Emerging Contemporaries

EMERGING
CONTEMPORARIES
Craft ACT Craft + Design Centre

Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre is supported by the ACT
Government, the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy – an initiative
of the Australian State and Territory Governments, and the
Australia Council for the Arts – the Australian Government’s arts
funding and advisory body.
CRAFT ACT CRAFT + DESIGN CENTRE
Tues–Fri 10am–5pm
Saturdays 12–4pm
Level 1, North Building, 180 London Circuit,
Canberra ACT Australia
+61 2 6262 9333
www.craftact.org.au
Cover image: Denni Maroudas, Articular chaise, 2020, American
ash, walnut. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Page 4-5: Emerging Contemporaries, installation view. Photo: 5
Foot Photography.

EMERGING
CONTEMPORARIES
AKKA BALLENGER | MIKA BENESH | MILLIE BLACK | MAITLAN BROWN | NED
COLLINS | LEA DURIE | ANNALISE FREDERICKS | DANIEL LEONE | CHRISTINE
LITTLE | DAVID LIU | DENNI MAROUDAS | OLINDA NARAYANAN | BLING YIU |
JONATHON ZALAKOS
Craft ACT Craft + Design Centre
4 FEBRUARY - 20 MARCH 2021
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Emerging Contemporaries
Exhibition statement
Emerging Contemporaries is the Craft ACT
National Award Exhibition for early-career
artists. This exhibition plays a pivotal role
in supporting and transitioning artists
into professional practice and placing
Australian artists in view of the national
cultural collecting institutions, business
and industry, and audience.
We’re always looking for new talent
to nurture and add to our Craft ACT
community. We have an Emerging
Contemporaries Award that we give to
emerging talent from a number of sources:
Sturt School for Wood, Canberra Potters
Society, Canberra Institute of Technology,
University of Canberra, the ANU School
of Art + Design, University of New South
Wales and the CAPO Craft ACT Emerging
Artist award.
Image: Ned Collins, A Statement on Cabinets and
the Curiosities of Containment (detail), 2020, walnut
casework and rock maple. Photo: courtesy of the artist.
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Exhibition essay
Catalogue essay: Dr Sarah Schmidt
Today there is a great wealth of artists,
craft and design people practicing in
Canberra, which is itself, a designed city.
The diversity of practice encompasses
many disciplines, bringing additional
interest, innovation and vitality, to the
national capital: from furniture making
and ceramics, to sculpture, and digital
art, to glass art, gold and silversmithing,
metalwork, painting, work on paper, and
textiles. This is an active community of
artists, craft and design people. From
the work of individual artists, to groups
engaged in collaborative making, we
are fortunate to enjoy such creativity
and outstanding practice in our art and
design community.
Another feature of the diversity of
practice across Canberra is the embrace
of very established practitioners,
as shown in ‘Intersection’, being
celebrated alongside emerging artists
that exhibitions such as ‘Emerging
Contemporaries’ support.
I would like to pay attention and respect
to the work of each of these emerging
artists with these short statements of
response:
Mika Benesh: ‘Weaving Futures’
encompasses responses to a number of
ritual Jewish objects, responses which
carry conceptual concerns as well as
those of craft and design. The ritual
mug shows a creative ingenuity both in
design and process. It is crafted from
woven candle wicks, dipped in molten
beeswax, cast in bronze, and then silverplated.
The finished object, for ritual use,
is functional yet full of mystery.
Millie Black: This artist’s explorations of
air and ground, her creative responses
made in thread and paper, make a
strong environmental statement about
a reverence for landscape. As both a
painter and textile artist with a feeling
for sculpture, Millie develops very
sensitive works showing an affinity with
nature. Bushwalking, and making with
natural dyes and pigments, are central to
her process.
Image: Bling Yiu, Be fruitful and multiply, 2021, handbuilding,
mid-fire. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
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Maitlan Brown: As a young and
productive industrial designer Maitlan
explores and experiments with organic
forms, new technologies and processes
to access functional and aesthetic
solutions.
