Video Art

I am a painter and filmmaker. In 2007, I established Frogmouth Films making documentary and environmental, social justice pieces. I am currently in pre production on a documentary titled: Unstoppable Change. In 2024 I am also excited to be part of the Planetary Health group show, in September at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre. Other works include: 2023 Watermark (7:59 min), 2023 Ego's Garden (9:58 min), 2022, Changing the Story (10:44 min), 2021 Another Future (10:44 min), 2020 Esk (7:16min), 2019 Walking (home) (3:33 min), 2018 Courage for the Long Haul (14min) 2013 Knitting Nannas (21 min), 2011 Being with Her (40min), 2010 Throwing Out the Lies with the Birthwater (40min) Selected Solo exhibitions 2019​​ Courage: Painting, film and photography, Platform Gallery, Katoomba 2002 ​​From Away: Funded by NSW Regional Arts C.A.S.P. including site specific sculptural ​​​​installation in Kinchega National Park, exhibition in Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, ​​​​weaving workshops, education kit for schools and video documentary. Contributor / camerawork 2022​​ Another Future and Hadrian projects with Textile Audio/ Eve Klein and Ensemble Offspring 2017​​ Sacrifice Zone, Cloudcatcher Media, David Lowe and Eve Jeffreys 2014​​ The Bentley Effect, Director Brendan Shoebridge 2013​​ Sydney Water Catchment, Lock the Gate from Undermining Australia, Coal ​​​​vs Communities, Director/editor: David Lowe.

I'm a performing musician and composer, graphic artist, videographer and educator and have lived in the upper Blue Mountains for the last two decades. I perform with the psychedelic soundscape ensemble PaperSun and am an original member of the Spooky Men’s Chorale, the infamous Mountains-based mens a cappella group. My music has been employed in a wide range of projects over the years, ranging from a soundtrack for the independent film 'The Last Babushka Doll' (2018), a promotional video for MTNS MADE and for the DiG digital arts project for Penrith City Council. My most recent release, Sounds Of In-Between (2015) brings together voice, instruments and field recordings in a timeless collage of music and sound. I'm currently working on composing and recording an album of new material with PaperSun at my studio in Abbey Street, Leura. I completed a first class honours degree at Western Sydney University in 2015 and has presented research at conferences in Spain, New Zealand and Australia. My doctoral investigation explored the spatio-temporal phenomenon of suspension as an aesthetic approach in popular music and imagery, which resulted in the audiovisual work States of Suspension, performed with PaperSun at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre in 2018 as part of my thesis submission. I'm a sessional lecturer at WSU and also teach instrumental students through my own music school, Abbey Street Music. I can be contacted at music@abbeystreet.one or call/text 0417 376 733.

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.

I am a visual artist, film maker, photographer, published writer and teacher. I have lived in the upper Blue Mountains for over 20 years. I have exhibited my work locally, nationally and internationally and my work is in both public and private collections. My art practice spans a mix of video, painting, photography and sculpture. I am available and keen to discuss new projects, exhibitions and collaborations.

Damian Castaldi is an artist, percussionist and sound designer currently based in Katoomba. He lives and works in a house and studio he recently oversaw the building of (as an owner-builder) with his wife Solange Kershaw. His solo and collaborative career is built on a practice of mixed media installation, performance, electroacoustic and audio-visual production and the occasional exhibition. He has lectured in Music and Sound Design at the University of Technology Sydney and Audio Production at the School of Audio Engineering Sydney. After graduating from the Sculpture, Performance & Installation (SPI) studio at Sydney College of the Arts he returned to SCA to work as the Studio Supervisor in the Electronic and Temporal Arts department, whilst also graduating with an MA in Media Art from the UNSW College of Fine Arts. As a young man he acquired the skills of big band, swing and improvisational jazz drumming. Soon after he spent a year working with the English craftsman Dickie Blackman in his workshop at the Margaret Little Memorial School with whom he acquired hand woodworking and musical instrument building skills. The conceptual and creative focus in his current work varies from exploring playful human/object based interaction to more severe community based human/environment or human/human based interaction. The technically creative focus is on designing real-time interactive systems using software, sensors, signal processing, new musical instruments and sculptural objects for performance, assemblage and multi platform audio-visual installation.

