Kayangan Visual Arts Studio Residency 2025: Dai Trang Nguyen

The Mill is thrilled to announce Dai Trang Nguyen as the recipient of the Kayangan Visual Arts Studio Residency in 2025. The Mill’s Kayangan Visual Arts Studio Residency is supported by donors Geoff Martin and Sorayya Mahmood Martin, Arts SA and OzAsia Festival.

Dai Trang will receive 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome in The Mill’s Gallery II as part of OzAsia Festival 2025.

Kayangan is a Malay word meaning ‘heaven’ or ‘from the sky’. 

• About the artist

  Dai Trang is a Vietnamese artist and designer based in Kaurna Country whose creative journey spans the UK, Vietnam, and Australia. With a foundation in graphic design, her work radiates vibrancy and a profound connection to colour.

  During the solitude of the COVID-19 pandemic, art became her sanctuary, a way to delve into self-discovery and expression. This transformative period led to her first solo exhibition in Vietnam, exploring themes of self-identity. Inspired by this milestone, she moved to South Australia in 2022 to pursue contemporary art, embracing experimentation and deepening her artistic practice.

  Living far from home has enriched her connection to her heritage and mindfulness practices. Deeply influenced by mindfulness and Buddhism, her work has evolved from structured design to an intuitive, meditative process she calls Moment Art. Rooted in the present moment, by letting go of judgment and pre-determined notions, she lets life unfold naturally through painting, textiles and found objects.

  After three years of solitary practice for self-understanding, Dai Trang has recently begun sharing her work in the local art scene. Her creations reflect her inner journey, inviting viewers to pause, reflect, and connect with their innermost selves.

Photo: Courtesy of the artist.

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This residency has support from

The Kayangan Visual Arts Studio Residency is supported by donors Geoff and Sorayya Mahmood Martin.

Visual Arts Studio Residency 2024: Oriana Julie Winston

The Mill is thrilled to announce Oriana Julie Winston as the recipient of the Visual Arts Studio Residency in 2024. Supported by the Mahmood Martin Foundation, Oriana will receive 9-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome in The Mill’s Gallery II.

• About the artist

  Situated on Kaurna Land in Adelaide, Oriana pioneers a visual language deeply rooted in Afrofuturism, leveraging imagination as a technology to embrace empowering diasporic narratives within a past/future/now.

  Blending bold visual and performance artistry, she sparks dialogue to collectively reimagine themes surrounding time, identity, and culture within the Anthropocene. This dynamic exploration is enriched by Oriana's African American and Italian ethnicity, creating a unique fusion of influences against the backdrop of Kaurna Land.

  Within this futuristic narrative, Oriana finds liberation within her body as a powerful force, extending beyond Eurocentric conditions and limitations of the physical body in space. In 2022, Oriana graduated from a Bachelor of Visual Art at Adelaide Central School of Art, earning an invitation to pursue Honours. Her artistic journey spans interstate performances, securing various commissions, and residencies.

  A defining moment in 2022 was her invitation to perform Mel O'Callaghan's Respire, Respire at the Samstag Museum of Art alongside artist Henry Wolfe, and Jingwei Bu. During the Nexus Arts Studio Residency Oriana engaged in a mentorship with Faye Blanche of the Unbound Collective, enriching her artistic perspective and earning her a nomination for the Don Dunstan Foundation Award.

  Beyond her artistic pursuits, Oriana is the Director of SOLSPACE, a studio, and art therapy platform. Through workshops and public lectures, she passionately demonstrates how visual and performance art can be powerful tools for social, personal, and cultural empowerment, weaving together artistic practice and commitment to community engagement.

Photo: Morgan Sette

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Outcomes

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This Visual Arts Studio Residency is presented in co-operation with Mahmood Martin Foundation.

Delima Residency 2023: Alyssa Powell-Ascura

The Mill is thrilled to announce Alyssa Powell-Ascura as the recipient of the Delima Residency in Rimbun Dahan.

From September to December, Alyssa will travel to Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia, for a 3-month (residential) residency, in cooperation with Mahmood Martin Foundation.

This will be followed by a 3-month (non-residential) studio residency at The Mill, and a solo exhibition outcome presented in The Mill Showcase. 

