News
Vivid Ideas 2023: Could the ocean be the solution?
On Saturday 10 June join Dr Kate Scardifield in conversation with leaders from science, design and industry as they detail cutting-edge technology from algae-material swimwear to new coral growth technology, and other innovative programs helping clean up our oceans. Joining Kate is Distinguished Professor Peter Ralph and Professor Martina Doblin from the Climate Change Cluster in the UTS Faculty of Science. and Amy Low, Brand and Marketing Director of Piping Hot Australia.
New commission for Bundanon Art Museum: Siteworks 2022
Siteworks 2022: From a deep valley will present a major new exhibition at Bundanon Art Museum, titled Inside, underground exploring the concept of interior weather, and generating new forms of material knowledge that reflect our changing relationship with the natural world. Five Australian artists will investigate the complex relationship between body and site using repurposed natural materials such as plant and animal matter, beeswax, oyster shells and algae. The artists are Carolyn Eskdale, Susan Jacobs, Kate Scardifield, Lucy Simpson, and Isadora Vaughan.
Visit the Bundanon website for details on their program of ‘weather reports’ as part of Siteworks 2022 which include talks, stories and presentations from leading scientists, artists and First Nations knowledge holders.
Bundanon. Photo: Zan Wimberley
The Science Show: New materials for smarter buildings
Producing steel, glass, bricks and concrete require high energy input and often produce high levels of emissions. For innovators, construction presents a great opportunity. Tim Schork and Kate Scardifield at the University of Technology Sydney are using recycled material to create new building products requiring less energy and producing fewer unwanted emissions.
Listen to the interview here.
Kate Scardifield, Biomasonry made from algae biomass and oyster shell waste. Photo: Robin Hearfield
Broadsheet studio visit
Broadsheet editor Emma Joyce visited Kate Scardifield in the studio to talk about making art from oyster shell waste and algae to call attention to our changing planet. Photos by Jiwon Kim.
Read the article here.
Kate Scardifield. Photo: Jiwon Kim
Recently published: Design and Repair: from object conservation to material transformation
Design and Repair: from object conservation to material transformation was recently published in Visual Communication, Vol 22 Issue 2. Co-Authored by Dr Kate Scardifield and Megan Hall, this visual essay utilizes a series of images from Make Do and Mend, a participatory workshop that brought together designers, a museum conservator and the general public to explore design for repair as part of Sydney Craft Week in 2019.
Read the article here.
Make Do and Mend Workshop, Sydney Craft Week 2019. Photo: Jessica Lea Dunn
Pliable Planes, UNSW Galleries, 29 April – 17 July 2022
Pliable Planes: Expanded Textiles & Fibre Practices is a major exhibition drawing together practitioners who reimagine practices in textiles and fibre art. Through expanded painting, assemblage, performative gesture, sound, video and installation, Pliable Planes presents contemporary Australian textiles in expansive and plural forms, altering perceptions of materials, form and function.
Curated by Karen Hall and Catherine Woolley, the exhibition includes works by Akira Akira, Sarah Contos, Lucia Dohrmann, Mikala Dwyer, Janet Fieldhouse, Teelah George, Paul Knight, Anne-Marie May, John Nixon, Kate Scardifield, Jacqueline Stojanović and Katie West.
Starting at Zero, a symposium delivered in conjunction with the exhibition, brings together practitioners and thinkers to explore the vast potentials of fibre and textiles as both a material and subject in contemporary practice. The program features a keynote presentation from Antonia Syme AM, Director, Australian Tapestry Workshop, alongside a series of conversations with exhibiting artists, curators, and guest speakers.
Presented with the support of the Australia Council for the Arts. The exhibition begins a national tour in 2023 with the support of the Australian Government's Visions of Australia program.
Kate Scardifield, You Don’t Need Me to Tell You (Production Still), 2022. Photo: Robin Hearfield
Kate Scardifield in conversation with Mia Hull on Out Of The Box FBi 94.5 FM
Hear Kate Scardifield in conversation with Mia Hull on FBi 94.5 FM. Each week, Out of The Box delves into someone's record collection and talks about the music they love, the life they lead and how the two interact. Listen to the podcast here.
Photo: Robin Hearfield
REMIX Summit Sydney 2022
Kate Scardifield talks about designing with algae, collaborating with scientists, and material futures at REMIX Sydney. Australia’s biggest Creative Industries summit, REMIX brings together pioneers from a range of industries with a focus on culture, technology and entrepreneurship. The 2022 summit: A Changing World: Recovery, Resilience & Reinvention will explore the future of the creative and cultural industries, creative cities, and the creative economy.
