Artist Statement 2026
My art practice encompasses sculpture and installation, curation, and the facilitation of community art projects. Embedded within it is a focus on environmental subjects and a commitment to using only with natural or repurposed materials. I enjoy working with the permanence of bronze as much as the fleeting nature of performance and I focus particularly on that most tactile of media: textiles. In 2021 I completed a PhD that explores the relationship between textiles and tactility in contemporary art. My research drew upon the sensory philosophy of Michel Serres which calls for an embodied engagement with the world through all the senses rather than an interpretation of it through language and vision alone. I believe that art is best understood and fully appreciated when it can be touched and felt and listened to and that this is also true for our ability to understand the natural world, especially the beauty, majesty, and strength of trees.
I have participated in residencies at Hill End, Bundanon, and Textilsetur in Iceland, and have been awarded the Rookwood Sculpture Prize, the Grace Cossington Smith Early Career Award, and the Australian Design Centre Award. Group exhibitions include the Environmental Art and Design Prize, Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, the Tamworth Textile Triennial, Black Swan Portrait Prize, and the Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize. Performances include Dancer at theNational Portrait Gallery (November 2021) and Sue Healey’s On Panorama (Japan, Sydney, Hong Kong, 2020-21).
Instagram: @janetheau
