Curation

Justin holds a Masters in Creative Industries from Western Sydney University and an Advance Diploma in Screen Media, Multiplatform Producing. He has experience in producing documentary content for television. In 2020, Justin was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to explore the artist-led makerspaces. In his background of film production, programming and production, he has worked for the Brisbane International Film Festival, Asia Pacific Screen Awards, the Sydney Film Festival and the Antenna International Documentary Film Festival. He produced the award winning 30min documentary ‘Not a Willing Participant’ screened on ABC and the 1hour documentary, ‘A War of Hope’ with SBS/NITV. Most recently Justin has been the Exhibition Manager at Sculpture at Scenic World and formerly worked in the technical team for Sculpture by the Sea.

I am a visual artist, cultural worker and researcher focussed on working in public space and building creative communities and places. I have founded, built and run MAPA Art + Architecture together Hugo Moline since 2015. Prior to that I was part of The Lot collective. I have managed public art and cultural projects both temporary and permanent, for clients including: City of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Parramatta City Council, Powerhouse MAAS, Urban Art Projects, Defence Housing Australia, amongst others. Working on complex collaborative public art projects I have developed effective project & time management skills and successfully led teams of contractors, fabricators, engineers and installers. In our collaborative practice, Hugo and I have undertaken residencies and produce research outcomes in Japan at Australia House for the Echigo Tsumari Art Triennial, at NIDA Art Colony in Lithuania, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, The Museum of Loss and Renewal in Italy and others. Alongside my creative practice I have twelve years of professional experience working in the visual arts and local government sector. In 2005 I graduated from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Creative Art majoring in Arts Management and in 2008 I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the National Art School majoring in Sculpture. In my various roles as Creative Industries Project Officer at Blue Mountains City Council, Curator of Bankstown Biennale, Bankstown City Council, Cultural Development Officer at Fairfield City Council I have been responsible for producing and managing creative programmes, exhibitions and grant programs. I have also taught as sessional academic at in interdisciplinary design at the University of Technology Sydney, in architecture at the Sydney University and worked as a research co-ordinator at the University of Newcastle in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences.

UnitePlayPerform is an Australian arts health organisation enhancing wellbeing through creativity in a globally connected world. Founded by Australian contemporary artist and experience designer ØFFËRÎNGŠ, UnitePlayPerform is a transformational therapeutic methodology incorporating play, making, co-creation and community. The master method is delivered via educational Playshops, retreats, digital experiences, performance works, exhibitions and therapeutic products that invite self exploration and leadership. “UnitePlayPerform was developed by Artist ØFFËRÎNGŠ as a new system to nurture and enhance the everyday lives of humans in such potent and challenging times. The concept was born unexpectedly within the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 as a response to the isolation and segregation of our communities. UnitePlayPerform started to realize the positive impact that a practice like this could have on individuals and the lives they may affect around them. The ripple effect could be global, and the potential could be life enhancing as a legacy for generations to come. Post incubation phase, now in 2022, UPP has expanded to become a multi-disciplinary arts health organisation supporting the ongoing delivery of all that we do. A crucial element of the journey has been the assembly of a small team of world-class thought leaders, innovators, neuro-psychology theorists, cultural strategists and iconic play design experts who have collaborated to bring this vision to life. UPP aims to facilitate new pathways born at the intersection of art, health, science and wellbeing.

I’m an inter-disciplinary artist who has for the most part of my career used the camera as my tool to create. With a degree in Environmental Science, I have a passion for exploring where art and science intersect; creating art and experiential projects that encourage behaviour change. From outdoor public art exhibitions to intimate, contemplative works, I strive to innovate and inspire. Following my period at the helm of MTNS MADE, I have returned to my own creative practice – exploring new materials and immersing myself in the natural world – creating artworks to reveal the inner strength and unique nature of the subject, and provide new perspectives for my audiences.

Linda Swinfield is a mid-career Hybrid printmaker whose work is now multi- tangent. Her art making career begun as a visual art student in 1979 where she majored in black and white analogue photography and experimental painting at Meadowbank Technical College in Sydney. Since then photography and drawing have remained a constant diary for Swinfield. In 1983 she enrolled in a Bachelor of Visual Arts at City Art Institute (University of NSW) where she majored in Drawing and Lithography. Swinfield completed a Masters of Fine Art at The University of Newcastle in 2010 and it was here that many of the studio based disciplines of her youth merged, particularly photographic media in printmaking integrating drawing, and painting with the gathering of documents, research, text and history as an intrinsic storytelling process. Since graduating from the Masters of Fine Art in 2010 she has been selected for Artist in Residences with Captivate in Western Sydney from 2019- 20, Hazelhurst Regional Art Gallery in April 2017, Thirning Villa, Ashfield in 2015, Laughing Waters Road AIR (Eltham Victoria) with Nillumbik Council in 2013 and the Gunyah AIR in Port Stephens, NSW in 2012 where she returned to in February 2016. Additionally she was recently selected for the Swan Hill Print and Drawing Awards, Hidden Sculpture Walk 2018 and 2015, Sculpture in the Vineyards, Nillumbik Prize in 2014 and 2017 and the Laman Street Art Prize in 2013, The Women’s Art Prize in 2016 and held solo exhibitions in the Newcastle University Gallery. In 2010 she was awarded a NSW Marketing Grant, by NAVA. Contemporary printmaking is now the spine of her artmaking processes, most recently she has extended her printmaking skill into photo lithography and developed suites of objects as installation utilizing contemporary processes of laser cutting and digital media. Her work is represented in public and private collections in Australia and Europe.

