Exhibition Two

Chia-Liang Kao  |  Therese Kenyon |  Kevin Miller |  Emma Veal

Chia-Liang Kao | Gold & Silversmithing | Master of Philosophy

My research uses contemporary jewellery as a means to discuss and explore the
concept of public and private through the study of varied theoretical and material approaches, culminating in a body of works that explore the intimate relationship between object, maker, wearer and viewer.  My attempt is to draw the public’s attention to the focal point and creates a sense of intimacy through looking at the memento
located in the jewellery piece.

Born in 1989 in Taipei, Chia-Liang Kao is an artist who is interested in using diverse
materials in jewellery, which for her is an intermediate object that connects her to the
wider world. Chia-Liang has completed her Honours at the Australian National
University in 2013 and is currently finishing her Masters of Philosophy in 2016. Her
work has been exhibited widely throughout Australia, and internationally, including
Japan, China, and USA.

Chia-Liang Kao, Pouch Neckpiece, 2015, cotton, brass, memento, cord, 4.5cm x 4.5cm x 4cm,
image courtesy of the artist

Therese Kenyon | Painting | Doctor of Philosophy

The idea of water – all-pervading and essential, fearsome yet controllable – has driven
my studio-based research. What are the meanings of water in the contemporary world?
How could I explore this motif using water as imagery, matter and medium referencing
the painting traditions of Asia and the West?
This research explores in visual form the idea that water is analogous to the flow of
cultures around the globe. The resulting paintings evolved from a sense of loss and
precariousness counterbalanced by an appreciation of the deep symbolism of water’s
necessity to life on earth. Focusing on Asian landscape painting traditions, crossfertilised
with Modernist Western abstraction, I elaborate on the cultural connectivity
between East and West through various artists’ work. In the integration of imagery and
process, my work reflects on water and fluidity as metaphors for cultural
connectedness and it is contextualised by tracing these confluences across history and
societies. In this sense, Water and Culture offers a new channel for speculative
thought on the subject of water and art.

Therese Kenyon is a Sydney based artist and curator. She completed her BAVA and
MFA at the College of Fine Arts, UNSW. She has lectured in Drawing and Printmaking
at the University of Newcastle undergraduate program, the University of Sydney Art
Workshops, and the National Art School short courses program. She is a member of
the Ultimo Project artists collective. Her recent research has included artist in
residences in Beijing and field trips to museums in China, the USA and the
Netherlands, to document disastrous water events.

Kevin Miller | Photography & Media Arts | Doctor of Philosophy

My practice-based research investigates the use of still photography to capture our
peripheral interaction with the environment that we either do not notice or take for
granted. The aim has been to capture this invisible daily interaction with the world in
photographic form as a participant rather than a spectator. Photographs that form the
body of this research are constructed into visual narratives in order to consider an
alternative way of understanding our interaction with space and place.

Photography, drawing and sculpture have been a private passion for 30 years or more and these have developed through self-exploration during this time. Art practice has been a release from the stresses and pressures of work. In a parallel life Kevin Miller is a director of an Architectural firm (CCJ Architects). More recently the exploration of visual medium has increased significantly and has led to the current study and exhibition of work. His photographs have been selected as finalists in the National Photographic Portrait Prize and the Olive Cotton Award. Recent work revolves around the reconnection to our surroundings through movement and peripheral vision. 

Kevin Miller, untitled (Blood and Bone series), 2015, pigment print on glass, 90 x 90 cm. Image courtesy of the artist

Emma Veal | Photography & Media Arts | Master of Philosophy

Dear Earth: The Three of Me? is based on a novel ontological framework that brings
into question the coherence of the self. As an installation it employs numerous
methodologies including video, photography, animation and hand drawn images, but is
fundamentally a work of code art. It is only through code that this ontology of ‘the three
of me’ can embody the moods of the mind in a performance of the three iconic eyes,
whose interactive dance plays out always anew, in real time.

Emma Veal graduated with First Class Honours from the Graphic Investigation
Workshop at the ANU School Of Art in the final years of last century. Since then she
has studied Linguistics and Design, leading to work involving online education, which
further piqued her interest in both animation and coding. She has continued to develop
these skills throughout her current studies, culminating in her final work, Dear Earth:
The Three of Me?

Emma Veal, Dear Earth: The Three of Me?, 2016, code art, 300cm x 300cm, image courtesy of the artist