• About the artist

  A self titled “slashie”, Alyssa Powell-Ascura is a multi-hyphenated creative. Proud to have grown up in Bundjalung country in a Filipino-Italian-Australian household, she has a background that has given her an interesting, layered perspective on the world. 

  Alyssa works across a variety of artistic mediums including: writing, conceptual art, immersive installation, traditional and mixed digital media, just to name a few.

  Her personal belief in the interconnected relationship of humans to nature drives her to pursue advocating better care of ourselves and our Earth. A finalist of the inaugural SA Environment Awards 2023, she is nominated for her environmental advocacy and using her platform as an emerging creative to promote sustainability and inspire young people.

  Motivated to bridge a deeper understanding and connection of Indigenous Philippines and pre colonial Indigenous Australia, Alyssa aims to be actively involved in the intersections she is a part of. 

  Her creative work has been featured in a variety of local and international publications such as: Local Brown Baby (US), Kindling and Sage magazine (AU), Blank Street Press (AU) and The Philippine Times (AU). She has been published in The Entree.Pinays' anthology "The Calamansi Story: Filipino Migrants in Australia".

  If she’s not talking to the local Aunties and writing about food and culture, she can be found by the beach patting puppies who stop by to say hello.

Photo: Louis Bullock

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Outcomes

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The Mill’s Sponsored Studio program is presented in co-operation with Mahmood Martin Foundation.

MMF Sponsored Studio 2023: Chris Siu

The Mill is thrilled to announce Chris Siu as the recipient of the Sponsored Studio for the July-January 2023 residency. The Mill’s Sponsored Studio is a new initiative supported by the Mahmood Martin Foundation.

In 2023 two selected artists will join our community, with each receiving 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome as part of The Mill Showcase.

• About the artist

  Chris Siu (b.2001) is a Hong Kong born photographer, currently living and studying on Kaurna Country in Tarntanya Adelaide, South Australia.

  Chris works primarily in medium format analogue photography. He is drawn to this photographic process because it is produced and cared for entirely by hand; from capturing and developing, to printing and digitising the analogue images. Inspired by documentary conventions, his work investigates and chronicles the intricate relationships that lie within his surrounding social landscapes. Chris’s practice is informed by the flux of sociopolitical happenings in homeland Hong Kong and his ever-changing place within it. Through exploring notions of layered histories and geopolitics, Chris’s work seeks to offer a reflection on personal and communal experience, pivoting around representations of civil unrest, diasporic experience, cultural displacement and marginality within contemporary existence.

  For the past two years, Chris has been developing a body of work titled Then We Keep Living whilst completing a Bachelor of Contemporary Art at the University of South Australia. 

Photo: Henry Wolff

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Outcomes

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The Mill’s Sponsored Studio program is presented in co-operation with Mahmood Martin Foundation.

MMF Sponsored Studio 2023: Yasemin Sabuncu

The Mill is thrilled to announce Yasemin Sabuncu as the recipient of the Sponsored Studio for the January-June 2023 residency. The Mill’s Sponsored Studio is a new initiative supported by the Mahmood Martin Foundation. In 2023 two selected artists will join our community, with each receiving 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome as part of The Mill Showcase.

• About the artist

  Yasemin is a multidisciplinary creative with a Turkish background who works as a writer, director, actress, artist and comedian. Studying a double major in screen and theatre production at Flinders University, she went on to study Honours specialising in video, digital technology and performance.

  She also studied long form improv and sketch comedy at the improv conspiracy in Melbourne, and at Groundlings and UCB in LA.

  Yasemin aims to create stories that uplift, engage and promote diversity in innovative ways. Her work explores ideas of belonging, identity, liminality, spirituality, the environment, race, health and being “the other.” 

  Her work has been shown as part of FELTSpace’s FELTdark program in 2022 and she has participated in ActNow Theatre’s digital residency in 2021. She has also been a Midsumma Pathways participant,receiving mentorship from Victoria Falconer and Tj Dawe, Canada, for her 2021 Fringe show the Illest.

  Yasemin will be presenting her latest work Sick Bitch as part of Adelaide Fringe 2023 at The Mill, supported by the Adelaide Fringe Artist Fund.

