Works from the TAMA collection
Ararat Gallery TAMA is proud custodian of over a thousand artworks and objects, including quilts, tapestries, basketry, embroideries, sculpture and weavings. This exhibition includes the two newest acquisitions to the TAMA Collection: guuma-li / Gathering by Juanita McLauchlan and Beyond Homeostasis by Kasia Töns.
The Mage
The Mage
The mage, the magician, the archetype for one who is able to conjure new realities into view. Realities that were always here, just overlooked or forgotten but waiting to be seen.
This body of work explores transformation through connection—with instinct, with others, and with more-than-human intelligences. I’m inspired by women who have reclaimed their intuition and used it to create radical change. Despite cultural narratives that benefit from the obfuscation of inner knowing. Their stories, along with encounters with the more than human world have guided me through making this show.
Sparked with a quote from City Magick by Christopher Penczak: “The hallmark of the magician is the ability to see a new view of reality.” That idea, and the realization that my routines and familiar surroundings were numbing my brain, led me to seek unfamiliar environments. I took my studio on the road, working in remote locations that inspired and woke up my senses. Through direct experience I was able to grasp what I was trying to. My process began to mirror what I was reading about-taking intuitive action instead of automatic routine and focussing my awareness on sensory experiences, noticing the subtle shifts of invisible cartographies.
This exhibition is an invitation to follow unfamiliar paths, to engage with what doesn’t speak in human terms, and to trace the invisible threads connecting all things. The Mage is not one definable character. The Mage is everyone and no-one – a symbol for transformation, alternate realities and inner knowing.
Spring 1883 Art Fair
Winter is coming, but spring is queer
Room 428
MARS is delighted to present, Winter is coming, but Spring is Queer for the Spring 1883 Art Fair, 2025 at the Windsor Hotel. Featuring an array of emerging to mid-career artists, including Atong Atem, Archer Davies, Bobby Corica, Brenton Drechsler, Brodie Kokkinos, Darren Conventry, Emil Cañita, Giles Alexander, Hannah, Brontë, Jenna Lee, Nadege Philippe-Janon, Juan Rodriguez Sandoval, Kasia Töns, Kyle Archie Knight, Nicholas Mullaly, Phong Chi Lai, Tim Van, Tricky Walsh, Scotty So, Sophia Hewson and Xanthe Dobbie.
Bringing together these artists through installation, video, sculpture, textile, photography and painting, Winter is coming, but Spring is Queer reflects the many identities, ideologies and practices of contemporary Queer lens.
Catalogue essay by Jake Treacy. Curated by Ruby Vaggelas.
Prosopon
The English word person comes, via the Latin persona, from the Greek prosopon (πρόσωπον), meaning mask. In Ancient Greek theatre, actors wore expressive masks that concealed their faces and projected exaggerated emotions. It’s telling that our word for person derives from this — not our true physical appearance, but the role we play, the surface we present.
Artists
Alice McCool & Yusuf Ali Hayat
Gerwyn Davies
Deborah Paauwe
Polixeni Papapetrou
Brianna Speight
Kasia Töns
Fray - Melbourne Design Week
FRAY explores the growing body of textiles as contemporary art, demonstrating a new engagement with the materials and techniques of crafts. Working with waste and scrap materials using mediums primarily applied by marginalised groups, audiences can walk through the space on a journey from ideation to creation.
Radical Textiles
The use of textiles by artists and designers has long been associated with moments of profound social change and political rupture. From tapestry and embroidery to quilting and tailoring, in the hands of artists, textiles are defined by tension and transformation, resistance and activism. Textiles are a means of time travel and truth-telling.
Textiles galvanise communities. Through wars, pandemics and disasters, textiles have offered a way to mobilise social and cultural groups and build connections. In the late nineteenth century, British artist and designer William Morris sought to counter the mechanisation and mass-production of the Industrial Revolution by weaving tapestries on a manual loom with hand-dyed thread. Today, many artists are experimenting with the materials and techniques of textile design as a ‘slow making’ antidote to the high-speed digital age.
From William Morris to Sonia Delaunay, Radical Textiles celebrates the cutting-edge innovations, enduring traditions and bodies of shared knowledge that have been folded into fabric and cloth over the past 150 years. Showcasing the work of more than 100 artists, designers and activists, this major exhibition draws on AGSA’s international, Australian and First Nations collections of textiles and fashion, augmented by sculpture, painting, photography and the moving image, alongside several new commissions.
