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: 
Irene Holub @ireneholub 
Sofya Gollan @bolshiebird 
Riona Tindal @riorioartist 
Angie Goto @turbly 




Residency report: Lou Smith


Swims near the jetty, fires at night on the cold evenings when the rain poured heavily on the roof, reading in the window seat and writing in the sun on the deck, the beautiful view from the downstairs desk of the glorious wattle in bloom out the window. My time spent at Gunyah on Worimi Country was serene, tranquil, productive and inspiring and the calmness and spaciousness of the house, as well as the water of Port Stephens and bushland at North Arm Cove, were a welcome respite from day-to-day life in the inner-North in Naarm (Melbourne). 


While at Gunyah I worked on completing the manuscript of my poetry project Texas.

Texas is set in the shantytown ‘Texas’ which was a camp housing people during the Great Depression in Carrington, Muloobinba (Newcastle). It was a gift to have quiet, dedicated time to work on my manuscript, especially as the mum of two young children.


 

My routine changed to focus not only on refining my manuscript, but I also became more aware of the local environment – watching the boats go by and the pelicans skimming the surface of the water behind one fishing boat each day, observing when it was low tide and time to wade into the water’s chill for a quick swim, the sun reflecting off the water illuminating seaweed and rocks. The beauty of the sunrise and full moon rising and reflecting off the water… 


 

It was lovely to be able to have my sister Karina accompany me on my residency. Having grown up in Muloobinba (Newcastle), it was also somewhat familiar having done day trips with our parents when we were kids to Karuah and Bulahdehlah, although strangely we had never been to North Arm Cove!


 

During our time at Gunyah, we visited a number of local areas including Karuah and the Karuah wetland walk; Myall Lakes National Park – in particular the rainforest walk at Mungo Brush and the very special Dark Point Aboriginal Place; Bulahdehlah Mountain where the carved trees are located; Tea Gardens; and Hawks Nest and the spectacular Bennetts Beach. We also drove to the small hamlet of Carrington located right near North Arm Cove which, not only shares the same name as the area of Newcastle I am writing about but was similarly instrumental in the colonial project – Carrington, Newcastle being where the Carrington Coal Terminal is located, and Carrington, Port Stephens the original site of the Australian Agricultural Company. 


 

It was a pleasure meeting and chatting with people at Hero’s Beach, and the North Arm Cove Community Centre about their lives and the local area after walking through the bush to Coffee in the Cove. I even picked up some sweet mustard pickles! There was an abundance of wildlife at Gunyah and surrounding areas to see each day – dolphins, kookaburras, pelicans, butcher birds, wallabies in the garden, and dingoes at Myall Lakes National Park. I braved three winter swims while at Gunyah, which were chilly but delightful!



Gunyah residency report, June 2024

Upcoming artist-in-residence: Lou Smith

Lou Smith with her book 'riversalt', Photo Newcastle Herald 


Lou Smith is a Naarm based poet, writer and researcher of Welsh, Jamaican and English heritage, who lives on Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung Country. She
 grew up in Muloobinba, Newcastle, on the land and waterways of the Awabakal and Worimi peoples. 
Lou's writing explores notions of place, un/belonging, cultural memory, and cultural and familial identity. She is the author of the poetry collection riversalt (Flying Island Books). Lou’s writing has appeared in journals and anthologies including Rabbit, Australian Poetry Anthology, Liberation Begins in the Imagination: Writings on Caribbean-British Art, Bluebottle, Wasafiri, Masacara Literary Review, Soft Surface, The Caribbean Writer and sx Salon. Lou also co-runs Writing Days, a Creative Writing Society based in Coburg.

Writing days - Coburg Creative Writing Society
writingdays.com.au @dayswriting


" ... During my residency at Gunyah, I plan to work towards completing my poetry collection Texas. These poems are set during the Great Depression, in a shantytown dubbed ‘Texas’ within the suburb of Carrington on Muloobinba Country (Newcastle NSW), a tidal area somewhat similar to North Arm Cove. I grew up in Newcastle, and my dad used to tell me stories about the shantytowns ... "

www.lousmith.net