Artists

As part of the Supermassive program, APHIDS offers mentorships, secondments and internships and exchange to early career artists and producers.

2024

Internship – Charlie Lee is a set and costume designer, and artist interested in using material-led processes as a means of queer worldbuilding, particularly in dance, devised, and community driven works. Their work centres trans* and ecological lenses to build speculative worlds that erode power structures and hegemonic forms of knowledge. Charlie is currently completing a BFA (Production) at the VCA. They are also part of the Emerging Writers Program at SEVENTH Gallery and co-facilitate a Trans Ecology Club at Terrain bookshop.

Mentorship – Dr George Criddle is an artist, writer, and occasional curator with English/Australian heritage who makes socially engaged artworks engaging with history, family, land use, and colonial silence. They completed a PhD in 2021 at Monash University having studied previously at Curtin University in Perth, and École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. They currently serve on the Kings Artist Run Gallery board and teach at the Victorian College of the Arts and La Trobe University in Naarm, Melbourne.

Mentorship – Theona Councillor is a Naaguja-Wilunyu woman whose ancestors are from the Greenough and Bowes Rivers. With over 20 years of experience in the music industry, Theona has recorded three albums, performed at numerous festivals, and facilitated many singer-songwriting workshops and cultural events that support and celebrate her Naaguja Culture. Extending these skills to the theatre, Theona is currently working on the creative development and co-production of Murla-na Bula Wula Bulangul – a thoonbijee or ‘opera’ which tells the Councillor family’s oral history of frontier violence that took place in Western Australia’s Midwest in 1854.

Mentorship – Emmaline Zanelli (b.1994) is a lens-based artist uses combinations of video, photography, sculpture and performance. Influenced by aesthetics of absurdity and surrealism, she creates work that finds humour and meaning in the everyday. In recent years, her work has explored themes related to fabrication, memory, and labour. Emmaline completed a BVA at ACARTS in 2015, and a MA in Photography at PSC in Naarm/Melbourne in 2021. Her work has been exhibited in galleries nationally including Stills Gallery (NSW), Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (WA), The Centre for Contemporary Photography (VIC), and the Art Gallery of South Australia. In 2022 she was selected as the winner of The Churchie Emerging Art Prize and named as one of the recipients of the Adelaide Film Festival Expand Lab Commission. She is currently working on an experimental video work exploring the social environment of Roxby Downs, a remote mining town 600km North of Tarndanya built to support the operations of BHP’s Olympic Dam mine.

2023

Mentorship – Sylva Venus Storm
Sylva Storm is an interdisciplinary artist practicing on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. Their practice is engaged in the intersectional membrane between corporeality and relationality. They are interested in where the body meets the artwork, resulting in a charged site for mark making and dialogue. Sylva did a production internship on OH DEER! as part of RISING toured the work with the company to Transform Festival in Leeds.

2022

Mentorship – Grace Ellen Macpherson
Grace is a dramaturg and researcher living on the stolen lands of the Wurundjeri people. They are interested in process before outcome in art-making practices. They are currently engrossed by the intersection between art and economics. Grace worked closely with Artistic Director Lara Thoms across several projects in 2022.

2021

Mentorship – Sarah-Jayde Tracey
Sarah-Jayde is a theatre maker/performer living on Wurundjeri land with an intense interest in works centring class politics, feminist analysis, and queer performance.

Mentorship – Harriet Gillies & Marcus Ian McKenzie
Harriet and Marcus are currently collaborating on a large scale, multi-year performance project, 8,8,8. Together and separately they make performances incorporating the body, text, sound design, post-internet phantasmagoria, and parafictional world-building.

Mentorship – Priya Pavri
An independent curator currently based on the unceded land of the Kulin Nations, Priya has a history of growing community projects and organisations through unique and creative endeavours, and is committed to seeking alternative models of working that challenge existing leadership and power structures.

2020

In 2020 our mentees joined APHIDS In-Residence at our studio at Collingwood Yards in a year long mentorship to develop their practice.

Mentorship – Desiree Tan
Desiree’s performance work ranges from sociopolitical plays to experimental art. Her practice is situated in cross-cultural theatre traditions, dark comedy and reimagining collaboration through a disability access lens. She also hopes to explore immersive theatre, documentary, sound dramaturgy, photography and the process of choreography more this year. Desiree trains in a Suzuki-based ensemble, The Thursday Group and is helping produce Future Echoes, a festival for young people at the Arts Centre. She has also recently started a university student theatre company for people with disabilities with a focus on exploring the intersections with sexuality, race, gender and class.

