Pepper Street Arts Centre
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