Her final chair prototype shows both
creative flair and sensitive design and
reflects her genuine excitement in the
possibilities and newness of 3D printing
technologies.
Akka Ballinger Constanin: Akka
communicates an ecological awareness
in her drawing and printmaking,
sometimes using leaves to paint on
to emphasize this foundation in her
practice .Her excellent video gives a
summary of her work and process, her
awareness of environment and the need
for education and action.
Ned Collins: Through exploration and
questioning, and applying a curious and
contemporary mindset, together with
fine cabinetry techniques and skills, Ned
has created a functional and fluid form
in ‘A Statement on Cabinets and the
Curiosities of Containment’ (2020). It is
a design to be played with. It achieves
as an interactive work of art. And it is
beautiful.
Lea Durie: Lea combines her studies
in Landscape Architecture, Ceramics
and Visual Arts to inform her work
and her responses to drought in the
Murray Darling system; ‘When the Rivers
Run Dry’ originates from the artist’s
shock experienced in encountering
dry waterways on a road trip to Broken
Hill. The work leaves us pondering and
so delivers the thoughtful ecological
message it intends to.
Annalise Frediwicks: Using her wit and
the convention of the trope this artist
brings an incisive vision to the knitwear
catalogue, featuring items such as a
knitted aluminum mask.
Daniel Leone: David’s ceramic sculpture
with its primitive-modernist feel
encourages us to rethink a simple
human stance, with a simplicity of being,
and of form. The work encourages us to
see the human form in a new way.
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David Liu: David’s leaf table, abstracted
from the shapes of a curly leaf, is
marvelously dynamic with its angular
spatial construction that gives the table
a highly sculptural form. Its smooth
finish and attractive grain are quite
seductive.
Denni Maroudas: Denni’s work concerns
the qualities of form, function, shape,
and material. The ‘Sinuous Bench’
contrasts so greatly with the static
shape of the ‘Rest Wall Hung Cabinet.’
This contrast is interesting and shows
a terrific versatility, arising from the
artist’s interest in carving, altering, and
shaping.
Olinda Narayanan: Horizontal soft
indigo thread is woven between vertical
poles to create spatial connections,
reflective of interpersonal relationships.
Narayanan carefully builds an
interesting series of spaces which
draw the viewer not only into but also
through, semitransparent screens; it is
an entrancing statement reflective of
aspects of mind and imagination that
this artist creates.
Christine Little: This artist is interested
in the places we inhabit. Her exploration
of place also explores process. Here she
has used photography to establish the
tonal values that are key to this striking
work.
Bling Yiu: Speckled ceramic forms are
taken to another realm with optimistic
and inspired human attributes; possibly
influenced or linking with her earlier work
as a children’s book illustrator. Other
pieces decorated in blue have echoes
of centuries old ceramics, applied in a
modern form.
Jonathan Zalakos: As a jeweler and
object maker, Jonathan explores
the complexities of the mind -body
dilemma with a variety of materials
and interactions, such as plastics and
metals, which combine to give both form
and linear characteristics. His work is
creative, explorative and original and
succeeds at multiple levels.
We all have a role to play in this
creative community, of balancing the
fostering and development of emerging
practitioners, as well as celebrating
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the extraordinary achievements of
those artists and craftspeople already
enjoying success, or who have a careerlong
journey that is ripe for the survey
exhibition.
Different skills and aptitudes are involved
in curating the work of artists who
audiences know well, versus building
emerging practitioners, stimulating their
practice, and engendering opportunities,
and new networks for them. Good
curatorial work responds to both: it
caters for all aspects of this creative
field, seeing how each vital community,
of emerging artists, mid-career artists
and established practitioners, all interrelate.
Moreover, the best curatorial
practice is a creative act itself: stepping
forward with a confident eye, and armed
also with a knowledge of theory and art
history —and other forms of acquired
knowledge— and putting this into
practice with artistic judgement and
analysis, to make brave new choices,
curating new names, new artists,
that bring new voices and images to
audiences, rather than solely reinforcing
the pedigrees of celebrated art heroes.
