Jane Polkinghorne and Sarah Newall: upcoming artists-in-residence

Sarah Newall and Jane Polkinghorne 

Jane Polkinghorne and Sarah Newall are artists and partners who live in Sydney. Since 2013 they have been working together on Marrickville Garage, an alternative project space that sits between the studio and the gallery, engaging with new experimental work at the interesting point between process and resolution, marrickvillegarage.com. They also both have their own individual art practices. Jane works across video, performance, photography and installation, focusing on a critical and humorous examination of the pathos and horror of the gendered body. Recent projects merge performance, video with low budget post-production techniques in response to the embodied condition filtered through nostalgia and popular culture. She situates her practice within contemporary and historical feminist discourse, using a fascination with how disgust manifests and is both contained and provoked through humour as extra stimulus. She has long-standing participation in creative collaborations and commitment to involvement in artist-run spaces as part of her practice. In 2016 Jane completed her doctorate Foam Rainbow - Where Humour, Disgust And Failure Mingle In Contemporary Art. Over the past five years Jane has exhibited at The LockUp Gallery Newcastle, Marrickville Garage, ArtSpace Sydney, 55 Sydenham Road Project Space, Australian Centre for Photography and AirSpace Projects. 

Jane Polkinghorne, A Woman's Man, 2017, video performance / animation

During this residency at Gunyah, Jane plans to explore tidal sensations through various endurance performance and video experiments in, out and on the body of water at North Arm Cove and surrounds in varieties of weather and wind. 
See more of Jane's work - janepolkinghorne.com

Jane Polkinghorne & Ingrid Stiertzel, Sadisco, 2017, Two channel Video installation

Sarah's practice focuses on sustainability, aiming to live by the zero waste principles of refuse, reduce, recycle, reuse, and rot. In line with this she is rethinking her wardrobe to bring it in line with sustainable principles, and to bypass the possibility of buying unethically produced clothing that is poor quality ‘fast fashion’. Sarah creates seasonal wardrobes called ‘Fashist’ out of used stockpiled fabric from an old 2007 fashion project, as well as acquired materials from Reverse Garbage, fabric remnant shops, donated materials and wool from family and friends. Fashist will now be forever ongoing and evolving. In 2010 Sarah completed her PhD thesis, ‘New still life,’ which investigated the placement and role of still life in contemporary art. Since then Sarah has exhibited at Red Art Gallery QLD, Verge Gallery Sydney, Marrickville Garage, Articulate Project Space, 55 Sydenham Road Project Space, AirSpace Projects and James Dorahy Gallery Sydney. 

Sarah Newall, Fashist winter wardrobe, 2016

During this residency at Gunyah, Sarah plans to pursue her interest in weaving, which she will later incorporate into other garment projects when back in Sydney.
See more of Sarah's work - sarahjnewall.com

Sarah Newall, Recycled Paintings, 2016