Behind the Art

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the KenDone: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the Ken Done: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the KenDone: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the KenDone: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the Ken Done: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the Ken Done: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the KenDone: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the Ken Done: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the Ken Done: Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Hear from artist Ken Done as you wander through the Ken Done Poems from Home and Other Paintings exhibition.

Artist in Residence Melissa Mills speaks with Easton Dunne about her practice and the work she's making during her residency at RMOA. Melissa Mills Melissa Mills is a photographer whose cultural inheritance is the innate connection and grounding she has with her Ancestral homelands of the Ghungulu, Karingbal/Garingbal and Bidjara Peoples of the Central Queensland regions. Mills' photographic practice is underpinned by a commitment to working collaboratively with her subjects to craft photographic narratives together that allow subjects to feel empowered to share the story of who they are through the images captured. Mills has been photographing professionally since 2015, has won international awards, and holds International Accreditation as an Associate Photographer with The Portrait Masters.

Artist Julie Fragar speaks with RMOA Director Jonathan McBurnie about her show Biograph, which was also curated by Jonathan. Biograph is the first career survey of Fragar's work. Mapping more than twenty years of practice, the exhibition assembles key works made between 1998 and 2021, including some previously unexhibited. The survey is arranged according to key ongoing themes for the artist, including biography, memory, identity and narrative. This major retrospective of Fragar's distinctive style will tour between galleries in Queensland.

Hamish Sawyer speaks with Emily Wakeling about the Bayton Award 2023. Hamish Sawyer is a curator, writer and currently the Artistic Director of NorthSite Contemporary Arts, Cairns.

Anitha Menon talks with Easton Dunne about her practice and inspirations from the RMOA collection during her time as artist in residence at the museum.

Pat Hoffie speaks with Jonathan McBurnie about her involvement in the WrestleMANIA exhibition. Hoffie discusses the biblical influences, as well as that of outsider artist Henry Darger, in her large scale paintings. Touching upon her artistic process, Brisbane's Festival Hall (once a key venue for pro wrestling for Queensland) and conspiracy theory, Hoffie offers fascinating insight into studio practice.

Locust Jones speaks about his large scale drawings made for WrestleMANIA. Jones' pieces are made as realtime responses to the global news cycle, and circumnavigate the artist's sense of outrage, the absurd and tragedy, trying to make sense of the static. Jones discusses his early experiences of televised wrestling during his New Zealand childhood and incorporating its larger-than-life iconography into his larger-than-life drawings.

Erica Gray speaks about her textile installation exhibited in WrestleMANIA. Gray plays with the theatrical, performative aspects of Wrestlers and their audiences to create a vivid representation of the (melo)drama of wrestling.

Bruce Reynolds discusses his work for WrestleMANIA. With an enduring interest in the antiquity and remix culture, Reynolds reflects upon his limited childhood experience with television and, through it, wrestling.

Peter Hudson in conversation with Jonathan McBurnie

Euan Macleod in conversation with Jonathan McBurnie Euan Macleod was featured in the exhibit WrestleMANIA at Rockhampton Museum of Art during 2022-2023. This episode explores MacLeod's experience and thought process on creating his work, particularly diving into his personal connection to wrestling and how it inspires him to create.

William Debois is one of two artists in residence at Rockhampton Museum of Art during 2023 in the Margaret Olley Art Trust Collection Study Room. This episode explores Debois' experiences during his four-week residency at RMOA responding to selected artworks from the Collection. Debois is a French/Australian photographer who has been based in Gladstone since 2013, on the lands of the Bailai, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng and Taribelang Bunda peoples. Debois' photographic career spans more than twenty-five years and four different countries. https://www.rmoa.com.au/Learn/The-Margaret-Olley-Art-Trust-Collection-Study-Room/2023-Artists-in-Residence/William-Debois-Artist-in-Residence

Ed Luce in conversation with Jonathan McBurnie Ed Luce was featured in the exhibition WrestleMANIA at Rockhampton Museum of Art during 2022-23. This episode explores his artistic and personal journey with wrestling, taking a look at the inspiration for his art, Jim ‘The Anvil' Neidhart, and the process of making a work for WrestleMANIA.

Claudia Husband in conversation with Emily Wakeling Claudia Husband is Registrar at the Museum of Brisbane. She discusses her role as a registrar, caring for the collections, and installing collections with Emily Wakeling. This episode dives into the history of art and collecting in Brisbane, on the occasion of RMOA hosting Museum of Brisbane's Easton Pearson Archive.

