You can find Oriana Julie’s exhibitionin The Mill’s Gallery II, located at 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta (Adelaide).
Gallery II is open Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm.
Accessibility
The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street.
Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team. They will meet you at the accessible entrance to welcome you into the building.
The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.
We are excited to present Head in The Clouds, a new exhibition by Oriana Julie developed through our Visual Arts Studio Residency presented with support from donors Geoff Martin and Sorayya Mahmood Martin.
Head in The Clouds is an exploration of creative play, embracing spontaneous method making in order to form a hybrid, affective sanctuary. Oriana uses foraged objects - discarded furniture, vintage glassware, beads, synthetic fibers, and organic matter - turning everyday items into objects of divine contemplation. She speaks about the idea of sublime escapism, where she has created a shared affective experience for audiences. Here, art and art-making exist outside of language and are instead experienced through feeling. Slow and meditative processes are positioned as a form of care and the body is grounded through the state of creative flow.
Situated on Kaurna Land in Adelaide, Oriana pioneers a visual language rooted in Afro-surrealism, leveraging imagination to embrace empowering diasporic narratives. She blends bold visual and performance artistry to spark dialogue on time, identity, and culture, transforming personal narratives into spaces of sublime escape informed by personal mythos. Her work is characterized by a fusion of African American and Italian heritage, shaped by her upbringing on an Air Force base in Woomera and the lush landscapes of the Adelaide Hills. These diverse influences create a unique exploration of cultural identity.
Oriana’s creative process is deeply connected to the sensory experiences of the body. Utilizing various mediums such as oil paint, beads, and resins, she creates immersive environments that translate embodied sensations into material expression. Inspired by Rococo, Surrealist, and Neoclassical aesthetics, her work blends symbols and motifs into a harmonious chaos.Through her innovative approach, Oriana contributes significantly to the academic and artistic discourse on Afro-surrealism and its relevance in contemporary art culture
In 2022, Oriana graduated with a Bachelor of Visual Art from Adelaide Central School of Art, earning an invitation to pursue Honours. Over the past few years, she has secured various commissions and residencies. In 2021, she participated in the Nexus Arts Studio residency, held her first solo exhibition, and engaged in a mentorship with Faye Blanche of the Unbound Collective, which enriched her artistic perspective and earned her a nomination for the Don Dunstan Foundation Award. In 2024, she was awarded the Mill Visual Arts Residency, with a solo show planned for 2025, and participated in the Post Ofiice Project’s Studio residency. She was also invited to partake in the Post Office Projects Performance Program, supported by the Creative Industries Grant from the City of PAE and the Kick Start Graduate Grant from Adelaide Central School of Art.
Oriana continues to push the boundaries of Afro-surrealism, contributing to its discourse and evolution within the contemporary art world. Her work not only reflects her unique cultural heritage and personal experiences but also serves as a powerful commentary on the complexities of identity and the human condition.
Informed by my childhood experience of always "having my head in the clouds" and being "off with the fairies," this body of work seeks to reframe this personal narrative into a space of sublime escape through spontaneous method-making, depicting a personal mythos. These moments of sublime escape explore the function of fantasy as an intrinsic tool for imagination, deeply connected to embodied feelings. In this realm of sublime escapism, I grant myself permission to delve into the depths of my being and emotions. The works can be viewed as an internal dialogue, manifesting in tactile forms.
The exhibition unfolds as an internal conversation, guided by personal mythos and translated into the tactile and material expression of embodied sensation. The sensory processes of the body are integrated into the art-making, forming an intrinsically connected environment through various mediums. In this space, distinctions between worlds and categories dissolve. Soft hues articulate a union between the characters and the spaces they inhabit. During these moments of sublime escape, the characters find solace in transcending societal constraints, becoming unapologetically empowered.
This exhibition has support from
The Visual Arts Residency is presented with support from donors Geoff Martin and Sorayya Mahmood Martin
Where: The Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta
Cost: $45 (+ booking fee)
The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street.
Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team. They will meet you at the accessible entrance to welcome you into the building.
The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.
Join artist Oriana Julie for a beading workshop where you’ll learn about Oriana’s approach to art-making while creating a unique beaded object.
This workshop is presented as part of Oriana's solo exhibition Head in the Clouds, currently showing in Gallery II, presented with support from donors Geoff Martin and Sorayya Mahmood Martin.