Fables and Folklore
Craft is thrilled to invite internationally renowned Australian decorator Simone Haag as the guest curator of Craft’s final main gallery exhibition of 2024. Making her curatorial debut, Haag presents a group exhibition featuring works by more than 30 Australian artists.
The exhibition will delve into the narratives imbued in objects and artworks, celebrating the age-old fascination humans hold with storytelling and lore, and its ability to hold our attention captive. Haag presents a selection of hand-picked unique works from some of the most respected Australian artists and craft practitioners working today, as well as some new faces – many of whom will exhibit at Craft for the first time. With her expert eye for interiors and design, Haag weaves a story of highly collectable works across the mediums of furniture, textiles, ceramics, beading and lighting. The exhibition is guaranteed to be coveted by both seasoned collectors and design enthusiasts alike, offering an exceptional opportunity to add truly unique works to any collection.
Artists
Drew Abrahamson / Nick Aylward / Benjamin Barretto / Scotty Bemelen /Jonathan Ben-Tovim / Emma Davies / Scott Elk / Helen Fuller / Anton Gerner / Georgia Harvey / Clare Hermon / Billy Horn / Locki Humphrey / Trent Jansen / Tammy Kanat / Eugenie Kawabata / Studio Kaytar / Lia Klugman / Camille Laddawan / Lilach Mileikowski / Allison Mueller / Ro Noonan / Caro Pattle / Annie Paxton / Sozou Studio / Jacqueline Stojanović / Jill Symes / Ross Thompson / Kasia Tons / Simone Tops / Leisa Wharington / Belinda Wiltshire
Martha Leaves
‘Staying in one place makes our monsters loom too large. Travelling gives them something to do. When we travel, we take our problems for a walk’ – Ben Okri
Martha Leaves explores alter egos, friendship, and creativity as a tool for survival through the lens of magic realism. Created in collaboration with friends, memories, places, and a rich archive of masked characters. This is Kasia Töns’ first exhibition of photography.
The Art of Survival in conversation with Kasia Töns and Heidi Kenyon
Join Panoply exhibiting artist Kasia Töns and artist/writer Heidi Kenyon in a discussion about creativity as a form of resilience. Heidi will talk to Kasia about her processes of making art in times of precarity, with an emphasis on feminist ways of knowing and being in the world.
The artists will then invite the audience to ask questions and participate in the conversation as they explore the healing powers of community.
This event will run for 45 – 60 minutes, followed by Q&A with attendees. Tea, coffee and light refreshments will be provided.
Engulfed
Boutique therapeutic experience.
Tickets for the Engulfed experience can be booked here:
MARS pops to Adelaide
Group show pop up organised by MARS and Hills Smith Advisory.
Artists include: Atong Atem, Damien Shen, Scotty So, Ellis Moseley, Jason Sims, Penelope Davis, Stephen Haley, Datsun Tran, Mathew Wuick, Yanni Floros and more.
soft sculpture workshop
In this workshop you will explore soft sculpture techniques using reclaimed materials and hand stitching to create a small artwork of your own. We will look at the various stages involved in planning a project from initial idea to finished product such as sourcing and processing materials, developing a colour palette, problem solving, sketching and maquette making.
→ Suitable for ages 14 and over
→ All materials provided
→ 12 places available
Full: $130
Concession: $120
Panoply
Panoply is an emergency shelter that aims to provide a place of retreat and safety in the first stage of displacement. Motivated by the uncertainty of life and a fascination for textiles and architecture, this project has been incubating for many years. This iteration of Panoply has been laboriously hand stitched over many months and utilises reclaimed fabrics and stuffing. The design elements of colour, shape, base, doors and ‘windows’ are personal to the needs of the artist with the idea that this modular approach can be adapted to the needs of different inhabitants. The main considerations are the ability to make and transport it by oneself, be able to look out but not to be looked in upon and to have multiple camouflaged points for entry/exit. These entry/exit points can also be used to join with other ‘panoplies’ to create the option of either a communal dwelling or a private one.