Mentorship – Kasey Gambling
Kasey Gambling is a theatre maker and performer interested in creating feminist site-specific works that explore the link between place and oppressed and marginalised voices. She creates intimate works for solo or small audiences such as The Maze: a site-specific walk, allowing a single audience member to witness firsthand the fear and paranoia of one woman walking alone at night. The Maze won Melbourne Fringe NSW Tour Ready Award & Summerhall Awards as well as the Adelaide Fringe John Chataway Innovation Award. Kasey is a co-founder of Melbourne collective, The Honeytrap.

Mentorship – Roshelle Fong & Keziah Warner
Roshelle Fong is a Chinese-Australian multidisciplinary artist who creates playful participatory experiences around intercultural connection. After winning the Melbourne Fringe 2018 Award for Innovation in Culturally Diverse Practice for her immersive theatre show nomnomnom, she has toured it in Australia, Iceland and China with support from Australia Council for the Arts, City of Melbourne and the Ian Potter Foundation. Keziah Warner is a playwright working in science and speculative fiction. She is an alumna of Red Stitch’s INK Program, Playwriting Australia’s Post-Production Program and Soho Theatre’s Writer’s Lab, UK. She was long-listed for Soho Theatre’s Young Writer’s Award and short-listed for the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award. Recent credits include Control (Red Stitch, 2019), LuNa (VCA, 2019) Help Yourself (MTC’s Cybec Electric, The Old Fitz, King’s Cross Theatre, 2019) and Her Father’s Daughter (Hotel Now, 2018).

Roshelle and Keziah are co-commissioned Next Wave 2020 Festival artists, and are both writers-in-residence at Theatre Works for their ‘She Writes’ 2020 program. They are both alumni of Melbourne Theatre Company’s Women in Theatre Program and Malthouse Theatre’s Besen Family Artist’s Program.

2019

Mentorship – Roslyn Helper
Roslyn Helper is an artist and curator interested in the effects of new technologies on society, culture and politics. Roslyn is an advocate for experimental technology-based art and sound. Her thinking and practice is inextricably linked to the contemporary environment: the networked society, unbounded freedom of information, free market economies, crowd-sourced cultural capital, and the increasingly blurred online/ offline divide. Roslyn is currently undertaking a mentorship with Eugenia Lim.

Mentorship – Blame the Shadows
Blame the Shadows’ practice is founded in the moving image and extends to inter-disciplinary projects working closely with dance and animation, and was a participant in the inaugural MIDSUMMA FUTURES a nine-month development program for emerging queer artists/performers. They have written for Archer Magazine exploring homophobia/transphobia across their birth country, Iran. Blame the Shadows worked with Lara Thoms to explore methods to visually and lyrically convey sensitive stories where core creative innovation is driven by the necessity for identity-concealment.

Internship – Kitty Malam
Kitty is a performance maker currently completing her BA at Monash University. She is interested in crafting experiences that are immersive, interactive and site-specific, working with non-theatre performers and creating work for non-theatrical audiences. She has previously worked as a director and performer in youth & student theatre, science communication and educational-theatre, co-founding Canberra based theatre company Left Lane Outreach Theatre. She has recently been working alongside Fleur Kilpatrick as the assistant director on ‘Slaughterhouse Five’, to be presented at Theatre Works in April, 2019. 

2018

Mentorship – PEOPLE.ARTIST.PLACE
APHIDS mentored emerging curators People.Artist.Place as they embarked on a large scale commission for the City of Brisbane. Artistic Director Willoh S. Weiland worked with the curators Marisa and Jenna and 7 project participants over 12 months, travelling to Brisbane for 3 intensive periods conducting masterclaseses in site specific analysis, structuring large scale projects and creative producing.

2017

Internship – Meg Wilson
Meg Wilson was mentored by APHIDS Artistic Director Willoh S.Weiland. This included 5 mentoring sessions focused on transforming her design practice to focus on the integration of performance. She was supported to travel to Melbourne for the Crawl Me Blood preview presentation in the Royal Melbourne Botanical Gardens – where she assisted in developing design, lighting, set and video elements.

2016

Internship – Dani Reynolds
Dani Reynolds worked with APHIDS on Howl as part of the Festival of Live Art, 2016. They continued touring with the project in 2020 at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

2015

Mentorship – Hannah Bronte
Indigenous Artist Mentorship recipient Hannah Bronte was mentored by Kate Geck and supported with residency space through Footscray Community Arts Centre for her work in the 2016 Next Wave Festival.

Internship – Jasmine Proust
For her internship with APHIDS Jasmine undertook research into connections between Australia and the Caribbean for Crawl Me Blood. Research was undertaken via the Internet at Headquarters, as well as collections at the Melbourne City Library, The State Library of Victoria and at the Docklands Library during a weeklong residency.