What to expect:
Seated within Oriana's exhibition, guests will spend two hours learning basic techniques and creating their own small-scale beaded fruit object. All materials provided, participants can take their fruit home on the day.
Tea, coffee and light refreshments will be available.
Situated on Kaurna Land in Adelaide, Oriana pioneers a visual language rooted in Afro-surrealism, leveraging imagination to embrace empowering diasporic narratives. She blends bold visual and performance artistry to spark dialogue on time, identity, and culture, transforming personal narratives into spaces of sublime escape informed by personal mythos. Her work is characterized by a fusion of African American and Italian heritage, shaped by her upbringing on an Air Force base in Woomera and the lush landscapes of the Adelaide Hills. These diverse influences create a unique exploration of cultural identity.
Oriana’s creative process is deeply connected to the sensory experiences of the body. Utilizing various mediums such as oil paint, beads, and resins, she creates immersive environments that translate embodied sensations into material expression. Inspired by Rococo, Surrealist, and Neoclassical aesthetics, her work blends symbols and motifs into a harmonious chaos.Through her innovative approach, Oriana contributes significantly to the academic and artistic discourse on Afro-surrealism and its relevance in contemporary art culture
In 2022, Oriana graduated with a Bachelor of Visual Art from Adelaide Central School of Art, earning an invitation to pursue Honours. Over the past few years, she has secured various commissions and residencies. In 2021, she participated in the Nexus Arts Studio residency, held her first solo exhibition, and engaged in a mentorship with Faye Blanche of the Unbound Collective, which enriched her artistic perspective and earned her a nomination for the Don Dunstan Foundation Award. In 2024, she was awarded the Mill Visual Arts Residency, with a solo show planned for 2025, and participated in the Post Ofiice Project’s Studio residency. She was also invited to partake in the Post Office Projects Performance Program, supported by the Creative Industries Grant from the City of PAE and the Kick Start Graduate Grant from Adelaide Central School of Art.
Oriana continues to push the boundaries of Afro-surrealism, contributing to its discourse and evolution within the contemporary art world. Her work not only reflects her unique cultural heritage and personal experiences but also serves as a powerful commentary on the complexities of identity and the human condition.
Informed by my childhood experience of always "having my head in the clouds" and being "off with the fairies," this body of work seeks to reframe this personal narrative into a space of sublime escape through spontaneous method-making, depicting a personal mythos.These moments of sublime escape explore the function of fantasy as an intrinsic tool for imagination, deeply connected to embodied feelings. In this realm of sublime escapism, I grant myself permission to delve into the depths of my being and emotions. The works can be viewed as an internal dialogue, manifesting in tactile forms.
The exhibition unfolds as an internal conversation, guided by personal mythos and translated into the tactile and material expression of embodied sensation. The sensory processes of the body are integrated into the art-making, forming an intrinsically connected environment through various mediums. In this space, distinctions between worlds and categories dissolve. Soft hues articulate a union between the characters and the spaces they inhabit. During these moments of sublime escape, the characters find solace in transcending societal constraints, becoming unapologetically empowered.
This program has support from
The Visual Arts Residency is presented with support from donors Geoff Martin and Sorayya Mahmood Martin
The Mill is thrilled to announce Oriana Julie Winston as the recipient of the Visual Arts Studio Residency in 2024. Supported by the Mahmood Martin Foundation, Oriana will receive 9-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome in The Mill’s Gallery II.
About the artist:
Situated on Kaurna Land in Adelaide, Oriana pioneers a visual language deeply rooted in Afrofuturism, leveraging imagination as a technology to embrace empowering diasporic narratives within a past/future/now.
Blending bold visual and performance artistry, she sparks dialogue to collectively reimagine themes surrounding time, identity, and culture within the Anthropocene. This dynamic exploration is enriched by Oriana's African American and Italian ethnicity, creating a unique fusion of influences against the backdrop of Kaurna Land.
Within this futuristic narrative, Oriana finds liberation within her body as a powerful force, extending beyond Eurocentric conditions and limitations of the physical body in space. In 2022, Oriana graduated from a Bachelor of Visual Art at Adelaide Central School of Art, earning an invitation to pursue Honours. Her artistic journey spans interstate performances, securing various commissions, and residencies.
A defining moment in 2022 was her invitation to perform Mel O'Callaghan's Respire, Respire at the Samstag Museum of Art alongside artist Henry Wolfe, and Jingwei Bu. During the Nexus Arts Studio Residency Oriana engaged in a mentorship with Faye Blanche of the Unbound Collective, enriching her artistic perspective and earning her a nomination for the Don Dunstan Foundation Award.