Both the art heroes and the newcomers
are important, but I offer a provocation
to curators to be clever and creative in
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discovering new work; and I hope this
statement will also offer inspiration
to those ‘Emerging Contemporaries’
exhibiting here at Craft ACT; knowing
that curators and institutions do look
and observe, and new opportunities and
partnerships are always forming and
evolving.
The Craft ACT 2021 program launches
strongly, catering to the different
streams of both emerging artists and
established practitioners, as evidenced
so well, with these two exhibitions
that mark the commencement of the
2021 program. There is a very worthy
commitment here, to encouraging and
sustaining creative people and emerging
artists, and profiling the work of some
of Canberra’s most established artists
and craftspeople. I congratulate each of
the artists, designers and craftspeople
involved, together with Craft ACT CEO
Rachael Coghlan and her team.
Dr Sarah Schmidt, Director
Canberra Museum and Gallery | The
Nolan Collection
Image left: Olinda Narayanan, Drifting in one place
(detail), 2020, indigo dyed thread, copper and wooden
supports. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Page 14-15: Emerging Contemporaries, installation view.
Photo: 5 Foot Photography

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Akka Ballenger Constantin
Canberra Institute of Technology
Artist statement
“The Lost Ark” is an opportunity of
learning together. This series of drawings,
linocuts and etchings brings back the
focus on the aftermath of the 2019-2020
bush fires and their impact on our unique
Australian fauna.
An interim report, “Australia’s 2019-2020
Bushfires: The Wildlife Toll” commissioned
by WWF Australia concluded that more
than three billion animals were killed or
displaced: 143 million mammals, 2.46
billion reptiles, 180 million birds and 51
million frogs.
I am an art educator, working with young
children. Often, I find myself embracing
their spontaneity in my own artistic
practice and for this body of works I
chose the same informal approach, where
feeling and playfulness prevail, taking over
realistic/ natural illustration detail.
Biography
Romanian-born Akka Ballenger Constantin
has swapped the beloved mountains
of her homeland for the Canberran
grasslands. An almost perfect trade –
although occasionally, she misses the
heights. She explores her surroundings
through keen observation, often focusing
on the unseen detail, rather than on the
obvious scenery.
A multi-disciplinary artist working across
various platforms, she loves mixing new
and old, traditional and contemporary,
digital and analogue. Her practice
combines over 20 years’ experience in
photography and alternate processes,
with other (newly-found) mediums such
as drawing, mixed media, printmaking and
spoken words.
Through these images, I hope to bring
into the limelight some of our unique
species and I would like to encourage the
public not only to learn more about our
wildlife, but also to donate their time and
to support financially the Wildlife rescue
programs.”
Image: The Lost Ark, 2020, paint, canvas, wooden frame,
dimensions variable. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
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Mika Benesh
University of New South Wales
Artist statement
Weaving Futures is an ongoing series of
Jewish ritual objects designed to facilitate
emerging and marginal Jewish ritual
practices, particularly those which are
queer, feminist and anti-colonial in nature.
At the first stage of the fabrication
process, the hannukiah, spice box, and
natla (hand washing cup) are crafted
out of woven candle wicks and dipped in
molten beeswax. As pictured, in the final
fabrication stages the pieces are cast in
bronze and then silver-plated.
The objects crafted in Weaving Futures
can be used in a variety of different ways,
with the project exploring the potential for
non-prescriptivist design to catch a small
hold of many Jewish futures.
Biography
Mika Benesh is an artist / writer / designer
working on unceded Gadigal land in
Sydney, Australia.
Their practice traces relationships
between cultural institutions, spirituality
& theology, archives, queer/trans lives &
movements, and white supremacy.
Mika’s interested in facilitating emerging
& marginal Jewish ritual practices through
Judaica design.
