Exhibition: Snug Diaries, Tikari Rigney

Artwork: Tikari Rigney

February 6 - March 24, 2023

Opening event: Friday, February 10, 6-8pm

The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

• Visiting the exhibition

  You can find Snug Diaries in The Mill’s Gallery II, located at 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta (Adelaide).

  Gallery II is open Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm.

  Accessibility

  The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street.

  Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team. They will meet you at the accessible entrance to welcome you into the building.

  The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.

  Read more in-depth information on our accessibility web page.

---

The Mill is thrilled to present a new solo exhibition titled ‘Snug Diaries’ by Tikari Rigney. Kaurna, Narrungga and Ngarrindjeri visual artist and poet Tikari has developed this body of work during their 6-month Sponsored Studio Residency at The Mill in 2022, a new initiative supported by the Mahmood Martin Foundation. Snug Diaries is a sensory and tactile environment that encourages audiences to ponder the complexities of human experience. The exhibition includes soft ‘bodies’, made from textile scraps that have been machine and hand embroidered with Tikari’s poetry. The undulating forms are friendly and inviting to touch, providing a unique sensory experience for audiences. Yet, the words in both English and First Nations languages (Kaurna, Narrungga and Ngarrindjeri) explore Tikari’s experiences and challenges navigating queer, Aboriginal, non-binary identities.

The recently formed Solidarity Collective, facilitated by Tikari, have also contributed to the exhibition, with an installation of objects, performance and poetry. The emphasis on peer learning and multidisciplinary collaboration within this project create a profound sense of community and care.

• Artist Statement

  I would like to acknowledge Snug Diaries at The Mill is on Kaurna land, my grandmother’s land. I feel grateful to the Kaurna community for looking after Country, this land for thousands of years and proud that I am part of the oldest living culture in the world. Sovereignty was never ceded, always was, always will be Aboriginal land.

  Snug Diaries is a culmination of works that highlight anti-monolith identities and explores the consistent changing and emotions of navigating identity. 

  I have to acknowledge and thank members of the Solidarity Collective as their sharing helped shape this exhibition and my practice as a whole.

  These poems are like diary entries, thoughts, emotions, bodily challenges documented and try to understand myself. Difficult, sometimes painfully honest insights into my identity yet comforted by the textures of flowing fabric and the hug of soft forms. I encourage you to touch, cuddle with the works, feel solace and familiarity in their fleshy humanoid forms. I hope my writing exploring my daily challenges with my mental health, First Nations culture, queerness and non-binary identity brings solidarity to folks in these communities and learning and empathy to allies.

  Ngathu tampinthi ngaityu nakunakupinya ‘Marti Tirntu-irntu Piiparna’ Tawiwardlingka Kaurna yartangka, ngaityu ngapapiku yartangka. I acknowledge (that) my exhibition Snug Diaries at The Mill is on Kaurna land, the land of my grandmother (father’s mother)

  Yaintya yarta irdinti yarta, pukipukinangku. Yaintya yarta irdinti yarta muinmurningutha tarrkarri-arra. This land is sovereign land, from long ago. This land will continue to be sovereign land into the future.

  Marti Tirntu-irntu Piiparnapira About the Snug Diaries

  Yaintya tunki ngaityu piipa. This cloth is my book.

  Ngaityu pintyapintyanya ngatparnarli tirntu-irntu piipangka. My writings are like entries in a diary.

  Ngathu ngaityu yailtya, ngaityu muiyu, ngaityu nunupira pintyanthi ngaintipira tirkatitya. I am writing my thoughts/beliefs, my emotions (and) about my body in order to understand/learn about myself.

  Ngai muiyu, ngai yitpi, ngai tuwila, ngaityu ngutu, ngaityu mukapa, ngaityu yailtya yaintya tunkingka. My emotions, my soul, my spirit, my knowledge, my memory, my thought is in this cloth. Kurdantu, manmantu, martintu yaintya tunki. Touch, grab, embrace this fabric! Ngaityu pintyapintyanya nintaitya wangkaingku! Let my writings speak to you!

  Yaintya ngaityu tiyati warra. This is my truth.

• About the artist

  Tikari Rigney is a non-binary (they/them) Kaurna, Narrunga and Ngarrindjeri visual artist and poet living and working on Kaurna land. Their process is centred around their language, identity specifically their family’s First Nations history and informed by personal challenges and experiences. Their interests are in community connection, solidarity and learning. These are explored through a range of mediums however, their practice currently is focused on textiles and fleshy anthropomorphic sculptures. 

  Tikari has been involved with several group shows and will be exhibiting their first solo exhibition at the completion of their residency at The Mill in February 2023. Their next residency is at Nexus towards the end of 2023.

---

The Mill’s Sponsored Studio program is presented in co-operation with Mahmood Martin Foundation.

Exhibition: Museum of Old Money, THE GOOD NEW$ BANK (Nicholas Hanisch and Cassie Thring), curated by Steph Cibich

February 6 - March 24, 2023

Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm, and extended hours during The Mill’s Adelaide Fringe season

The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

• Accessibility

  The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street.

  Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team. They will meet you at the accessible entrance to welcome you into the building.

  The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.

  Read more in-depth information on our accessibility web page.

---

The Mill is excited to present a new exhibition ‘Museum of Old Money’ by THE GOOD NEW$ BANK curated by Steph Cibich. THE GOOD NEW$ BANK is the collaborative moniker for artist duo Nicholas Hanisch and Cassie Thring, who have been working closely with Cibich to develop a body of work that playfully comments on the ideas surrounding ‘currency’, ‘value’ and ‘worth’ under consumer-capitalism. What is art worth? What value does the artist play within our society? How do we understand the exchange value of creative work? How do you put a price on the way that works of art make us feel?  

With the current ‘cozzie livs’ (cost of living crisis), we are all making daily choices to determine how we can make our money stretch. Art can be seen as a luxury item, but at what cost? We know from our times in pandemic lockdown that art and creativity are central to our sense of self, and sense of community. Featuring Art Vending Machine Australia’s (AVMA) ‘Adelaide Art Vending Machine’, in which Curator Steph Cibich seeks to democratise the process of buying artwork, without undermining the work of the artist.

The vending machine will sit alongside other works, developed through a collaborative relationship between curator and artists, offering unique moments for audience participation. Artworks will be available for purchase giving audiences an accessible option for becoming collectors of contemporary art.

• Curatorial Statement

  ‘I’m not in it for the money – just the stuff it buys’ – Unknown.

  Our values change as our world evolves. In 2023, our consumer-driven culture determines what is ‘valuable’ based on how much something is ‘worth’. In other words, how much something costs or can be exchanged for something that is...well...better.

  Due to our contemporary relationship with commercialism, words like ‘value’ and ‘worth’ have lost their meaning. How we associate with people, relationships, places, objects, and experiences is commodified to reflect our globalised existence. In this environment, even trust is overthrown for economic opportunity. We find ourselves competing and comparing through any means necessary; on social media, in business, through our disposable possessions, even with new systems of currency. Yet, as people, we are often pressured by conflicting ‘values’ and seek to identify what (or who) is ‘worthy’, or ‘worthless’. We want to belong, to have someone reaffirm our ‘self-worth’ and to help our loved ones feel ‘valued’. Instead, we feel confused, disconnected, and lost. We’ve come to know the cost of everything but the ‘value’ of nothing.

  Cast against a backdrop of inflation, rising interest rates, a pandemic, the climate crisis, and escalating tensions overseas, The Museum of Old Money explores our evolving relationship with notions of ‘currency’, ‘value’ and ‘worth’. Curated by Steph Cibich and featuring new work by collaborative duo, THE GOOD NEW$ BANK (Cassie Thring and Nick Hanisch) including a unique takeover of Art Vending Machine Australia’s ‘Adelaide Art Vending Machine’, this exhibition offers a timely reminder of the things that really matter and how easy it is to get lost along the way. 

• About the artists

  Steph Cibich is a Kaurna Country (Adelaide) based curator and arts writer. Since 2019, she has worked as the Assistant Curator/Program Officer at the Centre for Creative Health and has built a strong independent curatorial practice. She is the founding force behind Art Vending Machines Australia (AVMA) and received the inaugural City of Onkaparinga Contemporary Curator Award (SALA 2019). In 2020, Steph was simultaneously appointed FELTspace Emerging Curator and the inaugural ART WORKS Emerging Curator, presented by Guildhouse and the City of Adelaide. Recently, Steph was appointed Co-chair of the Art History & Curatorship Alumni Network (AHCAN) and was a writer for ‘Neoteric’, an exhibition presented as part of the Adelaide Festival (2022). Steph’s curatorial approach centres on collaborating with and championing the work of contemporary artists. Through democratic and meaningful art projects, Steph seeks to bring people and ideas together by fostering connections between artists, art and audiences.

  @steph_cibich

  __

  Nicholas Hanisch is a sculptural installation artist graduating as a scholarship recipient at Adelaide Central School of Art. Hanisch’s ongoing practice has involved a diverse and continual exploration of mediums, conceptual themes, and collaborations. His recent body of work investigates creation narratives within the field of figurative sculpture. Hanisch’s sculptural forms are informed by the history of figurative sculpture, whilst celebrating the humour, the horror, the happenstance, and the sheer endeavour of creation. Previously Hanisch has attended the New York Studio School, practiced, and exhibited in Berlin, participated in residencies across India, and exhibited as part of The Art Gallery of South Australia collection.