Beyond her artistic pursuits, Oriana is the Director of SOLSPACE, a studio, and art therapy platform. Through workshops and public lectures, she passionately demonstrates how visual and performance art can be powerful tools for social, personal, and cultural empowerment, weaving together artistic practice and commitment to community engagement.
You can find Yasemin Sabuncu’s Alchemical in The Mill’s Exhibition Space, located at 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta (Adelaide).
The Exhibition Space is open Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm.
Yasemin Sabuncu will chat with The Mill’s Visual Arts Curator Adele Sliuzas about the works in her solo exhibition Alchemical. This Artist Talk will also be live streamed via The Mill’s YouTube.
This exhibition reclaims the artist's space and power as a creative who has had their career and life effected by late-stage diagnosis of endometriosis and ADHD.
Yasemin Sabuncu is the recipient of the Mahmood Martin Foundation Sponsored Studio for the January-June residency in 2023.
Item description
Yasemin is multidisciplinary creative with a Turkish background who works as a writer, director, actress, artist and comedian. Studying a double major in screen and theatre production at Flinders University, she went on to study Honours specialising in video, digital technology and performance.
She also studied long form improv and sketch comedy at the improv conspiracy in Melbourne, and at Groundlings and UCB in LA.
Yasemin aims to create stories that uplift, engage and promote diversity in innovative ways. Her work explores ideas of belonging, identity, liminality, spirituality, the environment, race, health and being “the other.”
Her work has been shown as part of ActNow Theatre’s digital residency in 2021 and FELTdark program 2022. She has also been a Midsumma Pathways participant,receiving mentorship from Victoria Falconer and Tj Dawe, Canada, for her 2021 Fringe show 'the Illest'.
The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street. Unfortunately, the main entrance is not accessible, as it has a small step from the pavement.
Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team you would like to come into the building.
A member of The Mill team sit in the foyer Monday to Friday and can assist you with access to our wheelchair accessible entrance.
The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.
Read more in-depth information on our accessibility web page.
If you have questions or would like to talk to one of The Mill team contact info@themilladelaide.com
Photographer: Daniel Marks
The Mill’s Visual Arts Studio Residency is presented in cooperation with Mahmood Martin Foundation
The Exhibition Space, 154 Angas Street, Kaurna Yarta
$20 (+ booking fee)
You can find Yasemin Sabuncu’s Alchemical in The Mill’s Exhibition Space, located at 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta (Adelaide).
The Exhibition Space is open Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm.
Join Yasemin for a 2-hour workshop exploring themes from the Alchemical exhibition, viewing the alchemy of chronic illness and art as a process that changes and transforms.
Yasemin invites participants to bring along something that they would like to transform- a situation, a feeling, an illness or diagnosis. Yasemin will guide participants through her process of reclaiming power as a creative, transforming it into something unexpected, new, and uncharted. Not-quite-therapy, but more than just the process of art, the workshop encourages collectivity and community as part of the transformation.
What to expect:
Participants will use pens, pencils, paper, and paint to explore something that they are finding emotionally or physically tricky, and turn it into art.*
Experience level:
Open to all skill levels, 18+
*please note: The Artist and The Mill are not trained Art Therapists. This workshop is about exploring Yasemin’s process as an artist.
Photographer: Daniel Marks
The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street. Unfortunately, the main entrance is not accessible, as it has a small step from the pavement.
Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team you would like to come into the building.
A member of The Mill team sit in the foyer Monday to Friday and can assist you with access to our wheelchair accessible entrance.
The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.
Read more in-depth information on our accessibility web page.
If you have questions or would like to talk to one of The Mill team contact info@themilladelaide.com
The Mill’s Visual Arts Studio Residency is presented in cooperation with Mahmood Martin Foundation
You can find Yasemin Sabuncu’s Alchemical inThe Mill’s Exhibition Space, located at 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta (Adelaide).
The Exhibition Space is open Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm.
Accessibility
The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street.
Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team. They will meet you at the accessible entrance to welcome you into the building.
The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.
For SALA 2023, The Mill is excited to present Alchemical, a solo exhibition by multimedia artist Yasemin Sabuncu. This exhibition reclaims the artist's space and power as a creative who has had their career and life affected by late-stage diagnosis of endometriosis and ADHD. The works explore how to find safety, rest, home, and love in a body that is often labelled wrong or is causing pain and disability.
