Gunyah artist-in-residence program

Residency report: Bronwyn Rennex

Bronwyn Rennex, Gunyah Kookaburras

I’m working on a creative non-fiction project and thinking about birds, so being at Gunyah was a great opportunity to s.l.o.w.d.o.w.n. and observe. I eased myself into a different scale of being, a lovely respite from sitting at my desk in Newtown getting caught up in doom scrolling, bill paying, grocery shopping, clothes hanging…

Bronwyn Rennex, Gunyah fire

At Gunyah I listened to unfamiliar birds bring in the day. I watched the pair of noisy miners (… my friend Dave called them pardalotes … I still think I’m right), whose nest is just above the back deck, defend their chick(s) from the daily incursions of bigger birds. I paddled across the water towards the island, where what looked like a pale branch at the top of a tree, ended up being the white breast of a sea eagle surveying its world. At night it was cold enough to have fires.

Bronwyn Rennex, Adam and Bron at Gunyah

I worked pretty solidly each day, whether it was writing, going down Google rabbit holes via famous Bronwyns; through to Welsh mythology; and a story about soldiers carrying the head of fellow warrior back home, where it continued chatting to them for the next 7 years; or reading what Ralph Clark wrote about dreams and birds in his journal. My partner Adam visited for a few days, then my friends Dave and Janet came. It was lovely to be able to share the experience with them and enjoy the added bonus of their excellent cooking skills.

Bronwyn Rennex, Gunyah reading

I’ve come back to Newtown refreshed and inspired to continue working. Thanks so much Kath and Gunyah for the gift of space and time.

Bronwyn Rennex, Gunyah jetty selfie panorama

Gunyah residency report, October 2024

Bronwyn Rennex

bronwynrennex.com

@frombron

Residency report: Karlina Mitchell and Lee Mitchell

Gunyah was a time of rest and productivity. We started by working on individual projects, I spent time writing and reflecting on work and exhibitions I have been part of over the last 12 months. Lee found an amazing resource at the local Hawks Nest tip and finished a series of zines made from reclaimed books and paper. We went on bushwalks around North Arm Cove, I took photos and we worked on developing ideas for our collaborative project. The project explores our childhood experiences and we found this being reflected in the adventures we had with our kids when at Gunyah.

Gunyah residency report, September 2024

Karlina Mitchell & Lee Mitchell

@karlina_mitchell

www.karlinamitchell.com

@leemitchell888

Karlina Mitchell, photograph.

Lee Mitchell, zine.

Upcoming artist-in-residence: Bronwyn Rennex

Bronwyn Rennex

Bronwyn Rennex is a writer, artist and arts professional, living on Gadigal Land, in Sydney's inner west. Her creative non-fiction work combines pictures and words - sometimes her own, sometimes others' - to consider how history resonates in the present. Bronwyn is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Newcastle and 2024 Visiting Scholar at State Library of NSW.

Bronwyn Rennex, Life with Birds, 2022

Bronwyn's first book, 'Life with Birds' was published by Upswell in 2022. It's a delicate commonplace book that invests in the small scale, the domestic and the ordinary as an essential and overlooked part of Australian military history.

Bronwyn Rennex, No, No, No, 2004, cyanotype

"... During my residency I plan to continue my work with the idiosyncratic First Fleet journals of Ralph Clark who, as his transcribers suggested, might be 'the original whinging Pom'. I have collated extracts from his journals and plan to use the residency to respond to and riff off them, thinking about dreams, women, colonisation and birds ..."

You can find out more about Bronwyn's work on her website bronwynrennex.com and Instagram @frombron

Residency report: Obscuria Deaf Collective

Obscuria Deaf Collective: Irene Holub, Angie Goto, Sofya Gollan and Riona Twomey

Irene Holub: "This was my first arts residency and my first experience sharing Deaf Arts space over 10 days. I would wake up every morning for long walks and be inspired by the beauties of nature and then work all day making art. It validated the need to access space that allows us to connect, create and engage on an intellectual, creative and emotional levels with other deaf artists. It inspired us in many ways to collaborate and envisage a pathway of Obscuria Deaf Arts. Thank you for this opportunity."

Angie Goto: "My time at the Gunyah was healing and full of inspiration surrounding nature. It was particularly special to fully conversing in Auslan with my creative Deaf women friends. It was so special to have the time and Deaf space to decompress from the fast pace of hearing world and life. We all enjoyed learning from each other in a few creative activities and brainstorming on ideas for our future exhibition. Also during our stay, we visited the Creative Incubator in Hamilton which was valuable to bounce off ideas and feed off one another's creativity."

Sofya Gollan: "The opportunity to dream by the river, walk through bushland and watch pelicans chase boats from the loft window was a beautiful hiatus from my usual push and pull of everyday concerns. I wrote every day on my screenplay, cracking the spine of the story to make significant progress that I was able to continue on my return home. Having that dedicated time to explore, write dead ends, and track back to start again was invaluable. The spare time was used in exploring disciplines I am not used to , such as painting, collograph printing, and personal vision writing to create a blueprint for the next few years. In short, a creative to-do list was largely conquered, in a beautiful tranquil setting with three other deaf artists. The chance to check in every day with other Deaf Auslan users meant we were able to create a safe and sign language rich experience, where we did not have to ‘code-switch” between having to lip-read and speak, and then back to Auslan again. It was a rare opportunity to be simply and fully Deaf."

