Visual Artist in Residence: Louise Flaherty, 'Memorial for Forgotten Plants'

September 1 - November 10, 2018

Louise Flaherty presents Memorial for Forgotten Plants, an exhibition developed through her residency in The Mill's Exhibition Space. An evolving and participatory body of work, Louise has used her ten week residency to explore the native Flora of the city.

“I am currently working on a project titled Memorial for Forgotten Plants. From my initial research into the original flora of the Western Suburbs in the Adelaide Plains, I have been creating memorials for these plants that rarely exist in their natural environment; having been taken over by introduced species. These “memorials” have been in the form of ink drawings, which have been photocopied and pasted up into the local area. The work is about highlighting native plant conservation as well as mourning the loss of the landscape that is no longer there.”

Artist biography:

Louise is an artist and arts worker based in Adelaide. She studied Visual Arts at the South Australian School of Art, receiving first class Honours. She was a Founding Director of Downtown Arts Space, and has worked at the South Australian School of Art and as the Arts Program Manager at Barkly Regional Arts in the Northern Territory. She has exhibited at Light Square Gallery, Adelaide Central Gallery, Artroom5 and Murray Bridge Regional Gallery and ran community workshops at the Woodville library. Louise recently undertook a mentorship with artist Laura Wills, focussing on community engagement and participatory practice. She has an upcoming residency at Sauerbier House.

About the program:

The Mill’s Exhibition Space Residency program is presented in partnership with the City of Adelaide. The program positions artistic process to the fore, allowing audiences direct access to creative research and making. During this residency The Exhibition Space operates with a studio-like mentality where knowledge arises through participation and experimentation. The Mill believes that art positions itself within transitions and passages; it opens up opportunities for incursions through relation. The Exhibition Space opens the creative process to the public in a way that positions the city’s community as foundational to artistic research and the creative process, thereby connecting people to cultural experience, insights, understanding and meaning. This is our second Residency, following on from our innaugural Exhibition Space Residency John Blines, memorias exspirare.

Visual Artist in Residence: Sonja Porcaro, 'Small Moments: the city wakes, the city sleeps'

Sonja Porcaro, Work in progress, 2019, glitter netting, paperclip, approx. 11 x `15 x 14 cm

Photograph: Sonja Porcaro

Sonja Porcaro, Work in progress (detail), 2018, felt, masking tape, dimensions variable

Photograph: Sonja Porcaro

Sonja Porcaro, Work in progress (detail), 2019, felt, dowel, foldback clip, dimensions variable

Photograph: Sonja Porcaro

Artist Studio with Sonja

April 1 - May 29, 2019

The Mill welcomes Sonja Porcaro, our new Artist in Residence in The Mill's Exhibition Space. Sonja will be working on her project ‘Small moments: the city wakes, the city sleeps’.

Porcaro’s predominantly sculpture and installation work uses everyday objects- including found objects- and humble materials to create restrained and poetic assemblages, often investigating notions of memory, uncertainty and the fluidity of language and representation. In combining both intimate, hand crafted objects and materials with more robust structures and often employing repetition, Porcaro’s work also acknowledges and reworks minimalist traditions, often through gendered perspectives. The Mill invites you to witness Sonja’s creative practice and gain insight into her process as the residency unfolds across a two-month period. During her residency Porcaro will be presenting a number of public programs- watch this space!

‘The project for the residency at The Mill ‘Small moments: the city wakes, the city sleeps’ will explore the idea of daily rhythms and rituals within the city, with repetition (both as an investigative idea and formally through processes and materials employed) featuring throughout its duration. I will explore rituals/rhythms connected to the city of Adelaide (in particular to the Central Market, with reference to early childhood memories) and investigate the rhythms of those who inhabit, work in and visit the city also, with attention to the various languages spoken within the city and beyond.

The work will also respond to the nuances and particularities of the site of The Mill itself- both as a physical space and as a site of diverse social and cultural production and interaction- with ‘Small moments: the city wakes, the city sleeps’, ‘activating’ the space in quiet, contemplative and intimate ways: enacting attention and care.’ - Sonja Porcaro

Kids studio with Sonja Porcaro at The Mill

When: April 15, 10-11:30am, and April 16, 10-11:30am

Artist in Residence Sonja Porcaro invites kids to join her for a drop in studio session at The Mill this school holidays. Participate in Sonja’s project Small moments: the city wakes, the city sleeps, kids will be invited reflect on themes of sunset, sunrise and the rhythms and rituals of daily life.

