Residency report: Phillippa Murphy-Haste and Patrik Jarlestam

We had a wonderful time at Gunyah, waking up every morning to look out over the landscape and spy pelicans and dolphins in the water. 
It was the perfect place for a creative retreat and gave us space and time to think carefully about our craft. 
We used our time in North Arm Cove to experiment with musical ideas and devise new processes of working together. 
Patrik started learning new programming skills in order to see how we could interact with clarinet and video projections. He also took many photos of the natural landscape and surrounding area for incorporation into his projections. 
We collaborated on new compositions and invited some friends to play with us who also brought their own music which we played together. 
Gunyah is a unique place for artists to get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life and focus on creativity within a calm and serene environment. 
We absolutely loved our stay. Thank you so much to Kath and all the owners of Gunyah for having us.

Phillippa Murphy-Haste and Patrik Jarlestam

Patrik Jarlestam and Phillippa Murphy-Haste at Gunyah 
Gunyah jetty, Phillippa Murphy-Haste and Patrik Jarlestam residency 
Trees and water, Phillippa Murphy-Haste and Patrik Jarlestam Gunyah 
Sideways rocks, Phillippa Murphy-Haste and Patrik Jarlestam Gunyah 

Nerine Martini and Paula Broom: upcoming artists-in-residence

Paula Broom and Nerine Martini working together in Sydney 2018

 Nerine Martini is a visual artist, based in Sydney, working across the fields of sculpture, installation, socially engaged art, public art and drawing. Her work has been included in major award exhibitions such as Sculpture by the Sea, the Blake Prize and the Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Awards. Nerine's practice shifts continually between her studio and exhibition practice and working on community-based, public art projects. Martini is currently a PhD candidate at Sydney College of the Arts. More info nerinemartini.com
Nerine Martini, Holding the Key, 2017, photograph by Paula Broom
excerpt of work in progress with community groups at Blacktown Arts Centre

Sydney-based artist and environmentalist, Paula Broom, believes art can reconnect us to our natural world and built environments, as well as to ourselves, our health and each other. Working in expanded photo-media, she explores ecological, social and personal issues relating to loss, death, extinction and our collective future. Paula's work has recently been selected as a finalist in Head On Photo Festival Awards and the Australian Photography Awards. She is an active member of the environmental artist’s collective the Tree Veneration Society, and also manages Instagramers Sydney on Instagram, underpinning her sentiment that art creates a strong sense of place, connects people and creates social cohesion. 
More info environmeanttobe.wordpress.com
Paula Broom, Endless Pink Ladder, 2017, bricklayers line and painted dowel

 Nerine and Paula met as patients at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse in 2016 whilst undergoing treatment for breast cancer. They recognised in each other a shared interest in creating artworks that engage both art and nature in the healing process and subsequently began exhibiting together later that year. Even though they have both finished their breast cancer treatments, they continue to live with an increased level of uncertainty and therefore wish to use their time at Gunyah to investigate more personal notions of health, conferred by nature and art.
Nerine Martini, Social Scaffold, 2017, bamboo, porcelain, string, hessian sandbags, (detail view)

 During their Gunyah residency Nerine Martini and Paula Broom plan to explore experiences of the human body in the landscape, the human body as landscape; and relationships between health, wellbeing and the natural environment. This will include drawing and frotage techniques, as well as working with Olloclips (macro lenses) with mobile phones in the field, which will then be combined collaboratively back in the studio. The process of walking in and through the landscape will contribute to the conceptual development of the artwork, by physically relating to the environment. The senses of smell, touch, sight and sound, will all be involved in reconnecting with the physicality of being in the body and being in the landscape, an immersion in nature.
Paula Broom, Goodbye to all that, 2017, waterproofed plaster 

Residency report: Heidi Lee Douglas, Megan Riakos and Shideh Faramand

Heidi Lee Douglas, Megan Riakos and Shideh Faramand,
Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2018