Riona Twomey: "The ten day residency allowed our group to refocus and talk together, dream and plan pathways in which to grow and strengthen the aims of the groups objective. Doing art, exchanging art skills, sharing and educating each others in their creative processes, the walks together have brought us closer together."

Gunyah residency report, August 2024

Obscuria Deaf Collective

Irene Holub @ireneholub

Sofya Gollan @bolshiebird

Riona Tindal @riorioartist

Angie Goto @turbly

Upcoming artists-in-residence: Karlina Mitchell and Lee Mitchell

Karlina Mitchell and Lee Mitchell are multi-disciplinary artists who have a collaborative practice and also individual practices, they live on Dharug and Gundungurra Land in the Blue Mountains.

Karlina Mitchell and Lee Mitchell

Karlina Mitchell is a multi-disciplinary artist. Her practice looks at the impact multiple cultural identities can have on the formation of self and understanding of belonging. Karlina Mitchell was born in Nausori Fiji and her vanua is from Vunivaivai Village, Nausori. @karlina_mitchell www.karlinamitchell.com

Karlina Mitchell, I thought of the people before me who had

looked down at the river and gone to sleep beneath it, 2023,

Photography/Collage

Lee Mitchell is a multi-disciplinary artist primarily working in sculpture, specifically discarded found objects. His work explores structures of memory and belief using pop culture references, history andnostalgia to address current political issues such as increasing power imbalances, the surveillance state and its impact on the individual mind. @leemitchell888

Lee Mitchell, Study of Chinese Masonic Lantern, 2022

" ... During our Gunyah residency we are planning to work together on a collaborative project that explores our parallel experiences of childhood in Australia ..."

Karlina Mitchell and Lee Mitchell, Moce, 2023, HIDDEN Rookwood Sculptures
https://www.karlinamitchell.com/moce-for-hidden-rookwood

Residency report: The Darkroom Social

The Darkroom Social: Isobel Markus-Dunworth and Remi Siciliano collecting botanicals near Gunyah

While at Gunyah we worked on making experimental solutions and recipes for local botanical photographic developers.

The Darkroom Social: collecting seaweed by the Gunyah jetty

We were lucky enough to split our residency time - spending one week in June where we collected local materials and made large drums of extractions. To collect these materials we spent time exploring around the North Arm Cove bush and coast, foraging for washed up seaweed, fallen bark and lantana weeds. We left these extractions brewing at Gunyah and returned for our second week in July, where we tested out these solutions and their viability as developers to process the black and white silver gelatin film we were shooting around the site.

The Darkroom Social: botanical extractions at Gunyah

During our first week we went on some day trips to Mungo Brush, Dark Point and Tea Gardens. Here we shot some photos on a 4x5 camera that we took back to Gunyah and processed on the jetty in the sun.

The Darkroom Social: processing on the Gunyah jetty

We had a lot of success with all of the botanicals we extracted at Gunyah, and the long extraction time for the seaweed and the bark seemed to be perfect. We have uploaded a few recipes and examples onto our website: https://www.thedarkroom.social/recipes

The Darkroom Social: film drying on the Gunyah deck

The quiet surroundings, the nightly fires, and the morning sun on the balcony were all little luxuries that we enjoyed while working, talking and processing many rolls and test strips of film. Our time spent outside during the residency inspired us to refine our film processing workflow - we can now confidently say that we can process film in eco developers completely outdoors (from the shooting, to the loading and processing, to the scanning)!

The Darkroom Social: print drying on the Gunyah deck

While most of our stay was spent collaborating, we also had a bit of time working individually on our own experiments and projects. Issi tested out a new underwater film camera in the water around the jetty and in the ocean, and Remi started growing fungus through some rolls of 35mm film that was shot around North Arm Cove.

The Darkroom Social: colour negative scan, Gunyah rocks

It was a beautiful, productive time up at Gunyah and we feel very lucky to have had this generative time up there amongst the Kookaburras and Tawny Frogmouths. Thank you for having us Gunyah!

The Darkroom Social: Tawny Frogmouth, process caffenol delta hp5

Gunyah residency report, July 2024

The Darkroom Social

Isobel Markus-Dunworth and Remi Siciliano

@thedarkroom.social https://www.thedarkroom.social/

Upcoming artists-in-residence: Obscuria Deaf

Obscuria Deaf: Irene Holub, Sofya Gollan, Riona Tindal, and Angie Goto

Obscuria Deaf are a collective of Deaf Women Artists: Irene Holub, Sofya Gollan, Riona Tindal, and Angie Goto. They are artists and advocates embarking on a historic journey with their first-ever collaborative residency.

Irene Holub, Invisible Skin, 2019, theatre production

During their residency at Gunyah, they'll dive into the concept of hidden disability. Exploring behind the bright colours and movements of sign language, they'll endeavour to share their invisible struggles, while also drawing inspiration from the natural world and their surroundings. Through a rich tapestry of artistic expressions, they aim to offer new perspectives, encapsulating the essence of Obscuria Deaf in their art.

Angie Goto, Music in my eyes, 2022, acrylic on canvas

Their residency will culminate in an exhibition spanning several states, promising to challenge perceptions and spark conversations. Obscuria Deaf aims to fuse creativity and advocacy to redefine the boundaries of art and disability.

Sofya Gollan, Threshold, 2023, short film still, photo credit Vincent Hawkins

Riona Twomey, Water nature study, 2024, watercolour on paper

You can follow the Obscuria Deaf artists on Instagram: