At PICA we recognise that we are situated within the unceded lands of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation. We pay our respects and offer our gratitude to Elders past and present, and to those emerging leaders in the community. We acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the importance of their care and continued connection to culture, community and Country.

Always was, always will be.

Galleries are open, 12–5pm. Our exhibitions are always free.

Samuel Beilby, Claire Billie Bushby, W. Sze Tsang, Mark Wahlsten, Marcia Leonard

Open Studios: Djeran-Makuru

Open Studios: Djeran-Makuru

Join us for an evening with our current Quick Response artists-in-residence—Samuel Beilby and Meet Me In The Garden (Claire Billie Bushby, W. Sze Tsang and Mark Wahlsten)—alongside our Regional Quick Response artist, Marcia Leonard, who has spent the past four weeks at PICA, travelling from her home in Esperance to connect with local arts communities and new audiences.

Samuel Beilby explores the tensions between mining as a cornerstone of regional working-class identity in WA and its deep ecological consequences.

Meet Me In The Garden is a collaborative exploration of suburban backyards—how we engage with our gardens and the entangled relationships between humans, pets, wildlife, and plants.

Marcia Leonard’s printmaking and photography works uncover the delicate contrasts between beauty and unpredictability, navigating the line between cultivated gardens and untamed nature.

In a conversation facilitated by artist and researcher Dr Perdita Phillips, the artists will discuss their individual projects, residency experience and the intersections between art, science and nature.

Schedule:
5–7:30pm: Galleries open
6–7pm: Artist talks
7:30pm: Galleries close

Register your attendance below,

About the artists

Samuel Beilby is an artist, educator and arts worker based in Boorloo. He is interested in processes of extraction, noise, materialism and labour within industrial and ecological systems. His practice often combines historical/theoretical research with new-media tools, amplification and diagramatics to produce speculative outcomes that explore the underlying turbulence and paranoia that spills out from the mechanics of these systems.

Claire Billie Bushby is a Boorloo (Perth)-based artist and curator interested in collaborative and participatory practices embracing interdependence with human and non-human environments. Their work is multidisciplinary, combining documentary processes with textiles, drawing, photography, sound, video and social events.

Sze Tsang is a composer working across temporalities and histories in Boorloo (Perth). Tsang’s practice explores how combining sounds, visuals, geospatial information and environmental data can express the multi-layered narratives on history and climate within place.

Mark Wahlsten is a visual artist based in Boorloo (Perth) who is interested in understanding the landscapes he belongs to, how he grieves and how to feel useful through examining barriers arising from colonial designs of digital communication systems.

Marcia Leonard’s artistic practice is rooted in the connection between people and the natural world, emphasising place, memory and personal experience. She uses a range of materials and techniques including lumen photography, drawing, printmaking and textiles to create multidisciplinary installations that evoke a sense of belonging and identity in natural spaces.

Dr Perdita Phillips explores places and ecologies through walking, listening and responding, utilising a range of visual media to create art prompted by issues such as more-than-human worlds, extractivism and polycrisis, and the un-forgetting of Australian settler colonial landscapes. Phillips thinks/makes/organises/curates/mentors/walks and lives near Walyalup/Fremantle.

Supporters

PICA’s Studio Program is supported by PICA’s Arts Ambassadors. PICA’s Regional Residency is supported by North Metropolitan TAFE.