Rochelle Haley: upcoming artist-in-residence


Rochelle Haley in her studio, photo Owen Craven.

Rochelle Haley is an artist and researcher, based in Sydney, who works with experimental drawing, expanded painting, movement and spatial performance practice. She is a lecturer at UNSW Art & Design. Rochelle's projects involve live drawing, dance, painting and installation to explore space structured around the sensation of the moving body. She is interested in the relationship between bodies and the physical environments they move in; exploring movement both in the creative process as well as in how the work is viewed. Rochelle's most recent exhibitions include Afterglow, a participatory, collaborative, painting and dance choreographed performance at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery in September 2017;  Bare Loggia at Galerie PomPom Sydney in May 2017; Spin at Museum of Contemporary Art ARTBAR Sydney, 2016; Patternation at Hazlehurst Regional Gallery and Through Form at Galerie Pompom, Sydney, in 2015.

Rochelle Haley, Afterglow rehearsal with Angela Goh and Ivey Wawn, 2017,
photo Jessica Maurer, source Concreteplayground

My Gunyah residency project will expand on my explorations into geometric designs and patterns of dance notation through the lens of contemporary abstract painting. Choreographic notational systems of influential dance theorists and practitioners including Rudolf Laban and Noa Eshkol will be referenced as rich inspiration material for abstract paintings and the source of compositions for colourful abstract works made with acrylic paint and translucent resin while in residence. I plan to begin with colour studies working with acrylic painting on board followed by multiple layers of colourful translucent resin painting. The final paintings will likely be glossy abstract paintings that draw compositional structure from the intricate geometric detail and motifs of dance notation and are inspired by the contrasting colours and clashing hues of the modernist period in which Laban and Eshkol worked. 


Rochelle Haley, Flow – Red Yellow Bronze, 2016, 
acrylic, ink, Oregon veneer and resin on board, 76 x 46 cm

To see more of Rochelle's work go to her website www.rochellehaley.com

Call for 2018 Gunyah AIR applications

Applications for the 2018 Gunyah artists-in-residence program are now open!

Gunyah residency call for 2018 applications, photo courtesy Yvette Hamilton (Gunyah AIR July 2014) 

Applications for the 2018 program will be accepted until 30 November 2017

Visual artists, writers, composers, performance artists, curators, new media, designers, arts administrators and other creators are be welcome to apply for solo, collaborative, family and group residencies. The Gunyah AIR 2018 program will run from May to November, with seven residencies, each for eleven days. Please see the 2018 online application form for specific dates. 

If you are interested in applying for the 2018 AIR program, please read "About Gunyah" - https://gunyah.blogspot.com/p/about.html - and note there is a residency fee of $400 (for eleven days or part thereof) and a $50 key deposit. You'll need your own vehicle to access the North Arm Cove area and Gunyah. Then fill out the 2018 online application form.

Application deadline 30 November 2017 

Please email Kath at gunyahresidency@yahoo.com if you have further questions

Gunyah residence

Milan Ring: upcoming artist-in-residence

Milan Ring is a Sydney based musician whose 2014 Debut EP Glassy Eyes, caused the Sydney Morning Herald to name Milan the “Next Big Thing”. She garnered radio, press, media and industry support, performing at the Alicia Keys and John Legend Arena show and being whisked away to LA to meet with top of Universal Music Group at the time Zack Horowitz. Freshly returning to Australia from a mentorship in LA with Neff-U (Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar), performances in Jakarta, Bali, NYC & LA, armed with a degree in sound engineering and a Universal Publishing deal, Milan is preparing for her second EP release, an international tour and a plethora of creative projects in 2017. 

Milan Live at SoulFest 2014, photo by Peter Dov 20 October 2014

Drawing on the rich influences of her Chinese, Indian and Australian heritage Milan has developed a strong sense of musicality that is uniquely her own, from vocal inflections and phrasing to innovative production, Milan's creative processes disentangle existing modes by constantly adapting to form new sounds, assemblages and lyrical tracks. Milan's music has been described as hypnotic, with its impossible electric guitar runs, her trademark sultry dreamscape voice and effortlessly interwoven synths & samples. When composing her songs Milan also makes the beats, plays the keys, synths, bass, records and mixes and is across the production of each of her songs. The Gibson endorsed artist fluidly moves between being a masterful lead guitarist, multi-instrumentalist to a singer, songwriter, producer and business woman. Whether for herself or writing and collaborating with other artists, Milan creates a brand of music that shimmies across the sensibilities of Electronic, R&B, Jazz and Hip Hop.
"Meet Milan, she is about to get a spoon, dig out a little spot in your heart and make herself comfortable ... her songs draw on life experiences, family relationships and stories from her years of working and growing up in Sydney’s Inner West, but her storytelling is often cryptic and open to interpretation. Topics like love, loss, depression, drugs and addiction weave through her words. Passages of rap-influenced double-time singing, mixed with strong and soulful hooks show the influence of the black music of North America, but her voice is still distinctly Australian." (Triple J Unearthed)
Milan Press Shot with Gibson, photo by Melissa Cowan, 16 March 2016



During my residency at Gunyah I plan to set up a recording studio in the lounge room, look out through those big windows and observe the trees and the birds. Sit on the balcony with my notepad and write poetry and lyrics. Go for bush walks, do my yoga down on the peer and meditate by the water. I will be starting work on my debut album and the beginning stages of any project is always the most exciting time, where ideas are all bouncing around, so to have a residency at this stage, means a change of environments allowing the space and freedom to create and explore ideas. I am so inspired by the Australian bush and the space at Gunyah, I think it adds something uniquely Australian to my music.


To hear some of Milan's music go to her website www.milanring.com