ArtSpeak | Makeda Duong

For our next ArtSpeak, we will be hearing from artist Makeda Duong, who currently has work in the Adelaide Contemporary Experimental exhibition Yucky as well as being part of the 5th Tamworth Textile Triennial last last year. The ArtSpeak will be held in our Lecture Room, on the top floor of our Teaching + Studios Building.

Makeda Duong is a visual artist living and working on Kaurna land. Her current practice attempts to unravel and represent aspects of her lived experience in relation to themes such as race, gender, and mental health. 

My practice is informed by the history of textiles in the western world, and how the materiality of the medium can be used to convey deeply personal experiences. I create artworks as antidotes to personal challenges within my life, in order to bring attention to these particular issues. Some of these challenges include mental illness, struggles with racial identity, belonging and the social friction that comes with it. I represent my lived experience in order to move beyond stereotypes and shallow misconceptions. If something bothers me or plagues me, I am driven to make work about it. While these works tend to be introspective, they aren't devoid of humour. They invite the viewer to examine their own social assumptions and biases, or possibly to commiserate in a shared experience.

image: Makeda Duong, Mixed Race Sweater, hand knitted merino wool, dimensions variable 2020, photo credit: Radhe Osborn