Artist in Situ

Artist in Situ saw six talented artists create four temporary installation artworks in public spaces across the City in 2023.

The Artist in Situ initiative connected locals and visitors alike with contemporary artists and their art practices. Working across a range of disciplines including photography, kinetics, paper sculpture, print-making, and socially engaged practices each artist responded to the theme of “Smile”. These projects enlivened community spaces in a fun, imaginative way and ignited the curiosity of passers-by, in-turn bringing a smile to their faces. The community took part in workshops leading to the creation of four temporary art installations in North Beach, Scarborough, Glendalough and Hamersley.

Image of ribbons that are colourful

Artist in Situ installation locations

  • Smiley Glendalough Reserve, Corner Jon Sanders Drive and Herdsman Parade Glendalough | Anton Lord
  • Glimmers Scarborough Community Hub, Guildercliffe Street Scarborough | Jessica Walker
  • Bloom Factory Henderson Environmental Centre, Groat Street North Beach | Mikaela Miller and Carrisa Wu
  • What makes you Smile? Stirling Leisure Centre - Hamersley, Belvedere Road Hamersley | Louise Wells and Josh Wells

Henderson Bloom Factory, North Beach

City of Stirling Artist in Situ popped-up North Beach, giving the community the opportunity to get up close as they created larger than life floral paper sculptures and fabric paintings inspired by the native flora found in the Star Swamp Reserve. Artist duo Carissa Wu and Mikaela Miller combined their respective arts practices and love of flowers to create a joyful and immersive art installation. 

What Makes You Smile, Hamersley

What Makes You Smile? was a temporary artwork installation created from portraits taken of local community members during the photo sessions at Hamersley Leisure Centre and other locations. They were displayed with the participants' answers to the question, "What Makes You Smile?"

Smiley, Glendalough

Anton imagined the idea of “Smiley” with the help of his teenage daughter - a playful piece centred on the idea of "what is a smile". The free-standing kinetic work featured a number of smiley pieces that rotated over time to create a smiley face. 

Anton facilitated a series of maker sessions deep in the heart of industrial Osborne Park and help to build a kinetic artwork for public display.

  • Title of Artwork Smiley
  • Artist Anton Lord
  • This artwork was on display at Glendalough Reserve from 18 - 26 March 2023.

Glimmers, Scarborough

Glimmers bring a sense of safety, relaxation, and being open to connecting with others, ourselves, and the world. Put simply; Glimmers are small, positive moments that spark joy and make us smile.

Emerging artist Jessica Walker created a fun and engaging installation featuring glimmers. The installation took shape over time and took the form of a bright and airy tunnel, adorned with cascades of brightly coloured ribbons each threaded with bells and displaying messages of hope. The tunnel could be traversed and enjoyed by all, regardless of age or ability.

Meet the Artists

Carrissa Wu and Mikaela Miller

Carrissa Wu

Carissa Wu is an emerging artist from Singapore based in Walyallup/Fremantle. Informed by her training in Fine Arts and Art Therapy, she hosts creative flower-making workshops, crafting everlasting heirloom bouquets and fabricates giant paper flower Installations that bring joy to communities across Western Australia.

Growing up as a shy child, Carrissa relied on drawing pictures and writing stories to express herself, connect with others and overcome social anxiety. She specialises in using crepe paper and recycled materials to draw inspiration from the complexities of Australian native flora and plants around the world. As an immigrant respectfully living on Whadjuk Noongar country, reflecting on the personal and cultural significance of flowers helps her make meaningful connections with the land and the people she is privileged to be a part of.

The therapeutic nature of artmaking continues to help Carrissa through life's challenges and drives her passion to share the joy of paper flowers with others. Her distinctly colourful, realistic style has been featured in House & Garden UK, Frankie magazine and Sunday Times Magazine, as well as King’s Park Botanic Garden and Araluen Botanic Park.

Carrissa Wu in the Studio

Find out more about Carrissa's work

Website www.jotterbookflowers.com
Instagram @jotterbookflowers
Facebook @jotterbookflowers

Mikaela Miller

Mikaela is an emerging Western Australian artist. Having trained in both design and community development, she works predominantly as a public artist, printmaker and arts facilitator. Mikaela’s practice often explores the evolution of landscapes (natural and built); the significance of plant species to place or local narratives; and the details, growth and function of plants and all of their parts.

Mikaela has painted a variety of commissions; large scale murals for local councils, developments and festivals, and coordinated a string of community art projects. These bright florals and her unique, intuitive line-work, illustrating form and texture, can be found across metro and regional WA.

