Although it is with great pity I am unable to physically attend this residency, I am however grateful to still have the opportunity to participate remotely in collaboration with Maddy Anderson who will be present in Canada. Although separated by 16,258km we intend to circumstantially create a fundamentally exposed body of work that balances our practices equally – looking at trace, repetition and memory to form an intimate bond of the natural world, body, skin, mind, and emotion. I will look to Maddy via correspondence for guidance where possible to come together with our findings on experimental approaches with materials, performance and the space around us. The community in which we will reside and conversations shared will impact the trajectory of both our practices. As not only the factor of distance will affect my contribution, so will the weather given that it is winter in Australia.
The residency is more than just an end to artistic means. The importance of challenging our individual selves is all in the mind rather than physical. We expect to find boundaries only to then defy them. Pushing the physical boundaries of letting go and becoming comfortable with our naked, exposed and vulnerable selves, we will be challenged to think of our thoughts in this manner also; nakedly – uncovered and revealed – forced to consider the bare truth and find reconciliation and acceptance within each other, our respective practices, and ourselves.
Darcy Smith is an emerging artist from Melbourne, Australia predominantly working in sculptural installation; however incorporating performance into recent projects which explore how choreography and processuality can exacerbate problems that then lead to reflect the presupposed constructed social norms that situate females within the social sphere. Smith holds Certificate training in Dance, however has a stronger resonance with visual art practice – specifically glass where she has undergone study at Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood WA, USA. In 2018 Smith will commence her MFA candidacy at Monash University.