  @nicholashanisch

  www.nicholashanisch.com

  __

  Cassie Thring is a multidisciplinary artist working from Floating Goose Studios on Kaurna land, Adelaide, SA. A passionate advocate for accessible community art programs, her work reflects an interest in the riches and sorrows of life, often through an apparently humorous lens. A graduate of Adelaide Central School of Art, Thring has participated in local and international residencies. Her work A Gazillion was exhibited as part of The Art Gallery of South Australia and is now in their permanent collection. Thring’s work is also held in the National Museum of Canberra and private collections, both in Australia and internationally.

  @cmthring

  www.cassiethring.com 

---

Museum of Old Money is presented with support from City of Adelaide.

Exhibition: Sonya Mellor, Deep Listening

---

Sonya Mellor, Lemniscate 1, Image: FINN MELLOR.

December 2, 2022-January 27, 2023

Finissage event: Friday, January 27, 5:30pm

Opening event: Friday, December 2, 6-8pm

Midsummer meditation: Tuesday, December 20, 6pm

Where: The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Accessibility: Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance, access the pedestrian ramp on the corner of Gunson St. The Mill has concrete flooring throughout and a disability toilet. View more in-depth information on our accessibility page.

• Visiting the exhibition

  You can find Riot on an Empty Street in The Mill’s Gallery I, located at 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta (Adelaide).

  Gallery I is open Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm.

  Accessibility

  The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street.

  Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team. They will meet you at the accessible entrance to welcome you into the building.

  The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.

  Read more in-depth information on our accessibility web page.

---

For our final exhibition of the 2022, The Mill presents Deep Listening by artist Sonya Mellor. Through sculpture, installation, movement, sound and performance art, Sonya Mellor will be activating The Mill’s Exhibition Space, inviting audiences to experience a vibrant, dynamic, living exhibition. Sonya builds on concepts that she explored while participating in The Mill’s City Mobilities Public Art Masterclasses in 2020 and 2021, bringing ideas of public space into the gallery space.

The exhibition’s title makes reference to writing by Quanamooka artist Megan Cope, who encourages the viewer to consider the relationship between sound, vibrations, our bodies and the land, inviting “...’deep listening’, in order to align mind and body with the earth”. Sonya’s approach to the act of deep listening is concerned with attention and respect, acknowledging her role as a non-Indigenous person on stolen land. ‘Through my passions of nature and community, I would like to engage the community/public, through arts activation, into deep listening’ she states. The works are created using a diverse range of materials, and artistic practices; Using reclaimed, repurposed, discarded and found on the ground objects, the discarded parts of natural objects, poetry, sound and movement. The exhibition will also include an ephemeral floor installation consisting of natural objects found on daily walks explorations during the exhibition time, an acknowledgement of ‘deep listening’ to the land where we live, work and play.

• Artist Statement

  My practice is about finding a unique visual, sound and movement language for ‘deep listening’. I am inspired by nature and what the community/public has to offer, contribute and share. This exhibition will translate community poems into movement, language and sound works. Creating a practice of embodiment, the exhibition is about finding my own way of ‘deep listening’. It navigates my connection to the Earth and Nature, here in South Australia, from a non Indigenous persons perspective, whilst holding a deep appreciation and respect for Indigenous connection to the land, sea and sky.

  Life is about movement, moving forwards, under, around and through. By utilizing the action of ‘deep listening’, we can access these movements more readily, with a sense of grace, calm, peace and a sprinkle of humour. In these times of busy, busy, rush, rush...by ’listening deeply’ and weaving gossamer threads of nature, connection and community.

• About the artist

  Sonya Mellor is a South Australian, multi–disciplinary Sculptural, Installation and Performance Artist. She also is known to dabble in photography, drawing and painting. Having grown up in South Australian nature, this has been a great influence throughout her arts practice.

  Growing up as an only child of German immigrants, with no other family around, she has always spent time creating community wherever she goes. This has created an eclectic group of friends and acquaintances from all walks of life. And has given her confidence in creating and facilitating community workshops, as she is always keen to meet new and interesting people. To listen to their stories and adventures and create art and music with them.

  Sonya started her professional life as a musician, band leader, music teacher, dancer, and artistic director of various music and dance companies, and having always wanted to study visual arts from an early age, now that her children are older, in 2019 the time had finally come! She is currently a BVA student at ACSA (Adelaide Central School of Art) A feeling of finally having found her people, as she continues to follow this thread to see where it may lead.

---

The Mill is supported by the Government of South Australia, through Arts South Australia.

Exhibition: The World Needs Us, We Need the World: Political poster art for climate action

Image: Australian Youth Climate Coalition ‘Climate Justice Bootcamp’ poster illustration.

October 7 - November 18, 2022

Opening event: Friday, October 14, 6-8pm

School Holiday workshop: Tuesday October 11, 1pm

Opening hours: Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm

Where: The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Cost: Free

• Accessibility

  Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance, access the pedestrian ramp on the corner of Gunson St. The Mill has concrete flooring throughout and a disability toilet. View more in-depth information on our accessibility page.

---

For Nature Festival 2022, The Mill presents a new 6-week exhibition that celebrates the role of art as activism in the context of climate crisis and various political issues. The exhibition features poster art from the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC), historical works from the FUMA collection, alongside contributions from local activists.

We invite the general public, young people, artists and creatives to contribute to a community poster wall as part of the exhibition. A poster making station with materials will be a permanent feature of the exhibition, with audiences invited to create a poster and add it to the wall. Contributing artists can respond to the theme ‘The World Needs Us, We Need the World’. 

A free school holidays workshop (Tuesday, October 11) will invite young people and their families to create and contribute to the exhibition.

Call-out for contributions:

We invite you to contribute a poster to the exhibition to be included in the community poster wall. Flex your creative muscles and design something meaningful and authentic that responds to the theme of the exhibition ‘The World Needs Us, We Need the World’. See examples from AYCC below!

Artworks must be:

• A3 or smaller

• Able to be pinned to the wall

• Welcoming, inclusive and appropriate for all ages (keep it clean folks!)

• include your name, email and phone number on the reverse

Delivered to The Mill by September 30, 2022

Att. Adele Sliuzas, The Mill, 154 Angas Street, Kaurna Yarta, Adelaide, 5000

Artworks can be collected from November 21, or include a return self addressed envelope

'The World Needs Us, We Need the World: Political poster art for climate action is presented as part of Nature Festival 2022 with support from City of Adelaide.

---

Exhibition Space Program 2022/23: Expressions of interest

The Mill’s Exhibition Space program highlights the practice of art-making and aims to make process more available to audiences. Our focus is on multidisciplinary projects, and we welcome applications from artists, creatives, curators, makers, or projects that seek to explore multi-disciplinary practice and process. We have one exhibition opportunity available in late 2022 and several available for 2023 including during Fringe Festival and SALA Festival.

Exhibitions run for ~approx. 9 weeks (including bump in and bump out)

The Mill is a growing organisation, and as such we are endeavouring to pay an artist fee of $1000 per project as well as modest production & public program costs, however this funding is unconfirmed. Before applying, please consider whether this project is viable for you without confirmation of these fees. And keep your fingers crossed for us! We do not charge Gallery hire to artists in the Exhibition Space Program.

About the Exhibition Space:

The Mill’s Exhibition Space is located on the Angas Street Window Frontage of 154 Angas Street. The gallery is a rectangle footprint with approx 16.4 linear m of hanging wall space, and 38.8 square metres of floor space. The Exhibition Space is oriented prominently at the front of The Mill’s building with a large window facing Angas Street. It sits adjacent The Mill Showcase gallery, The Mill's office and Creative Industry studio's. The Space has professional lighting, two projectors and a number of plinths are available for artists to use.

Selection Criteria:

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

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

• Accessibility for a diverse audience

• Exhibitions and proposals that engage existing and new audiences

• Viability and suitability of the proposed exhibition

• Professional and artistic merit

Applications due Friday, September 2, 5pm ACST

Submitting a proposal is no guarantee of acceptance.

We want to make the application process easy to navigate, please don't hesitate to get in contact with Visual Arts Curator Adele Sliuzas if you have any questions or need assistance.

Applications have closed

Workshop: Yarning Circle with Marika Davies and Natalie Austin

Image: Marika Davies with Natalie Austin’s Opal Painting.

Workshop: Yarning Circle with Marika Davies and Natalie Austin

This is a special event for folks who identify as non-binary or women.

When: Saturday, July 30, 11am-12pm

Where: The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Cost: $15 (+ booking fee)

• Accessibility

  The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street.

  Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team. They will meet you at the accessible entrance to welcome you into the building.

  The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.

  Read more in-depth information on our accessibility web page.

---

The Mill invites you to join us for an intimate yarning circle with exhibiting Antikjrita artist Natalie Austin and Wangkangurru woman and independent curator Marika Davies.

Natalie will have a chat about her work and Marika will keep our hands busy with some weaving while chatting about her role as exhibition curator. We'll also have some tea and biccies!

About the exhibition:

Memory of Water by Antikjrita woman Natalie Austin speaks of the artists connection to Country as motif within her life. Natalie traces her life from child, teen, mother and now grandmother and the meaningful role that water has in her understanding of self, Country and community. Natalie has worked with Wangkangurru woman and independent curator Marika Davies to develop this exhibition, an inaugural collaboration between The Mill and regional South Australian Aboriginal artists. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue essay written by Yankunytjatjara / Kokatha woman and well-known poet Ali Cobby Eckermann.

Memory of Water is presented in partnership with Ku Arts, Ripple Effect/HumanKind and City of Adelaide.

