Summer Studio: THING / LANGUAGE
Mitchel Cumming
12–28 Jan 2023
The annual exchange between Lilac City Studio (Sydney/Gadigal) and Blindside ARI (Melbourne/Naarm) hopes to foster a cross pollination between the two cities & their respective ARI communities. For the program's second year, Sydney artist & ARI director (KNULP, Sydney/Gadigal) Mitchel Cumming will be hosted in residence at Blindside for the summer studio
Mitchel Cumming is an artist and poet living and working on unceded Gadigal and Bidjigal land. His work frequently involves the establishment and/or manipulation of exhibition contexts: a process in which elements generally considered supplementary to artistic production become instead a primary material.
Cumming's exhibition THING / LANGUAGE, is a culmination of his time in the residency.
The Blindside Summer Studio Residency Program provides a unique platform for the examination of practice and work within a combined studio and exhibition context.
This program takes place on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We recognise that sovereignty was never ceded - this land is stolen land. We pay respects to Wurundjeri Elders, past, present and emerging, to the Elders from other communities and to any other Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders who might encounter or participate in the program.
Mitchel Cumming is an artist and poet living and working on unceded Gadigal and Bidjigal land. His work frequently involves the establishment and/or manipulation of exhibition contexts: a process in which elements generally considered supplementary to artistic production become instead a primary material.
Lilac City StudioLilac City is a Sydney based Artist Run Initiative (ARI) established in 2015. Originally, LCS functioned as a platform for emerging Sydney based artists to exhibit & sell experimental works in a centrally located space. Since moving from their two-year lease in 2018 and to suit the high-cost of leasing spaces and making exhibitions, LCS has adjusted their model to be mobile.
LCS’s mobile model sees them working in a variety of spaces in Sydney and intestate, whilst maintaining a stable archive online. In addition, LCS has incorporated intestate and international artists, from emerging to established, to explore the wider scope of contemporary artists that critically engage with their practice. LCS hopes this new mobility will allow them to expand their audience as well as their own curatorial praxis with the challenge of exhibiting at different sites.
As an ARI, Lilac allows for artists to explore and experiment ideas through the practice of curating group exhibitions, and solo projects.
Elena Tory-Henderson is a person based on Gadigal land (Sydney) whose artistic practice has primarily explored the interplay between the material & immaterial in the gallery space, often through something akin to drawing/painting/ spacial installation. Elena has exhibited in both solo and group shows throughout Sydney, as well as at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art. In 2014 Elena completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (honours) in Painting and was awarded the Austrian Arlbeg 1800 residency. Her first curatorial project BODY/BLOOD was exhibited at Visual Bulk Gallery in Hobart in 2018. Since 2016 she has worked at Lilac City Studio assisting with the organisation and curation of exhibitions/events. In 2020 Elena completed a Bachelor of Design in Architecture at the University of Sydney and now works in the architectural field.
Siena White is a studio-based artist with a foundation in sculpture and traditional drawing, in which she includes installation and video. Her practice is primarily focused perceptions of self in changing contexts and environments. Siena has exhibited at ARI’s in Sydney and intestate for both solo and group exhibitions. In 2014, she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (honours) in Sculpture, and was awarded the Art Gallery of NSW’s Robert Le Gay Brereton Award from Drawing. Previously she was the recipient of the Coutts Award for Excellency in Drawing (2013), and the Jocelyn Maughan Sketchbook Prize (2012). Founder and Director of Lilac City Studio, Siena has facilitated, assisted and curated exhibitions since 2015. In 2018 she curated Currency, which included established international artists Ann Hirsch, Signe Pierce and Ali Coates, as well as Australian established artists Marian Tubbs and JD Reforma. Siena is a Sessional Lecturer in Drawing at the National Art School and completing her Masters in Interaction Design and Electronic Arts at the University of Sydney. She is currently undertaking a studio residency at Government House, Sydney.