Come with your parent/carer for a short creative session where kids will make an artwork looking at bright colour and bold form. Sonja will also be looking at some of the ideas explored in iconic children's book 'How the Sun got to Coco's house' by Bob Graham, and abstract painting by artists such as Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Melinda Harper and Wassily Kandinsky. At the end of the session kids will be able to take their artwork home.

Kids Studio details:

Age: 5 + (primary school age)

All materials provided

Children must be accompanied by parent/carer (the idea is to spend the session working alongside your big person), Please wear 'studio clothes' or bring a smock

Cost: $10 for a Kid + accompanying adult, $10 for additional children

Concession pricing available of request, please email Adele at visualarts@themilladelaide.com

Artist biography:

Sonja Porcaro is an Adelaide based artist working predominantly in sculpture and installation. Since graduating from the South Australian School of Art (SASA), University of South Australia in 1993 with First Class Honours, Porcaro has exhibited in spaces such as the Art Gallery of South Australia, the SASA Gallery, the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, the Experimental Art Foundation (SA), the Australian Centre for Photography (Vic), The Performance Space and Artspace (NSW) and at Viafarini (Milan, Italy). Porcaro has also exhibited in many independent and artist run spaces in both South Australia and New South Wales.

Porcaro has undertaken many residencies throughout her career- funded by both Arts SA and the Australia Council for the Arts- including at the College of Fine Art (COFA), NSW, at SASA and in Milan, Italy (the Australia Council Residential Studio) and at the Athens School of Art Studio (Delphi Annexe), Greece. Porcaro has also curated and co-curated several exhibitions, given guest lectures to undergraduate Visual Art students, written reviews and articles and has contributed digital image/writing pieces to on-line publications/sites including the Electronic Writing Research Ensemble. Porcaro’s work has been collected by the Art Gallery of South Australia, COFA, NSW and is in private collections.

About the program:

The Mill’s Exhibition Space Residency program is presented in partnership with the City of Adelaide. The program positions artistic process to the fore, allowing audiences direct access to creative research and making. During this residency The Exhibition Space operates with a studio-like mentality where knowledge arises through participation and experimentation. The Mill believes that art positions itself within transitions and passages; it opens up opportunities for incursions through relation. The Exhibition Space opens the creative process to the public in a way that positions the city’s community as foundational to artistic research and the creative process, thereby connecting people to cultural experience, insights, understanding and meaning. The Exhibition Space hosts four residencies across the year. Artists in Residence have included John Blines, memorias exspirare 2 June – 25 August 2018, Louise Flaherty, Memorial for Forgotten Plants, 1 September – 14 November 2018, Matthew Fortrose, Cityboi 1 December 2018 – 10 February 2019 and Sonja Poracro, ‘Small moments: the city wakes, the city sleeps’ 1 April – 31 May 2019.

RESIDENCY DETAILS
Sonja Porcaro
Small moments: the city wakes, the city sleeps
April 1 - May 29, 2019
The Exhibition Space Residency
The Mill Adelaide
154 Angas Street, Adelaide SA 5000

Exhibition: Matthew Fortrose, Naomi Murrell, Nadia Suartika and Small Room, 'The Mill's Limited Edition Print Series'

Nadia Suartika

Lachlan Stewart of Small Room

Rafal Liszewski of Small Room

Naomi Murrell

Matthew Fortrose

27 February – 23 March 2019

The Mill’s Limited Edition Print Series

Matthew Fortrose, Naomi Murrell, Nadia Suartika and Small Room

Opening:
Sunday, March 3, 3-5pm

Showcasing the work of four amazing artists associated with The Mill, The Mill has commissioned Matthew Fortrose, Naomi Murrell, Nadia Suartika, and designers Lachlan Stewart & Rafal Liszewski from Small Room to contribute an artwork. The Limited Edition Prints will present one work from each of the four artists, each with an edition of 15 prints.