Exhibition: Natalie Austin, Memory of Water, curated by Marika Davies

Artwork: Camping Along the Creek, Natalie Austin

July 18 - September 16, 2022

Opening event: Friday, July 29, 6-8pm

Opening hours: Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm

Where: The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Cost: Free

• Accessibility

  Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance, access the pedestrian ramp on the corner of Gunson St. The Mill has concrete flooring throughout and a disability toilet. View more in-depth information on our accessibility page.

---

This SALA The Mill presents a new solo exhibition, Memory of Water, by Antikjrita woman Natalie Austin, supported by Wangkangurru woman and independent curator Marika Davies. Natalie speaks of the artists connection and relationship to Country as motif within her life. Natalie traces her life from child, teen, mother and now grandmother and the meaningful role that Country has in her understanding of self and community. She says ‘painting is my passion and gives me peace.’ Natalie has worked with curator Marika Davies to develop this exhibition, an inaugural collaboration between The Mill and regional South Australian Aboriginal artists.

Memory of Water is presented in partnership with Ku Arts, City of Adelaide and Human Kind Studios. The exhibition has also had generous support from Ursula Halpin at Port Pirie Regional Art Gallery.

• Artist Statement

  The exhibition is mostly about Coober Pedy, where I come from and where I grew up. I usually do my artwork with the white dirt, the brown dirt and the colours of the opal. These paintings also have the wildflower colours that come out after a big rain, it’s very pretty.

  The first painting is about water, about the creek. But the group of paintings are about connection to the country.

  My inspiration is my mother, she was with the Coober Pedy kupa piti kungka Tjuta who protested the nuclear waste dump in the 90’s. She’s been painting most her life and she’s 89 now. She taught me to paint, and it is something that I share with my daughter and my niece. They sit and watch me paint and do their own thing.  

  Marika Davies is a great help, she’s given me the opportunity to exhibit including in Malka [arts prize at Yarta Purtli, Pt Augusta]. She is a lovely person to work with. It helps to have someone to push me in the right direction. I paint and she organises things to get my paintings out into the word.

  I’m excited to be able to show the works in Adelaide. I’m happy to have the works shown and share about my country and the colours and the stories.

• Curatorial Statement

  Natalie Austin’s ‘Memory of Water’ is an important exhibition. The paintings are about being on Country and being with family. She shows the opal fields and the desert, as well as the desert flowers that bloom after rain. You can see the white throughout all the paintings, which is the colour of the stone layer that holds the opal in the earth. The colours that Natalie has used are the colours in the veins of the white stone, the glistening of the opal. This is part of Natalie’s Country, her family’s Country. Connection to Country is not just what is on top, its also what is underneath. People think of Opal as being about making money, but it is so much more than that. Digging the holes to make mines disrupts Country.

  Natalie’s mum is 89 this year, and has been a major influence on Natalie. I would love to see her be able to come and see Natalie’s exhibition, and see what Natalie learned from her on a wall in a gallery space, and the sense of pride that both Natalie and her mum would have. Natalie took on the skill of painting from her mum and has been painting for close to 30 years. That’s how kids learn, from their elders and parents. Your parents are your first teachers. Natalie is a grandparent now and for her children and grandchildren to be able to see her first solo show could inspire the next generation of Natalie’s family.

  As a curator it is important to be able to showcase our region, Port Augusta and the mid North. Natalie has been painting for a very long time and she is really happy to have a solo. Audiences can come in to The Mill from anywhere and realise that this artist is just a 3 or 4 hour drive up the road from Adelaide. You can see the painting, the colours and the shapes in the gallery, and you can visit the landscape and see the story of the Country.

  It’s really important to see First Nations Artists share their work. There are brilliant artists out there that should be recognised. After contacting Natalie to invite her to exhibit, the first issue was getting materials to her. It’s a low socio-economic region and artists can’t just go into the shop and buy quality materials. Ursula Halpin at Port Pirie Regional Gallery helped with some materials and Ku arts came with more. Access to materials is an issue throughout the region, there are artists that have artworks that they’re ready to make, but they don’t have access. And often what they can get are cheap canvases that easy break, which really devalues the artworks. This region produces world class artworks, and It’s such a great thing to work as an independent Curator with artists, and collaborate with a gallery like The Mill, and with support from Ursula and Ku Arts to create opportunities to upskill and make the incredible works they are ready to make.

  I knew of Natalie when I was 16 and just starting out. Then I connected with her last year, I am now 42 and I finally get to work with her- it was just meant to happen!

• About the artist

  Artist Natalie Austin was born in Port Augusta, South Australia, in 1964 and grew up in Coober Pedy. She is a descendant of the Antikirinya, Southern Kokatha and Yankunytjatjara peoples. Austin was taught to paint by her mother and has been painting for nearly thirty years. Her work was featured in the Malka Art Prize at Yarta Purtli in 2022 and 2020. She has contributed to the Tarnanthi Art fair at Tandanya from 2017-2019. Other exhibitions include 'Our Mob’ at the Adelaide Festival Centre and the 2008 'Ripples in the Sand’ exhibition at the Port Augusta Cultural Centre, ‘Coast to Coast’ at Fischer Jeffries for SALA, and the Sydney International Art Fair 2019.

• About the curator

  Curator Marika Davies is a proud Wangkangurru woman of the Simpson Desert, Birdsville area. She is an emerging artist and independent curator currently living and working in Port Augusta, South Australia. Her interest in pursuing a career in the art industry developed organically through her love and passion for art and its history, and wanting to give back to her community in Port Augusta who nurtured her passion and cultural growth. She is intent on a curatorial career continuing her history of work within the community.

  Marika is a talented storyteller, finding new ways to tell stories through curating, painting, jewellery making, photography, radio and film. Currently Marika is undertaking a mentorship with Tarnanthi Festival Director Nici Cumpston OAM and Port Pirie Regional Art Gallery Director Ursula Halpin. 

  In 2018 and 2019, Marika undertook a curatorial internship for VIETNAM: ONE IN, ALL IN, where she actively assisted throughout project development, gaining experience that helped to springboard her career as an emerging curator.

  In 2019, Marika attended the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair as part of the Aboriginal Curators Program and Symposium. 

  Marika attended the Port Augusta Emerging Film Development Program workshop and was co-director / co-writer for Mulka Man, which was screened at Nunga Screen, 2020. She co-wrote Dusty Feet Mob: This Story's True and filmed Full Circle | Marika Davies | indigiTUBE.

  More recently Marika undertook a Podcasting for Beginners Workshop an initiative of the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC), Country Arts SA and Riverland Youth Theatre, delivered by experienced First Nations mentor Raymond Zada. In September 2021, Marika’s podcast was aired on the ABC radio. Fresh new podcasts by South Australian First Nations storytellers | indigiTUBE

---

Exhibition: The Mill Showcase, Kirsty Martinsen, 'Bodiness: Call and Response'

Artwork: Kirsty Martinsen.

May 2 - July 1, 2022

Kirsty Martinsen and Erin Fowler

Opening event: Friday May 13, 6-8pm

Where: The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Cost: Free

• Accessibility

  Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance, access the pedestrian ramp on the corner of Gunson St. The Mill has concrete flooring throughout and a disability toilet. View more in-depth information on our accessibility page.

---

The Mill Showcase is a gallery space dedicated to artists who work in our studio spaces at our Angas Street location, exhibiting some of the artworks and products that have been produced under our roof. The Mill Showcase profiles our artists, so that you can put a face to the name and get to know some of our dedicated makers.

This Eighth edition of The Mill Showcase, Bodiness: call and response is a collaboration between painter Kirsty Martinsen and dancer Erin Fowler. The exhibition further develops ideas begun in 2016 when Kirsty collaborated with NY-based theatre maker Erwin Maas creating a work based on the experience of ‘otherness’ as a disabled woman.

The exhibition is part retrospective, including works spanning a 21 year period, alongside new works and works in progress. This significant exhibition follows the evolution of Kirsty’s practice, from large format drawings and paintings through to recent smaller scale works and a new work to be created in situ with Kirsty using her wheelchair as a tool to draw across a working surface on the floor.

We also welcome award winning theatre-maker, dancer and singer Erin Fowler to collaborate with Kirsty in a ‘Call and Response’ performance that extends the relationship between the body, movement and gesture as explored through Kirsty’s ourve. Erin was a Co-Founder of The Mill, she and Kirsty have had a long term creative relationship since connecting here back in 2014.

• Artist Statement

  “That tangle of limited surrender/ Is the human mire. We’re sodden in bodiness.” - Rumi, The Ground’s Generosity

  People say to me ‘you are so much more than your body!’ What does that even mean, nay look like? Living with MS has taken an emotional & psychological toll, but all people see is the physical, the body. I feel like I’ve lost who I am in a chasm of loss and grief and bureaucracy. I have had to fight to keep my spirit alive. We are all much more than our flesh. My work seeks to explore the ways in which difference is a site for connection, the body is a site for potential, and process is a site for emotional/psychological/spiritual exploration.

  My work invites audiences to consider process, gesture, scale, materiality, movement, and collaboration. Through this exploration myself and Erin will be responding to these aspects in each other’s work and locating intersections of commonality. Erin’s rich spiritual practice contributes to a dialogue about body, spirit and notions of ‘self’ which echo my exploration of Bodiness.