"Two weeks of clean air, the ever changing light on the water, a chorus of birds as companions. In some ways I wish I had spent more time exploring the beautiful outside landscape of the whole area, but for me time at Gunyah was a chance to be quiet with myself and explore the inner, creative landscape. Gunyah provided a fresh perspective to think deeply and clearly, and bring down onto the page the stories that have brewing inside me and asking to born or refined.
I was relieved to have these intense writing sessions punctuated by the passionate discussions and meals with my colleagues Megan and Shideh who had been thrashing out their own projects. Or to take an hour for by a head clearing walk in the forest on our doorstep. I made great headway on three projects whilst at The Gunyah and cried tears of gratitude when I left, because it felt like the generous community that created the Artists in Residence had enabled a new chapter of my life into existence.” 
Heidi Lee Douglas

Writing by the water, Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2018

“So many writers I know juggle a number of freelance jobs, projects and general life commitments. It means that without a hard-and-fast external deadline, it’s easy to get distracted by the never-ending ‘to do’ lists of life. But a writer’s retreat helps you to stake a claim on your time, compelling you to meet your page count and by the end of the retreat I was able to finally click save on the first full draft of my feature script Hidden Valley.
But Gunyah is not just a place of exile. For me it was a place to type away while overlooking the stunning North Arm Cove, a place to enjoy the last ounces of warm weather with a kayak on the water and morning runs through the bush and a place to share hearty dinners and inspiring discussions with fellow writers and friends Heidi and Shideh.
It reminds me that even though a writer’s life can sometimes feel like an uphill battle, it is in fact a pleasure and a privilege to be able to create and to do this in the beautiful Gunyah is the cherry on the top.”
Megan Riakos

Tree top view from writing desk, Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2018

"We each came to this sacred spot to focus on the task at hand. Each project different, but passion and determination the same. Such a rare experience but one we were fortunate enough to share. I can’t stress enough the importance of this opportunity … to step outside your daily life and to indulge ones artistic pursuits. It was a magical retreat … souls were nourished, and the presence of past artists felt in the walls.” 
- Shideh Faramand

Sky boat, Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2018

Phillippa Murphy-Haste and Patrik Jarlestam: upcoming artists-in-residence



Patrik Jarlestam and Phillippa Murphy-Haste after rehearsal in Malmo, 2016, Sweden. 
Phillippa Murphy-Haste is an accomplished clarinet player and multi-instrumentalist, who is based between Sydney and Malmö Sweden. Her practice reflects a broad range of styles and contexts - from jazz to contemporary classical, experimental, improvised music, theatre, inter-arts and cross-cultural collaborations, and music-related social justice projects. Phillippa has trained in classical and jazz styles, completing a Bachelor's degree with a double major in performance and education with Honours, and a BMus Jazz Performance from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with a one-year component at the Malmö Academy of Music in Sweden. She has been awarded scholarships from The University of Sydney, The Golden Key International Honour Society, the Layne Beachley Aim For The Stars foundation, SBS Youth Orchestra, and the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO) to participate in a Creative Intensive with AAO musicians and world-renowned Carnatic percussionist Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani and his associates. Phillippa has played clarinet at the Sydney Opera House with the 13-piece Sydney Chamber Orchestra and BAFTA-winning multi-instrumentalist and Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds (Broadchurch); performed at Malmö Live (Sweden) with multi Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian musician Joyce Moreno (formerly 'Joyce'); and collaborated with writer-director Shakthi Shatkhidharan (CuriousWorks, National Theatre of Parramatta) for 'A Counting and Cracking of Heads' at Carriageworks Sydney.  Phillippa has released three albums through Bandcamp with Micro Micro and Microfiche. 

Phillippa performing at the Fat Yahoozah album launch in 2015.

