Artist Statement
Mandy Quadrio is a Trawlwoolway, Palawa woman connected to her maternal ancestral Countries of Tebrakunna, north-east Lutriwita / Tasmania, and the Oyster Bay Nation of eastern Lutriwita. She is also of Anglo-Irish heritage. Currently based in Meanjin / Brisbane, her artistic practice encompasses sculpture, installation, photography and mixed media.
Through her practice Quadrio works to unfix racist categorisations, historic denials and imposed invisibility in relation to Aboriginal identity. Driven by materiality she embraces the industrially-produced material of steel wool where she manipulates abrasive steely fibres in order to reclaim and foreground culture through scouring materials that have traditionally been used to scrub things away. Combined with organic cultural objects such as ocean-derived bull kelp, ochre and natural fibres, she interweaves complex dialogues to forge narratives that anchor and solidify contemporary Palawa expression.
Both her work and process reference notions of erasure and presence in relation to socio-political realities around contested Australian, colonial histories. Offering new visual dialogues, the re-configuration of natural and pre-fabricated materials, assembled into sculptures and installations, represent political acts of defiance and constitute a disruption to historic and present-day power relations surrounding Tasmanian Aboriginality.
Artist Bio & CV
Mandy Quadrio was born in Naarm / Melbourne, Australia. After graduating from the Bachelor of Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art (CAIA) degree at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University in 2016, she completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts with 1st Class Honours. In 2021 Mandy was awarded her Doctorate in Visual Arts (DVA) from Griffith University.
Mandy Quadrio
| Born | Naarm / Melbourne, Australia |
| Mob/Country: | Trawlwoolway people, Tebrakunna, Coastal Plains Nation, north-east Lutriwita / Tasmania and Oyster Bay Nation, eastern Lutriwita |
Education
| 2018 – 2021 | Doctor of Visual Arts (DVA), Queensland College of Art (QCA), Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland |
| 2017 | Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) 1st Class, QCA, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland |
| 2014 – 2016 | Bachelor of Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art (C.A.I.A.), Queensland College of Art (QCA), Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland |
| 2013 | Certificate III in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts, Southbank Institute of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland |
| 2002 – 2007 | Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology), University of Queensland (partial completion) |
Exhibitions
2022
- Hold me while you can – endangered species, Kelp Culture 2022 Project, The Climate Foundation, Project Gallery, Griffith University, Brisbane
- Australian First Nations Collaboration: Terra Incognita: Inclusiveness is a good way, San Teonisto Church, Treviso, Italy
- Beyond Misty Histories, MONA FOMA, Hobart Town Hall Underground, representing Constance ARI, Hobart
- Contributor to Uwe ka lani, Ola ka honua 2021 (When the heavens weep, the earth lives) Kaili Chun, APT10 GOMA, Brisbane
- Water Rites, representing ACE Open, Tarnanthi Festival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Contemporary Art, Adelaide
- Her Beauty and Her Terror, Caboolture Regional Art Gallery, Brisbane
- Whose time are we on? ‘Slow moving waters,’ TarraWarra Biennial 2021, Melbourne
- QCA HDR Represent: A 2021 retrospective, POP Gallery, Brisbane
2020
- Uterine Bag series, Sawtooth ARI, Launceston
- her, Milani Gallery CARPARK, Brisbane
- Strike at the foundation, Rite of Passage exhibition, Queensland University of Technology Art Museum, Brisbane
- 52proposalsforthe20s, Maria Lind’s Instagram project in collaboration with D Harding
2019
- here lies lies, Hobiennale 2019, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG), representing Outer Space ARI, Hobart
- movement at the edge, Outer Space ARI, Brisbane
- with a steely resolve, Firstdraft ARI, Sydney
- The Country Within, Institute of Modern Art (IMA) Belltower Gallery, Brisbane
- Face to face to face, Brisbane and Elsewhere Untriennial (BEAUT), Kuiper Projects, Brisbane
- Pacifica Symposium exhibition, Webb Gallery, Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
- Around and Within, Macquarie Bank Art Collection, Space Gallery, Barangaroo, Sydney
- Unleashed, Artisan, Brisbane
- Converse, Boxcopy Contemporary Art Space, Brisbane
- Speaking Beyond the Vitrine, Metro Arts, Brisbane
- Holes in History, Hatched, National Graduate Art Show, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), Perth
- Continuing Culture, Maiwar Festival, Art Space Vitrines, Queen & Edward Streets, Elizabeth & Edward Streets, Brisbane CBD
- Flying Arts Exhibition, Judith Wright Centre, Brisbane