• About the artists

  Kirsty Martinsen has had a studio at The Mill since 2014. Her practice is predominantly drawing and painting, and recently as a Writer/Director of the short documentary, Limited Surrender, with SBS and SA Film Corporation. She has a BA Visual Art from SA School of Art (UniSA) and Dip. Painting from New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, has exhibited in USA, Australia and Amsterdam, and is the recipient of awards from Richard Llewellyn Arts and Disability Trust, Arts SA, AGNSW and NY Studio School. Her short film, Breathe, won the Mercedes Matter/Ambassador Middendorf Award at X Marks The Spot: Women of The NY Studio School, the 2018 Alumni show. She teaches drawing and enjoys watching clouds.

  View short film documentary about Kirsty’s practice via SBS On Demand: Limited Surrender

  Erin Fowler is an award-winning Australian artist and producer working across dance, music, film, cabaret and theatre. As a performer, Erin blends together an eclectic mix of contemporary dance, feminine movement, clowning, cabaret and martial arts. Erin’s choreographic work includes solo works EGG (2021, Weekly Best Dance Award, Best Dance Hollywood Fringe, 2022 NZ Tour Ready Award), and FEMME, (2019 Adelaide Fringe - Best Dance Award, 2020 Adelaide Fringe – Made in Adelaide award). Other works include Gen-y (2018) commissioned for the Adelaide Dance Festival; Epoch (2016) created on Australian Dance Theatre for their Ignition season; and the acclaimed environmental dance film, Gaia (2014, 'Best Experimental' London Film Awards and Byron Bay Film Festival). Erin is a certified teacher of Qoya - a holistic movement practice for women, and is also the Co-Founder and previous Artistic Director of Adelaide arts organisation and studio, The Mill. Erin is also the founder of The Gaia Movement - a non-for-profit platform for people around the world to collectively make lasting, positive impact for the planet and climate change, through global schools’programs, tree planting, and arts projects.

Exhibition: Tarsha Cameron and Tailor Oriana-Julie Winston, One

Photo: Alice Healy.

May 2 - July 1, 2022

Opening hours: Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm

Finissage & performance: Friday July 1, 5:30pm

Where: The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Cost: Free, limited tickets

• Accessibility

  Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance, access the pedestrian ramp on the corner of Gunson St. The Mill has concrete flooring throughout and a disability toilet. View more in-depth information on our accessibility page.

---

Continuing our focus on Visual Arts collaborations in 2022, The Mill is excited to present One, a new exhibition by emerging multidisciplinary artists Tarsha Cameron and Tailor Oriana-Julie Winston. With an interest in developing relational connections and shared stories, Tarsha and Tailor will be developing a unique, evolving installation in the gallery. During the first ‘soft opening’ week audiences are invited to visit and witness the work in progress, share their responses and also contribute. With sculptural, installation, sound, photography, video, painting and textiles, One is an exploration of collaboration and connectivity.

• Artist Statement

  The threads of connection

  Stay

  Forever present

  In our genes

  Across space and time

  And

  In our bodies; flesh and ethereal 

  Life is an entangled whole

  Connectivity surrounds us. It is more than just between you and I, but also between the moon and the stars, the trees and the sea; all living beings living in symbiosis with one another. Close your eyes and notice for a moment. Breathe. Feel it in the air. Feel it in you.

  One attempts to creatively explore and materialise the more complex and subtle forms of collaboration that occur in everyday life, yet remain hidden to our visual and auditory perception. We are in constant developmental flux with ourselves, nature, our immediate and distant surroundings; reciprocally invoking the law of cause-and-effect that expands across time, space and place.

  The process leads us into a philosophical investigation where everything co-exists, akin to an ecosystem with many differing identities that inform, inspire, and rely on the other. It is a continuous collaborative exploration as we respond to and negotiate nature, each other,  and our close and more remote environmental, historical and ancestral storylines. 

  Situated on Kaurna Yarta, One culminates as a work that is both fluid and organic, still, yet full of life . A reflection of the interconnectedness of existence.

• About the artists

  Tailor Oriana-Julie Winston is an emerging interdisciplinary South Australian artist. Born on Kaurna Land to African/American and Italian parents, Tailor explores the experiences of the human condition from the perspective of a biracial woman. Using visual art, performance, and spoken word she seeks to use these platforms and a tool to open conversations exploring decolonisation, environmentalism, and spiritual identity. She invites the audience to journey within and openly engage with participatory elements of her works and explore interconnectedness through our stories and voices.

  Tarsha Cameron is an interdisciplinary performance art, theatre, and installation creator. Drawing, sound, video, performance, and sculpture media is used to explore the social construct, and the beauty that is within us, and in nature. Tarsha seeks to elicit empathy, understanding, compassion, and reflection to support movement towards positive personal and social change.

---

The Mill is supported by the South Australian government through Arts South Australia.

Exhibition: The Mill Showcase

Photo: Supplied.

February 15 - April 14 2022

Mads Cooke, Andrew Dearman, Evie Hassiotis and Abby Potter AKA House of Campbell

Finissage

When: Friday, April 8, 5:30pm-6:30pm

Where: The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Cost: Free

• Accessibility

  Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance, and a disability toilet is also available. View our accessibility information page.

---

The Mill Showcase is a gallery space dedicated to artists who work in our studio spaces at our Angas Street location, exhibiting some of the artworks and products that have been produced under our roof. The Mill Showcase profiles our artists, so that you can put a face to the name and get to know some of our dedicated makers.

This Seventh edition of The Mill Showcase features work by Mads Cooke, Evie Hassiotis and Abby Potter AKA House of Campbell.

About the artists:

• House of Campbell

  House of Campbell was launched in 2019 by South Australian designer Abby Potter. Heavily influenced by the arts, Abby creates designs that celebrate and complement modern women, allowing them to make a statement and move effortlessly. Abby is committed to sustainable designs and pioneering techniques that allow all women to tell their story. With a background in bridal and costume design as well as production, Abby brings significant experience across design, craftsmanship and styling. Abby has presented locally, including Australian Fashion Week 2021, as well as internationally, most notably her first collection which debuted at New York Fashion Week in 2019.

  House of Campbell celebrates modern femininity. Featuring timeless and sustainable designs, House of Campbell blends couture and traditional tailoring techniques with ready to wear pieces to create something bold, intricate and unforgettable. With a focus on hidden details, our designs are created and draped in-house. These pieces make a statement and are made to last, making them a treasured addition to wardrobes today and into the future. House of Campbell’s Reverie collection features local Australian dyeing houses and is crafted by South Australian seamstresses. Our designs inspire, provoke and embolden. Rather than dictate who they should be, House of Campbell removes the rules and encourages women to be whoever they want to be. 

  Abby has been working at The Mill since 2020.

• Mads Cooke

  Mads Cooke is an Adelaide based Painter & Illustrator. Raised in the Adelaide Hills, Mads views the natural environment as a primary inspiration for her. Her work is composed of multiple layers of paint and lines to create a depth of foliage.

  Free forming shapes and colours create a soothing experience, reminding her of home and childhood memories. Drawing upon the environment, Mads’s work is commonly inspired by native flora, observed textures, colours & patterns. Natural and neutral colour hues play their part in the subtly of Mads’s work, where she creates a calming and dreamlike perspective of nature. Her practice is introspective work, and aspires the viewer to likewise engage in the meditative mood of these works.

  This body of work was created towards the end of last year, experimenting with both acrylics and ink pens in my observation of nature. The distinct use of flowing lines across these works are comparable to the candidly forming lines in the natural environment. The repetition of lines – reflective of the echoing patterns in nature.

  The lines sit both subtly in the background, or create soft organic shapes own their own. These lines are alike to ripples in water, age rings of trees, or the venation of plants. Individual lines representing little alone, collaboratively building a network, likewise of the natural world.

  I have recently been inspired by the detail of plants and flowers found in vintage botanical/ scientific illustrations. In my paintings I enjoy creating a similar style to these, in which the flora is depicted very flat and straight on, paying close attention on the finer details.

  Mads has been working at The Mill since 2021.

• Andrew Dearman

  Andrew Dearman’s practice has varied over the years, moving from sculpture to painting to photography and back again.

  More recently I’m working on a hybrid art/academic research method that I find meaningful as a form of making. The construction of a conference paper is both a physical and conceptual process of gathering material, of shaping and polishing it into a particular form, which is then performed in front of strangers on the other side of the planet.

  The current work involves the use of the found vernacular photograph within contemporary art. It considers such use problematic and in need of deeper theoretical consideration from positions beyond the discourse of visual art. The fields that seem to be of most use are memory studies, sociology and anthropology.

  Andrew is an Alumni Artist.

• Evie Hassiotis

  For the last three years Evie Hassiotis has produced a variety of mixed media artwork while being a resident artist at the Mill. During this time she has held a SALA exhibition called Xenitia (exile) exploring her journey from Greece in the early 1960’s. She has also been attending mainly portrait workshops at ACSA and attending life drawing sessions on a regular basis at Gallery one. She loves to run small workshops in her studio for adults and children where participants can learn the basic skills of using various materials and also tap into creative expression.

  In my practice I am excited to see how art can transform a person and a place. I love art that challenges me and asks questions about the philosophy of life.

  In these latest art works I have experimented with the circular design, which has been a tool to let go of old patterns of behaviour about pleasing others. Working fast allows me to tap into my right brain and allow free flow and spontaneity.

  Evie has been working at The Mill since 2019.

Exhibition: Adrianne Semmens & Jennifer Eadie, Unravel

Photo: Supplied by the artists.