He works in jewellery and object design,
graphite, print and book making,
photography, and textiles.
Image: Weaving Futures, 2020-2021, satin print, 42.0 x
59.4cm. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
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Millie Black
ANU School of Art + Design
Artist statement
Grounding Atmospheres tracks the
conscious and subconscious marks
of the human in nature. In my practice,
I explore the dualisms that detach the
human from nature brought about by the
cultural construct of the ‘Wilderness’ ideal.
To dissolve this figure-ground separation
that has outlined the tradition of Western
landscape painting, I explore the
purpose of ground and air in connecting
ourselves to the environment by using
earth pigments and plant dyes from
the landscape I work with. Grounding
Atmospheres removes an anthropocentric
view of the land and explores the deep
layers of the air and the ground by bringing
an awareness to our breathing and
dependence on nature. This is presented
through the unwoven negative space
and the supple nature of the cloth and
fibres. In this, I hope to promote a greater
awareness of the air and the importance
of seeing ourselves as part of nature.
Biography
Millie Black is a painter and textile artist
currently living and working on Ngunnawal
Country. Her working process involves
bush walking and painting in oil and
watercolour with organic pigments from
the environment she is in. More recently
Black has incorporated weaving into
her painting practice, experimenting
with painted paper that she spins into
thread prior to weaving. Black’s work
aims to provide a connection to the
natural environment and make aware our
dependence on and roll in it. Her current
practice-led research explores the breath
as this connection and the importance
of the air in weaving together human and
nature.
Image: Of Solitude (detail), 2021, watercolour on wool
warp, 25 x 37 cm. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
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Maitlan Brown
University of Canberra
Artist statement
The Articular chaise is the result of
an exploration into the possibilities of
sustainable, large-scale 3d Printing.
The work is produced by leveraging 6-axis
industrial robot arm fitted with prototype
plastic extruder developed in-house at the
University of Canberra.
The development of a sustainable outdoor
seating concept presents a unique and
organic form language. The form is
in-part driven by the constraints of this
new printing methodology. This printing
method enables the sculptural form to not
be possible through other processes of
manufacturing.
Biography
Maitlan is an Industrial design
undergraduate student from the University
of Canberra. Her work centres upon
exploring the intersection between
traditional modes of making, and
emergent manufacturing processes. Her
current work focuses on the possibilities
of large scale additive manufacturing
and its implications for new sustainable
product typologies in both form,
composition and function.
The possibilities of this new printing
methodology encourages the use of
shredded recycled plastic which can
explore and address the contemporary
global issue of plastic waste.
Image: Articular chaise, 2020, 3D printed, dimensions
variable. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
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Ned Collins
Sturt School for Wood
Artist statement
What is, what was, what will be
hands deep within the soil, a small child
plays.
those building blocks that teach us are
naive,
yet they are old and wise
we get older and find new building blocks
to play with
but those that are old have never lost their
wisdom,
have never stopped teaching us
I have always had a deep reverence for
craft. It is something old, something wise,
somethin true to utility and true to beauty.
It is this such involvement in the crafts, in
the making of furniture, that finally gives
voice, shape and direction to my artistic
expressions. A world that nourishes my
body with honest labour, my mind with
puzzles and problems, and my soul with
a way to let free those creations that exist
within me.
Biography
Ned Collins is a recent graduate of Sturt
School for Wood. His studies there
allowed an exploration of self, of form,
and of the traditional methods used in
creating furniture. This was achieved by
a relentless questioning of why, and by
drawing inspiration from many artistic
mediums outside of furniture. Collins
seeks to further his practice by exploring
the intersection between traditional
methods and modern design to achieve
functional, enduring creations.
Image: A Statement on Cabinets and the Curiosities of
Containment, 2020. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
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Lea Durie
Canberra Potters Society
Artist statement
When the River Runs Dry is a response to
road trip to Broken Hill in 2019, through
drought ravaged country, crossing once
mighty rivers now pools of muddy water,
along highways lined by cotton caught
in the weeds by the roadside. It takes its
name from community-based activism in
Wilcannia in 2016 which sought to bring
attention to the poor state of the Barka
(Darling River) caused by both drought
and water usage for large scale agriculture
such as cotton farming.