Yasemin Sabuncu is the recipient of the Mahmood Martin Foundation Sponsored Studio for the January-June residency in 2023.
This exhibition explores the transformative power of chronic illness and how it can alchemise you into something unexpected, new, and uncharted. I wanted to show the shadow and light of the process of evolution I experienced trying to find healing, meaning, and answers to why I was feeling so out of sorts and being so sick I couldn’t work.
Through tens of thousands of dollars in medical costs, being bed bound, unable to work, countless hours of appointments, surgeries, invasive tests, waiting up to a year for certain appointments, and evaluations I finally found some answers. It took almost two decades for me to find this diagnosis. I was not alone with the length of diagnosis, Endometriosis which effects 1 in 9 people who were assigned female at birth, takes on average 10 years to diagnose which is not good enough.
The whole process had nearly broken me many times and I had to rely on my inner strength to survive and persevere with the uncertainty and my degrading health. Despite my best efforts I had slipped through the cracks of the medical system, and been living with undiagnosed endometriosis, adenomyosis, chronic fatigue syndrome/ME, and ADHD. It was a relief in some ways to find out what was ‘wrong’ with me, but then I had to let go of who I used to be and create a new life within the limitations of my conditions.
Luckily now with understanding of my body and finding suitable treatments and surgery I have been forever altered and beginning a new life initiated by the alchemical process of living with my conditions. The liminal space I endured birthed into something beautiful, at times terrifying, and ultimately life changing. It made me look deeper into my spirituality, consciousness, and deep investigation of life and the universe. This process is represented through the spectrum of colours, shapes, textures, biological and geological imagery, and various mediums to reflect on some of my experiences through this process.
Yasemin Sabuncu is a multidisciplinary creative with a Turkish background who works as a writer, director, actress, artist and comedian. Studying a double major in screen and theatre production at Flinders University, she went on to study Honours specialising in video, digital technology and performance.
She also studied long-form improv and sketch comedy at the improv conspiracy in Melbourne, and at Groundlings and UCB in LA.
Yasemin aims to create stories that uplift, engage and promote diversity in innovative ways. Her work explores ideas of belonging, identity, liminality, spirituality, the environment, race, health and being “the other.”
Her work has been shown as part of ActNow Theatre’s digital residency in 2021 and FELTdark program 2022. She has also been a Midsumma Pathways participant,receiving mentorship from Victoria Falconer and Tj Dawe, Canada, for her 2021 Fringe show 'the Illest', with support from Adelaide Fringe Artist Fund. Recently, Yasemin created a mural for My Lover Cindi, supported by Adelaide Fringe Fund.
The Mill’s Visual Arts Studio Residency is presented in cooperation with Mahmood Martin Foundation
The Mill is thrilled to announce Alyssa Powell-Ascura as the recipient of the Delima Residency in Rimbun Dahan.
From September to December, Alyssa will travel to Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia, for a 3-month (residential) residency, in cooperation with Mahmood Martin Foundation.
This will be followed by a 3-month (non-residential) studio residency at The Mill, and a solo exhibition outcome presented in The Mill Showcase.
About the artist:
A self titled “slashie”, Alyssa Powell-Ascura is a multi-hyphenated creative. Proud to have grown up in Bundjalung country in a Filipino-Italian-Australian household, she has a background that has given her an interesting, layered perspective on the world.
Alyssa works across a variety of artistic mediums including: writing, conceptual art, immersive installation, traditional and mixed digital media, just to name a few.
Her personal belief in the interconnected relationship of humans to nature drives her to pursue advocating better care of ourselves and our Earth. A finalist of the inaugural SA Environment Awards 2023, she is nominated for her environmental advocacy and using her platform as an emerging creative to promote sustainability and inspire young people.
Motivated to bridge a deeper understanding and connection of Indigenous Philippines and pre colonial Indigenous Australia, Alyssa aims to be actively involved in the intersections she is a part of.
Her creative work has been featured in a variety of local and international publications such as: Local Brown Baby (US), Kindling and Sage magazine (AU), Blank Street Press (AU) and The Philippine Times (AU). She has been published in The Entree.Pinays' anthology "The Calamansi Story: Filipino Migrants in Australia".
If she’s not talking to the local Aunties and writing about food and culture, she can be found by the beach patting puppies who stop by to say hello.
The Mill is thrilled to announce Chris Siu as the recipient of the Sponsored Studio for the July-January 2023 residency. The Mill’s Sponsored Studio is a new initiative supported by the Mahmood Martin Foundation.
In 2023 two selected artists will join our community, with each receiving 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome as part of The Mill Showcase.
About the artist:
Chris Siu (b.2001) is a Hong Kong born photographer, currently living and studying on Kaurna Country in Tarntanya Adelaide, South Australia.
Chris works primarily in medium format analogue photography. He is drawn to this photographic process because it is produced and cared for entirely by hand; from capturing and developing, to printing and digitising the analogue images. Inspired by documentary conventions, his work investigates and chronicles the intricate relationships that lie within his surrounding social landscapes. Chris’s practice is informed by the flux of sociopolitical happenings in homeland Hong Kong and his ever-changing place within it. Through exploring notions of layered histories and geopolitics, Chris’s work seeks to offer a reflection on personal and communal experience, pivoting around representations of civil unrest, diasporic experience, cultural displacement and marginality within contemporary existence.
For the past two years, Chris has been developing a body of work titled Then We Keep Living whilst completing a Bachelor of Contemporary Art at the University of South Australia.
Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance, access the pedestrian ramp on the corner of Gunson St to get to our front door, which will be open.
The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.
Read more in-depth information on our accessibility web page.
If you have questions or would like to talk to one of The Mill team contact info@themilladelaide.com
Join us at The Mill for an Information Session about the residency and application process, and hear from artist Rob Gutteridge about his experience at Rimbun Dahan.
In 2023, The Mill will be offering one South Australian artist the opportunity to travel to Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia, for a 3-month (residential) residency, October-December 2023, in cooperation with Mahmood Martin Foundation. This will be followed by a 3-month (non-residential) studio residency at The Mill, and a solo exhibition outcome presented in The Mill Showcase.
The Mill’s Sponsored Studio program is presented in cooperation with Mahmood Martin Foundation
The Mill is thrilled to announce Yasemin Sabuncu as the recipient of the Sponsored Studio for the January-June 2023 residency. The Mill’s Sponsored Studio is a new initiative supported by the Mahmood Martin Foundation. In 2023 two selected artists will join our community, with each receiving 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome as part of The Mill Showcase.
About the artist:
Yasemin is a multidisciplinary creative with a Turkish background who works as a writer, director, actress, artist and comedian. Studying a double major in screen and theatre production at Flinders University, she went on to study Honours specialising in video, digital technology and performance.
She also studied long form improv and sketch comedy at the improv conspiracy in Melbourne, and at Groundlings and UCB in LA.
Yasemin aims to create stories that uplift, engage and promote diversity in innovative ways. Her work explores ideas of belonging, identity, liminality, spirituality, the environment, race, health and being “the other.”
Her work has been shown as part of FELTSpace’s FELTdark program in 2022 and she has participated in ActNow Theatre’s digital residency in 2021. She has also been a Midsumma Pathways participant,receiving mentorship from Victoria Falconer and Tj Dawe, Canada, for her 2021 Fringe show the Illest.
Yasemin will be presenting her latest work Sick Bitch as part of Adelaide Fringe 2023 at The Mill, supported by the Adelaide Fringe Artist Fund.
We are thrilled to welcome Charlene Komuntale to The Mill as the recipient of the Sanaa 2023 LK Artist in Residence.
Sanaa is a not-for-profit, multidisciplinary cultural arts collective, facilitating and celebrating the power of art and its capacity to bridge cultural gaps. The Mill’s partnership with Sanaa offers one Sponsored Studio for culturally diverse artists.
Travelling from Uganda, Charlene will join The Mill’s artist community in a Sponsored Studio for 6 weeks. During that time she will present an artist talk and a workshop at The Mill, culminating in a group exhibition at Kerry Packer Civic Gallery at the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, running February to March 2023.
About the artist:
Charlene Komuntale is a digital artist and illustrator based in Kampala, Uganda. She holds a BA in Animation from Limkokwing University, Malaysia. In her recent series “Not Fragile”, Komuntale portrays women - mostly black African women.
The subject matter is personal yet presented in a relatable way as inspiration is drawn from her own experiences but also informed by the experiences of other women around her.