February 15 - April 14, 2022

Opening hours: Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm

Where: The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Cost: Free

Livestream Performance

When: Tuesday, April 12, 6pm online via The Mill's Youtube channel

Cost: Free, bookings essential

• Accessibility

  Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance, access the pedestrian ramp on the corner of Gunson St. The Mill has concrete flooring throughout and a disability toilet. View more in-depth information on our accessibility page.

---

The Mill welcomes South Australian based artist and writer Jennifer Eadie and dance practitioner, Adrianne Semmens to present their collaborative project Unravel. Bringing together their distinct practices, Jennifer and Adrianne have developed a sensitive and reciprocal working relationship. The work is multidisciplinary and lends itself to re-configuration and re-generation, with this instance unfolding within the context of The Mill’s Exhibition Space. Poetry, movement, fabric and plant materials stand in relation to each other, exploring what it is to see, feel and consider self and place.

• Artist Statement

  If place is understood as something lived/ how do we speak of

  it/ without causing a fracture?

  There is vulnerability when we

  say: I too am part of that place/

  too many colours/ it is not

  something that can be held/ always unravelling.

  The body of work in this exhibition explores relationship to place.  Embedded in the work is our acknowledgment of Country, always aware that our practice and processes are created on and with Kaurna Yarta.  

   What if authentic relationship to place is an act of opening that fractures a stable sense of identity? What tensions that arise when we, with mixed heritage, attempt to articulate a sense of connection or belonging to land that is not our ancestral country.   

  Any attempt to enact this connection or belonging demands an acceptance that we will be constantly giving, losing, reorientating ourselves in order to negotiate - make meaningful, make respectful - this relationship with country that is not ours. 

  UNRAVEL responds to these questions indirectly, as a means of acknowledging the difficulty and complexity of not being able to articulate a resolute response to the themes, despite being so important to us.

  The exhibition is grounded by natural elements and textiles as a gesture, hands outwards, continuing lineage to country. 

• About the artists

  Unravel is a collaboration between South Australian based artist and writer Jennifer Eadie and dance practitioner, Adrianne Semmens. Jennifer and Adrianne were recently awarded a Delving into Dance/Critical Path Commission (2020), and undertook a collaborative Breakout Residency at The Mill (2020/21).

  Jennifer Eadie is a writer, academic and artist living on Kaurna Yarta in South Australia. She grew up on Taribelang Bunda Country and has European-mongrel heritage. Her creative practice is interdisciplinary and place-based. Her collaborative work with Adrianne Semmens explores the relationship between identity and place. Her individual practice is motivated by the capacity of post-invasion Australia to censor the multiple histories, agencies and stories that are embedded in place. Via text,  installation and performance, her work aims to respond to and undermine this censorship. Jennifer's work has been shared with TEXT Journal, CORDITE, criticalpath, Educational Philosophy and Theory, The Mill and Kudos Gallery: jennifereadie.cargo.site | @vito_the_saint_of_lost_dogs

  Adrianne Semmens is a dance practitioner and descendant of the Barkindji People of NSW. Explorations of identity and place continue to be recurring themes within her practice, evident within her own work and ongoing collaboration with Jennifer Eadie. Choreographic highlights include Immerse, commissioned by Australian Dance Theatre whilst Adrianne was the company’s 2021 Associate Artist, and Thread (2020). Adrianne works closely with Tjarutja Dance Theatre Collective led by Gina Rings and has enjoyed performing in Inma, Our Corka Bubs and the 2021 Tarnanthi Festival opening event. Adrianne continues to be engaged in many education and community projects, such as co-founding the First Nations Choreographic Lab in 2021 and previous role with The Australian Ballet as a Dance Presenter for their Education Ensemble:  adriannesemmens.com | @adrianne.l.semmens

Photo: Daniel Marks.

Unravel is supported by City of Adelaide

The Mill is supported by the South Australian government through Arts South Australia.

Exhibition: CHARTS Community Housing Arts Awards South Australia

Artwork: Annette Cassano, Self portrait, me and art.

January 11 - 28, 2022

Opening event: January 14, 6-7pm

Where: Livestream

Cost: Free

• Accessibility

  Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance, access the pedestrian ramp on the corner of Gunson St. The Mill has concrete flooring throughout and a disability toilet. View more in-depth information on our accessibility page.

---

The Mill is thrilled to open our 2022 Visual Arts program with the CHARTS prize exhibition, a celebration of the inaugural Community Housing Arts Awards, South Australia. Created to celebrate and showcase the creative diversity, and depth of talent within tenants of community and social housing, the exhibition features painting, sculpture, photography, digital art and writing.

The CHARTS exhibition will feature a curated selection of work by finalists, on display to the public in The Mill’s two galleries. The prize received 170 submissions across eight Community Housing Providers, with artworks from established, mid-career and emerging artists, and those who have never picked up a paintbrush, pencil or camera in their life! The CHART awards night was held at Adelaide Town Hall on 11 November 2021, with each winner receiving a cash prize of $500 made possible by the generous donation from CHARTS major sponsors Harvey Norman Commercial and Electrolux.

Artists include Lily Abbott, Alissa, Rex Stuart Anderson, Leagh Bassham, Karen Beale, Sabrina Belfiore, Naomi Blake, Maxine Cannon, Annette Cassano, Annette Chand, Susan Cocks, Belinda Cole, Craig Finnis, Annie Fox, Lloyd Jackson, Caitlin Lenartowicz, Amanda MacLeod, Robert Martin, Chevon McKenzie, Amber Jayne Mills, Rosemary Milton, Anna Mohammadkarimi, Peter Pasfield, Jhalakman Rai, Elaine Roberts, Joy Sadauskas, Yonah Singira, Drew Sinton, Frankie Starling, Coral Strempel, Zachary Studley and Leonard Yarnold.

• Curatorial Statement

  CHARTS is a joint project between seven different Community Housing Providers. It was established in 2020 to celebrate and showcase the art being made by tenants of community and social housing. CHARTS aims to provide opportunities for artists living in community housing to exhibit their work, build their skills and establish networks. It seeks to encourage them to keep making and to legitimise their practice, or be the point from which they launch their own art career. The works in this exhibition are all the finalists, as chosen by our independent panel of practicing artists who judged the CHARTS awards for us.

---

The Mill is supported by the South Australian government through Arts South Australia.

Exhibition: Frances Cohen, curated by Christina Lauren 'The Many Faces of Frances'

---

Image: Self Portrait Without Daisy, 2021, acrylic, gap filler and collage on canvas, 1020 x 760mm.

November 8 - December 17, 2021

Opening event: November 26, 6-8pm

Where: The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Cost: Free

Accessibility: Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance, access the pedestrian ramp on the corner of Gunson St. The Mill has concrete flooring throughout and a disability toilet. View more in-depth information on our accessibility page.

---

The Mill welcomes emerging artist Frances Cohen and their new exhibition The Many Faces of Frances, curated by emerging curator Christina Lauren.

Drawing on identity politics, and underpinned by theories of the self, Frances’ portraiture explores what it is to know and to understand the complexity of one’s self. Frances uses found images alongside photographic selfies layered with thick paint and gap filler to create a textural surface where features of the portraits are obscured, slipping and displaced. The works are uncanny, evocative and emotional, conveying a sense of uncertainty and heaviness while also appealing to the empathetic recognition of the viewer, eliciting the question who is this portrait of, could it be me?

Frances and curator Christina Lauren have worked together to present this exhibition which invites audiences to consider conceptual underpinnings alongside Frances’ use of material and process. Within this, they have generously opened a discussion around mental illness, and in particular Borderline Personality Disorder, which Frances speaks about from a personal perspective.

Artist Statement
It’s hardly a ground-breaking revelation to say that all of us comprise a pastiche of everyone we’ve ever met. It is a well-known cliché that we are shaped by those around us, moulded through interactions with others that inform our worldview and our tastes. What is generally implied by this notion is that we have one overarching sense of who we are, with certain aspects of our personality being in flux as we move through life and have different experiences. I have always struggled to hold down my sense of self. I feel like I have been many different people to many different people; a different character tailored to each new audience member, worn like a mask. With that said, basic empathy also affords us the knowledge that each of us has their own mask; a face they present to the world that has been forged from a lifetime of hurt feelings and awkward encounters. I just seem to have accumulated a lot of them. Every character I’ve played has their own mask, forged through different lifetimes of impulsivity and self-destruction. Often it feels like I am wearing multiple at once; like I am staring out at the world around me from behind multiple numb layers of cracked plaster. Each of these paintings is a self-portrait. I am at the core of each one, hiding underneath the layers I find easier to heap upon myself, rather than deal with.

Curatorial Statement
'The Many Faces of Frances' unearths a truly vulnerable series of self-portraits created Frances Cohen. The series explores Frances' warped sense of self-image, where each painting seeks to survey the idea of a constructed personality, and complex emotions. Frances' diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder often presents within the work as a construction of different personas, which she says 'alter my outward appearance to try and hide the gaps in my personality'.

Frances’ portraits resonate deeply with the viewer through a balance of familiarity and alienness. The viewer recognises themselves in the self-portraits through universal feelings of sadness, numbness, anger and a sense of being lost. Frances' ability to capture sadness, particularly within the eyes of each portrait, is a stand-out feature. Where most painters use the eyes to promote connection and recognition, Frances paints exclusively around them. This provides a novel view, almost reversing the mirror of the portrait and asking the viewer to look outwards rather than within. What image do they project? What mask do they paint on top, to hide their painful depth?