The work is an intersection of materials
connected to this western NSW
landscape. It has a quietness and detail
that creates a space inviting the viewer
to pause and ponder what has become
of our Murray-Darling river system in this
time of climate change. It questions the
way that land is occupied and used in
colonial and contemporary times.
Biography
Lea Durie is an artist based in Braidwood
and Canberra. Lea is currently undertaking
a Bachelor of Visual Arts with a ceramics
major at the Australian National University
School of Art and Design. Lea’s work
explores post-colonial land use, its
contribution to land degradation and
climate change, and is influenced by
feminist thinking and perspectives of
place. Lea’s background as a landscape
architect informs the mark making and
conceptual thinking in her work.
Lea’s work is often installation based,
using ceramics as the foundation
supported by found objects, textiles and
other materials.
Lea was the recipient Craft ACT 2020
Emerging Artist’s award at the Canberra
Potter’s Members Exhibition and was also
the recipient of the ANU Boronia Award for
academic excellence in ceramics in 2018.
Image: When the River Runs Dry, 2020, ceramic,
cotton thread and cloth, beeswax, timber and metal,
dimensions variable. Photo: Lean Timms.
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Annalise Fredericks
ANU School of Art + Design
Artist statement
Presented as a vintage knitwear
catalogue, Maille Order combines our
current need for personal protection and
how we might consider what we wear as
armour, with kitsch styling. The ‘knitting’
of armoured face masks, an apron and
jumper, conflates women’s work and the
masculine associations of chain maille.
Asking questions about how function and
value can be subverted through material
associations and tongue-in-cheek tropes.
The viewer is invited to leaf through this
fashion pamphlet and to indulge in the
product’s absurd futility.
Biography
Annalise Fredericks is a multimedia visual
artist and aspiring costume and concept
designer.
Having graduated from the ANU School of
Art and Design with a Bachelor of Visual
Arts, Annalise works across a variety of
different mediums, ranging from painting
and printmaking, to sculpture and textile
work. Her work tends towards exploring
and experimenting with materiality
and texture, often leaning towards
themes of fantasy, stories, history, and
the surreal. A key aim with her work is
pushing the limitations of and subverting
the expectations of the viewer through
materials.
Image: Chain Link Jumper, 2020, aluminium, 1.6 x 10mm
rings. Photo: Annalise Fredericks
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Daniel Leone
CAPO Craft ACT Emerging Artist award
Artist Statement
At 16 years old, 11 years ago, I bought
a teeshirt from a local Canberra based
artist Luke Chiswell from which this
sculpture is inspired from. Luke has been
a massive inspiration for myself, not
just aesthetically but also practice and
career wise. The sculpture came about
as a means to display the original teeshirt
whilst mirroring and playing with the logo.
Scale plays an important role in this piece
giving it presence as we might another
human. I find it fun to imagine such a
creature walking around. The message
is simple and deserves to be set in stone
(rather stoneware). Keep your head up.
Biography
Daniel Leone is a multidisciplinary
emerging artist from the Canberra region.
Daniel’s ceramic work is handbuilt, using
a system of concentric coils which are
pinched into the desired form. Daniel
graduated from Sturt School for Wood in
2019 and continues to work in a variety
of media, creating a range of functional,
abstract and wearable objects.
Image: Still holding my head up, after Chiswell, 2020,
terracotta and steel framing. Photo: Craft ACT
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Christine Little
Canberra Institute of Technology
Artist statement
I work in painting, drawing and
printmaking using landscapes, both
natural and urban, to explore the physical
spaces we inhabit, isolation and human
connection to the environment and lack
thereof. I explore the interaction and
contrast between natural and man-made
landscapes.