Patrik Jarlestam is a composer, musician and light/video designer based in Malmö in the south of Sweden. After his Master of Composition studies at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, he has worked with integrating his music into both light design and projected video. He composes contemporary art music that centres around conveying stories, sometimes balanced through the lenses of electronics, sound design and light choreography. Patrik finished his college degrees by composing Pieces for baroque orchestra (2010) and two short operas in 2012. The first of the two operas, Vi Brinner (We burn), was written for classical and folk music singers, classical musicians, folk musicians and early music players; responding to the Arab Spring uprisings. The second opera, Den 4444:e dagen (the 4444:th day), was written for classical singers and chamber orchestra based on 'The Girl in the Box' documentary.
Recently, Patrik has been commissioned by The Stockholm Saxophone quartet, Krock guitar ensemble, Ventus (acc/flt) and Tomomi Fukagawa/Maija Kauhanen (perc+kantele/song). His music has been performed at the Sonic Festival in Copenhagen, Västerås Concert House, Christchurch The Piano, Malmö Concert House. He has also written music and sound design for video games and short movies.

Patrik Jarlestam playing live at the 2015 Malmo City Festival, Sweden.

Phillippa Murphy-Haste and Patrik Jarlestam have worked and performed together extensively in Denmark, Australia and New Zealand. Their collaborations involve traditional compositions and instruments as well as video projections, electronics and digital media. They plan to use their residency at Gunyah to collaborate and compose music for their upcoming Sydney performance of clarinet, electronics and video projections. 

Phillippa Murphy-Haste at the charity fundraiser she organised for Hand in Hand for Syria,
with the band "Ash-Shams" and composer Patrik Jarlestam

Shideh Faramand, Megan Riakos and Heidi Lee Douglas: upcoming artists-in-residence

Shideh Faramand, Megan Riakos and Heidi Lee Douglas are all screenwriters who are currently working on individual feature film scripts. 
"As writers it is imperative for us to take time out of the demands of every day life and fully immerse ourselves into the storyworlds we are creating. This unique opportunity nestled in the natural environment of Gunyah will rejuvenate and inspire us, allowing each of us to work in a peaceful, supportive and collaborative environment, while working to bring to life the first drafts of new screen works and capitalising on our combined skills to catapult these projects forward."
Shideh Faramand, Megan Riakos and Heidi Lee Douglas

Shideh Faramand is an award-winning writer, director and actor, having written and directed over half a dozen shorts. Her standout short films  ‘A Reluctant Bride’ and ‘Amalia Lucia Gomez is Gluten Intolerant’ have screened at prestigious film festivals to audiences across Australia, North America and Europe, and was broadcast on national television in Sweden. In 2016, Shideh had the honour of becoming one of Screen Australia’s Gender Matters recipients’ for the development of her debut feature film Sheeda, with producer Kirsty Stark of Epic Films. She is currently developing several short form, feature and television projects and is an active member of Film Fatales, the Australian Writers Guild, the Australian Directors Guild, and Women in Film and Television.
As a first generation Australian/Iranian, Shideh’s strengths and passions lie in diverse stories, which reflect the ever-changing face of Australia, with a key focus on female driven characters. 
Her Gunyah residency project will focus on the script development of her second comedy feature, AIR NATION.

Shideh Faramand, Directing on the set of 'Amalia Lucia Gomez is Gluten Intolerant', 2013

Megan Riakos is a screenwriter and director with a passion for telling stories that engage and provoke. She recently completed her debut feature Crushed, a mystery thriller set in the wine region of Mudgee. The Australian newspaper calling Crushed “a tense, bloody mystery thriller”; Dread Central noting its “beautiful cinematography and exceptional performances” and The Hollywood Reporter labelling Crushed “A solid debut”. Crushed completed a successful limited theatrical release and screens on Channel 10 in 2018. Megan has also completed over a dozen short films including the psychological thriller The Shed; a 1930’s crime drama 50-50; and experimental dance film The Eye of the Beholder. Megan earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Media Arts & Production) at University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and has completed both a Graduate Certificate in Screen Drama and a Graduate Diploma in Directing at the prestigious Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). In 2013, she also completed the Professional Screenwriters Program at UCLA. Megan is an active member of Film Fatales – a global female feature film directors’ collective and is the president of the advocacy group Women in Film and Television (WIFT NSW). meganriakos.com
During her residency at Gunyah Megan plans to work on her survival thriller feature film script Hidden Valley which she plans to direct over the summer of 2018/19.