This exclusive series of artworks by leading South Australian artists appeals to a crowd of young collectors as well as art aficionados. The series makes artworks affordable for a wide audience while at the same time supporting The Mill, a not-for-profit Arts organisation. The funds raised by Limited Edition Prints series will feed directly back into The Mill’s organisational programming, and help to support artists residencies, subsidised studios and other aspects of our Professional Pathways stream.  

Artists biographies:

Matthew Fortrose is a multi-disciplinary artist whose current practice spans studio paintings and sculptures, outdoor paintings, installation and photography. Working with synthetic materials, Fortrose's work creates tensions between natural and manufactured, intentional and incidental, digital representation and physical artefact. Drawing influence from colour field painting and early Bauhaus graphics, the use of rudimentary tools and industrialized processes assist in constructing a strong visual language towards his work. Using documentation of the built environment, interventions within urban space and explorations into materiality, Fortrose work seeks to engage an audience through a series of investigations around the use of public space, and how this communicates to a formal practice.

Naomi Murrell designs romantic street fashion, fine jewellery and home products for the thoughtful woman, to bring small moments of beauty, calm and confidence into her day to day life. Unlike the mass-market, she aims to inspire by using design as a graphic art form. Naomi’s visual language is minimal, on point - yet irrepressibly playful. Inspired by colour, and graphic shape her label turns out refined everyday pieces for the individual. The Naomi Murrell flagship store in Ebenezer Place is an oasis of awesome for the fun lover who delights in the details.

Nadia Suartika is an artist, designer and tattooist with XO L’Avant. She is the founder of Nadika, a range of jewellery and embroidery pieces.

Nadia is a self taught artist and has had a particularly strong interest in plants from an early age which led her to study horticulture. Now living on a native bush block in the Adelaide hills, Nadia continues her study of plants using a creative process of documenting local and South Australian natives through illustration and design.

Nadia draws inspiration from her Balinese-European heritage and her family of creatives. Built on a foundation of intuitive art, her work is simultaneously delicate and bold. Playful colours and shapes interact with each other, reminiscent of multicultural tapestries and the intricate patterns of the natural world.

Small Room is a graphic design and visual communication studio that focuses in creative fields with a strong process based work style. A love for experimental design, pushing the boundaries and breaking the rules fuels our passion for design. But the Small Room design sensibility itself is simpler with a priority for communication, timelessness, visual conquest and collaboration. Small Room work primarily in identity, print and graphics. And also work in broader areas of visual media like packaging, objects, experimental web design and exhibition (‘Death of a Designer’ (2017).

Shop The Mill’s Limited Edition Prints

Exhibition: Georgia Matthews, 'WALLS'

27 February – 23 March 2019

Opening:
Sunday, March 3, 3-5pm

Please join us in The Exhibition Space for WALLS, an exhibition by Adelaide based photographer Georgia Matthews, showing concurrently with launch of The Mill’s Limited Edition Print Series.

‘I like to express the 'self'- the cognitive apparatus to be self-aware and to think about ourselves consciously. I think we ought to abolish the word 'self' in psychology in order to communicate more clearly – perhaps, by representing 'self' through a visual portal, images, portrayals of external stimulus that may be more widely understood. My interest in psychotherapy has allowed me to concentrate on metaphorical 'walls' which have recently become a staple in my work.’

In this exhibition Georgia explores representations of the 'self' through photographing the construction and deconstruction of architecture. WALLS illustrates an interpretation of 'mental walls' or ‘mental blocks', via the use of Moghul symbolism. In this series she captures Indo-Islamic spaces, focusing on complexity, decoration, transportation, and isolation in order to push the boundaries of form and colour. Vivid and natural colours are combined with geometric shapes, creating a series of abstract landscapes that fall somewhere between painting and photography. WALLS attempts to open doorways into the psyche and aims to evoke a personal response to our surroundings.

Artists biography:

Georgia Matthews is a photographer, videographer and arts therapist from Adelaide, South Australia. Her work delves into topics of the human experience and photo-journalism. She graduated as a photographer from The University of South Australia in 2013, and completed an Advanced Diploma in Transpersonal Art Therapy in 2016. Her theatrical night photography touches on themes of psychoanalysis and the notion of the ‘self’, using layered textures in isolated environments. She has exhibited at Factory 9, Port Elliot, The Artisan Cafe, Peter Walker Fine Art Gallery and Sanskriti Kendra, New Delhi.