As a starting point for this work, I
took photographs of a local shopping
centre and of a sports ground. I have
reinterpreted these suburban spaces with
abstraction and with the use of light and
dark tones.
Biography
I’m interested in painting, drawing and
printmaking. My subject matter tends to
be landscapes both natural and urban. My
work is small scale, A3 or smaller.
I explore the contrast between natural
and man-made landscapes, there
interconnection and disconnection. My
landscapes are without people making a
statement about isolation.
I’m currently working on drawings and
intaglio prints based on local suburban
landscapes and buildings in an abstracted
manner.
Currently I am studying Visual Arts at CIT,
Reid Canberra.
Image: Contrasting Constructions, intaglio prints and
drawings with graphite and colour pencils, acrylic paint
pen on Stonehenge paper, 23 x 28.5 cm each. Photo:
Courtesy of the artst.
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David Liu
ANU School of Art + Design
Artist statement
I never thought I would like making
wooden furniture. But from the moment
I touched the fresh timber out of the
thicknesser, I realised that it is the thing
I endeavour for the rest of my life. I love
traditional tools and using them to make
hand-crafted joineries. It helped me to
understand the timber better. My practice
focuses on the geometric forms and
perspective view of the object, which I
hope to invite people to contemplate my
works and rethink it from a distinct angle.
Biography
David is a Cabrera-based artist, designer
and furniture maker. He uses geometric
shapes and perspective views in his
furniture practice and highlights his
work with optical illusion. Audiences are
invited to look at and interpret his works
from different angles. David understands
and expresses the beauty of a complex
world with simplified forms. For instance,
he abstracted the shapes of a curly
leaf and designed the Leaf Table. David
holds a Bachelor of Design degree from
ANU School of Art and Design, is the
2021 furniture workshop associate in
JamFactory, Adelaide.
Image: Leaf Table (detail), 2018, walnut, 30 x 150 x 40cm.
Photo: Prue Hazelgrove.
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Denni Maroudas
Sturt School for Wood
Artist statement
I have always had a deep fascination with
art, shape, form, the way things are made
and the reason why.
There is a burning desire in me to make
and design. Creating objects - functional
or not - brings me a great sense of
purpose and fulfilment, that nothing else
compares to.
I can’t wait to continue creating for the rest
of my life.
Biography
Denni Maroudas graduated from Sturt
School for Wood in 2020, where he
was awarded the Studio Woodworkers
Australia Award. During which he took a
particular interest in sculptural work. The
limitless curves and intersecting lines
made my brain wonder with creativity.
Denni spent some time on the ‘artier’ side
of woodworking, carving and shaping
abstract pieces. he found himself heavily
inspired by an Irish designer/maker
named Joseph Walsh, who creates
amazing abstract sculptures and pieces of
furniture.
Currently working out of Mittagong
at Sturt School for Wood’s resident
workshop has allowed Denni to play freely.
At Sturt he discovered his love for all
materials, not just wood. In the future, he
hopes to work with many more mediums
to create art in his own way. Denni has a
real love for hand shaping, experiencing
the satisfying ‘swoosh’ under his fingers
while he is using a tool feels like home.
Image: Twist Stool, 2020. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
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Olinda Narayanan
ANU School of Art + Design
Artist statement
Drifting In One Place explores boundary
making through weaving. The mutual
dependency of soft indigo dyed thread
and structural supports creates an
architectural tension. Which ultimately
seeks to create new opportunities for
people to interact with each other and
with the built environment. This tension
can be engaged with at a human scale,
encouraging reflection on the coexisting
boundaries and connections both in our
interpersonal relationships and in space.
This piece is part of an ongoing body of
work exploring relationships, scale and
surroundings called “Spatial Connections”.
Biography
Olinda is an emerging artist working
with furniture, textiles and sculptural
installation. She employs a combination of
traditional hand making skills and digital
technologies. Her art practice explores
architectural influences on human
relationships and well-being. Olinda is
currently completing her Bachelor of
Visual Arts (ANU) and will follow this with
a 6month residency at ANU Makerspace.