Megan Riakos, Crushed, 2015, film poster

Heidi Lee Douglas is an award winning Australian director who works across documentary and drama. She has a special interest in strong female protagonists, social thrillers and social change documentaries. An accomplished writer, the First Draft of Heidi’s convict western thriller feature film Unnatural Conduct was shortlisted for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab 2017, a Semi Finalist Gateway LA Script Development Program 2017, and a Quarter Finalist in the Screencraft Action/Thriller Screenplay Competition 2017 and won the “On the Table” Feature Script Competition WOW Film Festival 2016. Heidi’s drama short Little Lamb, supported by Screen Australia and Wide Angle Tasmania, screened at over 25 festivals worldwide, including Fantastic Fest (TX) 2014 and Flickerfest 2015, and was awarded Best Film, Best Production Design, Best Script and Best Thriller. Little Lamb was  selected for the 7 from Etheria anthology feature, distributed theatrically and through Amazon and iTunes (USA). Her broadcast documentary Defendant 5, about her personal experience being sued by the biggest logging company in the Southern Hemisphere, has been repeatedly broadcast by ABC and Al Jazeera worldwide, and was awarded Best Short Film at Green Film Festival in Seoul 2016 and nominated for the Golden Kapok award at the Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival 2016. Heidi recently completed her new horror short Devil Woman and is developing a slate of projects across documentary and drama. darklakeproductions.com.au

Heide Lee Douglas, Defendant 5, 2014, film poster

Heidi Lee Douglas, Little Lamb, 2014, film poster

2018 Gunyah AIR program

Thank you to everyone who applied for the 2018 Gunyah AIR program. 

Congratulations to the seven who have been selected for next year: 


May residency 
Shideh Faramand, Megan Riakos & Heidi Lee Douglas
meganriakos.com


June residency 
Nerine Martini & Paula Broom
Phillippa Murphy-Haste & Patrik Jarlestam 


August residency
Sylvia Griffin
sylviagriffin.com.au     

September residency 
Christopher Mouder
christophermoulder.com

October residency 
Sarah Newall & Jane Polkinghorne    
sarahjnewall.com

November residency 
Jane Richens

Gunyah waterfront and jetty, photo by Julie Pennington AIR May 2016 

Rochelle Haley: residency report November 2017

Rochelle Haley, North Arm Cove Beach, Gunyah residency November 2017

"The house and surrounds of Gunyah were immediately relaxing and reminded me a lot of growing up on the south coast of NSW. The 70s character and ‘handmade’ feel of the place had a welcoming and unexpected nostalgic presence – you can tell this is a place much loved by those who made it. All of this made an excellent environment to let go of regular work stress and open up space for creative thinking. The first few days of the residency I took really slowly - reading in the sun, walking through the bush, checking out the local and holiday houses nearby, swimming and watching wallabies.

 The studio space had a fantastic view with lots of windows overlooking the bushy garden and water. I really enjoyed working in the space and watching the light change across the day. The second week of the residency was really productive - I finished a number of paintings and still had time for a swim or a long walk after. The paintings developed in a somewhat different way than I imagined they would – ending up with a much calmer blue/green palette and more simplified pulled back abstract forms. The last two painting were based on the geometric structure of the first two, with small variations and more formal elements edited out of the composition. I am really pleased with the progress of this work and look forward to continuing this series back in Sydney over the coming months.

 The time and space of the Gunyah residency was much appreciated - thank you Kath Fries and the other Gunyah owners!"

 Rochelle Haley
Gunyah residency report, November 2017
rochellehaley.com
Rochelle Haley, The downstairs studio, Gunyah residency November 2017
Rochelle Haley, Paintings outside the studio, Gunyah residency November 2017
Rochelle Haley, Paintings outside the studio, Gunyah residency November 2017
Rochelle Haley, Paintings outside the studio, Gunyah residency November 2017
Rochelle Haley, Reading on the balcony, Gunyah residency November 2017
Rochelle Haley, Hyacinth-ordchid, Gunyah residency November 2017
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