about
My curiosity and love for nature and ecology informs my art practice and activities. I am passionate about engaging people through public workshops, creative making and storytelling. My recent works explore species conservation, environmental destruction and relationships within ecosystems and non-humans.
I am a member of the creative collective FishLife, a contributor to the ongoing and ephemeral Floating Library project, which explores ocean and water literacy.
I am also part of Nature-hearted Collective, a group of artists curated by Craig Burgess (Draw Plants Together).
Skills:
I work in a range of digital and analogue techniques, combining traditional art methods with emerging technologies, including hand-drawn illustration, watercolour, collage, digital 2D animation, stop-motion animation, video, paper construction, installation, mural and Augmented Reality (AR).
Experience and background:
I currently juggle lecturing at RMIT University in animation, and I run an ongoing youth-based art program for teenagers at Sussex Neighbourhood House.
I found my love for drawing and stories from a young age, through picture books, cinema and art galleries. Growing up near the Merri Creek and regularly visiting the ocean, I am fortunate to have a close connection to local waterways, the sea and bush.
My love for illustration and film led me to complete the BA of Animation and Interactive Media at RMIT in 2018. My graduate film ‘Dance of the Dead’ was selected for MIFF in 2019 and has since been shown at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Arts exhibition ‘The Magic Arts: Australian Animation from the 1970s to Now’.
Projects:
My installations include 'Rockpool', exhibited at Dot. Space Gallery in 2021, featuring a giant diorama of a rockpool in an old shopfront window, exploring longing for nature during lockdowns in 2020.
2021-2022 I spent some time living on the Surf Coast on Wadawarrung Country, where I participated in Regional Arts Victoria’s Creative Workers in Schools Program. It involved a 6-month residency, planning a creatively focused curriculum for local students at Aireys Inlet Primary School in collaboration with local artist, Rebecca Hosking. We created a series of projects involving storyboarding, stop-motion, filming techniques, character design and animations that were accessed through an Augmented Reality interface within the coastal bushland.
I am available for artist talks, enquiries and collaborations. I run workshops, facilitate community murals, and commission illustration and animation work.
@the_ottofish_empire
photo credit: Richard Cooling