Olinda has exhibited in group exhibitions,
namely Amplified/Together (2020), Haig
Park Student takeover (2020) and Crafted
(2019, 2018, 2017). Olinda’s work “Spatial
Connections” (2020) won a number of
prizes which have resulted in the work
being exhibited in group exhibitions with
CraftACT and Canberra Spinners and
Weavers. Additionally, Olinda will present
a solo show with Tributary Projects
and participate in a residency with ANU
Makerspace in 2021.
Image: Drifting in one place, 2020, indigo dyed thread,
copper and wooden supports, 2.1m x 2.1m x 1.5m.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
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Bling Yiu
ANU School of Art + Design
Artist statement
“We.R.Made” collection sends a simple
message - We are made. To remind
all of us that we are wonderfully and
joyfully made. The works seek to explore
the beauty of the human being and the
manner in which these characteristics
convey life and persona.
Many of the pieces do not exist in
isolation, but are rather coupled as pairs or
exist as small groups. It relates to ideas of
companionship and the manner in which
humans are a social species, not meaning
to be alone. We are made to be with
others, made to flourish in the purpose of
life.
Embedded within the work is a sense
of optimism and joy, hoping to share a
positivity with those who engage with
it. All of the ‘little men’ are filled with
happiness and gratitude.
Biography
Canberra based ceramics artist, Wai Ling
Yiu (Bling), was born and grew up in Hong
Kong. Her diverse design and creative
background ranges from working as a
fashion designer in Hong Kong to being
the head illustrator for nationally published
children’s books in Australia.
Bling encountered ceramics in early 2018
through the Canberra Potters’ Society.
Her passion for the medium continues to
develop with time and experimentation.
The collection of works she creates
is known by the makers mark of
‘WeAreMade’. Her work has been selected
to be a part of numerous exhibitions
nation wide. These include the Australian
Ceramics Triennale showcase exhibition
in Hobart (2019) and Belco Arts – LIQUID
(2020), a survey exhibition of glass and
ceramic artists.
Her work explores ideas relating to human
characteristics and their ability to convey
meaning and emotion. Through all of her
‘little men’ she sends the message that
“we are made to be with others, and we are
created to flourish in the purpose of life.”
Therefore, many of the pieces of her work
do not exist in isolation, but are coupled as
pairs or exist as small groups.
Image: Be fruitful and multiply, 2020, hand building, midfire.
Photo: Craft ACT.
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Jonathon Zalakos
ANU School of Art + Design
Artist statement
The monist says that my experiences and
my sense of consciousness are a result of
chemical and electrical activity in my brain
and my body. The dualist says that there
is something beyond the physical that
explains my consciousness: the soul.
The experience that I have inhabiting the
world can also modelled through three
dimensions: My behavioural performance,
which is measurable and can be perceived
by others. My conscious performance
which includes the thoughts I process in
making decisions. I can communicate
these, but they can never truly be
understood outside of my own head.
Finally, there is the affective performance
which are subconscious and contextual
factors that influence decision making that
I am not in control of, let alone aware of.
Maintaining these multiple constructions
of myself and more in my head at the
same time has not helped me come to
peace with my existence. Instead, these
models overlap and conflict. There
is a resulting dissonance around the
fundamental experience of my existence
that I cannot subdue.
Biography
Jonathon Zalakos is an art jewellery
and object maker based in Canberra.
He is graduating Design (Jewellery
and Object Workshop) and Business
Administration at the Australian National
University. Jonathon seeks to integrate
conventional goldsmithing techniques,
rapid prototyping and digital media into
a practice that can be consumed in
very different contexts. Work produced
comes in the form of wearable jewellery
made from precious metals and plastics,
interactive objects and digital media
published online.
Jonathon’s work revolves around
meaning and how significance is created
through both expression and perception.
This drives exploration into the language
of cultural phenomena including
contemporary pop jewellery culture, online
viral media and the interfaces between the
human body and the manufactured world.