Naomi Oliver's art practice includes experimental digital video and animation, sound, and performance art. Oliver is interested in combining analog and digital mediums and processes when creating experimental pieces. She often incorporates older, more physically fallible technologies in her practice, such as VHS and audio cassette tapes. Since 2002 she has exhibited work and collaborated with artists in Australia and internationally. She has been an artist-in-residence at Arteles Creative Centre in Hämeenkyrö, Finland and also at The Lock-up Gallery art residency in Newcastle, NSW. Most recent exhibitions include 'ULTRA-SONIC' at Sydney College of the Arts (curated by Haines & Hinterding) in 2023 and 'Motif', 2022, a solo show and artist residency at Woodford Academy, NSW. Completing her Bachelor of Fine arts (Honours) in 2003 at Western Sydney University, she currently lives and works in the Blue Mountains, Australia.

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.

Mount Victoria based multimedia artist whose practice explores concepts focusing on perception, technology, humanity and nature. My artwork aims to create evocative spaces using a 2.5D relief sculpture layering technique. My formal studies include a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) and Post-graduate Dip Ed (Art & English) from Curtin University. Exhibiting since 1981 my work has been accepted for numerous group exhibitions including the Rick Amor Drawing Prize, National Art Gallery of Ballarat; Gallipoli Art Prize, Gascoyne Arts Prize (2021 runner up) and Blue Mountains City Art Gallery. In 2016 I held solo exhibitions at GalleryONE88 before becoming a partner in the Gallery Blackheath, an artist run cooperative – now closed due to COVID. As a longstanding committee member (former President) of the Mount Victoria Museum, I’ve helped stage and participated in several successful collaborative exhibitions with leading Blue Mountains contemporary art groups (Birdland2 with SLAB cooperative and Black & Blue 2 Blume Illustrated at BM Cultural Centre). Through the museum, I’ve successfully developed/project led several exhibitions including the award winning (MG&NSW Highly Commended) 150th of Railway to Mount Victoria. For the Mt Vic 150th I produced an animated historic photo projection and an oral history touchscreen system. Pop up 150th railway exhibitions for Bowenfels (Lithgow) and Blackheath were also successfully staged. My design work included graphic files for large format print banners, one of which is permanently displayed at Blackheath railway station. As an active management committee member of the Greater Blue Mountains Creative Arts Network, performing the company secretary role (former acting treasurer), I have experience with the logistics for developing and producing group art projects. GBMCAN aims to encourage the building of a stronger arts community across the Greater Blue Mountains by fostering member driven initiatives and building partnerships with other arts organisations and businesses.

The Blue Mountains Cultural Centre showcases innovative, diverse, distinctive and creative cultural programs for enjoyment by residents of, and visitors to, the Blue Mountains. Located in the heart of Katoomba the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre encompasses the Blue Mountains City Art Gallery, Katoomba Library and Into the Blue, an interactive exhibition that explores the history and natural landscape of the Blue Mountains. Visitors can also enjoy the viewing platform that takes in stunning panoramic vistas of Katoomba and the Jamison Valley. Opened in 2012, the Blue Mountains City Art Gallery features major touring, curated, regional and local exhibitions. Its Altitude Exhibition Program is dedicated to showcasing artists who reside in the Blue Mountains Region. The Gallery also hosts many quality exhibition programs such as curator and artist talks, educational workshops, gallery tours and outreach programs. The Cultural Centre also hosts school holiday programs for kids, pop-up art activities, artisan markets, performances, and a wide range of community related events. The Blue Mountains Cultural Centre also features a Gallery Shop and Café, both of which aim to highlight local makers and produce. The Shop stocks a wide variety of quality Australian made gifts, books and homewares, with a focus on artisan products designed and made here in the Blue Mountains. The licensed Gallery Café has a particular focus on quality, locally produced ingredients. You can enjoy freshly roasted coffee, delicious cakes, and a seasonal menu while overlooking the magnificent Jamison Valley. Please email culturalcentre@bmcc.nsw.gov.au to get in touch!