Visual Artist in Residence: Matthew Fortrose, 'Cityboi - The Mill in conversation with Matthew Fortrose'

The Mill’s Visual Arts Curator Adele Sliuzas sat down with Artist in Residence Matthew Fortrose to have a chat about his practice. This is the first in a series of podcasts ‘in conversation’ with artists for The Exhibition Space Residency Program.

In our chat Matthew talks us through the evolution of his practice, his processes and materiality and how the streets of Adelaide form the inspiration for his Cityboi project.

Follow this link to the Podcast on The Mill’s Soundcloud

More about Matthew Fortrose, Cityboi

Call out: Curatorial opportunity (visual arts)

The Mill is calling for Expressions of Interest for a curator/curatorial team to develop and present an exhibition to be held in The Mill’s Exhibition Space in September 2019.

The Mill is a collaborative multidisciplinary organisation, placing emphasis on development, process and audience-focused creative direction. The Exhibition Space hosts a program of exhibitions, including residencies and curated exhibitions.

Expressions of interest are now open curators to develop an exhibition to be presented in The Mill’s Exhibition Space in September 2019. We invite independent curators or curatorial teams to apply. A fee will be paid to the successful curator.

To be considered, please submit an application via the form below.

The selection will be made by a panel of The Mill staff based on the following criteria:

• Professional and artistic merit

• Accessibility for a diverse audience

• Viability and suitability of the proposed exhibition

• Focus on multidisciplinary practice, &/or focus on process

• Exhibitions and proposals that engage existing and new audiences

About the Exhibition Space:

The Mill’s Exhibition Space is located on the Angas Street Window Frontage of 154 Angas Street. The Gallery’s L-shaped footprint is approximately 40 sq meters, with a gallery hanging system and professional lighting. A number of plinths are available for artists to use. The space sits relation to The Mill’s Creative Industry Offices, oriented prominently at the front of The Mill’s building.

If you have any questions about this opportunity or want to find out more information about the gallery, please contact The Mill's Visual Arts Curator Adele Sliuzas visualarts@themilladelaide.com

Submitting a proposal is no guarantee of acceptance.

Applications have closed

Louise Flaherty, Memorial for Forgotten Plants, 2018, installation view of exhibition Photo: Daniel Marks

Exhibition: Ahmed ElKhalidi with creative collaboration by Rua Hashlamoun, 'Swapped at Birth'

Ahmed ElKhalidi, Glenelg, 2018, digital print on 300gsm Museum rag, 60x42cm

Ahmed ElKhalidi, 1940, 2018, digital print on museum rag, 29 x 42 cm

Ahmed ElKhalidi, So Far from Home, 2018, Arabic Fix and Repair, digital print on museum rag, 21 x 29cm,

February 12 - 23, 2019

Please join us in The Exhibition Space for Swapped at Birth, an exhibition by Jordanian born, Adelaide based artist Ahmed ElKhalidi, with creative collaboration by Rua Hashlamoun.

Opening night:
February 12, 6-8pm

Artist talk:
Saturday, February 16, 3pm
Continues February 12-23, 2019

Adelaide artist Ahmed ElKhalidi documents the journey from Jordan to Australia. Ahmed uses symbolic patches of memory in digital collages to explore places where two familiar environments are interchangeable. The exhibition shows at The Mill during Adelaide Fringe Festival 2019.

ElKhalidi explores the crossover of life, perception and memories from his birth country and his adopted country. For ElKhalidi this was by choice, although he acknowledges that, for many others, this crossover is by circumstance.

ElKhalidi delves into memory, childhood experiences and family photographs from his Palestinian heritage.

Using a blend of recent and historical photography, words, symbols and photojournalism, ElKhalidi reveals a personal story of identity where each environment is swapped, overlaid and blended. Creative collaboration by Rua Hashlamoun records the works of two artists’ stories. They ask the viewer to question the memories the viewer might keep in the same situation. A visual storytelling, this exhibition both resonates with, and facilitates, connections for the many with similar experiences as migrants or refugees.