Image: External Affect #2, brooch, fine silver, gold plated
stainless steel, 50 x 50 x 30mm. Photo: Craft ACT
43

List of works
1 Akka Ballenger
The Lost Ark, 2020
Paint, canvas, wooden frame
$100
6 Mika Benesh
Weaving Futures (natla - hand
washing cup), 2020-21
satin print,
POA
2 Mika Benesh
Weaving Futures, 2020-21
satin print,
$150
7 Millie Black
Of Silence, 2021
watercolour on mulberry paper
and wool warp
$310
3 Mika Benesh
Weaving Futures, 2020-21
satin print,
$150
8 Millie Black
Of Solitude, 2021
watercolour on wool warp
$290
4 Mika Benesh
Weaving Futures (spice box),
2020-21
satin print,
POA
9 Millie Black
Of Serenity, 2021
watercolour on mulberry paper
and wool warp
$310
5 Mika Benesh
Weaving Futures (hannukiah),
2020-21,
POA
10 Maitlan Brown
Articular chaise, 2020
3D printed
POA
44

7 Ned Collins
A Statement on Cabinets and
the Curiosities of Containment,
2020, medium
$5,900
12 Annalise Fredericks
Ring apron, 2020
aluminium 1.6 x 10mm rings
POA
8 Ned Collins
Low woven stool, 2020
rock maple with dyneema
cord
POA
12 Annalise Fredericks
Knightwear catalogue, 2020
$10
9 Lea Durie
When the River Runs Dry, 2020
ceramic, cotton thread and
cloth, beeswax, timber metal
$350
10 Annalise Fredericks
Chain link jumper, 2020
aluminium 1.6 x 10mm rings
POA
13 Daniel Leone
Still holding my head up, after
Chiswell, 2020
terracotta and steel framing
$3,000
14-27 Christine Little
Contrasting Constructions,
2020, intaglio prints and
drawings with graphite and
colour pencils, acrylic paint
pen on Stonehenge paper
$125 each
11 Annalise Fredericks
Shield Face Mask, 2020
aluminium 1.2 x 6mm rings
POA
28 David Liu
Leaf table, 2018
walnut
$2,500
45

List of works
29 Denni Maroudas
Rest wall hung cabinet, 2020
American ash, walnut
$3,250
69 Jonathon Zalakos
External Affect #1, 2020
fine silver, gold plated stainless
steel
$700
30 Denni Maroudas
Sinuous bench seat, 2020
rock maple
$1,800
70 Jonathon Zalakos
External Affect #2, 2020
fine silver, gold plated stainless
steel
$600
31 Denni Maroudas
Twist stool, 2020
vic ash, danish cord
NFS
71 Jonathon Zalakos
External Affect #3, 2020
styrene, gold plated stainless
steel
NFS
32 Olinda Narayanan
Drifting in One Place, 2020
indigo dyed thread, wooden
supports
$1,800
72 Jonathon Zalakos
External Affect #4, 2020
styrene, gold plated stainless
steel, polyster cord
$400
33-68 Bling Yiu
Be fruitful and multiply, 2021
hand-building, mid-fire
$35 (extra-small)
$55 (small)
$75 (medium)
$120 (large)
73 Jonathon Zalakos
External Affect #5, 2020
styrene, gold plated stainless
steel, polyster cord
NFS
46

74 Jonathon Zalakos
External Affect #6, 2020
styrene, gold plated stainless
steel
NFS
79 Jonathon Zalakos
External Affect #11, 2020
gold plated stainless steel
$100
75 Jonathon Zalakos
External Affect #7, 2020
styrene, polyster cord
$150
76 Jonathon Zalakos
External Affect #8, 2020
polyster cord, stainless steel
$100
7 Jonathon Zalakos
External Affect #9, 2020
polyster cord, stainless steel
$100
78 Jonathon Zalakos
External Affect #10, 2020
polyster cord, gold plated
stainless steel
$200
47