Writers in Residence

The Rounds Project

27 January - 5 April 2010
Tower Studio

In addition to writing music journalism for The West Australian since 2006, MATTHEW GILES (Writer/Editor) has published, edited and contributed to three books showcasing Perth art, namely The Love Is My Velocity Cookbook (2007), The Love Is My Velocity Cookbook II (2009) and First Page (2008), each of which was accompanied by an exhibition and gig he co-produced. He has also written art journalism for Empty Magazine, The Program, The Noise Book and Sunsetmag, He is a director of not-for-profit record label and arts organisation Love Is My Velocity, which has co-produced events with such WA art institutions as PICA, the Fremantle Arts Centre, The West Australian Music Industry Association and ARTRAGE. He is a committee member for not-for-profit literary organisation Cottonmouth. and in 2009 completed a Bachelor of Arts (Media, Culture and Creative Arts) (Honours) majoring in creative writing at Curtin University.

ANDREW NICHOLLS (1977) WRITER graduated from Curtin University with First Class Honours in Visual Arts in 1999. He has worked as curator, lecturer and writer for Australian Art Review, Australian Art Collector, Curtin University, FORM, the Art Gallery of WA, the West Australian, the Australian National University, SCOOP, Artrage and the Fremantle Art Centre. Nicholls has exhibited across Australia, in Italy and the UK and he has a range of limited-edition products distributed internationally through art homewares company, Third Drawer Down. He has curated exhibitions for numerous Australian arts organisations, including the Art Gallery of Western Australia (WA), FORM (WA), Object Gallery (NSW) and ArtBack (NT). His work explores the Sentimental, in particular how this marginalized sensibility forms an under-acknowledged drive underpinning mainstream culture, and he employs a Camp aesthetic to critique how power and morality have been played out through aesthetics, historically. In 2009 he published a 10-year retrospective catalogue of his drawings. Nicholls is represented by Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney.

KATIE LENANTON (1985) WRITER completed a double degree in Fine Art and Cultural Studies (majoring in professional writing) at Curtin University in 2007. Lenanton works independently within the arts as an administrator and project coordinator, with a specific focus on harnessing the talents of emerging artists. She is a director of record label, publisher and developer of creative multi-disciplinary events Love Is My Velocity. She is the co-creator of the Love Is My Velocity Cookbook and exhibition, and has edited Grok Magazine, contributed freelance writing to Empty, Summer/Winter, The Drum Media and worked as a copywriter for the Community Newspaper Group. She gained experience in marketing and communications at PICA and Fremantle Arts Centre and apart from LIMV duties, has project managed events for ARTRAGE and PICA, notably PICA's inaugural Car Boot Sale. Currently she is the Youth Project Officer for City of Perth.

GEMMA WESTON (1984) WRITER graduated with First Class Honours in Visual Art from Curtin University in 2007. Her interdisciplinary practice re-interprets found and familiar objects and images into allegories for contemporary connectivity and isolation. It combines drawing, assemblage, video and installation into a poetic parallel universe that quietly deconstructs our own. She has previously contributed work to a number of exhibitions including boom. (Spectrum Project Space, 2009), Windows on William (as part of SUBGANG, William Topp, 2008), For A Moment The Blissful Feeling of Being Able To See It All (Moores Building, 2008), First Page (publication and exhibition, Breadbox Gallery, 2004), The Fremantle Print Award (Fremantle Art Centre, 2007, 2008) and Backyard Cathedral (Keith and Lottie, 2008). In addition to maintaining an artistic practice, Weston recently co-curated The End (214 Willaim Street, 2009) - a short-term collaborative studio residency and exhibition - with Jamie Macchiusi. She lives and works in Perth, Western Australia.

CHRISTINA CHAU (1984) WRITER completed a Bachelor of Communications (Honours) in 2007 and is now in the second year of her PhD in Fine Art and Communications at the University of Western Australia. Her study so far focuses on immersion and participation in installation, kinetic, and digital art. Chau also teaches at the university in Communication Studies ranging from digital media, cultural policy, new media in communication theory. She is currently interested in exploring the immersive effects sculpture and installation has on the viewer, through the uses of light, space and modulation. She is particularly interested in the transition between modern industrial machines and digital machines in sculpture and is attempting to draw a history of immersion between kinetic art and contemporary new media installations.

ANDREW VARANO (1982) WRITER completed a BA in Art at Curtin University in 2009. In June last year he was the recipient of a scholarship from the Curtin School of Design and Art to attend the Fondazione Antonio Ratti Advanced Workshops in Visual Arts in Italy. Also in 2009 he achieved a commended entry in the inaugural Australian Art Monthly Emerging Art Writer's Award. Varano was one of the organisers of The Building Show in 2008 and exhibitions he has participated in include For a Moment the Blissful Feeling of Being Able to See it All at the Moore's Building Contemporary Art Gallery, The End at the William street Bank Building and A Camel is a Horse Designed by a Committee at Palazzo Buziol in Venice, Italy. In January this year he co--produced EXHIBITION MATCH, a durational basketball game in the PICA main gallery space. Currently Varano is undertaking a residency at PICA.

JESSYCA HUTCHENS (1985) WRITER completed a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) at the University of Western Australia in June 2009, focusing on the history of contemporary art curators. In 2008 she co-published the art and writing book First Page and curated its accompanying exhibition. She is currently a member of the Cottonmouth committee, a tutor at UWA, a freelance illustrator and an employee at beloved Perth music store, Dada Records.

ANDREW PURVIS (1979) WRITER completed his BA with first class honours in English in 2004 and was awarded a Diploma in Visual Art and Craft from the Central TAFE in 2009. Purvis' art writing includes catalogue essays, most recently for the Notes On... exhibition at Spectrum Project Space in 2009 and the art and writing magazine dotdotdash. His honours thesis explored the representation of madness in Renaissance drama. More recently, he has become interested in the history of exploration, seeking to adapt the ideas of voyage and discovery into his art practice. As an artist, his work is informed by a sense of humour and has, in the past, involved institutional critique, intervention and performance. In 2010 Purvis will be completing his honours in Fine Art at Curtin University. He will also be participating in a group show at Spectrum Project Space later in the year.