In Conversation: Sarah Contos and Karen Hall

Join artist Sarah Contos and exhibition curator Karen Hall for a walkthrough of Sarah Contos: Eye Lash Horizon.

Together, they will discuss significant moments within the exhibition that highlight the artist's unique way of working—one that balances recognition and mystery, animating the porous fibres and surfaces of objects to capture histories, ideas, and emotions. The conversation will also touch on broader concepts, media, and preoccupations that have shaped the practice of Perth-born artist Sarah Contos over two decades.

Sarah Contos was born in Boorloo/Perth and lives and works on Bidjigal Country, Sydney. Contos completed a Bachelor of Design for Performance at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2004 and a Master of Art (Fine Art) at UNSW Art & Design in 2010. She has collaborated on performance, costume, and stage design projects since 2002 and exhibited in solo and group exhibitions since 2009. Contos has undertaken residencies at Artspace, Sydney; 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Beijing; and DESA, Ubud, Indonesia. Contos was awarded Creative Australia’s Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship, Art Gallery of New South Wales Cité International des Arts Studio, Paris, and the Ramsay Art Prize, Art Gallery of South Australia. She has undertaken commissions for the ‘Balnaves Intervention Series’ at the National Gallery of Australia and ‘The Great Strike 1917’ at Carriageworks and has works in private and public collections throughout Australia, including the Art Gallery of South Australia, Artbank, Heide Museum of Modern Art, and the National Gallery of Australia.

Karen Hall has extensive experience working in key cultural organisations nationally and internationally. From 2005–13 she was Touring Exhibitions & Special Projects Manager at the Museum of Contemporary Art, delivering an ambitious touring program and site-specific commissions regionally, nationally, and internationally.

From 2013–15 she was the Manager of International Signature Projects (Venice) at the Australia Council for the Arts where her primary responsibility was the overall development and management of Australia’s representative exhibitions at the Venice Biennale. She has also held positions at Monash University Museum of Art; Tate, London; ANU Drill Hall Gallery; and was most recently Creative Producer of Exhibitions at the State Library of New South Wales (2015–18).

Sarah Contos: Eye Lash Horizon runs until 5 December 2026, Tuesday – Saturday, 11am-4pm. Entry is always free.

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We acknowledge we are situated on Noongar land. We pay our respects to the traditional owners of the lands on which we live and work across Western Australia and Australia.

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View all related events to the exhibitions at uwa.edu.au/lwag/Events

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Image credit: Sarah Contos 2024, Photographer: Cassandra Hannagan