MIKALA DWYER

Dwyer is one of Australia’s most acclaimed contemporary artists. Since the mid-1980s she has developed an internationally recognised sculp­tur­al, performative and instal­la­tion prac­tice that explores ideas of shel­ter, child­hood play, mod­ernist design, personal biography, magic and the occult. These works play with the permeable and changeable nature of the materials she uses: plastic, fabric, Perspex, clay, wood, plants and sound are but a selection, all coming together to explore the rela­tion­ship between viewer and object. Alongside her more spatial works, Dwyer continues to explore exciting and engaging themes through video and painting, whilst incorporating her interests in early 20th-century art movements, including Dada, Constructivism and Arte Povera throughout her practice. Altogether these influences and various forms of media create a playful and fantastical body of work, experimental undertakings exploring matter and metamorphosis.

Dwyer lives and works in Melbourne; her works have been collected by a number of public collections, including: the National Gallery of Australia, Can­ber­ra; Art Gallery of N­SW, Syd­ney; MCA, Syd­ney; National Gallery of Victoria, Mel­bourne; Monash Uni­ver­si­ty Muse­um of Art, Mel­bourne; Hei­de Muse­um of Mod­ern Art, Mel­bourne; MONA, Hobart; The Uni­ver­si­ty of Queens­land Art Muse­um; and Auck­land City Gallery. Recent solo exhibitions have taken place in a number of key institutions, including: Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2017); University of Sydney Art Gallery, Sydney (2014); Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2013); Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (2012); Aratoi Museum, Masterton, New Zealand (2008); Kunstraum, Potsdam (2007); Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand (2005); and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2002).