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. 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.

Naoko Uemoto, Julie Ziegenhardt

Studio Booster

Studio Booster

In 2025, Performing Lines WA have collaborated with PICA to present the Studio Booster Program, which provides time, space and funds for four artists or groups to ‘boost’ a creative idea or project.  

As a duo, Julie Ziegenhardt (animation) and Naoko Uemoto (music) have been making immersive works that bring together their interests in digital spaces, physicality and place-informed listening. During their residency at PICA, they will further develop their show Recaptcha, which was initially created in 2023 through KISS Club by pvi collective and Propel Youth Arts WA.  

Recaptcha aims to create a surreal, meta-infused realm through interactive media and performance. The project seeks to blur the lines between individual agency and collective experience, offering potential avenues for both internal and interpersonal reflections on the digitally-infused aspects of our lives. 

About the artist

Naoko Uemoto is a Japanese-Australian saxophonist, arts worker and educator based in Boorloo. Her music often considers liveness in electronic music, queer dancefloors, and the role of place to inform listening. She finds meaning in the communities of care and curiosity created by exploratory art practices; her practice has been largely fostered by the local improvisatory music scene, thanks to organisations like Outcome Unknown, Tone List, Sound Exploration Fremantle and The Blue Room Theatre, as well as mentorship programs with the Australian Art Orchestra (VIC) and pvi collective.  Naoko has also been involved in programming for WWIM and Propel Youth Arts’ KickstART Festival.   

Julie Ziegenhardt is a multi-media artist researching the in-betweenness of things – where they collide and how they mix. She is particularly interested the tangibility of digital spaces, interrogating them through drawing, animation and interactive design. Collaboration with artists and researchers from other disciplines is instrumental to this process, resulting in explorations that range from live performances, to exhibitions, workshops, films and the occasional computer game or XR experience. These explorations, alongside her current Masters research at UWA, collect as an ever-evolving investigation into how our modes of being shift and evolve through analogue and digital spaces.

Supporters

The Studio Boosters have been made possible through partnership between the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts and Performing Lines WA as part of the 2025 Kolyang Program of Industry Development Initiatives, supported by the Department of Local Government, Sports and Cultural Industries.