Portraiture has long provided a relationship between ones-self and the subject, allowing for reassurance of some of our most difficult feelings. In a time of great uncertainty, it is natural to search for what it means to be human and what it means to have human experiences. The Many Faces of Frances seeks to do just this, while also fighting against the stigma of mental health, in particular Borderline Personality Disorder, which remains one of the most misunderstood diagnoses. Frances’ portraits provide insight into the disorder, challenging preconceived perceptions, and giving audiences the opportunity to recognise how emotions felt by those with Borderline Personality Disorder are not so far from their own.

Artist Biography
Frances Cohen is a painter living and working on Kaurna Yarta. She attended the University of South Australia, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Contemporary Art in 2020 and completed her honours year in 2021. She has previously exhibited work in Two Factor Authentication (2021), A Quarter Turn Around the Sun (2020), Friends (2019) and has contributed work to UniSA’s annual Art on Campus exhibition. She has also been published in Regurgitate (2021), Non-Compliant Quarterly (2019) and numerous editions of Verse magazine.

Curator Biography
Christina Lauren is an emerging curator and currently the Carclew Resident curator, as part of their 2021 Sharehouse program. Graduating a Bachelor of Contemporary Art in 2019, Christina implements her experience and knowledge as a visual artist into her curatorial practices, as well as allowing her passion for arts theory to guide her. She is a multi-media artist, currently working mostly in oil paint, exploring notions of the human condition and mental health. Christina has worked previously as a curator through City of Adelaide’s Emerging Curator program supported by Carclew in 2019, as well as launching a collaborative arts music project with Bad Habits Events in 2019, ‘Blossom Art Space’. Christina began her residency at Carclew in 2020, and has continued through to 2021. 

Christina has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including ‘Unwearable’ at Cloister Workrooms, Kaurna Land 2017, ‘Art on Campus’ in the West Oak Hotel, Kaurna Land 2018, 'Inevitable’ in Carclew House Foyer, Kaurna Land 2019, University of South Australia’s ‘Art on Campus’, Kaurna Land, 2019 and Mindshare SA’s ‘Mindshare 2021 Exhibition’, Adelaide City Library, 2021. Christina was awarded the 2021 SALA Contemporary Curator Award for her curatorial role in ‘Refractions’ at Carclew.

Image: Frances Cohen, Core Memory, 2020, mixed media on MDF, 46cm x 60cm Photo: courtesy of the artist

The Mill is an accessible space. Disability access is available via Angas St, and a disability toilet is also available. If you have any questions or additional accessibility requirements, please contact us at info@themilladelaide.com

The Mill's 2021 artistic program is proudly supported by BankSA Foundation.

The Mill is supported by the South Australian government through Arts South Australia.

Tarnanthi Residency at The Mill: Lilla Berry, STRNG WMN

---

Image: Lilla Berry, STRONG WMN.

September 27 - October 29, 2021

Artist Talk:
October 15, 5:30-6:30pm

Where: The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Cost: $10 with a drink on arrival

Accessibility: Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance, and a disability toilet is also available. View our accessibility information page.

---

The Mill welcomes Yankunytjatjara woman, multi-disciplinary artist Lilla Berry as our second Collaboration & Mentorship artist in resident (CaM-Res), supported by City of Adelaide. Lilla has created this work through development time in The Mill’s Breakout space, mentorship with The Mill’s artistic team and the opportunity to collaborate with photographer Morgan Sette. Lilla’s exhibition celebrates her relationships with her community, through practicing dance, footy, weaving and the act of coming together. She has also collaborated with strong women, including Pearl Berry, Iteka Ukarla, Carly Tarkari Dodd, Mali Isabel, Amber Ahang and Kirsty Williams.

Artist statement:

The arts have always been embedded into my life. My family is made up of musicians and visual artists, and practicing art was something I just did when I was younger. Although using my body seemed to be one of the things I enjoyed most, whether that was dancing or acrobatics. As I got older and more influenced by others around me, the inherent idea that I was an artist shifted and changed. My practice moved towards a dance focus, as this was what I had the greatest opportunity to practice. However, as I’ve continued to develop as an arts worker, I’ve been able to tap into the other areas of my practice and continue to develop my skills across a range of mediums, and now have the confidence to articulate myself as a multi-disciplinary artist. Even if each discipline doesn’t get the same amount of my attention, they are equally as important and rewarding for me to practice.

I’m extremely excited for the opportunity to give these mediums more attention through my residency and exhibition. I will be working through painting, weaving, video and photography, as well movement, to explore the themes of the exhibition. My development as a curator will also be explored, as I not only curate my own works, but also those of other artists I will collaborate with.

STRNG WMN. will explore what it means to be strong Aboriginal women. Including culturally, physically and mentally. I have always been surrounded by strong women growing up. I was raised by a single mother, and as an athlete all of my team mates were strong women, being strong role models. And growing up watching other young Aboriginal woman dancing with Kurruru, I was so inspired by their strength in culture.

Through the facilitation of women’s circles, I will take the lived experiences of other women to inform movement to be captured on film, still images and installation. I want to capture the authentic voices of our community, and explore all the ways we as women find strength, as it comes in all different types of forms.

Artists Biography

Lilla is a Yankunytjatjara woman, multi-disciplinary artist, arts worker and producer. Lilla began her arts career at Carclew in 2014, and completed a secondment part time role with Country Arts South Australia as the Aboriginal Programs Associate Producer in 2018, and has contributed to a wide range of exciting programming.

In 2017, Lilla formed the Aboriginal cultural contemporary dance company Of Desert and Sea, alongside her fellow dance ensemble members. Of Desert and Sea explores themes relevant to the 5 Aboriginal women who make up the company. They have had

performances and workshops at places such WOMADelaide, Art Gallery of South Australia, Dance Rites at the Sydney Opera House, and their debut show Beautiful, presented in Tarnanthi, November 2019. Beautiful’s second season at Adelaide Fringe 2020 also received the Emerging Artist Award. In 2019 she received her first screen credit, producing Sansbury Sisters as part of the Deadly Family Portraits Initiative with South Australian Film Corp and ABC iView.

Lilla’s practice as an artist is multi-disciplinary, as she explores mediums including dance, weaving, painting, video and photography. Her artworks are representation of her own lived experiences, and those of her community.

Yankunytjatjara woman, multi-disciplinary artist Lilla Berry

The Mill’S CaM-Res program is presented in partnership with City of Adelaide

STRNG WMN. is presented in partnership with Tarnanthi: Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art

The Mill is an accessible space. Disability access is available via Angas St, and a disability toilet is also available. If you have any questions or additional accessibility requirements, please contact us at info@themilladelaide.com

---

The Mill is supported by the South Australian government through Arts South Australia

The Mill's 2021 artistic program is proudly supported by BankSA Foundation..

Exhibition Space Program 2022: Expressions of interest

For The Mill's 2022 Exhibition Space Program we have a particular focus on collaborative projects, and are seeking applications from duos and small groups who work in collaborative ways. These collaborations could be between artists, creatives, curators, makers, or projects that seek to collaborate with audiences.

Details

• Exhibitions run for ~approx. 10 weeks (including bump in and bump out)

• One Exhibition will be shown during Fringe Festival 2022.

The Mill is a growing organisation, and as such we are endeavouring to pay an artist fee of $2000 per project as well as modest production & public program costs, however this funding is unconfirmed. Before applying, please consider whether this project is viable for you without confirmation of these fees. And keep your fingers crossed for us!

In 2022 we will no longer be charging Gallery hire to artists in the Exhibition Space Program. Submitting a proposal is no guarantee of acceptance.

About The Exhibition Space

The Mill’s Exhibition Space is located on the Angas Street Window Frontage of 154 Angas Street. The gallery is a rectangle footprint with approx 16.4 linear m of hanging wall space, and 38.8 square metres of floor space. The Exhibition Space is oriented prominently at the front of The Mill’s building with a large window facing Angas Street. It sits adjacent The Mill Showcase gallery, The Mill's office and Creative Industry studio's. The Space has professional lighting, two projectors and a number of plinths are available for artists to use.

We want to make the application process easy to navigate, please don't hesitate to get in contact of you have any questions or need assistance. Email Adele at visualarts@themilladelaide.com

Applications due: Friday, September 24, 5pm

Exhibition: Centre of Democracy, 'Stitch and Resist'

---

Image: Karen Blackwood, I'm Really Quite Cross

July 2 - August 6, 2021

Opening event: July 2, 5:30-7:30pm

‘Crafting change’ studio: Saturday, July 24, 1-5pm

---

The Mill welcomes The Centre of Democracy to present Stitch and Resist, an exhibition of contemporary craftivism. Bringing together 140 works by activists from all around the world, this project is an example of the agency of communities working with a shared goal. Each individual stitch comes together to create collective meaning that is multi layered, complex and gestalt. The artists exhibited as part of Stitch and Resist do not necessarily see themselves as artists, and perhaps didn’t think of themselves as activists either. The works are both political in their messaging, and in their creation, allowing individuals to create statements that are personally meaningful from within their own homes or as part of community group.

We hope that visitors will be inspired by what you see in the gallery, and encourage you to consider your own politics and values in relation to the works on display. We also invite you to join local craftivists for a special public program Crafting Change on Saturday July 24 where you can hear from Stitch and Resist artists, purchase a cross stitch kit, create a Stitch and Resist themed badge and listen to protest music with Dan Monceaux AKA DJ Sepia.

Artist statement 

This exhibition is the culmination of a year long project of the same name, in which the Centre of Democracy engaged with community organisations and groups, as well as with the general public, to discuss, and create works addressing a range of contemporary issues.

