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ART PACKS
Queer Materials
Samuel Luke Beatty, Giacomo Budini, Matthew Grayson, Dr Virginia Keft, Abby Murray, Saara138 & Zoë Sydney.
Curated by Anoushka Sansom
12 February - 8 March
Queer Materials features seven LGBTQIA+ artists that use textiles to narrate diverse Queer experiences – presenting a patchwork of unique 21st Century stories, that are both private and universal.
Textiles are important in Queer storytelling. They are capable of embodying histories both personal and communal and are symbolic items in Queer mythmaking. The textile making process itself has long been a significant tool in Queer community building - providing occasion for social and cultural connection and exchange.
The artists within this exhibition present varied, intersectional and alternative forms of Queer representation, speaking to unique stories, both private and universal and recognising the multilayered and many-voiced nature of Queer histories.
Samuel Luke Beatty
Samuel Luke Beatty (he/him) is an artist who uses graphic narratives and autobiographical storytelling to explore intimate realities of being transgender. His works take the form of digital illustration, prints, comics, embroidery, quilts and murals. His art offers alternate forms of queer and trans representation to other gender explorers on similar journeys, from tomboy childhood gender euphoria, to affirming moments of gay trans masculinity.
He graduated from UNSW Art & Design in 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (First Class Honours), and has since illustrated projects with ABC News, Adobe, ACON Health’s TransHub, Converse ANZ, Headspace, and Sock Drawer Heroes.
Samuel currently lives and works in Sydney, on Dharug Country, NSW.
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Giacomo Budini
Giacomo Budini is an emerging multidisciplinary artist living in Sydney. His work is an exploration of Transcendence, Redemption and Salvation within Catholicism and the profound influence it has on individuals' thoughts and actions. Working across sculpture, textiles and installation he seeks to represent the decadence, power, and mystery of the Transcendent. Inspired by the Catholic church's Architecture, Liturgy and Fashion, he draws upon both remembered and imagined experiences witnessing them as a child. His recent body of work "Act of Contrition" focuses on the pinnacle moment of Confession and depicts recurring motifs of red Confessional booths and Ecclesiastical robes. Through his red Confessional installations he seeks to represent the powerful presence of the Transcendent and prompt contemplation about morality, judgement, and the blurred line between public and private. His work serves as a place for both himself and the audience to question their ideas of what is right and what is wrong, who is the judge and who is the listener and what we sorry for and why we are sorry for it.
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Matthew Grayson
Matthew Grayson is a young queer cisgender male artist based in Wollongong on Dharawal Country. Grayson's practice is a dynamic fusion of hand, machine, and programmed embroidery, creating tactile and visually compelling works that engage with themes of queer identity. His artistic journey is marked by a critical interrogation of traditionally gendered means of artistic expression, aiming to deconstruct derogatory terms associated with queer identities, challenging societal stigmatisation, and exploring the intersection of human experience with the natural world. Through Grayson’s distinctive approach he creates a dynamic body of work that promotes introspection and critical contemplation while interrogating traditional gendered artistic expressions.
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Dr Virginia Keft
Muruwari
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Abby Murray
Abby Marie Murray is an American-born emerging artist primarily living and working on Gadigal and Guringai Land in Sydney, Australia. Working across sculpture, textiles, painting and installation, her work aims to fold matrilineal craft practices into autobiographical histories. Often using collected and found textiles to collaborate with the past, her circular and haptic practice draws upon storytelling practices to tell memories of displacement, grief and notions of time. Abby has recently graduated from UNSW Art and Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours (2024) and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Fashion Design) from Colombia College Chicago (2012). Since immigrating to Australia in 2020 she has consistently exhibited throughout the country, including at UNSW Galleries, Sydenham International, AIRspace Projects, ADSpace and DrawSpace. She was recently a finalist (Highly Commended) at the Jenny Birt Painting Prize and is currently a studio resident at the City of Sydney Creative Studios, Bathurst Street.
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Saara138
Saara’s background is in visual arts & print design. She has worked for two years as a DTG (Direct to Garment) digital tee shirt printer and currently works part time screen printing bespoke, archival fabrics and wallpapers by hand in Sydney’s inner West. Outside of that, Saara has a private studio practice where she works as a screen printer, an illustrator/graphic designer, and jewellery/accessory designer (and sometimes a darkroom photographer and amateur seamstress). Her passion lies in crafting one of a kind garments and objects through a variety of handicraft and printmaking methods.
The SAARA138 label is the channel through which Saara gets to explore the schools of thought and aesthetics that she takes interest in, such as alchemy theory, mysticism, Gothic horror, image making theory, and the dissection and subversion of feminine beauty. Significant to her practice is also waste consciousness, using second hand materials as much as possible, sourcing used clothing and beads/trinkets/objects at op shops, vintage markets, and garbage reuse centers.
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Zoë Sydney
Zoë Sydney (they/he) is a curator, painter, maker, and all-round snartist (science artist). They have an honours degree in fine arts and physics from the University of Western Australia, and they are currently living and working on Wurundjeri country. They are working on using emerging technologies in conjunction with textile work to develop new Queer relationships between artwork and viewer. Their solo show Other People combined stuffed paintings with augmented reality and was shown at Schoolhouse Studios and Smith and Gertrude Gallery. They were co-awarded Blindside Gallery’s emerging curator of 2023 with the Playroom show, exploring trans* and gender diverse perspectives of childhood. With a background in quantum physics, they are also interested in the physical consequences of seeing and being seen. This has informed their recent exploration of drag performance as a part of their practice.
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Anoushka Sansom
Queer Materials Curator
Anoushka Sansom is a Queer, trans, curator & artist of Ashkenazi and Mizrahi heritage.
Anoushka has a strong commitment to bringing diverse voices to the fore. Based in São Paulo for many years, she was the founder and curator of Arte das Quebradas - a cultural initiative that worked with Brazilian artists from low-income backgrounds to foster their careers and provide them with the means to present their work to broad audiences. Since 2018, Anoushka has provided curatorial support to Muruwari artist, Dr Virginia Keft, on the artist's exhibitions and projects. The most recent of these was an exhibition and community activation project at WayOut Artspace, Kandos, entitled, waalarrinji (long-time-now), in January 2024.
Her forthcoming project, Queer Materials, will present LGBTQIA+ textile artists that narrate Queer experiences through their practices at Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios as part of the Gallery's Mardi Gras Program.
Anoushka began working at Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios in 2023. She holds a Master of Art Curating from the University of Sydney, a Master of Arts from University of New England and a Bachelor of Arts from University of Wollongong.
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