Early 2024 had two amazing exhibitions back to back which was kind of exhausting but so rewarding. I was introduced to a company called KnitUp and ended up creating a machine knitted piece for the first time. I also went back to using mixed media for the other project, in combination with my knitting. I'm so proud of how these works turned out.  

Yucky, Adelaide Contemporary Experimental, 17 February to 4 May 2024

People seeing me and yet pretending not to see. 
The fear is palpable sometimes. 
They fear me because I’m yucky. 
Yeah, drooling and weeing all over the place. 
Like you ables don’t. 
— excerpt from Fear by Sam Petersen 
Yucky is a group exhibition that explores the personal and political complexities that exist as part of disabled experience. The exhibition’s premise and title has been led by artist Sam Petersen in conversation with ACE.
Featuring new and recent work by a mix of pivotal Australian and international contemporary artists, the exhibition centres the perspectives and experiences of those who are disabled, chronically ill and neurodivergent. 

NEOTERICA, Independent Artist Led Project, Ray Harris
Adelaide Train Station, Fri 1 Mar - Sun 14 Apr 2024

Neoterica brings together new works from 20 mid-career artists in South Australia in a celebration of their enduring contribution to our visual arts landscape. The works in Neoterica reflect each artist’s own concepts and ideas across photography, painting, performance, sculpture, installation, video, ceramics and mixed media.

The exhibiting artists are Eleanor Alice, Jenn Brazier, Fran Callen, Makeda Duong, Deirdre Feeney, Keith Giles, Gail Hocking, Sam Howie, Matt Huppatz, Simone Kennedy, Bernadette Klavins, Kate Kurucz, Tristan Louth-Robins, Riza Manalo, Sue Ninham, Sonja Porcaro, Jess Taylor, Cassie Thring, Sarah Tickle and Raymond Zada.

An exhibition to make you excited about the work being produced by South Australian artists today.
- ArtsHub

Independently artist-led and curated by Ray Harris, the exhibition follows the model of Neoteric, which took over the North Eastern Concourse at the Adelaide Railway Station during the 2022 Adelaide Festival.
The exhibition is accompanied by performances, talks and a catalogue with responses to the works from 20 South Australian writers.
Through engagement and participation, Neoterica celebrates the innovation, depth and strength of artistic talent in South Australia.

Neoteric is testament to the resilience of SA’s visual artists.
-InDaily

I am delighted to have been selected for the 5th Tamworth Textiles Triennial! 
The Tamworth Regional Gallery is renowned for our Tamworth Textile Triennial.
The Triennial, held every three years, showcases the best of textile art from across the country, attracting artist participation from all states in Australia, wide audiences and critical review. The Triennial also assists to continue the development of our textile collection, as many works are purchased for the Tamworth Regional Gallery’s permanent collection.

Carol McGregor was the chosen curator for the triennial. A quote on her curatorial rationale below:
"As we unfold from the national and global events of past few years, we reveal subtle shifts in our understandings and values—with reflections on a deeper knowing of our communities and environs. Often these shifts or transferences advocate a release of busyness, a focus on personal and communal presence, nourishment and balance. 
Since the Tamworth Fibre Textile collection began in 1973 artists have interwoven and shared lived experiences and negotiated stories through the materiality of textile practice.  
The 5th Tamworth Textile Triennial builds on this tradition with a future focus on the intangible essence of what it means to be human in the fabric of today’s society and will be an opportunity to celebrate Australian textiles practice, for artists to create and explore the relationality and residues of change through a multiplicity of materials, methods and meanings.  "

The triennial will tour nationally after it is exhibited in Tamworth Regional Gallery in September 2023.

Lots of news! Both of these works have been selected as finalists in the Gallery M Contemporary Art Prize! This will be showing from 5th to 28th August, opening night 5th August 6pm. 
I also have been invited to be a part of a group exhibition for the Oz Asia Festival, curated by the amazing Sophia Cai. 'Dream Job' will be in the foyer of the Adelaide Festival Centre. The theme is women and work, featuring Kay Abude, Emma Do and Kim Lam, and Truc Truong. 
I also recently found out that a group embroidery exhibition I'm creating work for at the moment has been accepted to exhibit at Craft ACT in 2023! 'Exuberance' is curated by Sharon Peoples and Carol Cooke, and is a show about the exuberance of colour, connected to the natural world and concerns for the degradation of flora and fauna. I also have a commission to complete by the end of 2022, so I have my work cut out for me!

Pleased to announce the Mixed Race Sweater has been acquired by the Adelaide Migration Museum! It is now on display in the foyer. 