I'm an artist and designer working in the field of immersive and interactive media. I'm interested in the aesthetics of how people interact with virtual environments and what simulated realities can tell us about humanity. My research focuses on applications for immersive visualisation and experimental digital technologies to the preservation and interpretation of important cultural heritage sites, collections and museums. I'm interested in how we can use new media platforms to create new, embodied sensory experiences that allow us to understand heritage in innovative ways. I'm also interested in the mechanics of immersive design. My background is in art history and museums, and I work closely with the GLAM sector on digital conservation, exhibition design and interaction design projects.

Working across multiple disciplines, I explore materialities and aesthetics of memory, experience and place, distilling these ephemeral qualities into a range of physical, visual forms. I explore expanded notions of drawing and painting, compositional abstraction, colour, collage, printmaking, casting (beeswax), assemblage, sound, digital and analogue photography and film. I engage with the languages and processes of collecting, grouping, making, reframing and composing to translate visceral experiences into tactile works. I manipulate materials, light and space, to tell personal stories contained within planar and architectural contexts. Compositions are restrained, with sympathetic relationships formed between materials, surface, space, and the viewer. Extraneous matter is eliminated via material opacity and colour fields, transforming feelings and experiences into veiled, sensual, quiet planar surfaces. The space is gently framed and delineated by the works' edges, providing an entry point for the viewer to focus on the field and find a sense of stillness. My practice also incorporates curation and production of collaborative, site-specific projects held within unique architectural spaces, that explore and expand ways of creating and presenting art forms, and enable deep audience engagement with art and place. Please contact me if you would like to commission a work or discuss a project.

Hayley Zena Poynton is an artist and curator living on Dharug and Gundungurra country, Blue Mountains. She is currently curating at The Blue Mountains Cultural Centre City Art Gallery and before that worked in Visitor Experience at the Art Gallery of NSW. Hayley maintains a collaborative curatorial methodology to facilitate meaningful experiences between the artist and the audience. As an artist Hayley is strongly influenced by the natural world, the gothic, and the human expression of storytelling, primarily folklore and revisionist histories.

I'm a visual artist, editor, researcher, project manager and teacher. I make exhibition work (installations), edit (academic articles, PhD and Master theses, exhibition catalogues) and produce neat layout (articles, catalogues). I’ve worked in digital humanities (visual arts, history, museums) and journal publishing (scientific, art history). I've taught at uni and TAFE (visual arts) as well as high school (visual arts, English). I am available for editing, layout, teaching/workshops, research and anything to do with managing projects, publications or collections data.

Born in Sydney, I have lived in the Blue Mountains for 16 years. As a performance creator and visual artist I work at the intersection of dance, installation, theatre and architecture. My recent works fall into the categories of performance art and installation. I work in solo, duet or group formation depending on the project. I also collaborate with my partner WeiZen Ho. In Sydney I was the founding member of seminal performance ensemble Gravity Feed (1992-2004) and of Gravity Research Institute (2000-2019). I conceive, devise, design, and choreograph and direct performance projects. I especially work with materials and objects and with site responsive concepts. My projects and performance address the essence of site, employing materials that perform in relation to and with body and place. I’m driven to seek underlying historical residues and my work reflects my personal post-Holocaust legacy in which I’m particularly focussed on the diasporic condition. I’m influenced by both contemporary and traditional cultural and artistic practices of Japan, China and SE Asia, with practice, participation and research in those regions. Recently I’ve presented work for smaller festivals in Newcastle and Maitland as well at Cementa15 and Cementa22 in Kandos. WeiZen Ho and I were commissioned artists for the 2022 Keir Choreographic Awards.

A photographer for lovers and for businesses. Adventurer at heart, creative by blood. A photographer of lovers - whether thats weddings, elopements, couples sessions, family portraits, or maternity sessions. But also, a photographer of businesses and brands - whether that's branding sessions for brands/artists/musicians/fellow creatives, small business content, website content, lifestyle and action, food and venue, product photography, small events, live music, behind-the-scenes, stop motion animations/gifs, reels, organic social media assistance, architecture shots, and so on. I pride myself in having a wide range of skills in photography and digital media services and am able to help in any way possible. I also offer organic social media management for small businesses if this is something you're after. I currently work with some businesses within the wedding and accommodation spaces and am eager to spread my social media skills further.