The Territory is awash with painterly talent and thanks to Art Not Apart you can join in celebrating that local contingent. A little festival with a lot of big talent, come 18th March the event will offer an intersection of expression in all forms. Paint slicked canvas, works that stand out from their placard and mind-bending video. Here’s our picks of the bunch:
#1 Jess Cochrane
An artist local to Canberra, Jess’ murals have taken her to Sydney for residence these days. Immersive strokes and pastel elegance, Cochrane’s work is a marvel. At the festival she’ll be taking on feminine agency in her work and projecting a rejection the male gaze onto the courtyard facade. Be charmed by her stunning take on pop culture consumption in each offering, meshing a photographic base with brushstrokes atop. She’s worked with Groovin The Moo in the past and is currently working on a more affordable offering for the everyday consumer.
#2 Dionisia Salas
Layering patterns like a seamstress at work, Dionisia creates vibrant textured pieces that leaves you peering deeper. Marrying paper techniques with silk screen printing, lino impressions and hand drawn flourishes. The result is a composition of impeccable detail. Salas herself has lived in Melbourne and Berlin for her art and will this year be taking up residency in Mildura; all adding depth to her works. Catch her mastery of collage at Art Not Apart for yourself.
#3 Musonga
Born into the self described ‘cliche African-Australian household’ Musonga’s work captures his experience as a man of colour growing up in Australia. His offering will take on Black Lives Matter as it’s subject and Musonga has pursued this with the most honourable of intentions. “For me a better tomorrow is knowing less people will have to experience racial discrimination in their day-to-day lives” says Musonga. “Equality is the message I want to convey through my art.”
#4 Amy Campbell
Sculptural genius and master of dimension, Amy Campbell creates pieces of beautiful chaos. They’re wild, entrancing and inspired by the place of paint in the digital age. She combines her colourful brushstrokes with digital mark marking to make pieces that leap from their place. Her exhibition at Art Not Apart will take on this chaos as a comment on the information-saturated world we live in.
#5 Josh Owen
An audiovisual artist that captivates you with trance like imagery, Josh Owen is a newcomer with some serious potential. It’s a sensory explosion and it makes you question where you should be watching, a video of kaleidoscopic movement. Josh with his latest project is seeking to displace the viewer from the standard viewing of a moment and unsettle their placement of space and time. Using a piano player and audio cues, the offering is sue to leave spectators pondering.
Image source: Jess Cochrane, Dionisia Salas, Amy Campbell, Josh Owen Vimeo, The Ladies Network, University of Wollongong.