Flotsam and Jetsam - July 2o21 - Post Office Projects

https://www.postofficeprojects.com.au/gallery/pop-03fj-2021-06

Carly Tarkari Dodd
Cheryl Hutchens
Deborah Prior
Jacqueline Bradley
Kay Lawrence
Makeda Duong

"‘Flotsam and jetsam’ is an expression used to describe an accumulation of ‘odds and ends’. It also refers to two different kinds of shipwreck. ‘Flotsam’ is the cargo that floats ashore after a shipwreck and ‘jetsam’ is gear discarded to lighten the load in the face of danger. One is unintentional and the other intentional. The distinction between the two is important under maritime law because of ownership; flotsam may be claimed by the original owner, whereas jetsam can become the property of whoever discovers it." 
 - Precious Cargo', Polly Dance, Catalogue essay for Flotsam and Jetsam Exhibition

​

It's been a pleasure to have my work on display as part of a group exhibition at the Kerry Packer Civic Art Gallery in the Hawke Centre, curated by local artist Elyas Elavi.

Contact brings together a group of diverse emerging artists exploring the themes of race, identity, politics, migration, and modern slavery through photography, painting, sculpture and installation and video. Although each artist has a different experience, they have a shared understanding. Their practice engages in a process of auto-ethnography, where they connect their personal history and circumstances to broader cultural, social and political concerns. These stories are often not well known due to lack of avenues of communication.

Contact won a Fringe Weekly Award for Best Arts and Design, and has been highlighted as a Fringe stand out in the visual arts category. This is the first time I've ever had my work displayed alongside international artists, in such a diverse range of mediums. It was challenging and exciting to create new work along these themes. Exhibition open until March 26th. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was the winner of the Don Dunstan Foundation SALA Award for my work 'Mixed Race Sweater'.
More information from the Don Dunstan Foundation website below:

This award is for artists whose work explores social justice themes which align with the objectives and priorities of the Don Dunstan Foundation including:

• Homelessness
• Mental health
• Migration (including cultural and ethnic diversity)
• The purpose economy (i.e. economic equality)
• Aboriginal economic empowerment and reconciliation
• Human rights
• Don Dunstan.

The prize is $1,000 cash to support the artist’s work.

The Don Dunstan Foundation Award explores art that aligns with social justice. Now, more than ever, we need to deliver empathy and compassion through many mediums, for those who live in different circumstances than us and the Foundation continues to drive outcomes for a more equitable society. In 2020, we were so pleased to see over 30 entrants whose art touched on many themes including homelessness, mental health, culture and migration. This year’s winner of our $1,000 cash award is Makeda Duong’s Mixed Race Sweater.
​
The Mixed Race Sweater showed that Australia’s multicultural society and it’s casual racism can lead to cultural anxieties. The sweater was poignantly knitted in the colours of both the Australian flag and the (south) Vietnamese flag to represent Makeda’s bi-racial background.
The bold wording throughout the piece communicated Makeda’s feelings of being caught in between cultures and had a strong effect on the judges, particularly comments such as ‘Are you Australian?’ and ‘But you’re not full Asian?’.

While I'm thrilled to have started my mentorship with local artist Cheryl Hutchens, unfortunately due to Covid 19 closures, Nexus Arts is currently shut and I'm unable to use their studio for now. I'm sure this echoes what's happening to many artists and their practices at the moment - shows cancelled, galleries temporarily shut, live events cancelled or postponed, festivals shut down.

I am still due to have a solo show as part of SALA in August this year, so stay tuned! SALA has now moved totally online, so I'm thinking about ways I'll be able to showcase work via online platforms and keep it engaging. The current crisis has raised many questions on the subject of how artists and arts workers are adapting; how well the arts transfers to being accessible online, the precariousness of working within the arts, and the role and value of the arts within our society. I myself am managing okay, I'm used to working from home as I've always done, but the vast majority of my income is derived from part time retail work, all of which is currently shut down. At the moment though I feel more connected to my friends, family and the arts community, even though a lot of us are physically apart. 

This year I was selected to be one of the two artists invited for a studio residency at Nexus Arts. The residency will coincide with the SALA Festival (South Australian Living Artists Festival) for three months, from April to June. 

The residency also comes with a mentorship, which is an opportunity to work with an established artist who will provide me with guidance through the process. I'm excited to receive some professional advice and maybe even get some tips on technique and skills!

I'm also thrilled I get to use the studio space and be in the community within and surrounding Nexus. I don't currently have a studio so this will be great. 

Here's the writeup from the Facebook post by Nexus Arts:

Nexus is excited to announce our 2020 SALA residence recipient - Makeda Duong
Makeda - Artist is an Adelaide based artist whose work explores her experience of contemporary womanhood through textiles processes such as knitting and embroidery. Though her practice examines aspects such as mental and gynaecological health, recent themes in her work involve investigating her mixed race identity and Vietnamese heritage.
We can't wait to see what she delivers for SALA Festival 2020.
Come and visit me in the studio at Nexus this year!