The heads of the women she portrays are covered by different elements, which create poetic yet striking narratives around a broadly relatable figure. At first sight, the works evoke a dreamy, peaceful, and quiet atmosphere, whereas at a closer look powerful, empowering and unapologetic messages come to the fore. Dominant, male-centered perspectives on women’s roles and supposedly nature-given capabilities and constraints attached to female bodies are being evaluated and re-examined. The juxtaposition of different elements creates an interesting asymmetry between awareness of self and the (male-centered) gaze of others. Intimacy, tenderness, vulnerability, and female beauty do not suggest fragility. Instead, it is related to strength and unapologetic confidence. Komuntale’s digital paintings deconstruct patriarchal narratives as shaped by culture, religion, and politics and provide a ground for inquiry and interrogation, and for visions of different futures.
Her compositional choices create a space at the edges of reality – moments frozen in time and filled with surreal elements and metaphorical and symbolical references.
Sanaa is a not-for-profit, multidisciplinary cultural arts collective, facilitating and celebrating the power of art and its capacity to bridge cultural gaps. The Mill’s partnership with Sanaa offers one Sponsored Studio for culturally diverse artists.
An African artist will join The Mill’s studio community for 6-weeks, also presenting an artist talk and workshop with support from The Mill and Sanaa. The residency will culminate in a group exhibition at Kerry Packer Civic Gallery at the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, February-March 2023.
The Mill is thrilled to announce Tikari Rigney as the recipient of the Sponsored Studio for the July-December 2022 residency. The Mill’s Sponsored Studio is a new initiative supported by the Mahmood Martin Foundation. In 2022 two selected artists will join our community, with each receiving 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome as part of Gallery II.
Tikari Rigney is a non-binary (they/them) Kaurna, Narrunga and Ngarrindjeri visual artist and poet. Working in a range of mediums from performance, illustration sculpture to writing. Their practice references their queer bodily experience, Aboriginality and the complexities of human connection. Exploring themes of humor, rebirth and emotional vulnerability.
Rigney is a First Nations Curator at ACE Open. Rigney participated in the inaugural Zine and Held fair for disabled and people of colour artists at POP gallery. They have exhibited in over five group exhibitions in South Australia. They curated the largest student exhibition at Adelaide Central School of Art during their studies, with over 22 artists and is completing a Bachelor in Visual Arts.
Rigney has connections to Carclew through their Creative Consultant program and has completed a culturally diverse illustration commission for Shine SA.
Photo: Johnny von Einem
The Mill’s Sponsored Studio program is presented in cooperation with Mahmood Martin Foundation
The Mill is thrilled to announce Viray Thach as the recipient of the Sponsored Studio for the January-June 2022 residency. The Mill’s Sponsored Studio is a new initiative supported by the Mahmood Martin Foundation. In 2022 two selected artists will join our community, with each receiving 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome as part of The Mill Showcase.
Viray Thach is an emerging digital illustrator and educator. Her style, inspired by pop art, art deco and art nouveau, also sees deep-rooted influences from traditional Kbach ornamental designs that pay homage to her Cambodian roots. Viray’s iPad is the digital sketchbook where all the magic happens. Here, she marries the old and the new, using cybernation to recreate time-honoured textures and techniques into tactile designs that evoke a warm, homely compassion.
Formally educated in graphic design, business management and education, Viray is not only dedicated to her role as an illustrator, but as an educator and mentor, cultivating young minds and passing her multi-creative knowledge on to creative visionaries of the next generation. She remains business-minded and efficient while still delivering work full of the heart and soul.
At the root of it, Viray uses her art to tell a story – whether that is through character-rich portraits, lively illustrations, or bringing her mind’s eye to life through magnificent murals.
The Mill is thrilled to announce Hussain Alismail as the recipient of the Sponsored Studio for the July-December residency. The Mill’s Sponsored Studio is a new initiative supported by Drs Geoff and Sorayya Martin, and an anonymous philanthropist beginning in 2021. Two selected artists have joined our community, with each receiving 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome as part of The Mill Showcase.
In constant flirting with meaning and medium; Saudi visual artist Hussain Alismail focuses on the pleated part of Saudi society in his work. Coming from the marginal community of Shia in the Eastern providence, he was constrained to examining a rich perspective of social interactions and discourses. Alismail draws inspiration from direct/indirect communications, experiences and history to tell stories about our culture.
