Our Guest speaker for the General Meeting on 2 July is Rochelle Summerfield.
Based in Northern NSW, Rochelle Summerfield has worked for thirty years across drawing, paint, printmedia and installation. Her work explores themes on the nature of existence, powerful animating life forces, the mutability of in-between spaces, memory, time, and loss. Her experiential drawing practice is deeply influenced by her concern and curiosity of the local riparian habitat and, as a spirit of reciprocity between her artmaking she undertakes on-site bush regeneration as the means to discover and tread more lightly on Country.
Rochelle has work in numerous public and private collections, including National Library Permanent Collection, State Library of Victoria Collection, RMIT Gallery Melbourne and Charles Sturt University Art Collection. She has been selected for national exhibitions, artist residencies and was overall winner of the photomedia prize, 2017 Moreton Bay Region Art Awards, Qld. Her solo show ‘Crossroads’ at the Western Plains Cultural Centre in December 2019, explored the drought affected Macquarie River.
In 2022, Rochelle was selected for WATER: presence and absence, curator Rilka Oakley, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba. With Janet Parker- Smith, Rochelle coordinated and participated in ‘Irreverent Matter’ a successful exhibition at Hazelhurst Arts Centre, Sydney (2021). Another exciting group project Rochelle is involved with is ‘Hopeful Disruptions: Caring for Birrinba (Clarence River)’. With onsite environmental work and exhibitions, it had the support by NSW Arts Restart and Arts NR in 2021. This group has been selected for Wagga Wagga RAD x Earth Canvas Residency for 2024.
Rochelle has an MA by Research (2006) and First Class Honours in Visual Arts (1998), Southern Cross University, Lismore.