"I try to raise questions about what memories of 'home' we choose to recall. I high-light  issues such as identity, immigration, and social justice, and challenge/question the role of art in social change. The concept of home for me can be a physical or a psychological place. It changes according to our circumstances, as a place of belonging. It could also be a place of displacement and confusion.

Our memories may be filled with gaps, like our early childhood memories.  These memories can fade and become lost. So I like to play with photos and language to preserve them. I like to explore the importance of words and sentences, and to create visual short stories." - Ahmed Khalidi
 

Ahmed ElKhalidi

Jordanian artist Ahmed Khalidi studied graphic design at the Applied Science University in Amman Jordan, completing his studies in 1994. He is a photographer, graphic designer, illustrator and artist, and has worked on projects including online media, motion graphics, publications and illustrations in Sydney, Adelaide, Amman, London, Doha, Dubai  and Saudi Arabia. ElKhalidi draws his inspiration from urban landscapes, and includes graffiti, advertising imagery and typography in his work from his studio YADURA Design Studio, in Adelaide, Australia.

Presented by:
Jacaranda Images gallery is located in Amman, Jordan. Through principal, Australian Barbara Rowell, the gallery is dedicated to showcasing works on paper by a range of artists. Barbara works  particularly to develop cross cultural ties between Australia and Jordan. The gallery also conduct tours of Jordan for artists and art lovers through 'A Brush with Jordan'.

The exhibition was held in Amman in 2018 under the patronage of the Australian Ambassador. Its Adelaide iteration is made possible with the assistance of the Council of Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR), which supports projects that enhance  economic, cultural and social relations between Australia and the Arab world.

Visual Artist in Residence: Matthew Fortrose, 'Cityboi'

The Mill welcomes Matthew Fortrose, our new Artist in Residence in The Mill's Exhibition Space. Matthew will be in residence from 1 December 2018 - 10 February 2019 working on his project Cityboi. 

Matthew Fortrose’s Cityboi explores our subtle reactions in a built environment, ideas around the placement of objects in the city and how they could be reinterpreted as obstacles in our daily routine, and our unintentional contribution to the landscape. The Mill invites you to witness Matthew’s creative practice and to watch the exhibition unfold in the Exhibition Space across the 10 weeks of the residency. Matthew will be presenting a number of public outcomes as part of his residency, including a mural painting on December 15 as part of The Mill Market at Christmas! 

The Mill’s Visual Arts Curator Adele Sliuzas sat down with Artist in Residence Matthew Fortrose to have a chat about his practice. This is the first in a series of podcasts ‘in conversation’ with artists for The Exhibition Space Residency Program. Listen HERE!
 

Matthew is looking to use the time at The Mill to investigate the local environments and develop and ongoing, process driven body of work. He says: 

‘The work I'm planning on making in my residency will be an exaggeration of the smaller details observed in a city setting. I plan to develop four sets of finished work throughout the residency, encouraging visitors to inspect the progress throughout the duration.

Works exploring our subtle reactions in a built environment, ideas around the placement of objects in the city and how they could be reinterpreted as obstacles in our daily routine, and pieces focusing on our unintentional contribution to the landscape.

From the start of the residency I'll use instagram as the main tool of interaction with audience. Many of the works will allow for involvement with participants, I will encourage people to come in and view the progress throughout the 2 months, and will also have 2 locked in dates with activities for community involvement.

The exhibition outcome will investigate our relationship and contribution to the city through subtle interventions. Using documentation and encouraging interaction through instagram, I’m hoping to make connections with an audience to further discuss navigation and deeper observations within human-made space.’

Artist Biography

Matthew Fortrose is a multi-disciplinary artist whose current practice spans studio paintings and sculptures, outdoor paintings, installation and photography. Working with synthetic materials, Fortrose's work explores and creates tensions between natural and manufactured, intentional and incidental, digital representation and physical artefact. Drawing influence from colour field painting and early Bauhaus graphics, the use of rudimentary tools and industrialized processes assist in constructing a strong visual language towards his work. Using documentation of the built environment, interventions within urban space and explorations into materiality, Fortrose work seeks to engage an audience through a series of investigations around the use of public space, and how this communicates to a formal practice.