Photo: Courtesy of the artist

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Outcomes

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The Mill’s Sponsored Studio program is presented in co-operation with Mahmood Martin Foundation.

Sanaa Sponsored Studio: LK Artist in Residence 2023 recipient Charlene Komuntale

We are thrilled to welcome Charlene Komuntale to The Mill as the recipient of the Sanaa 2023 LK Artist in Residence.

Sanaa is a not-for-profit, multidisciplinary cultural arts collective, facilitating and celebrating the power of art and its capacity to bridge cultural gaps. The Mill’s partnership with Sanaa offers one Sponsored Studio for culturally diverse artists.

Travelling from Uganda, Charlene will join The Mill’s artist community in a Sponsored Studio for 6 weeks. During that time she will present an artist talk and a workshop at The Mill, culminating in a group exhibition at Kerry Packer Civic Gallery at the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, running February to March 2023.

• About the artist

  Charlene Komuntale is a digital artist and illustrator based in Kampala, Uganda. She holds a BA in Animation from Limkokwing University, Malaysia. In her recent series “Not Fragile”, Komuntale portrays women - mostly black African women.

  The subject matter is personal yet presented in a relatable way as inspiration is drawn from her own experiences but also informed by the experiences of other women around her.

  The heads of the women she portrays are covered by different elements, which create poetic yet striking narratives around a broadly relatable figure. At first sight, the works evoke a dreamy, peaceful, and quiet atmosphere, whereas at a closer look powerful, empowering and unapologetic messages come to the fore. Dominant, male-centered perspectives on women’s roles and supposedly nature-given capabilities and constraints attached to female bodies are being evaluated and re-examined. The juxtaposition of different elements creates an interesting asymmetry between awareness of self and the (male-centered) gaze of others. Intimacy, tenderness, vulnerability, and female beauty do not suggest fragility. Instead, it is related to strength and unapologetic confidence. Komuntale’s digital paintings deconstruct patriarchal narratives as shaped by culture, religion, and politics and provide a ground for inquiry and interrogation, and for visions of different futures.

  Her compositional choices create a space at the edges of reality – moments frozen in time and filled with surreal elements and metaphorical and symbolical references.

Photo: Courtesy of the artist

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The LK Artist in Residence Sponsored Studio is presented in partnership with Sanaa.

Sanaa aims to facilitate intercultural understanding by providing a platform to artists from culturally diverse backgrounds, with past exhibitions featuring international artists from many other cultures around the world, alongside Australian based artists from Aboriginal, African, Middle Eastern and South American backgrounds.

The LK Artist in Residence is supported by Principal Partner LK Law.

MMF Sponsored Studio 2022: Tikari Rigney

The Mill is thrilled to announce Tikari Rigney as the recipient of the Sponsored Studio for the July-December 2022 residency. The Mill’s Sponsored Studio is a new initiative supported by the Mahmood Martin Foundation. In 2022 two selected artists will join our community, with each receiving 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome as part of The Mill Showcase.

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• About the artist

  Tikari Rigney is a non-binary (they/them) Kaurna, Narrunga and Ngarrindjeri visual artist and poet. Working in a range of mediums from performance, illustration sculpture to writing. Their practice references their queer bodily experience, Aboriginality and the complexities of human connection. Exploring themes of humor, rebirth and emotional vulnerability.

  Rigney is a First Nations Curator at ACE Open. Rigney participated in the inaugural Zine and Held fair for disabled and people of colour artists at POP gallery. They have exhibited in over five group exhibitions in South Australia. They curated the largest student exhibition at Adelaide Central School of Art during their studies, with over 22 artists and is completing a Bachelor in Visual Arts.

  Rigney has connections to Carclew through their Creative Consultant program and has completed a culturally diverse illustration commission for Shine SA.

Photo: Johnny von Einem

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The Mill’s Sponsored Studio program is presented in co-operation with Mahmood Martin Foundation.

MMF Sponsored Studio 2022: Viray Thach

The Mill is thrilled to announce Viray Thach as the recipient of the Sponsored Studio for the January-June 2022 residency. The Mill’s Sponsored Studio is a new initiative supported by the Mahmood Martin Foundation. In 2022 two selected artists will join our community, with each receiving 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome as part of The Mill Showcase.

