Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen is a Vietnamese-Australian writer and critic based in Naarm/Melbourne.
“I never grew up with representation in those queer spaces, so creating my own works has really helped.” In stunning moments of joy and connection, Dylan Mooney’s art depicts the love between queer Indigenous people.
The art of storytelling has been integral to Chinese culture and history for thousands of years—and White Rabbit Gallery is exploring how contemporary artists are keeping this timeless practice alive, especially in today’s digital age.
For better or worse, data is intrinsic to modern life. In recent months with various data breach scandals, Australians have been reminded of its omnipresence— and in Data Relations at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, artists explore how data manifests both personally and societally.
“They’re visualising Country as spirit”: First Nations artists Maddison Gibbs and salllvage have been practicing deep listening to express connection to Country, exhibiting sound and sculpture works at Cement Fondu.
“What I represent in my work really reflects my life, because my work really reflects what I am personally going through,” says TextaQueen. Known for their texta creations, ahead of TextaQueen’s show at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art they talk about skewering Bollywood archetypes via fictional film posters, starring queer and trans South Asian people.
For over three decades Do Ho Suh has worked across forms like installation, sculpture and film to interrogate diaspora and concepts of belonging. Suh’s first Australian solo is now showing at the Museum of Contemporary Art this summer.
A highly respected cultural and arts leader, Pitjantjatjara woman Sally Scales began painting only a few years ago—and the results are beguiling, leading to Scales being a current NATSIAA finalist at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.
Madame Mystery is not a real person, but you can text her to learn your fortune. And she’s a key character in Anna Carey’s latest miniature photographs at Artereal Gallery.
“Media puts an expectation on mums to always be positive”: Sheree Dohnt’s paintings at Bunbury Regional Art Gallery show the joys and challenges of motherhood, from measuring success to what women miss about life before children.
“For me, it’s about wonder and not knowing, and the undoing of trying to solve something,” says Susan Jacobs. The Sydney-born, London-based artist is having her largest show to date at Buxton Contemporary, where romance may be found in the clinical—and detritus becomes precious.
Melbourne’s RISING festival of art, music and performance is something of a fever dream, having been delayed from 2020 and then running for just one night in 2021 before again being impeded by lockdowns. Now taking place this June with over 200 events by 800 artists, it may be tricky deciding what to see—so here’s our top picks, with tickets still available.
