Panel discussion with contemporary women artists 

On Whose Shoulders I Stand 

WHEN | Saturday 9th November

TIME | 11 am to 1 pm

WHERE | Long Gallery

Join us for an engaging panel discussion with contemporary women artists as they reflect on their journeys in the art world. This conversation will delve into the role models who inspired them, the challenges they’ve faced, and the triumphs that define their careers. In conjunction with the exhibition On Whose Shoulders I Stand, which honours the often-overlooked contributions of 20th-century Australian women artists, this event will explore how the experiences of the past resonate with today’s artists, revealing the persistent fight for recognition in a historically male-dominated field. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect the past and present through the powerful voices of women in art. 

The Panel Participants

Tracey Lamb

Naarm-based sculptor Tracey Lamb works with welded steel; her work is informed by mid-century architecture and design. She also makes work that takes influence from 20th-century female artists and architects who have been erased and/or marginalised from historical narratives to challenge the power structures that overshadow women throughout history.

Tracey runs the Instagram platform This is not a man-date - promoting creative practices of female and non-binary artists. She has an extensive exhibition history, including a recent large permanent, public sculpture for the Maribyrnong Council. She has a BFA (Hons) from the VCA and an MFA from Monash University. 

Emmy Mavroidis:

Emmy Mavroidis is completing a Master of Fine Art by research at The University of Melbourne where she was awarded the Stuart Black Memorial Scholarship for drawing excellence in 2022. She also earned a Master of Contemporary Art degree in 2020.

Emmy is the founder of Nyora Studio Gallery, a creative hub, in Eltham, which she established in 2003. She is a multidisciplinary artist. Her practice-based research focuses on drawing: gestural mark making, the body and movement as an expression of an idea or feeling through the somatic effect on material, and site.  This physical interaction with the medium can convey intensity, subtlety, and nuance, capturing the artist’s internal state, in tangible form. It is a tactile reminder of the power of the present moment.

Emmy’s work has been exhibited internationally and in national exhibitions including a residency at Draw International, Caylus, France, in 2023. In 2020 Emmy was a recipient of the Art and Cultural Development Grant, Nillumbik Council for Art in the Time of COVID-19. In 2019 she was the Winner of the Arnold Block Leibler Award at the Yering Station Sculpture Prize. She has been a finalist in numerous other national sculpture, drawing and painting prizes.

Nicole Kemp

Nicole Kemp’s textile work presents a bold expression of her passion for the universal themes of social justice and equality, through a series of hand and machine stitched images. The work, on initial viewing, appears pleasant and delightful, but on closer inspection, there are voices pushing to be heard and meanings to be deciphered. She hopes the jarring effect makes people rethink ideas, about the feminine and traditional techniques associated with women.

In June 2024, her highly successful solo show at Glen Eira City Council Gallery, cemented her profile in the arts community and has led to further community based craftivist activities. 

Her work is included in public collections. 

In 2021, her Covid Quilt was collected by Museums Victoria. This quilt provides a dynamic, emotive and powerful representation of the lived experience of COVID-19 in the State of Victoria from March 2020 - January 2021

Mimmalisa Trifilò

Mimmalisa Trifilò is an artist and educator living and working on Bunurong, Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Country. Her foundation in analogue photography has expanded across other art forms, shifting focus away from the medium to concepts and relationships. Despite staging a series of exhibitions in conventional gallery contexts, she is passionate about collaborative modes and the power of social art practice to engage publics in alternative settings. Mimmalisa’s artwork encompasses the central themes of identity, place, and context, with emphasis on alternate histories, intercultural dialogue/pedagogy, ethnobotany, and ecology. Mimmalisa's employment history in the field of Education combines almost 30 years of art/photography teaching experience in Victorian secondary schools, institutes, and cultural institutions such as ACCA.