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Viray Thach, ‘Essence of Apsara’ digital painting, image courtesy of the artist

Exhibition: Resilience, Viray Thach
July 18 - September 16, 2022

Opening event: Friday, July 29, 6-8pm

Opening hours: Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm

Where: The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Cost: Free

Accessibility: Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance. The Mill has concrete flooring throughout and a disability toilet. View more on our accessibility page.

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During SALA 2022 The Mill's Showcase space hosts Resilience, a solo exhibition by illustrator and educator Viray Thach. The exhibition elevates the voices of sexual assault survivors and opens conversations of the commonly misunderstood topic. Viray showcases her skills as a digital illustrator, as well as exploring new techniques developed through her six month studio residency at The Mill. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue essay written by The Mill's Writer in Residence Renee Miller.

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 About the artist:

Viray Thach

Viray Thach is an emerging digital illustrator and educator. Her style, inspired by pop art, art deco and art nouveau, also sees deep-rooted influences from traditional Kbach ornamental designs that pay homage to her Cambodian roots. Viray’s iPad is the digital sketchbook where all the magic happens. Here, she marries the old and the new, using cybernation to recreate time-honoured textures and techniques into tactile designs that evoke a warm, homely compassion.

Formally educated in graphic design, business management and education, Viray is not only dedicated to her role as an illustrator, but as an educator and mentor, cultivating young minds and passing her multi-creative knowledge on to creative visionaries of the next generation. She remains business-minded and efficient while still delivering work full of the heart and soul.

At the root of it, Viray uses her art to tell a story – whether that is through character-rich portraits, lively illustrations, or bringing her mind’s eye to life through magnificent murals.

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Artwork by Viray Thach.

SALA Workshop: Illustration and lino printing with Viray Thach

When: Sunday August 22 and , 12-4pm

Where: The Mill’s Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Cost: early bird $30 +bf (limited places)

full price $40+bf

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If you're looking for an opportunity to be creative, join Viray for an illustration and lino print workshop. This beginners workshop will introduce skills in preparing a design, carving lino and printing, and all participants will take home finished artworks.

Held in The Mill’s exhibition space alongside Viray’s solo exhibition Resilience, the workshop will be intimate and casual and is open to complete beginners.

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The Mill’s Sponsored Studio program is presented in co-operation with Mahmood Martin Foundation.

Sponsored Studio 2021 + Exhibition: Hussain Alismail, 'In search of a good laugh'

The Mill is thrilled to announce Hussain Alismail as the recipient of the Sponsored Studio for the July-December residency. The Mill’s Sponsored Studio is a new initiative supported by Drs Geoff and Sorayya Martin, and an anonymous philanthropist beginning in 2021. Two selected artists have joined our community, with each receiving 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome as part of The Mill Showcase.

Exhibition: Hussain Alismail, ‘In search of a good laugh’

November 8 - December 17, 2021

Opening event: November 26, 6-8pm

Where: The Mill Exhibition Space, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Cost: Free

Accessibility: Disability access is available via our Angas St entrance, access the pedestrian ramp on the corner of Gunson St. The Mill has concrete flooring throughout and a disability toilet. View more in-depth information on our accessibility page.

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Join us for the launch of Hussain’s exhibition In search of a good laugh, the outcome of work produced during his sponsored studio residency at The Mill. In Search of a good laugh opens alongside The Many Faces of Frances on Friday, November 26. Hussain will also present an artist talk in conversation with The Mill’s Visual Arts Curator Adele Sliuzas in November.

Artist statement

As much as identity defines who we are, our culture and morals; it is always a challenge to prevent misconception, misrepresentation and misjudgment. This challenge and other issues like belonging, individualism, autonomy, gender tension make no identity idle. Through In search of a good laugh I explore the possibilities of identity within a Saudi/Middle Eastern and Australian context.

Over the past few years, I have been working with the significant visual elements that represent Arab people, creating an abstract visual catalogue of identity. The artworks suggest the colourful shapes and patterns that speak truly about Arabic diversity and culture.