- Challenging the Aesthetics of Mythic Identity, ‘Continuum’, Queensland College of Art Honours graduate showcase, Brisbane
2016
- Sculpture 16, Queensland College of Art graduate showcase, Brisbane
- Contributor to Art of the Skins, Possum Skin Cloak Project, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
- A Unified Field, Art from the Margins, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane
- Kultcha, Jugglers Artspace, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane
2015
- In the matter of…., Blak History Month, St Andrews War Memorial Hospital, Brisbane
2014
- Away from Country, Project Gallery, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane
Prizes / Awards
| 2021 | Finalist, 15 Artists, Moreton Bay Regional Council, Brisbane |
| 2019 | Finalist, Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize 2019, Sydney |
| 2018 | Finalist, Hatched, National Graduate Art Show, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth |
| 2017 | Griffith University Medal for Outstanding Academic Excellence, Brisbane |
| 2017 | Winner, St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital Award for Artistic Merit, Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours), Brisbane |
| 2011 | Finalist, Moreton Bay Regional Art Awards, Brisbane |
Residencies
| 2022 | Residency Taiwan, Grounded in place, Queensland University of Technology |
| 2022 | Residency Sydney: rīvus Sydney Biennale |
| 2022 | Delegate: Australia Council Biennale Delegates Program |
| 2022 | ‘Recognising connections with respect,’ Monash University cultural exchange (2), Sarina, north-Queensland |
| 2021 | Open studio – BAD (Brisbane Art & Design) 2021 Festival , Brisbane |
| 2021 | Griffith University, Hope Street Artist Residency, Brisbane |
| 2020 | Griffith University, Hope Street Artist Residency, Brisbane |
| 2020 | Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery, Kings Cottage studio residency, Launceston |
| 2020 | ‘Recognising connections with respect,’ Monash University cultural exchange (1), Sarina, north-Queensland |
| 2018 | Australia Council Innovation Lab 2018: Sydney |
| 2018 | Australia Council Innovation Lab 2018: Hobart |
Collections
| 2021 | Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston |
| 2017 | St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital, Brisbane |
Public Art
| 2017 – 2021 | Challenging the Aesthetics of Mythic Identity (digital image), Queensland College of Art Undercroft, Griffith University, Brisbane |
| 2018 | Continuing Culture (sculptural installations), Maiwar Festival, Brisbane CBD Art Space Vitrines, Corner Queen & Edward Street, Corner Elizabeth & Edward Streets, Brisbane City Council |
Media Events
2022: Woven, ABC conducted interview to contribute my voice to musical lyrics of classical cross-over composition with Emily Sheppard, Claire Taylor and others of Van Diemen’s Band, Tasmania
2022: Ground into Place, written paper for Pacific Journal (peer reviewed)
2022: Speaking within the kelp, written paper for Un Magazine, Un Projects Inc., Melbourne
December 2021: Artlink Indigenous “Visualising Sovereignty,’ Review of Water Rites, Lady Shania Richards
7 – 9 October 2021: Participant: QUT Symposium – Grounded in Place: Dialogues Between First Nation Artists in Australia, Taiwan, and Aotearoa
28 – 29 August 2021: The Mercury Weekender (Tasmania), ‘Shaking things up,’ QVMAG, Launceston
14 August 2021: The Mercury (Tasmania), ‘New permanent collection,’ QVMAG, Launceston
25 March 2021: First Look: Inside the 7th TarraWarra Biennial; https://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/first-look-inside-the-7th-tarrawarra-biennial/news-story/0f5ecc677e82a60faa08ea429912438a,
23 November 2020: Interview – Examiner newspaper, re Uterine Bag Show, Launceston
2020: Editorial Assistant, Gordon Bennett: Selected Writings, Published by Power Publications and Griffith University Art Museum
December 2019: Interview with Ed Ayres: The Art Show, ABC Radio National: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/the-art-show/studio-artist:-mandy-quadrio/11785024
July 2019: Interview with Daniel Browning: AWAYE, ABC Radio National: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/awaye/mandy-quadrio/11443724
December 2019: WIN News, Tasmania
December 2019: Justine Youssef and Mandy Quadrio in conversation, NAVA Podcast: https://visualarts.net.au/podcasts/episode-49-mandy-quadrio/
Art Guide 2019: “Artist Run Initiatives take over Hobart in Hobiennale,” https://artguide.com.au/artist-run-initiatives-take-over-hobart-in-hobiennale
July 2018: Review of Hatched exhibition, PICA, Pelican magazine
May 2018: Interview – Koori Mail re Hatched exhibition, Perth
2018: Interview – Radio TalkBlak Program, BBM 98.7 FM Cairns, re Metro Arts exhibition
2018: Interview – Radio Goolarri, 6GME 99.7 FM Broome, W.A re Metro Arts exhibition
2018: Online magazine interview by Tianey Miekus, Art Guide Australia, re Metro Arts exhibition