Three New Exhibitions Feature Inspirational First Nations Artists

Artspace Mackay is proud to present three new solo exhibitions by a trio of exciting First Nations female contemporary artists.

All three artists – Jemima Wyman, Mandy Quadrio and Kate Harding – have strong links to the Mackay region and their exhibitions have been curated inhouse by the Artspace Mackay team.
Jemima Wyman grew up in Mackay and now lives and works in Los Angeles, Mandy Quadrio spent 15 years living in Mackay and is now a Brisbane resident and Kate Harding is a Sarina local.

Mayor Greg Williamson said the exhibitions were the culmination of about two years of work for Artspace Mackay Acting Director Lauren Turton and her team.

“Lauren has worked closely with the artists to celebrate their works and help them to tell their stories,” Mayor Williamson said.

“We are incredibly excited to have these three artists opening in our regional gallery at the same time, because their works are very different, but they complement each other in fascinating ways,” he said.

Ms Turton said that each artist paid homage to their heritage and influences through their art, but they did so with exciting contemporary mediums.

“Kate Harding has spent more than 40 years mastering her textile-based practice, and for the past decade she has been creating story quilts deeply connected to her cultural heritage,” Ms Turton said.

“Harding’s first solo institutional exhibition ‘Bidjara’ presents a new series of work that respond and reflect on her ongoing connection to culture and Country,” she said.

Included in this exhibition is a newly commissioned artwork titled Gutha Gubba 2024 – the first work by Harding to enter the Mackay Regional Council Art Collection.

Ms Turton said ‘Mandy Quadrio: Croattee kanne menyenner / tales of 60,000 years’ saw the artist creating tactile, sculptural forms to proclaim, empower and celebrate her long-time Indigenous maternal lineage from Lutriwita (Tasmania).

“Quadrio has worked with commercially sourced kangaroo tails and hides to create the fourteen wall-based sculptures inspired by her long-held connection to the lands of the Palawa people,” she said.

Ms Turton said Jemima Wyman’s exhibition in the Main Gallery, ‘Crisis Patterns’, focused on protest movements around the world.

“She is particularly interested in the way protesters use protective body coverings including masks, paint, smoke and textile collectively, like a make-shift billboard to communicate their message,” she said.

“Starting as hand-cut collages, each photograph is drawn from Wyman’s self-titled MAS archive; a collection of digital images from protest movements around the world, that she has been compiling since 2008.

“Often including hundreds of image references, each artwork meticulously documents the protest event, date and location in its full artwork title; ensuring these beautiful and intriguing compilations are also real-time snapshots of complex social-historical events happening around the globe.”

All three exhibitions will officially open on Friday, October 18, and will run until Sunday, December 15.

Jemima Wyman and Mandy Quadrio will be presenting free artists’ talks from 10.30am, Saturday October 19.

Head to artspacemackay.com.au for more details.

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Portrait of Jemima Wyman. Photo credit: James Nash

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