Reading Oceania (Artist Edition)
Saturday 14 June, 2 pm to 4 pmPlease join us at The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre for the final public program that celebrates Morgan Hogg’s exhibition, The last coconut drifted.
Inspired by artist Monica Rani Rudhar’s Indian and Romanian heritage, this Makers Space celebrates the rich cultural significance of jewellery and its role in expressing and navigating complex heritage and identity.
This interactive installation reimagines Monica’s acclaimed ceramic practice, exchanging fragile gallery pieces for soft tactile forms that invite engagement and play. At the heart of the space are oversized jewellery-inspired sculptures, drawn from the artist’s personal collection, earrings, rings, bangles, balls, bells, and chains, all transformed into soft, larger-than-life forms. These sculptures create a sense of joy and curiosity, encouraging visitors to move, rearrange, sit, and reflect, making each encounter a unique and ever-evolving experience
Head to the Makers Space to explore these soft sculptures while diving into Monica’s creative process with hands-on making activities for the whole family to enjoy.
Bio
Monica Rani Rudhar is an artist working on Gadigal Land across video, performance and sculpture. Born to Indian and Romanian migrant parents, her work speaks to longing and loss as she navigates the cultural disconnection that stems from the complexities of her multi-racial ethnicity. Her work is delicately personal and takes the shape of a restorative autobiographical archive that seeks to record her own histories where these stories can exist permanently, unlike those that have been passed down orally from her family which remain fragmented. Her practice attempts to restore familial histories, traditions and rituals that have been dispersed by migration and draws on the labor required tomove passed the barriers that stand in the way of reforging these connections.
Monica graduated from UNSW Art and Design (Honours) in 2021, and has exhibited extensively in NSW including Pompom Galarie, Verge Gallery, Pari, Firstdraft, Tiles Lewisham and has performed at Carriageworks as part of Vivid Sydney 2022. She has been commissioned by Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and Powerhouse and was the recent winner of the 2023 Gosford Emerging Art Prize. She has recently shown with Martin Browne Contemporary and will be presenting a new body of work for her solo show with them in June 2025.
You can find Monica on Instagram here
This project is presented by Blacktown Arts and supported by Blacktown City Council and the NSW Government through Create NSW.
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