2014

Mentorship – Eugenia Lim
As part of the Forever Now project, Eugenia Lim was mentored by lead artist and curator Willoh S. Weiland. Lim assisted with the collation of video artworks for the project and correspondence with key artists. 

Internship – Rebecca McCauley
In 2014, Rebecca McCauley collaborated with Lz Dunn to produce a 50 page publication based on the creative processes and research behind her Flyway project. The book was launched at the Wheeler Centre in April and has been distributed to peers and presenters from Australia and abroad at local and international meetings.

Mentorship – Dylan Sheridan
Tasmanian artist Dylan Sheridan was mentored in new partnership with Next Wave. Continuing his association with APHIDS, Dylan was mentored by Martyn Coutts and Willoh S. Weiland, towards the presentation his critically acclaimed work, Terminal, as part of the Next Wave Festival.

Secondment – Robyn McPherson
Aphids offered a Stage-Design Secondment to Robyn McPherson working on APHIDS’ major performance presentation for the year, Game Show, which premiered at the Festival of Live Art (FOLA) in March. Robyn worked closely alongside the show’s Assistant Designer, Yvette Turnball, throughout the performance season.

2013

Secondment – Alistair Watts
Alistair worked as a performer and props designer with APHIDS during the CultureLab development of Game Show at Arts House.

Aphids Indigenous Mentoring Scheme – Jason Davidson
Mentee is Jason Davidson a new media artist based in Bakewell, NT. He was be mentored by Cairns-based designer Leigh Harris.

2012

Intern – Mark Pritchard 
Emerging artist and producer Mark Pritchard worked to assist Willoh S.Weiland to help deliver a specific project in the APHIDS program as well as assist in the day-to-day operations of the company. The yearlong internship focused on the production of the major Forever Now project and enabled Mark to develop professional producing skills.

Mentorship – Zoe Meagher
APHIDS supported Zoe Meagher to present a new work Goodbye, CSIRAC at the Melbourne Museum in May at the 2012 Next Wave Festival. Artistic Director Willoh S.Weiland worked closely with Zoe on her performative audio tour, providing textual and dramaturgical support.

“As the first major project I had attempted as a solo artist, Goodbye, CSIRAC was ambitious and intimidating. I didn’t know where to start – but Willoh did. As I devised content, Willoh shaped it into a cohesive whole, and so Goodbye, CSIRAC grew from a personal challenge into a shared joy.” – Zoe

Secondment – Dylan Sheridan 
In December 2012, Dylan Sheridan was seconded to the company to work on the development of a new collaborative project, Trouble In Paradise. Dylan is a Tasmanian composer who works across opera/staged music, chamber music and electronic music, both acoustically and in complex programming environments like Pure Data.

2011

Aphids Indigenous Mentoring Scheme – Don Bemrose
Don Bemrose is Australia’s foremost male Aboriginal classical artist. Don grew up in a small hinterland town on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and is a proud Gungarri man whose family hail from the Cherbourg Aboriginal Community. At the age of 13, Don, with inspiration from his Nana (respected Elder Aunty Ruth Hegarty) discovered the story of Aboriginal Tenor, Harold Blair. This began his passion for the classical voice and lit his desire to perform around the world. Don received a cash contribution towards artistic expenses, and tailored mentoring by APHIDS’ Artistic Associate Margie Mackay.

Secondment – Rachel Feery
APHIDS was joined by Rachel Feery for Wilderness Lab, as part of the Atelier Edens Project. This secondment for an emerging artist gave Rachel the opportunity to collaborate with local and international artists at the luscious Point Nepean National Park.

Mentorship – Ben Landau & Anna van Veldhuisen
Artists Ben Landau and Anna van Veldhuisen were mentored through the Supermassive program to develop their work House Proud, which debuted as part of Brisbane Festival in September, 2011.

2010

Aphids Indigenous Mentoring Scheme – Maurial Rose Spearim
Maurial Rose Spearim was mentored by APHIDS Artistic Associate Margie Mackay, in the creation and performance of a humorous new cabaret work – The Black Cat – exploring issues related to Indigenous stereotyping. 

REMOTE SENSE – Residency & Mentoring – Kristin Rule & Antoinette J. Citizen
In collaboration with Punctum and Castlemaine State Festival Aphids assisted 2 young and emerging Australian artists working with the moving image to undertake unique professional and creative development hosted by Punctum at its Incubator space. Kristin Rule was mentored by Paul Fletcher and Antoinette J. Citizen was mentored by Miles Bennett; both working towards new work which debuted at the Castlemaine State Festival in 2011.