Intremities
Intremities brings together selected works by Kasia Tons that span the last six years of her textile-based practice. Creating two and three-dimensional forms from reclaimed and natural materials, Kasia’s artmaking acts as both an escape from reality and a way to make sense of it. -Marie Falcinella
AGSA NEO Upside Down
Recycling Futures with Kasia Tons
What will the world look like in 50 years? Will everything be made from recycled materials? In this creative lab with South Australian artist Kasia Tons, get creating with recycled materials to imagine the future of art, environment, and human technologies. Be inspired by the textile works of art in Sera Water's Future Traditions, and embrace the power of making to shape our future.
Biotic Commune
Firstly and most importantly if you want to read and support the open letter sent to the Botanic Gardens urging them to cease their partnership with Santos you can read it here: overland . There is a link at the bottom if you want to add your signature. I am in full support of this initiative. Biotic Commune, a show I have spent a year to make wrestles with the histories and futures of the symbiotic human/plant relationship. It will be shown at the MEB, currently sponsored by Santos, but hopefully, if we are talking about potential futures as I am with this show then the BGSA will listen to the community and end this partnership.
FeltDark
A moving image portrait of my local forest that explores the layered complexity of its accelerated scarring of recent years.
NT traveling film festival 2022
Head to NTTFF social media or web for info on screenings and dates
@nttravellingfilmfestival
open studio
We’re having an open studio for SALA. I’m also moving out and up to Lenswood full time soon after so will have a few bits and pieces for sale and give away on the day.
AUSTRALIAN ANIMATION FROM THE 1970S TO NOW
Daffodil is a collaborative stop-animation film. It was made over many months during 2019 using a purpose built set, and meticulously animated by Jonathan Daw. The sound scape was created by audio engineer and musician Jeremy Conlon in 2020. The film began as a short project for the sake of collaboration but turned into a more complex work with the story line inspired by contemporary screen addiction and the ancient myth of Narcissus.
MDW 22 - Material Culture
This exhibition is a dedication to the ongoing evolution of ‘material culture’ – an attempt to expand on conversations surrounding why and how things are made, and what social, functional, or symbolic needs they satisfy. Featuring the work of 16 designers, makers and artists, the exhibition encourages participants and guests alike, to imagine a world where yesterday’s ideologies and tomorrow’s innovation can coexist.
presented by Marsha Golemac
This exhibition is made possible by the support of @milieuproperty, @studiohiho, @annikakafcaloudis and @attheabove.
Creation of my work supported by Country Arts SA
AUSTRALIAN ANIMATION FROM THE 1970S TO NOW
Our animated short, Daffodil will be shown as part of GOMA’s massive Australian animation program.
Art as a visual language
A group show, curated by Ann-Marie Green as part of Guildhouse Artworks emerging curator program and Adelaide City Council.
Tuesday talks
In celebration of the crossover between 2021 Ramsay Art Prize and the South Australian Living Artist Festival (SALA), join Leigh Robb, Curator of Contemporary Art, in conversation with South Australian Finalist Kasia Tons.
Wangaratta contemporary textile award
Here is a video about my practice and making the work that is in the Wangaratta art award:
To Live Deliberately
Our collaborative work To Live Deliberately which consists of a photographic print and installation can be seen in the foyer of Country Arts SA for the next four years. So no rush, but if you’re in Port Adelaide pop in and have a look
CASA
For the past few months I have been collaborating with artist, Dave Laslett on a large sculpture and photography commission for Country Arts SA to represent the resilience and obstacles regional artists face. The resulting work will be on display at the CASA office in Pt Adelaide next year and used for their new strategic plan.
After
AFTER at CRAFT ACT
A solo exhibition of textiles, photography and animation, named in reference to E.M Forster’s 1909 novella The Machine Stops. Forster describes a futuristic society not dis-similar to the digi-tech-centric world we currently live in and what happens to the inhabitants when the machine that sustains their daily life stops.
Photo by Dave Laslett
Daffodil x SALA fest
Daffodil explores the ancient myth of Narcissus through a contemporary lense using stop motion animation, textiles and sound. It will be available to view online throughout the SALA Festival 2020.
This film was made in collaboration between myself, animator Jonathan Daw and sound designer, Jeremy Conlon over many months in 2019.
Suitable for adults and children alike.
https://vimeo.com/338653817