Kate Scardifield, material testing (algae biomass and oystershell waste). Photo: Robin Hearfield
2022 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia
The Art Gallery of South Australia has announced the 25 leading Australian contemporary artists selected for the 2022 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Free/State, curated by Sebastian Goldspink.
The exhibition will present works by Abdul-Rahman Abdullah (WA), Serena Bonson (NT), Mitch Cairns (NSW), Dean Cross (NSW), Shaun Gladwell (VIC), Dennis Golding (NSW), Loren Kronemyer (TAS), Laith McGregor (NSW), Kate Mitchell (QLD), Tracey Moffatt (NSW), Stanislava Pinchuk (VIC), Tom Polo (NSW), JD Reforma (NSW), Reko Rennie (VIC),Julie Rrap (NSW), Kate Scardifield (NSW), Darren Sylvester (VIC), Jelena Telecki (NSW), Rhoda Tjitayi (SA), James Tylor & Rebecca Selleck (ACT), Angela & Hossein Valamanesh (SA), Sera Waters (SA) and Min Wong (NSW).
The Adelaide Biennial is the nation’s longest-running curated survey of contemporary Australian art. Presented throughout AGSA, the 2022 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Free/State will be presented from 4 March to 5 June 2022 as part of the 2022 Adelaide Festival.
Kate Scardifield, Canis Major, 2019, 34°46'18.3"S 150°49'23.8"E. Wind Instruments and form tests. Studies in semaphore and signalling. Photo: Robin Hearfield
New Acquisition: Artbank
To celebrate its 40th anniversary year, Artbank is pleased to announce a new acquisition to the collection. Kate Scardifield’s ‘wind instrument’ artwork from her Canis Major body of work (2019), will take over the 14 metre high tower space at Artbank’s Waterloo showroom.
To be launched in November alongside Artbank’s anniversary exhibition 20/20: 40 years of Contemporary Australian Art, this new addition to the Artbank collection celebrates the important role Artbank has played in supporting emerging, Australian contemporary artists and celebrating the dynamic and diverse landscape of the Australian arts sector.
The artwork will be displayed first in the Artbank tower, and then made available to the public via Artbank’s leasing program. Artbank is part of the Australian Government Office for the Arts, in the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications. More information on the acquisition and the Artbank collection can be found here.
Photo: Robin Hearfield
One Without the Other
The Lifted Brow
One Without the Other, an experimental essay by Kate Scardifield on limbs, detachment and collections has been published in the quarterly literary journal The Lifted Brow. Issue 45 of the journal includes texts, art and creative works by Georgia Mill, Tess Pearson, Aurora Scott, Kang Young-Sook, Jason Phu and Benjamin Law.
The Lifted Brow, Issue 45, March 2020
Permanent Recession: A Handbook on Art, Labour and Circumstance
Permanent Recession: a Handbook on Art, Labour and Circumstance is an enquiry into the capitals and currencies of experimental, radical and artist-run initiatives in Australia.
Excavating a shared history of independent practice stretching back to the 1980s, this publication situates new research within a rich continuum of debate about the Australian artmaking context.
Edited by Channon Goodwin
Contributing Authors: Esther Anatolitis, Peter Anderson, Hana Pera Aoake, Dr Marnie Badham, Terri Bird, Andrew Brooks, Andy Butler, Colleen Chen, Clare Cooper, Dr David Corbet, Dr Ben Eltham,Dr Léuli Eshrāghi , Channon Goodwin, Sarah Gory. Tristen Harwood, Dr Mark Jackson, Dr Kate MacNeill, Dr Anne Marsh, Lucie McIntosh, Georgie Meagher, Dr Jacqueline Millner, Bernice Murphy, Spiros Panigirakis, Dr Lisa Radford, Macushla Robinson, Dr Francis Russell, Catherine Ryan, Dr Kate Scardifield, Dr Pip Shea, Talia Smith, Philipa Veitch, Amelia Wallin, Pip Wallis, Amelia Winata, Katie Winten, Tian Zhang
Onomatopee 169—Permanent Recession: a Handbook on Art, Labour and Circumstance (2019). Channon Goodwin (Ed.). Photograph: Blickfanger.
2019 Eva Breuer Travelling Art Scholarship
The Art Gallery of New South Wales is delighted to announce that Australian artist Kate Scardifield is the recipient of the 2019 Eva Breuer Travelling Art Scholarship.
Kate Scardifield, Canis Major, 2019. 34°53'29.4"S 150°29'60.0"E. Wind Instruments and form tests. Studies in semaphore and signalling. Photo: Robin Hearfield.
Standout Shows 2018: Soft Topologies
Art Collector magazine Jan-March 2019
Soft Topologies featured in Art Collector Magazine as a standout exhibition of 2018. Words by Rebecca Gallo.