He holds BFA in drawing & painting from OCAD U with an emphasis on illustration and social science. He is currently in the final year of visual effects and entertainment design studies (VEED) at Flinders University. Alismail exhibits both nationally and internationally, most recently presenting work in his third solo show Frilly at Argo on the parade in Adelaide. In 2020, he was one of the recipients of Maan grant from Athr gallery and one of the participants of the inaugural Albalad residency by Saudi Arabia Ministry of Culture. He was awarded in many competitions including Alkassbi International Award II (2015) and MCY by Edge of Arabia (2011).
Where: The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta
Cost:Free
Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance, access the pedestrian ramp on the corner of Gunson St. The Mill has concrete flooring throughout and a disability toilet. View more in-depth information on our accessibilitypage.
Join us for the launch of Hussain’s exhibition In search of a good laugh, the outcome of work produced during his sponsored studio residency at The Mill. In Search of a good laugh opens alongside The Many Faces of Frances on Friday, November 26. Hussain will also present an artist talk in conversation with The Mill’s Visual Arts Curator Adele Sliuzas in November.
As much as identity defines who we are, our culture and morals; it is always a challenge to prevent misconception, misrepresentation and misjudgment. This challenge and other issues like belonging, individualism, autonomy, gender tension make no identity idle. Through In search of a good laugh I explore the possibilities of identity within a Saudi/Middle Eastern and Australian context.
Over the past few years, I have been working with the significant visual elements that represent Arab people, creating an abstract visual catalogue of identity. The artworks suggest the colourful shapes and patterns that speak truly about Arabic diversity and culture.
The title of the exhibition is inspired by an interview I recently watched where visitors to an art exhibition were asked: ‘What you are looking for in this exhibition?’ One visitor answered ‘I don’t know! Maybe a good laugh!’ This answer struck me, and took me back to ten years ago when I worked as a cartoonist at KFUPM newspaper (a university publication in Saudi Arabia), where my art work attempted to generate laughter about the hardest issues faced by students. Since then, my work has shifted to become more abstracted and conceptual, however, I believe laughter is a worthwhile pursuit. This exhibition may not be overtly comedic, but I would like to invite audiences to consider the work through a lens where it can be both serious, conceptual and parodical.
In constant flirting with meaning and medium; Saudi visual artist Hussain Alismail focuses on the pleated part of Saudi society in his work. Coming from the marginal community of Shia in the Eastern providence, he was constrained to examining a rich perspective of social interactions and discourses. Alismail draws inspiration from direct/indirect communications, experiences and history to tell stories about our culture.
He holds BFA in drawing & painting from OCAD U with an emphasis on illustration and social science. He is currently in the final year of visual effects and entertainment design studies (VEED) at Flinders University. Alismail exhibits both nationally and internationally, most recently presenting work in his third solo show Frilly at Argo on the parade in Adelaide. In 2020, he was one of the recipients of Maan grant from Athr gallery and one of the participants of the inaugural Albalad residency by Saudi Arabia Ministry of Culture. He was awarded in many competitions including Alkassbi International Award II (2015) and MCY by Edge of Arabia (2011).
The Mill is thrilled to announce Holly Childs as the recipient of the Sponsored Studio for the January-June residency.
The Mill’s Sponsored Studio is a new initiative supported by Drs Geoff and Sorayya Martin, and an anonymous philanthropist beginning in 2021. Two selected artists will join our community, with each receiving 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome as part of The Mill Showcase.
Holly Childs is a writer and artist. Her research involves filtering stories of computation through frames of ecology, earth, memory, poetry, and light. In 2020, she was an associate artist at Jacuzzi dance space, Amsterdam; and alongside Gediminas Žygus she released Hydrangea (Subtext), an album exploring narrative fracture and reality bubbles. She is the author of two books: No Limit (Hologram) and Danklands (Arcadia Missa), and is a former Gertrude Contemporary studio holder (Melbourne), an alumna of The New Normal (Media, Architecture and Design) programme at Strelka Institute, Moscow, and she holds a Masters in Film, Design and Politics from Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam. She has been in residence at Arcadia Missa (London), RM (Auckland), Firstdraft (Sydney), Rupert (Vilnius), and DAR (Druskininkai). She is currently writing her third book, What Causes Flowers Not to Bloom?; teaching in the Graphic Design department at Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam; and developing Cliffhanger, a text, installation, and choreographic collaboration with Angela Goh.
![Workshop: Kain Tayo [let's eat] with Alyssa Powell-Ascura](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55f0e22be4b0a011810ccb45/1754365185215-JY0QUY1M8VDMI27NW81B/Instagram+Post+-+The+Mill+-+2025-08-05T130927.436.png)