Stitch & Resist showcases craftivist pieces that vary in terms of skill level and artistic merit. Their significance lies less in these values than in the political work they do, the contribution they make to social change. Pieces that appear in the exhibition have been created in English, Arabic, and indigenous languages, and many address diversity, inclusion and equality. As well as functioning as vehicles for addressing contemporary social issues, the works demonstrate the fact that everyone can be involved in craftivism. Over 140 works have been produced by a large number of individuals, community groups, and partner organisations from across South Australia, Australia, and internationally. 

About the Centre for Democracy

The Centre of Democracy is a collaboration between the History Trust of South Australia and the State Library of South Australia. It showcases the people, ideas and movements that have shaped, and continue to shape, democracy in South Australia. Featuring treasures from the state’s collections, the gallery contents challenge visitors to think again about people and power.

Nikki Sullivan is Manager of the Centre of Democracy, a collaboration between the History Trust of South Australia and the State Library of South Australia. 

Britt Burton is the Public Programs Coordinator for the History Trust of South Australia and the Centre of Democracy.

click through to see the Stitch and Resist Gallery

The Mill is an accessible space. Disability access is available via Angas St, and a disability toilet is also available. If you have any questions or additional accessibility requirements, please contact us at info@themilladelaide.com

The Mill's 2021 artistic program is proudly supported by BankSA Foundation.

The Mill is supported by the South Australian government through Arts South Australia.

Exhibition: The Mill Showcase at Fleurieu Arthouse

---

Photo: Morgan Sette

June 5 – 27, 2021

Blake Canham-Bennett, Steel Chronis, Amber Cronin, Andrew Eden, Matea Gluscevic, Evie Hassiotis, Yana Lehey, Kirsty Martinsen, Kate O’Callaghan, curated by Adele Sliuzas

At Fleurieu Arthouse, Hardys Tintara, Kaurna Yarta, 202 Main Road. McLaren Vale

Opening event: June 20, 2pm

---

The Mill Showcase is an exhibition series dedicated to artists who work in The Mill’s studio spaces on Angas Street, Adelaide. The exhibition includes artworks and products that have been produced under our roof by incredible artisans. This touring edition of The Mill Showcase brings a selection of our artists to McLaren Vale, so that we can share their practice with you!

This edition of The Mill Showcase features work by Blake Canham-Bennett, Steel Chronis, Amber Cronin, Andrew Eden, Matea Gluscevic, Evie Hassiotis, Yana Lehey, Kirsty Martinsen and Kate O’Callaghan, curated by Adele Sliuzas

Kate O'callaghan

Matea Gluscevic

Steel Chronis

Evie Hassiotis

Kirsty Martinsen

Andrew Eden

https://www.themilladelaide.com/studioartists/andrew-eden

Blake Canham-Bennett

Amber Cronin

Yana Lehey

---

Shop the Showcase

Exhibition: Thomas Readett, 'Complexities'

---

Image: Thomas Readett, Complexities, photo: Renee Readett Creative

May 21- June 25, 2021

Artist talk: Friday June 18, 5:30-6:30pm

Workshop: Saturday June 26, 10am-12pm

---

The Mill is excited to present Complexities, a solo exhibition by artist Thomas Readett. This new body of work uses self-portraiture as a medium for exploring the complexities of contemporary life. Thomas’ self-exploration and personal narratives become opportunities to reflect the wider world, through themes of love, loss, and grief.

Taking inspiration from the Rubik’s cube, Thomas sets the scene of a ‘thinking game’, asking viewers to consider a multi-layered reading of his works. Complexities and connections can be found throughout, with audiences able to bring personal interpretation to their journey through the exhibition environment. Rather than self-portraiture being self-focused, Readett speaks of empathetic connection and creative interpretation of the challenges of 21st century life.

Thomas’ graphic aesthetic is powerfully rendered in black and white, with careful attention to detail. He melds street art style with classical training to produce work that is technical and conceptual. In Complexities he pushes his practice into 3D sculptural space, playing with the pictorial plane and interrupting our usual modes of interpretation. The Rubik’s cube gives us an opportunity to see portraits in flux, opening up the medium (and meaning) to change. 

Artist statement 

Perception is a fundamental trait of the creative mind. It allows us to interpret ideas differently to others, bring fresh ideas but also brings a different set of mental and social processes. These processes mean that we have deep and empathetic connections to people and the world around us.

Complexities explores how convoluted the creative mind can be. In this abstracted self-portrait body of work I reflect on the importance of self-expression and how overwhelming the world, life and relationships can be without it. In the world’s current climate all aspects of life have been more challenging than usual, using a form of self-expression has never been more important and, for me, it has become compulsory. 

My love of video games and thinking games has driven the development of these works, using these games as a conduit to describe the complexities of connection and reflection. Using a small and technical object known as the Rubik's cube as the starting point, the original thinking game. My Rubik’s cube speaks to the pixel like painted snapshots on the walls and creates an environment to explore and contemplate life, connection, and love. 

Artist Biography 

Thomas Readett is a Ngarrindjeri man and established artist from Adelaide, South Australia. He is currently working as Tarnanthi Education Officer at the Art Gallery of South Australia part-time alongside his art practice.  

Thomas has been a drawer his entire life ever since he was a child, wanting to further his career as a professional artist he enrolled into Adelaide Central School of Art in 2011, and it was then he began painting. This is now his main practice among others. Thomas graduated his study at Adelaide Central School of Art completing his Associate Degree and Bachelor of Visual Arts Degree (BVA) in 2015. During his time at Adelaide Central School of Art he held group shows with fellow graduates and ended the degree with his final body of video work based around ideas of solitude and a personal journey through his identity. 

Thomas has since exhibited solo exhibitions Beneath the Skin, Dark Light and latest body of work From Within, which was completed through the University SA and Country Health SA Artist in Residency program. He is a huge advocate for raising mental health awareness and most of his current concepts enforce this. Thomas has recently been working on large scale public art murals across South Australia both solo and collaboratively in events such as Wonderwalls, Big Picture Fest and other large-scale commissions.

The Mill is an accessible space. Disability access is available via Angas St, and a disability toilet is also available. If you have any questions or additional accessibility requirements, please contact us at info@themilladelaide.com

Exhibition: Biophilia: Call of the Wild

---

August 16 - September 17, 2021

Opening event: Friday August 20, 6-8pm

Biophilia Symposium: August 28

---

For SALA festival 2021 The Mill presents Biophilia: Call of the Wild, a group exhibition and public program featuring designers exploring connection to nature within built environments

Biophilia: Call of the Wild is a group exhibition that explores our innate human desire to be connected with the living world. Biophilia, from Greek translates as ‘the love of living things’, which Exhibition Curator and maker/designer Robyn Wood has used as a conceptual starting point.  At its core is the principle to connect humans with nature and as a result improve wellbeing. In our urban setting we yearn to connect to the natural environment. 

Held in The Mill’s Exhibition space, Robyn has brought together South Australian designers Enoki, Caren Elliss, Jake Shaw, Peter Walker, Sally Wickes, whose works connect humans with nature. These designers demonstrate a variety of thinking and approaches from within their contemporary creative practices. They express their ideas through sculpture, furniture, interior installation and experiences. The exhibition includes  diverse materials, process and concepts, experiences evoking space and place (prospect, refuge, mystery and risk);  natural elements-water: greenery and natural light; use of materials, textures and patterns; and botanical shapes and forms.

A symposium will be held at The Mill alongside the exhibition and will feature a line up of Adelaide Creative thinkers, furniture designers, writers, architects, artists and environmentalists exploring a range of topics around Biophilic design. Exploring themes of art, contemporary design, the need for nature in our human environment, well being, sustainable practices and science that intersect with the topic of Biophilia.

Presented with partners The Design Institute of Australia, Adelaide Sustainable Building Network and with support from City of Adelaide,Gilchrist Connell, Bank SA Foundation, and Arts SA

---

Images: S and P, 2021, American Oak and American Walnut, 150mm (H) x 85mm (W) , Photo: Morgan Sette

Caren Elliss

In considering this project I have looked at the repeated forms that occur in nature. The gentle undulations of sand along the shoreline, the ridge formations in cockle shells and the lapping of waves against the shore.

Describing herself as a designer/maker Caren Elliss is known for producing thoughtful, original furniture and lighting. Caren has a Bachelor of Industrial Design (Honors) and Master of Sustainable Design from University of South Australia. She undertook a four-month Industrial Design internship at AirDesign, Mexico and completed the Associate Program at JamFactory.

Caren has worked with Koskela, Estilo Commercial and Woodmark, and from 2016 -2018 was a Studio Educator in Product Design and a Workshop Instructor at the School of Art, Architecture and Design, University of South Australia.

---

Image: Traces, collaborative work of Susanna Bilardo, Cindy Chay, Amber Lewis, Ash McCammon and Jacky Spencer.

Enoki

Traces by Enoki is a cocooning interactive sculpture that will transport the viewer on a short journey to a place of sensory immersion. The installation will include experiential offerings of sights, sounds, smells and textures from the 5 artists personal memories and associations with nature to evoke emotional connections with the participant. Traces is the collaborative work of Susanna Bilardo, Cindy Chay, Amber Lewis, Ash McCammon and Jacky Spencer.

Enoki is a multidisciplinary design practice, we design our projects to work well now and in the future. We endeavour to enhance the experience of those that use, live with, or live in our projects. Every project, no matter how small, is explored, reworked and given complete attention, until a unique and inspiring design solution is achieved.