Join us for a conversation with Cutler Footway, this conversation discusses the inspirations behind his practice as well as art that he has seen on his travels, most recently on a trip to Europe.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 12: From a Burdekin Studio: Anders S as Christ at the Column From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 11: Mark K, in the Burdekin From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 10: A Young Sculptor, Jack Betteridge Costumed as an Elf: Don't F. With Me, Fellas! From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 9: Large Still Life with Vase, Fruits, and Frangipani From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 8: Life Drawings From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 7: Painting on an Easel II From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 6: A Brush with Landscape - between Ayr and Townsville From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 5: Rain Coming - My Father From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 4: Boy from the Bottoms Up Bar From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 3: Marcus Leutscher with Cane Fire, Figurine, Flowers, and Skull From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 2: Introduction From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway Audio Guide Part 1: Welcome From a Burdekin Studio: Works by Cutler Footway surveys more than two decades of work by Cutler Footway, the former art critic Bruce James. His painting style demonstrates a love of classical painting, as well as the early Impressionists, combined and reinvented to depict the sights of regional Queensland from the eye of the artist through landscapes, still lifes and nudes. More than anything else, it offers a vision of the body; created in the artist's studio in his hometown, Ayr, in the Burdekin district (Bindal and Juru Country) south of Townsville.

Join us for a conversation with Benjamin Scott about his experience as an artist in residence at Rockhampton Museum of Art during 2022. Scott was one of three artists hailing from Central Queensland who selected artworks from RMOA's nationally significant collection to study more closely during their four-week residencies in the Margaret Olley Art Trust Collection Study Room at Rockhampton Museum of Art. The residencies were designed to provide artists with time and space to develop new directions in their practice and build new audiences, while being paid, and with the support of a range of staff across RMOA's teams. Each artist participated in an artist talk, recorded a conversation for Behind the Art, and held weekly open studios where members of the public could meet the artist and learn more about how artists work in their studios. Learn more about Ben's residency. This project was made possible by the Australian Government's Regional Arts Fund, provided through Regional Arts Australia, administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance.

Join us for a conversation with Julia Higgs about her experience as an artist in residence at Rockhampton Museum of Art during 2022. Higgs was one of three artists hailing from Central Queensland who selected artworks from RMOA's nationally significant collection to study more closely during their four-week residencies in the Margaret Olley Art Trust Collection Study Room at Rockhampton Museum of Art. The residencies were designed to provide artists with time and space to develop new directions in their practice and build new audiences, while being paid, and with the support of a range of staff across RMOA's teams. Each artist participated in an artist talk, recorded a conversation for Behind the Art, and held weekly open studios where members of the public could meet the artist and learn more about how artists work in their studios. Learn more about Julia's residency. This project was made possible by the Australian Government's Regional Arts Fund, provided through Regional Arts Australia, administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance.

Join us for a conversation between international artist, Joachim Froese, and Emily Wakeling, Curator at Rockhampton Museum of Art, during Froese's recent exhibition of photographic work at RMOA, "Echoes of Process". Queensland photographer Joachim Froese's technical expertise of the varied mechanics of photography inform a conceptual approach to the medium, often dealing with the role of photography in shaping the known world. The exhibition features several key series that raise environmental concerns, amongst them ‘Entangled', his recent series of salt prints that depict close-ups of seedlings he grows in his garden, and a new photographic installation that re-interprets panorama visions taken by NASA's Mars rovers. Raised in Germany and based in Brisbane and Berlin, Joachim Froese has been a practicing artist and educator for over three decades. He holds a PhD from RMIT University, Melbourne, and has lectured in photography at the Queensland College of Art and other tertiary institutions in Australia and Germany. His works are held by the National Gallery of Australia, the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, and several regional Queensland galleries.

Sharon Kirk in conversation with Easton Dunne - Behind the Art

Join us for a conversation between artist, Karen Stephens, and Jonathan McBurnie, Director of Rockhampton Museum of Art. Stephens is an Australian-born artist based in remote Queensland. Working predominantly in the field of Australian landscape painting, her immersion in the environment informs a sustained investigation of the outback landscape, and she uses its inner regions as fertile ground to explore the personal as the universal. She was one of three artists selected to exhibit in Here We Meet, which illustrated and celebrated the region's connectedness and long history of cooperation and collaboration, bringing together works by Karen Stephens, Belynda Waugh and Veronika Zeil. Each artist lives and works in regional Queensland with their work exploring concepts of place, the environment and celebrating what Central Queensland as a community represents. This project was made possible by the Australian Government's Regional Arts Fund, provided through Regional Arts Australia, administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance.

Join us as we explore over the next half hour the career of Kim Withers, Rockhampton Museum of Art Business and Development Supervisor. Bianca Acimovic, Rockhampton Museum of Art Director speaks with Kim Withers about how the coming together of her creative practice and career has laid a path for her recent appointment to the role of Rockhampton Museum of Art Business and Development Supervisor in the later part of 2020. Kim brings together her extensive experience in budgeting, financial management and strategic financial planning and more recent experience of gallery operations management, visitor engagement and retail management. For Kim this position is the perfect alignment of her business career and creative practice. It provides a platform to build a legacy and make a real contribution to the Community where she has grown up. Kim aims to use her skills to be the business person for the creatives and artists and provide them with opportunities to earn a sustainable living from their arts practice.

