Residency report: Nadia Odlum

My time at Gunyah was incredibly nourishing. I had been very flat out with work in the city, coming to the final stages of a nine-month curatorial project. I still had the curatorial essay to write, and there was no better place to do it than in the quiet natural splendour of Gunyah.

Looking back, most of my photos seem to be on the jetty. That's really where I spent most of my time! In the midst of a long stretch of rain for the East coast, I was lucky to get some sunshine during my trip.

I spent my time thinking, reading and writing about feminism in art in Australia. I was writing about Garage Graphix, a print-making and community arts organisation that operated in Mount Druitt in the 80s and 90s. These photos show a report from Garage Graphix in 1988, and the great new tome of a book 'Doing Feminsim' by Anne Marsh.

I also took some time to do some drawing. I have been thinking a lot about direction and movement in the city, how we are pushed around by systems and signs and symbols. Out there on the lake the movement was all determined by the wind and the tide. The Biennale 'Rivus' is on in Sydney, so it has been making me think about water a lot. I did this drawing on the final day... a bit of a 'thought bubble' work, that may or may not lead to something new.


On the final day I was doing yoga on the jetty, and a big pod of dolphins swam past. I mean, how do you top that?

Thanks Gunyah

Nadia Odlum

Gunyah residency report

March 2022 

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