Everyday, Myths and Legends: Artist Talks with Grace Yong and Bruce Slatter

Join JCG Director Susanna Castleden, with artists Grace Yong and Bruce Slatter, for a discussion about their video and sculptural artworks in the current exhibition at John Curtin Gallery, Everyday, Myths and Legends, and hear about the artists' recent creative practices.

About the Artists

Grace Yong is a Chinese Malaysian artist based in Western Australia. Her practice consists primarily of paintings that interrogates the tension between human behaviour and primal instincts, and more recently, her personal interest in investigating her matrilineage has motivated the expansion to video art and Chinese calligraphy. Yong's creative process often involves weaving traditional and contemporary mediums to explore the tensions between family histories and language that exists within a mixed-culture identity. Her art speaks to the challenges of negotiating cultural identity in a Western context, resonating with immigrant audiences with while encouraging non-immigrant viewers to reflect critically on cultural empathy and share humanity. She aims to ground her practice in both personal and collective narratives that explores tensions and internal negotiations that happens within a person's mixed-culture identity. 

Yong completed her bachelor’s degree in creative arts at Curtin University (WA), and participated in Hatched: National Graduate Show 2025 with her final work, her name, an anthology (2024). She was also the recipient of the 2025 Dr Harold Schenberg Arts Awards– Hatched: National Graduate Show, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), and had her work acquired by the John Gallery Curtin. 

Bruce Slatter is Deputy Head of School and Discipline Lead of Art in the School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry at Curtin University. He has a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours and a Master of Arts from Curtin University, and a PhD in Art from RMIT.  Bruce is a previous winner of the Bankwest Art Prize (Sculpture), Sculpture by the Sea (Cottesloe) and the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize. He has work in several public collections, including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Artbank, Bankwest Art Collection, Perth Children’s Hospital, Woollahra City Council, City of Geraldton, City of Joondalup, City of Perth, RMIT University, Curtin University and the Liz & Lloyd Horn Collection.

Slatter’s sculptural practice involves the selection, reconfiguration, fabrication and redeployment of commonplace objects to create new meaning and narrative. Redeployment acknowledges the existing meanings embedded in or attached to an object, and the physical and conceptual sculptural process of creating artworks.

In recent years, Slatter has developed a collaborative painting practice with his partner Nicole Slatter. Recent collaborative exhibitions include Refracted Reality curated by Anna Louise Richardson, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, and Painting the Screen curated by Shannon McCulloch and Tanya Jaceglav at Nyisztor Studio.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Banner images: 

Portrait of Grace Yong, photo courtesy of the artist. Portrait of Bruce Slatter, photo courtesy of the artist.

Photography

This event will be photographed and/or videoed and images will occasionally be used for promotional and marketing purposes, including social media. If you do not wish to be photographed or videoed, please notify staff at event registration.

Accessibility

Everyone is welcome at the John Curtin Gallery. Plan your visit to the John Curtin Gallery.