WHAT: Woden Artist Residencies with various local artists

WHEN: September to December, 2023

NEXT RESIDENCY: 1 – 4 November, 2023

COST: Free

DETAILS:

Tuggeranong Arts Centre and Woden Arts presents a series of residencies activating Woden Town Square. Based in Lovett Tower, the 2-week residencies offer local artists an opportunity to work and interact with community; bringing sound, colour and art to the heart of Woden. Interested members of the public are encouraged to pop in for a chat with the artists and take part in a variety of community engagement activities. Residency details are available below. More information will be added in coming weeks.

Graham Gall

Photographer Graham Gall: Artist in Residence 1 – 4 November and 8-11 November

The Woden Valley- The Full Spectrum – A Photographic Exhibition photographic exhibition residency is in two parts. Initially Graham will shoot images in and around Woden Valley from which twenty will be selected to be printed and matted for hanging and exhibited on the Ground Floor of Lovett Tower on the Woden Town Square.

The second part of the Residency will be to curate and hang 20 matted images in a public exhibition. Graham will be resident in the space and available to interact with the Woden Community and discuss the images and the photographic techniques involved. 

Graham has a professionally converted full spectrum camera body, various lenses and filters which will be used to create a different vision of iconic buildings, places and spaces in the Woden Valley; including but not limited to Lovett Tower and the Town Square. He will shoot some ‘street’ style and may include people passing through or using the spaces as well. All images will be created in infrared; some may be presented in black and white and some in colour or monochrome. 

While out and about shooting these images Graham will be very open to interacting with any member of the community who wishes to observe the creative and technical processes involved or ask questions about the Residency. Once shot the images will be edited by Graham and prepared for printing and mat framing at a local printer and framer in Phillip. 

Beginning 1st November 2023 for four days a week until 11th November Graham will be present in the Lovett Tower Exhibition space from 11am to 3pm. On Wednesday 1st November the frames will be curated and hung in consultation with Woden and Tuggeranong Arts. After that Graham will be present from Wednesday to Saturday for the two weeks to interact with visitors to the gallery and talk about his work.

Graham will have his photography kit on display in order to discuss the more technical aspects with anyone who may be interested. All works will be on sale and reprints able to be ordered.  Graham will ensure other products of his photography endeavours are available for purchase as well. These may include bookmarks, gift cards and framed and unframed prints of local flora and fauna. A limited number of the ‘Abandoned Woden’ prints will also be made available.

Artist Bio

Graham Gall is an award-winning photographer based in Canberra. He shoots a wide variety of genre including infrared. In 2023 Graham achieved four Highly Commended and four Commended Australian Mono Awards that included four infrared mages. Graham is a Birdlife Photography Australia Gold medallist, is widely published and is regularly commissioned for themed shoots for Exhibitions. Earlier in 2023 he exhibited his series ‘Abandoned Woden’ as part of the successful ‘Create Woden’ Exhibition at Lovett Tower. Graham was commissioned in 2021 and 2023 to shoot and produce two travelling Tree Week Solo Exhibitions for the ACT Tree Network; the latter can be currently viewed at the ACT City Library until 6 November 2023. In 2022 he was engaged by Woden and Gunghalin Arts to run nature photography workshops and is in demand as a speaker locally and interstate. In 2022 Graham was also placed a Top 30 finalist (Animals) in the Mono Awards and was Highly Commended in Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers. He has a large social media following on Instagram @gallpix (20K+). Continuous improvement is his professional goal and continuing to exhibit, teach and sell his work his everyday focus.

PAST RESIDENCIES:

Sheen Woei Goh 

Artist Sheen Woei Goh : Artist in residence 16 – 29 October.

Over two weeks in October, Woden-based artist Sheen Woei Goh will brighten the Lovett Tower space with artwork and live music; and invite the community to unleash their creativity and artist within. Anyone interested in Sheen’s art practice is welcome to pop in for a chat, a song, or to create an artwork with oil paint. Sheen believes art allows people to open up to new ideas and discover new experiences, while elevating a sense of awareness and mindfulness. She hopes the residency will give the community an opportunity to gather together, creatively express their values and foster art appreciation.

Free public art making sessions will be happening on Tuesday and Wednesday of each week, between 9am – 5pm. Drop in and make a galaxy oil painting with Sheen. All materials will be provided.

Residency Statement 

As part of her residency at Lovett Tower, Sheen will use the opportunity to curate and exhibit her work, created in various mixed mediums such as pigment liner, acrylic paint, oil paint, Posca markers and origami paper. She will also use the time and space to expand her artistic endeavours through the creation of a larger and more dynamic artwork and hold live performances of some classical pieces and covers of movie soundtracks.

Artist Bio 

Sheen Woei Goh is an aspiring artist working primarily with pigment liners and oil paint, as well as folding origami and using Posca markers to make art. Over the past couple of years, Sheen has participated in various Canberra-based art exhibitions and art markets which has given her valuable experience and exposure in Canberra. She hopes that the project will bring joy to the people of Woden.

George Zhao

George Zhao: Artist in residence 15-17 September & 22-29 September

Sonic artist George Zhao will be collecting sound around Woden on the weekend of 15 – 17 September. The following week, from 22 and 29 September, George invites the community to explore these sounds and create their own soundscapes in real time at a play table in Lovett Tower.

The Play Table project invites the community to rediscover the sounds of daily life. George will construct a table designed for auditory expression. As participants tap, scratch, or manipulate its surface, the table will capture these sounds, process them, and then play them back, crafting a soundscape in real-time. In addition to its technical dimensions, the Play Table serves as a platform to explore the philosophy of play. It is intended to inspire participants to approach sound and music with a playful mindset, potentially blurring the lines between music and noise, performer and audience.

Artist Bio 

George Zhao is a musician who is captivated by the nuanced sounds that fill our daily lives. Eschewing the traditional divide between ‘music’ and ‘noise’, he crafts soundscapes where ordinary sonic artefacts are transformed into central elements of an evocative auditory journey. Drawing inspiration from the philosophy of play, his works encourage an explorative and interactive approach to listening, inviting audiences to find joy in the ordinary and unexpected. Currently, George is deepening his exploration of sound and its intersections with daily life as he pursues his PhD remotely at Rhodes University in South Africa. 

Residency Statement 

George Zhao is delighted to have the opportunity to undertake a micro-residency at the Lovett Tower, where he will be building a sound installation. The Play Table is designed to capture and process everyday sounds. It will incorporate piezoelectric sensors and speakers into its surface, transforming the table into an interactive canvas for auditory expression. The process of building the installation will be an integral part of the residency. Taking place in the first week of the residency, George will construct and test the sound processing and playback functions of his electronic installation. In the second week, George will focus on fine-tuning the installation and opening it up for others to interact with. Ove