We endeavour to share, experiment, learn and remain open to changing direction throughout the design process. We choose to include each other and our clients in our thinking. We take responsibility in touching the earth as lightly as possible. We embrace and incorporate sustainable practices in our projects.

---

Images: Forager’s Chair, 2021, 100% Tasmanian Reishi mushroom mycelium and blackwood timber, 850 x 500mm Photo: Morgan Sette

‘Mycelial Matters’ Galley Bench, 2018

Jake Shaw

Jake Shaw's 'Forager’s Chair' is made from 100% Tasmanian Reishi mushroom mycelium and the hardwood timber on which it natively grows. The work reads as a resolved piece of furniture, but in actuality does not significantly deviate from the process of the mushroom growing in the wild. By emulating the natural conditions and environment of the mycelium, the work strives to be demonstrative of harmony between maker and material.

Jake graduated from the University of South Australia in 2019 with a Bachelor in Interior Architecture.With his background in interior design, Jake Shaw's work looks at the relationship between the built environment and human experience. Primarily composed of grown mushroom mycelium furniture and sculpture, his practice is led by explorations of new and sustainable materials, phenomenology, design as art, public art, and spatial experiences. His work seeks to challenge the idea that organic materials and textures are somehow unrefined in design and to pursue material subtlety with discipline and restraint

---

Images: Peter Walker, Perching, 2021, wood, human scale Photos: Morgan Sette

Peter Walker

In the bush, a branch, a rock, a log, can spontaneously become a place to rest and impromptu furniture. Perching is a series of objects that combine naturally formed branches with machined timber to provide support for the body.

Whether resting while standing, sitting or lying down, the body and Perching form a symbiotic relationship. This tactile experience elicits a connection with the natural world, encouraging reflection on the nature of wood and its origins.

Peters practice encompasses a range of activities utilizing wood including sculpture, surfboards and furniture. Peter gained a BFA in 1986 and an MFA Degree from the School of Art, University of Tasmania, Australia in 1993. He ran his own studio for 14 years in Tasmania, moving to Adelaide to Head the Furniture Design Studio at the JamFactory Craft and Design Center in the late 90’s. Peter has worked as Design Consultant for Chiswell Furniture, Designer Makers Tasmania Cooperative 1985, Co-Director of the 1991 Hobart Design Triennial and a partner of Dezco Furniture LLC. He is currently Program Director, Master of Design, School of Art, Architecture & Design. Prior to this Peter was Associate Professor at the Rhode Island School of Design USA, 2001-2011.

His work is represented in public and private collections, including the Australian Parliament House, Canberra and the RISD Museum, USA. Peter exhibits work regularly across Australia, Europe and USA.

---

Images: Grassplace: No.1, 2021, steam bent Australian Oak, 1800 h x 400 w Photo: Morgan Sette

Robyn Wood

The Kaurna name for Carriageway park (Park 17) is Tuthangga meaning “grass place”. Native grasses have miraculously survived in our Park lands and provide refuge for the rare grassland copper butterfly. This grass is the inspiration for this installation. The sun shines down on these precious strands of grass forming elongated shadows that stretch and move.

Grassplace installation is a series of slender panels that both define space and create a delicate sculptural backdrop. The screen design is a repeat pattern of strands gently curved reflecting grass gently moving in the breeze. Designed to make use of resources close to home it is made from steam bent Australian timber with a variety of natural coloured stains applied. Grassplace provides both prospect and refuge. We are protected and comforted by a place to hide but can peak through the open strands to seek a view. We are connected to our unique natural landscape by bringing these forms inside.

Robyn Wood is a South Australian designer working in a diverse range of disciplines from Furniture design, sculpture, installation and product. Maintaining a connection to nature in a contemporary context is important in her creative practise.

Robyn studied and practiced as a teacher before following her passion for design and returning to study as a designer. She has a Bachelor of Design Interior Design from the University of South Australia. In 2014 she established her studio working on furniture and interior installations.

She has worked on a wide range of international and local commercial and government interior projects, private furniture commissions, exhibition pieces and small production runs. Being hands on in her joinery work and experimenting with other media continue to be important in developing new work.

---

Images: green.light process documentation

Sally Wickes

The ambience created by light filtered through foliage has a measurable influence on humans. Whether it revives awareness of our interconnection with the natural world or sense of shelter and sustenance, its impact is created as much through shadow as light.
green.light draws on the visual experience of plants and light in concert.

Sally Wickes is a sculptor, visual artist and industrial designer interested in exploring traditional, new and existing materials to create artworks.

Sally holds a degree in Visual Art (Sculpture) and a Graduate Diploma in Design (Industrial Design). She has also created permanent public artworks for several councils; received Arts SA and Helpmann Academy grants to undertake marble carving tuition in Pietrasanta, Italy; and has been awarded several prizes for sculptural work including in the Waterhouse Art Prize.

Visually, Sally's works are diverse as they are enriched by individual concepts and stories. She is inspired by nature and in turn hopes to inspire feelings of oneness and belonging, leading to acceptance of responsibilities that come with being part of a greater whole.

The Mill is an accessible space. Disability access is available via Angas St, and a disability toilet is also available. If you have any questions or additional accessibility requirements, please contact us at info@themilladelaide.com

This exhibition is a finalist in the City Of Onkaparinga Contemporary Curator Award.

Exhibition: Ruby Chew and Ida Sophia, 'The Painter and the Performance Artist'

---

Image: Ruby Chew and Ida Sophia, Image courtesy of the artists

April 7 - May 14, 2021

Open studio/making period: April 7 - 30
Exhibition continues: May 2 - 14

Finissage event: Friday May 7, 5:30-8pm

---

The Mill welcomes Ruby Chew, the painter and Ida Sophia, the performance artist for a bold new collaborative exhibition, which transforms The Exhibition Space into a site for exploration, interpretation and multidisciplinary practice.

‘What happens when a Painter (Ruby Chew) and a Performance Artist (Ida Sophia) assemble for a period of 4 weeks to make work based on the methodologies, materials and processes of the other’s?’

Ruby and Ida invite audiences into the gallery to watch as their work develops over the first four weeks of the exhibition. Working within a process driven structure outlined in a joint manifesto, both artists will be bringing their own understanding of artistic practice, and a willingness to extend into new zones. While present in the gallery over the first period of the exhibition, the artists will be responding to weekly provocations traded in sealed envelopes. The final two weeks will remain as a static exhibition for audiences to view the work produced during the first period.

Artist Statement

Our objective is to subvert the normal system of an exhibition; how it is prepared, presented and received. Through this we will develop new theoretical underpinnings for our practices, birthed through process. The process is the exhibition.

We will respond to the materials, methods and processes from each other, and build from the foundation of our own practices. Envelopes containing instructions, provocations, methodological considerations and processes will be traded between us weekly. These directives will dictate the work that we make. We anticipate an exchange that is challenging and fruitful, producing work that pushes the edges of our practices into fresh territory.

Adherence to a co-written manifesto, written specifically for this system intervention, provides us with artistic constrictions, intentions and declarations. This includes a list of materials; 5 from Ruby’s practice, 5 from Ida’s and each a meaningful object to work from.

We invite you into this experimental exhibition where you can view work and engage in a participatory capacity. This is a purposefully fluid space, you will encounter all stages of artistic output. Consequently, the gallery will morph and transform weekly, we encourage you to return and witness the space as it evolves.

Artist Biographies

Ruby Chew is a painter who employs process-based making techniques to create open dialogues with her viewers whilst exploring the fluidity of pictorial space. 
Completing a BA Visual Arts Hons. at Adelaide Central School of Art (2010), along with further study at Central Saint Martins, London and the Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Ruby’s practice is deeply rooted in traditional painting techniques, which are the foundation of her practice. 

Ruby is a Ruth Tuck Scholarship recipient (2015) and has exhibited, taught and held residency positions interstate and overseas. She has had numerous solo exhibitions, notably ‘Portraits’ at Magazine Gallery (2011), ’Spitting Image’ at Hill Smith Gallery (2012) and ‘The Difference Between Things’ at Floating Goose Studios (2021). 

Her artworks are in public and private collections across Australia, Canada, Malaysia and London. She currently lives and works in Adelaide, South Australia

Ida Sophia’s live art participatory performance, sculpture, installation and sound practice investigates how to approach loss in modern, secular life. Looking to facilitate our need for ritual, contemplation and completion, her works intend to slow down the dilution of ceremony.

2020 has seen Ida further develop her practice in durational performance through training with international artists Vest&Page, performances at The Venice International Performance Art Week Co-Creation Live Factory: Dissenting Bodies Marking Time. Her next durational performance will be at Floating Goose, spanning the month of June 2020. Ida Sophia has been mentored by a range of performance artists and curators, among them Joseph Morgan Schofield (Artist/co-ordinator of the Live Art Development Agency, UK), La Pocha Nostra (Artist Guillermo Gomez-Peña, Voin de Voin (Artist/Curator, Æther, Sofia) providing critical advice for her practise and development of participatory encounters.

In 2019, Ida held her first international solo exhibition at Æther Art Space in Sofia, Bulgaria, following her participation in the World of CO Artist Residency (Sofia, 2018). Ida has participated in the ‘Cleaning The House’ workshop with the Marina Abramovic Institute and exhibited in multiple group shows locally and internationally since 2017.

The Mill is an accessible space. Disability access is available via Angas St, and a disability toilet is also available. If you have any questions or additional accessibility requirements, please contact us at info@themilladelaide.com