Her latest body of work is a print series. She hopes to introduce some of the processes and techniques from this new printmaking work into her public art practice over the coming months.

Find out more about Mikaela's work

Website www.mikaelamiller.com
Instagram @mikmiller_
Facebook @mikaelamillercreative

Jessica Walker

Moving to the City of Stirling in 2021, Jessica has spent the last year establishing her art business.

Artistically encouraged by her parents in her formative years to express herself and actively develop a variety of skills, she has pursued structured education, guidance from mentors and extensive personal study. Jessica is skilled in a multitude of mediums and primarily uses these skills for works in sculpture and mixed medium.

After more than a decade of working directly with clients within the disability sector and 7 years volunteering in the LGBTQI community, Jessica has decided to bring her significant knowledge of improving mental health and the benefits of creating connections human to human to a wider audience through her artwork.

Jessica has been and continues to be involved in a number of exciting collaborative projects with other Perth artists and is currently working towards her first solo exhibition at the Quirky Fox Gallery in New Zealand. A highlight to date for Jessica has been having a piece of her collab work in the Interconnected Exhibition held By Beautiful Bizarre Magazine earlier this year.

Jessica Walker image as a selfie

Find out more about Jessica's work

Anton Lord

Anton “Factotum” Lord is an AV Technician based in Perth, Western Australia and CEO of the multi-disciplinary

design/fabrication/installation company Factotum Industries.

Once described as “an artist trapped in a scientist’s body” Anton has spent the last few years breaking out and applying his daytime technical skill set to creating interactive, sculptural forms frequently with kinetic, optical or acoustic components. These adventures include blending audio, electronics, solar, wood, metal, and composites.

A long association with Blazing Swan as participant, former committee member and event ranger saw the first few pieces of his art displayed and the ®evolution soon began.

Previous installations have ranged from giant trees filled with speakers to rings of illuminated water tanks set on the shoreline and frequently fuse the power of electronics against the backdrop of nature.

A number of his works have been exhibited at festivals, events and public exhibitions throughout the state.

Anton Lord close up image

Find out more about Anton's work

 

 

Louise Wells and Josh Wells

Louise Wells

Louise Wells is an artist living in Inglewood, Western Australia.  

Looking at the lost beauty in the ordinary is a major theme she explores, and this has led to more focus on the use of recycled materials, mostly textiles, for their suggested narrative and concerns over waste and for the environment. 

Louise’s work is inspired by domestic life, family stories and observations on current events. Over the past few years, the main focus of Louise’s work has been in her local community. Her solo exhibition Suburban Secrets 2021, explored the history and changes in Inglewood over the past 100 years. Her recent collaborative exhibition It’s a Matter of How You Look at Things takes inspiration from her observations of the small often overlooked and often delightful elements on her daily walk around her suburb. 
Louise has exhibited in numerous group and jury selected exhibitions. She was a finalist in twentyFIVE+ 2022, York Botanic Art Prize 2021, Collie Art Prize (CAP) and Australian Textile Award 2020. In 2019 her work was selected for Cultura Diffusa, Como Italy and Fiber Arts IX, California USA. She has also been a five times finalist in Wearable Art Mandurah, winning the Avant Garde category in 2017. Recent solo exhibitions include Of Our Time - Ordinary Lives 2018, Suburban Secrets 2021. Her work is held in public and private collections.

Louise Wells in the Studio

Find out more about Louise's work

www.louisewells.com 
Instagram @louisewellsartist
Facebook @LouiseWells

Josh Wells

Josh Wells is a photographer and videographer based in Boorloo, Western Australia. His works span music, food and hospitality, events, portraiture, and fine art photography. 

All of Josh’s commercial and creative work cultivate a sense of community and connectedness, with special attention towards storytelling, supporting local economies, and highlighting the works of owner-operator businesses. His creative projects include Stirling Songwriters Club, a channel for live acoustic music recordings for independent musicians; Down by 12th Avenue, a blog dedicated to highlighting owner-operator businesses in food and hospitality; and ThirdPlaces, an independent and ad-free directory of community-oriented hospitality businesses throughout Perth.

His client work includes community and non-profit groups including Inglewood on Beaufort, Short Back and Sidewalks, and the West Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra, local councils including City of Subiaco, City of Vincent, City of Stirling, and Town of Bassendean.

Josh Wells close up image

Find out more about Josh's work

For more information contact the Arts Project Officer on (08) 9205 8555 or email arts@stirling.wa.gov.au