Goldene Bend’er, artist interview at ACCA 2013

Mikala Dwyer is a Sydney-based artist known for her playful, fantastical installations that explore matter and alchemical metamorphosis. Three works, including a major sculpture series and a performance project comprise this exhibition at ACCA from one of Australia’s most important contemporary artists.

Her unique approach to installation marked a turning point in Australian art practice in the 1990s. Dwyer was important in asserting the move away from the discreet object to the all-inclusive environmental play of new conceptualism.

Borrowing ideas from science, architecture and mythology, Dwyer’s abstract works push the limits of installation, sculpture and performance. They are full of uncertainties and contradictions — viewers are asked to participate and find their own meaning within the magic, memory, history, sexuality and ritual she evokes.

A lecturer in painting at Sydney University, Dwyer has exhibited widely internationally and in Australia, including solo exhibitions Te Papa Tongarewa in New Zealand, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff and recently at IMA, Dublin. She has been included in the Sydney and Adelaide Biennales and has had residencies at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and Gertrude Contemporary in Melbourne. Her work is held in public collections throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Goldene Bend’er links three of ACCA’s galleries with new works that explore the body, transition and transformation, revealing Dwyer’s customary use of a variety of materials (fabric, metal, ceramic, paint and organic matter) and gestures.

Mikala Dwyer: Goldene Bend’er
25 May – 28 July 2013

Video by Emma Sullivan