Next Wave – Mentorship – Ed Gould, Lisa Stewart & Rachel Feery
Ed Gould, Lisa Stewart and Rachel Feery were assisted through Supermassive in their development of Sunset Over Cardboard Mountains, a new collaborative work for the upcoming 2010 Next Wave Festival. Through the APHIDS Residencies and Mentorship Program, the artists were be mentored by writer/director/performer Margaret Cameron. Seated within your very own cardboard box, Sunset Over Cardboard Mountains takes the audience on an experiential journey across imaginary plains, combining the storytelling capacity of live instrumental music with evolving visual effects.

2009

Hybrid Arts Residency, Radialsystem V Berlin – Residency – Lara Thoms
As the recipient of the 2009 Residency opportunity Lara spent time at Radialsystem V, Berlin, and also presented her new media work, and video goggles at the Hybrid Arts Fest as part of the Asia-Pacific Weeks. As part of the Australian Hybrid arts festival, Lara showed her work to an audience of forty people, delivering a performance lecture centred on a false history of the Arts Centre, bringing attention to the forgotten spaces, quirky communities and everyday oddities in the building. She performed a thirty minute work with a series of digitally manipulated photographs, props and costumes. 

CIA Residency, Perth – Residency – Matthew Gingold
As the recipient of the Tactical Media Residency, offered in partnership with the CIA (Centre for Inter-disciplinary Arts) Perth, Matthew Gingold travelled to Perth in September – October 2009. Gingold’s new media work is concerned with perception, performance and the intersection of the body with technology in a multiplicity of contexts. CIA Studios is an initiative of tactical media group, the pvi collective.

The National Art Studio, Changdong – Residency – Jeremy Neideck
Jeremy Neideck was supported by APHIDS as an artist in residence at The National Art Studio, Changdong, South Korea, and a student of Pansori (Traditional Korean Opera) at The National Theater of Korea. His project Strange Earth was the culmination of his ongoing experiments with the interaction between film and dance, and the convergence of his Butoh Dance practice with Pansori. Using pieces of Ted Hughes’ ‘Gaudete’ as inspiration; Jeremy, along with artist Park Jong Hyon, created an interactive video installation and live art performance.

APHIDS ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ – Residency – Sam Routledge
Through his APHIDS Residency at the Australian Model Railway Association Sam explored miniature puppetry and model railways. He developed a new work, Onlooker, a miniature puppetry performance, performed on a model railway layout from the Australian Model Railway Association set in a small country town and its surrounding countryside.

Koelse Studios, Finland – Residency & Mentoring – Ross Manning
Ross Manning was mentored in Helsinki and Berlin to install a new work Sunshine and Zincaloom at Ptarmigan art space, Helsinki.  The installation was developed in Berlin and built on site at the gallery space with local tree branches and electronics and featured a performance in the gallery space with custom light sensitive electronics along with Koelse artist, Nomo.

2008

Next Wave Festival – Mentorship – Willoh S.Weiland
APHIDS supported Willoh S. Weiland to present her new work Yelling at Stars at the Sydney Myer Music Bowl in May at the closing night of the 2008 Next Wave Festival.

Bains::Connective in Brussels – Residency – Clare Watson
As part of the APHIDS Residency and Mentorship Scheme, artist/theatre director Clare Watson undertook a residency at Bains: Connective in Brussels in April 2008. Clare created The Museum of Some Times, site-specific visual art installations in the former bathhouses inspired George Perec and Walter Benjamin. Moments in time were arranged chronologically in a meticulous filing system,  surrounded by a ramshackle museum which disregards the human desire to order events into timelines. As part of the Residency, Clare trawled flea markets and scavenged people’s rubbish to put together an associative museum which is linked to Les Bains, Forest, Brussels and Belgium to large political events in history.

Midsumma Festival – Mentorship – Richard Haynes
Richard was mentored through APHIDS in the development of his new work Listen my secret fetish, first performed at Midsumma Festival in 2008.

2008

Bains::Connective in Brussels – Residency – Dario Vacirca
As part of Aphids Residencies and Mentoring Scheme, Dario Vacirca undertook an artist residency at Bains::Connective in Brussels. You can read about Dario’s project with sheep on his blog here.

RealTime – Residency & Mentorship – Simon Charles
In partnership with RealTime, the magazine promoting innovative Australian art to the world in print and online, APHIDS offered a residency for an emerging Victorian reviewer in music and sound art. Part of the APHIDS Residencies and Mentoring Program for young and emerging artists, the residency took place in the form of a mentorship with a Victorian reviewer and two visits to Sydney to work with the editors of RealTime. Simons review of Liquid Architecture 9 can be read here.

BankART1929  – Residency – Louise Curham
Louise was selected to undertake a residency at the multi-arts facility, BankART1929, in Yokohama, Japan between May and June 2007, as part of the APHIDS Residencies and Mentoring Scheme.