IMAGE
Description
TO SEE // TO BE SEEN // TO IMAGINE// TO CAPTURE, PROJECT OR REVEAL
The images we make, and the images that make us. How we choose to see, and how we choose to be seen. Image explores representation as both craft and consequence, the picture formed before an idea exists, and the one that lingers long after.
It considers the visual life of our work. How ideas take shape before they are real, how they are captured and shared, and how perception shapes the way things are understood.
Join us as three leading creatives from different industries reflect on what image means for them.
Held at ILUMINA, above the Martin Place Metro Station in the heart of Sydney’s CBD.
Hear from...
Lineup
Cat Burgess, Head of Place, Frost* Collective
Cat is a highly-skilled creative industry leader with more than 30 years at the forefront of design and marketing, with a major focus on places, cities, culture, and innovation. In 2019 Cat became Head of Frost*Place, specialists in place visioning and branding to address the challenges and opportunities of urban life. Cat is passionate about the power of design to champion innovation and human-centred outcomes. She has worked for many of Australia’s largest brands including Qantas, Woolworths, Dan Murphy’s, Mirvac, John Holland, NRMA and the Sydney Opera House. Cat specialises in large, city-shaping projects. Her experience includes Quay Quarter, Darling Park, Central Park Sydney, as well as flagship projects in China, Seoul, Malaysia, and New Zealand. Recent projects include leading the branding of North Sydney Olympic Pool, New Year’s Eve for the City of Sydney, and the identity for Bradfield, Australia’s first new city in 100 years. She is a respected expert speaker, past president of the NSW Australian Graphic Design Association, and Placemaking Juror for the Australian Good Design Awards in 2024 and 2025.
Katie Kaars, Photographer
Katie Kaars has spent more than 22 years behind the camera, from London’s fashion and editorial worlds to shooting the album cover for KT Tunstall’s Eye to the Telescope and photographing a few faces you might recognise. Along the way, she realised that taking a great portrait isn’t about making someone look good—it’s about helping them feel safe enough to be seen. Today, Katie helps people challenge the old stories they carry about their appearance and feel more confident when the camera comes out.
Matte McConnell, Design Director, garigarra
A proud Wiradjuri man belonging to the Cudgeegong River, Matte McConnell is Design Director of garigarra and Lecturer in the School of Architecture at the University of Technology, Sydney. Through his practice, teaching and research, he is committed to meaningfully (re)embedding and (re)centring Country through architecture and design. garigarra, a conduit for Country and the built environment, advocates for Country. Grounded in Wiradjuri philosophies, garigarra (truth) and yindyamarra (respect), he is dedicated to healing, unlearning and resurfacing knowledge and connections to Country through design. With both Aboriginal and western design expertise, Matte is uniquely positioned to imbue careful consideration and respect for Country across significant architectural works. He works with design teams to understand the projects accountability to the duty of care to place. Through the process of design, teams begin unlearning, shifting (design) methodologies to recognise the interconnectedness of Country and architectural practices, building on over 65,000 years of continuous living culture(s). His research and teaching focuses on Indigenous and decolonial design (and research) methodologies through storytelling and countering the architectural canon. His teaching challenges students to understand and acknowledge architecture’s responsibility to care for Country. Matte currently coordinates first-year design, embedding Country-centred methodologies at the foundation of architectural education. He contributes regularly to architecture studios across Sydney universities with guest lectures, design workshops and assessment reviews.
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