Join us as we delve in to the history of Rockhampton Art Gallery, through the life and memories of Merilyn Luck, the longest serving trustee for Rockhampton Art Gallery Trust. Bianca Acimovic, Rockhampton Museum of Art Director speaks with Merilyn Luck OAM. Merilyn Luck (nee Beak) has made an outstanding contribution to her local community of Rockhampton through her involvement and support of the Arts, the Anglican Church, Central Queensland University and both Grammar Schools. Merilyn's involvement with the Rockhampton Art Gallery began in the late 1970s when she was one of the inaugural donors to establish an art collection. Her enthusiastic efforts have contributed to the institution now having one of regional Queensland's most significant and valuable art collections, home to work by significant Australian artists. Merilyn became a Trustee of the Rockhampton Art Gallery Trust in 1994 and was appointed Chair in 2007 before retiring in 2016.

Tess Maunder, Rockhampton Museum of Art Curator speaks with Kaitlyn Sorensen, Rockhampton Museum of Art Business Administration Trainee - Exhibitions. Growing up in Central Queensland, Kaitlyn has always had a strong interest in the creative hobbies that CQ had to offer. Performing in both Theatre and Dance, she has never been shy of performing, and has set foot on the Pilbeam and Walter Reid stages many times. As she has matured in age she took a different root in her hobbies, and now volunteers her time as a Princess and Superhero to help raise money, awareness and the spirits of sick and disabled children in the CQ area. Kaitlyn holds a Bachelor of Digital Media Majoring in Graphic Design, Marketing and Minor in Journalism. She also completed a Diploma of Professional Styling. She looks forward to using these skills further whilst moving forward as a trainee with the Rockhampton Museum of Art.

Join us as we explore over the next half hour the curatorial practice of Tess Maunder, Rockhampton Museum of Art Curator. Bianca Acimovic, Rockhampton Museum of Art Director, chats with Tess Maunder about Tess' curatorial practice, and her recent shift from Melbourne to Rockhampton to take up the role of Curator with Rockhampton Museum of Art. Tess comes to the role with over ten years' experience in the cultural sector with a focus on programming contemporary visual art practice. The conversation explores Tess' professional practice to date including her projects throughout the Asia-Pacific region where she has championed projects, relationships, and strategic plans between Australia and the US, China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Join us as we delve in to the themes and practice of Jon Cattapan, and discuss his ongoing connection to Rockhampton Museum of Art; and how the themes in his 2016 Gold Award winning work Raft City No. 4 (surveillance version) still continue to inform his practice today. Tess Maunder, Rockhampton Museum of Art Curator speaks with Melbourne based artist Jon Cattapan. Jon Cattapan is widely regarded and respected senior Australian artist and educator who works primarily in the space of painting, but has also expanded to film and photography. He has been graced with a wide range of career achievements to date including when in 2008 he took up a commission through the Australian War Memorial to become Australia's 63rd Official war artist and was through this process deployed to Timor Leste. In 2013 Cattapan was the recipient of the Bulgari Art Award; and in 2016 was awarded the Rockhampton Art Gallery Gold Prize, the awarded painting was Raft City No. 4 (surveillance version); to which we will discuss further today.

Join us for the next half an hour as we delve in to the practice of Karen Stephens, and how she sustains a professional arts practice in Remote Australia. Bianca Acimovic, Rockhampton Museum of Art Director, chats with artist, Karen Stephens about being an artist and sustaining an arts practice in remote Australia. Karen is an Australian born artist based in far remote Queensland. Working predominately in the field of Australian landscape painting, her immersion in the environment informs a sustained investigation of the outback landscape, and she uses its inner regions as fertile ground to explore the personal as the universal.

Join us for the next half an hour as we explore what is the role of regional galleries, what do they do for regional communities, and why are they important to so many. Bianca Acimovic, Rockhampton Museum of Art Director, chats with Tracey Heathwood, Director of Artspace Mackay, about regional Art Galleries and their role and contribution to the cultural fabric of Australia. In this conversation, we also get an insight into what has led Tracey to the position of Director with Artspace Mackay.

Join us for the next 20 minutes as we explore CQ Shopfront, a program for Central Queensland artists and makers to build sustainable business models and develop commercially viable products in the years of 2020 and 2021. Like all that was set to occur in 2020, CQ Shopfront had to pivot to online as social distancing requirement came in to play, forcing the closure of all cultural facilities in Australia. Kim Withers, Business and Development Supervisor at Rockhampton Museum of Art, catches up with Shelley Pisani, owner and Creative Producer of The Ideas Distiller and the CQ Shopfront project. Hear Shelley talk about her latest project, how COVID19 disrupted the CQ Shopfront and what is next for the Ideas Distillery.

Join us as we explore with Jacob McQuire over the next half hour, for a discussion on recording who we are and what we know now, so that the past is never lost. Bianca Acimovic, Rockhampton Museum of Art Director, chats with First Nations artist and artworker Jacob McQuire. The conversation explores Jacob's journey as a young first nation's man, and his skills and interest to recording oral histories to preserve cultural stories.

Join us for the next half an hour as we delve into the practice of Michelle Black, and how she connects her skills as a printmaker, graphic artist and urban designer, to result in successful collaborative projects that speak about people and place. Bianca Acimovic, Rockhampton Museum of Art Director, chats with artist Michelle Black about her practice as a fine artist. Printmaker, commercial artist – graphic artist and urban designer. In our conversation with Michelle, we delve into ideas of the contribution that artists have to a broader understanding and interpretation of the world around us.