About the program
The Mill’s Exhibition Space Residency program is presented in partnership with the City of Adelaide. The program positions artistic process to the fore, allowing audiences direct access to creative research and making. During this residency The Exhibition Space operates with a studio-like mentality where knowledge arises through participation and experimentation. The Mill believes that art positions itself within transitions and passages; it opens up opportunities for incursions through relation. The Exhibition Space opens the creative process to the public in a way that positions the city’s community as foundational to artistic research and the creative process, thereby connecting people to cultural experience, insights, understanding and meaning. The Exhibition Space hosts four residencies across the year. Artists in Residence have included John Blines, memorias exspirare 2 June – 25 August 2018, Louise Flaherty, Memorial for Forgotten Plants, 1 September – 14 November 2018 and Matthew Fortrose, 1 December 2018 – 10 February 2019.

RESIDENCY DETAILS
Matthew Fortrose
Cityboi
1 December 2018- 10 February 2019
The Exhibition Space Residency
The Mill Adelaide
154 Angas Street, Adelaide SA 5000

Exhibition: Taylor Parham, 'am/pm''

Taylor Parham, 9:29pm, 2018, pigment print

Please join us in The Exhibition Space for am/pm, an exhibition by photographer Taylor Parham.

Opening night Friday 16 November 6-8pm
Continues 16-30 November 2018

‘We understand our environment and relate to it through experiences. I aim to capture moments that are in both appearance and experience a contrast to what the vast majority of us are accustomed to seeing. Throughout the night, buildings and locales that are typically hosts to a range of commotion during the day, take on an entirely different aesthetic and feel when devoid of people, cars and general activity. This transition from an energetic experience throughout daytime hours to a silent, near abandoned one come night, is one that I aim to capture in this ongoing project.’  -Taylor Parham

Artist biography
Taylor Parham is South Australian photographer. He holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts having graduated from University of South Australia in 2018. His work examines the concepts of experience and context, capturing views of ordinary locations from a perspective which is both familiar yet unfamiliar. Taylor often spends his nights exploring the city and suburbs, enjoying the solitude that comes with it. He was the 2016 recipient of the University of South Australia’s Pro Vice Chancellor’s Acquisition Prize. He has exhibited at the Helpmann Academy Graduate exhibition in 2016 and 2017. 

Call Out: Exhibit At The Mill (visual arts)

The Mill is calling for Expressions of Interest for our gallery program for late 2018-early 2019.

Expressions of interest are now open for exhibitions to be held in The Mill’s Exhibition Space. We invite artists, collectives and curators to apply. A number of exhibition opportunities are available in late 2018 and the first half of 2019. Gallery Hire is $500 based on a four-week term including bump in and bump out time.

Work by Zoe Kirkwood in The Exhibition Space

John Blines: Memorias Exspirare

The Mill is excited to welcome John Blines as the debut artists in our new visual arts residency series. Blines' work, Memorias Exspirare, explores intrusive childhood memories and their effect on mental health. The intent is to process memories that impact Blines' adult psychological health, through making. It is  personal therapy and experimentation within the broader arts in health framework.

Over the course of three months Blines will establish a ‘studio’ within The Mill's Exhibition Space and create  small objects, evolving and growing the collection as he delves deeper into memory. The exhibition also included previous ‘memory’ works as research, inspiration and nostalgia.  

Blines will be present in The Exhibition Space on Sundays, Mondays and Thursday mornings. For more details watch this space and find The Mill's John Blines Face Book Event page.

This exhibition will also feature public engagement sessions, workshops, discussions and participatory making sessions. (Dates and times TBC.)

The Mill's Exhibition Space program presented in partnership with the City of Adelaide, highlights the practice of art-making and aims to make process more available to audiences.

Projects in The Exhibition Space aim to draw audiences deeper into the process of making, positioning them as central to artistic research. The Exhibition Space operates with a studio-like mentality where knowledge arises through participation and experimentation.

The Exhibition Space presents four 12-week residencies per year, alongside short feature exhibitions. Each resident artist will commit time to developing their practice through discussions, forums, workshops, research and artist talks - both with the artistic community and the general public. The Mill will expedite research by facilitating connections to community groups the artist may wish to engage with, to help broaden their practice.

The Mill believes art positions itself within transitions and passages; it opens opportunities for public incursions into the private and vice versa. Our residency program considers this as the potential performativity of practice.