Conversations from the Collection

This special bonus episode of Conversations from the Collection was recorded live at the 2025 Newcastle Writers Festival with artist, fine art conservator and writer Christabel Blackman. Christabel joined Miriam Kelly, Head of Curatorial and Exhibitions at Newcastle Art Gallery for a fascinating in conversation event celebrating her book 'Charles & Barbara Blackman: A Decade of Art and Love'. In this captivating conversation, she reflects on growing up as the daughter of two influential figures in Australian art and literature, and shares insights into her own creative journey and work in conservation. Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast. Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted by Miriam KellyIntroduction by Zana KobayashiProduced by Gemma WroblewskiEdited and Music by Duke's CreationsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Megan Cope is a Quandamooka artist from Moreton Bay/North Stradbroke Island in South East Queensland. Her site-specific sculptural installations, public art practice and paintings investigate issues relating to colonial histories, the environment and mapping practices.  In this conversation with Newcastle Art Gallery’s Head of Curatorial and Exhibitions, Miriam Kelly, Megan Cope discusses her living sculptures that draw on ancestral technologies and seek to heal saltwater environments. She also delves into the historical and ecological importance of oysters. This conversation was captured live at the Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House during the New Annual Festival in Newcastle in September 2024. Presented as a temporary pavilion on the Honeysuckle Marina, Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House hosted workshops, performances, talks, and even an oyster shucking competition! Thanks to an enthusiastic group of oyster shuckers from the community, this 'Scrub Club' saw over 4,875 oysters cleaned for use in a future work of art by Megan Cope. Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast.  Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted by Miriam KellyIntroduction by Zana KobayashiProduced by Gemma WroblewskiProduced, Edited and Music by Duke's CreationsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In honour of NAIDOC Week, we are bringing you a special podcast episode featuring Wiradjuri poet and artist Jazz Money in conversation with Newcastle Art Gallery's Curatorial Lead Peter Johnson. Recorded live at the Newcastle Writers Festival earlier this year, Jazz discusses the way their practice has challenged the perceived elitism of poetry, the power of writing in Wiradjuri Language, and embracing joy as an act of radical resistance.  Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast.  Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted by Peter JohnsonIntroduction and Production by Zana KobayashiProduced, Edited and Music by Duke's CreationsMixed by Sawtooth Studio See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the past two decades Owen Leong has developed a highly personal art practice that spans sculpture, photography, video, and installation.  Through the lens of his own identity as a queer person of colour, Owen examines the social, political, and cultural forces that impact our lives. Often centring his own body within the frame, Owen has used his practice as a way to locate himself within the world.   In this conversation, Owen talks about the steely determination he has needed to pursue his career and why his decision to undertake a Master of Fine Art at the University of NSW was viewed as 'somewhat controversial' by his family.   Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast. Find new episodes weekly until Wednesday 14 February 2024.  Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted & Produced by Zana Kobayashi Produced, Edited and Music by Duke's CreationsResearch by Tulleah Pearce & Pippa Budge Mixed by Sawtooth Studio See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Janet Fieldhouse's distinctive combination of ancestral practice and contemporary techniques has positioned her as a singular voice in Australian ceramics. Through her hand-built sculptures, Janet simultaneously records and reinterprets traditional stories and practices from the Torres Strait Islands drawing on her own cultural heritage, as well as academic research. Her unique process and forms combine Western ceramic techniques with First Nations’ pottery practices from the Pacific and the Americas - places where she has engaged in extended cultural and artistic exchanges. In this conversation, Janet discusses how she infuses her works with goodwill, her approach to interpreting cultural material, and the cyclical processes within her practice. Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast. Find new episodes weekly until Wednesday 14 February 2024.  Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted & Produced by Zana Kobayashi Produced, Edited and Music by Duke's CreationsResearch by Tulleah Pearce Mixed by Sawtooth Studio See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fusing her experience as a documentary film maker and post-punk drummer, Tina Havelock Stevens has established herself as an exciting figure in contemporary Australian video and performance art. Tina has travelled across the world to create video documented performances that feature her drumming within monumental and historically charged sites. Over the past decade, Tina has drummed at an abandoned industrial site in Detroit, in the vast landscapes of the West Texan desert, fully submerged in the Derwent River in Hobart and even on Newcastle's very own Breakwater - the resulting video work now within Newcastle Art Gallery's collection. To view Tina's works of art in Newcastle Art Gallery's collection, visit www.nag.org.au/podcast Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast. Find new episodes weekly until Wednesday 14 February 2024.  Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted & Produced by Zana Kobayashi Produced, Edited and Music by Duke's CreationsResearch by Tulleah Pearce Mixed by Sawtooth Studio See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we speak with one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists, Lindy Lee. Throughout her life and practice, Lindy has sought the answer to one of the most fundamental questions - where do I belong? This investigation began in her childhood as a first-generation Chinese-Australian growing up in Brisbane during the 1950s and 60s. During the early years of her art practice, Lindy explored themes of family, personal identity, and history. Later, as Lindy began to engage with Taoism and Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism, this question expanded to examine her place within what she calls 'the cosmos'. Lindy's monumental public sculptures feature prominently outside many of our national institutions. With a career spanning over four decades, Lindy has also achieved widespread international acclaim, showcasing her work in counties such as Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore. To view Lindy's works of art in Newcastle Art Gallery's collection, visit www.nag.org.au/podcast Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast. Find new episodes weekly until Wednesday 14 February 2024.  Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted & Produced by Zana Kobayashi Produced, Edited and Music by Duke's CreationsResearch by Tulleah Pearce Mixed by Sawtooth Studio See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In our second episode, we speak with palawa artist Jemima Wyman, who lives and works between Brisbane and Los Angeles.  For the past 15 years, Jemima has collected images of protests from around the globe to use in her intricate collages. Jemima is interested in camouflage and how it is strategically used by resistance movements. Patterns and masking are repeating motifs in her artmaking and through this work she makes visible the shared visual language of public demonstration. Jemima's layered hand-cut collages contain thousands of images from her ever-expanding archive. She extensively documents the source, date, and location of each image. This data then forms the titles of her works of art. Reading like a history of protest, her longest title to date reaches over 13,000 words. To view Jemima's works of art in Newcastle Art Gallery's collection, visit www.nag.org.au/podcast Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast. Find new episodes weekly until Wednesday 14 February 2024.  Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted & Produced by Zana Kobayashi Produced, Edited and Music by Duke's CreationsResearch by Tulleah Pearce Mixed by Sawtooth Studio See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In our first episode, we visit the home and studio of Newcastle-based artist Lottie Consalvo. Lottie's practice explores our invisible worlds - the unknown and the intangible, often drawing on feelings such as desire, longing, and loss. Through her diverse practice, Lottie has continued to examine these ideas using painting, performance, video, and sculpture. While elements of Lottie's work touch on difficult subject matter, she is also a romantic and joyful artist whose intentional and philosophical engagement with the world flows between her personal and professional life. To view Lottie's works of art in Newcastle Art Gallery's collection, visit www.nag.org.au/podcast Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast. Find new episodes weekly until Wednesday 14 February 2024.  Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted & Produced by Zana Kobayashi Produced, Edited and Music by Duke's CreationsResearch by Tulleah Pearce Mixed by Sawtooth Studio See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Conversations from the Collection – a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast.  This six-part summer listening series explores stories from renowned artists who have contributed to Newcastle Art Gallery’s iconic collection.  Our second season will include conversations with artists Lottie Consalvo, Janet Fieldhouse, Tina Havelock Stevens, Lindy Lee,  Owen Leong and Jemima Wyman.  Season Two launches on Wednesday 10 January 2024. Listen weekly to new episodes here or find us on your favourite podcast listening app.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.