The title of the exhibition is inspired by an interview I recently watched where visitors to an art exhibition were asked: ‘What you are looking for in this exhibition?’ One visitor answered ‘I don’t know! Maybe a good laugh!’ This answer struck me, and took me back to ten years ago when I worked as a cartoonist at KFUPM newspaper (a university publication in Saudi Arabia), where my art work attempted to generate laughter about the hardest issues faced by students. Since then, my work has shifted to become more abstracted and conceptual, however, I believe laughter is a worthwhile pursuit. This exhibition may not be overtly comedic, but I would like to invite audiences to consider the work through a lens where it can be both serious, conceptual and parodical.

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About the artist:

In constant flirting with meaning and medium; Saudi visual artist Hussain Alismail focuses on the pleated part of Saudi society in his work. Coming from the marginal community of Shia in the Eastern providence, he was constrained to examining a rich perspective of social interactions and discourses. Alismail draws inspiration from direct/indirect communications, experiences and history to tell stories about our culture.

He holds BFA in drawing & painting from OCAD U with an emphasis on illustration and social science. He is currently in the final year of visual effects and entertainment design studies (VEED) at Flinders University. Alismail exhibits both nationally and internationally, most recently presenting work in his third solo show Frilly at Argo on the parade in Adelaide. In 2020, he was one of the recipients of Maan grant from Athr gallery and one of the participants of the inaugural Albalad residency by Saudi Arabia Ministry of Culture. He was awarded in many competitions including Alkassbi International Award II (2015) and MCY by Edge of Arabia (2011).

Sponsored Studio 2021 + Exhibition : Holly Childs, 'Reality Winner'

The Mill is thrilled to announce Holly Childs as the recipient of the Sponsored Studio for the January-June residency.

The Mill’s Sponsored Studio is a new initiative supported by Drs Geoff and Sorayya Martin, and an anonymous philanthropist beginning in 2021. Two selected artists will join our community, with each receiving 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome as part of The Mill Showcase.

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Image courtesy of the artist

Reality Winner exhibition opening and artist talk

Join us for the launch of Holly’s exhibition Reality Winner, the outcome of work produced during her sponsored studio residency at The Mill. Reality Winner opens alongside Stitch and Resist on Friday July 2nd, followed by an artist talk with Holly in conversation with The Mill’s Visual Arts Curator Adele Sliuzas date now TBC in July.

Artist statement

Language falls asleep in dreams. Reality Winner is the name of an NSA contractor convicted under the Espionage Act for leaking a report about Russian interference in the 2016 US election. Salvador Dali was kicked out of the surrealist movement for being too surreal. Post-rational author and consultant Venkatesh Rao defines “surreal” as “underflowing with life”, as in, there isn’t enough life force to go around, but “underflowing” also has a specific meaning in computation when a value is smaller than a computer can compute. Venkatesh: "Dreams *are* an underflowing-with-life state since they occur in sleeping bodies capable of much higher flows when awake". This exhibition contains materials derived and reworked from exhibitions, performances and collaborations that I contributed to but that I could not attend "in real life" due to the pandemic and associated travel bans.

Exhibition opening

When: Friday, July 2, 5:30pm

Where: The Exhibition Space, The Mill, 154 Angas Street

Cost: Free, RSVP via eventbrite

Artist talk

When: Postponed. Dates TBC

Where: The Exhibition Space, The Mill, 154 Angas Street

Cost: Free, RSVP via eventbrite

About the artist:

Holly Childs is a writer and artist. Her research involves filtering stories of computation through frames of ecology, earth, memory, poetry, and light. In 2020, she was an associate artist at Jacuzzi dance space, Amsterdam; and alongside Gediminas Žygus she released Hydrangea (Subtext), an album exploring narrative fracture and reality bubbles. She is the author of two books: No Limit (Hologram) and Danklands (Arcadia Missa), and is a former Gertrude Contemporary studio holder (Melbourne), an alumna of The New Normal (Media, Architecture and Design) programme at Strelka Institute, Moscow, and she holds a Masters in Film, Design and Politics from Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam. She has been in residence at Arcadia Missa (London), RM (Auckland), Firstdraft (Sydney), Rupert (Vilnius), and DAR (Druskininkai). She is currently writing her third book, What Causes Flowers Not to Bloom?; teaching in the Graphic Design department at Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam; and developing Cliffhanger, a text, installation, and choreographic collaboration with Angela Goh.