Our
Mentors

Based in Bermagui on Djringanj land of the Yuin People on the far south coast of NSW, Scott Baker is a multidisciplinary digital artist pushing pixels since the late 90s when floppy disks were currency and CD-ROMs were too expensive. Agile and adaptable, he works with live audio-visual performance, audio-visual installation and large-scale video projections exploring site specific responses to life, the universe, and everything. You’ll find him facilitating immersive art experiences (The (Un)Usual, Trail of Light and Sound), doing visuals at festivals (Rainbow Serpent, Gilyong) and for operas (Pinchgut Opera & Four Winds), projecting visuals on ski runs (Illuminate Threadbo) or performing under the musical alias Abre Ojos (http://abreojos.net). He is also the lead creative for the Bioluminescence Project.

Born in England in 1964, in Australia since 1999. Bird trained at The Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, Scotland, where he majored in painting. Making his home and a significant international reputaiton from Australia, he works with both paint and clay and has also undertaken a number of site-specific sculpture commissions. Bird’s work is exhibited both nationally and internationally including: Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award, Shepperton Art Museum, Victoria, 2019, The 9th Gyenggi Biennale, South Korea, 2017, Horizon – Landscapes, Ceramics and Print, The National Museum of Norway, Oslo, 2013, and Peripheral Visions: Contemporary Art from Australia, Garis+Hahn, New York 2013.

His works are held in the many public collections including the National Museum of Scotland, The National Gallery of Australia, and the National Museum of Northern Ireland. He was the winner of The Gold coast International Ceramic Award in 2016, and the Deacon University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, 2011. He has received professional development award from both the Australia Council and the Scottish Art Council. He lectures at the National Art School, Sydney, and the Bryon School of Art.

Image: Installation view of solo exhibition by Stephen Bird at Olsen Gallery for the 19th September to the 7th October, 2018.  Docqment

Karma Barnes, an interdisciplinary artist born and raised in Tamaki Makaurau, New Zealand, resides and works on Bundjalung Country, Northern Rivers, NSW. Her practice includes site-specific installations, painting and participatory practices. Emphasizing collaboration with communities, her large-scale projects involve numerous individuals. Her work has reached a wide audience, with exhibitions across Australasia, Europe, Asia, and the USA, engaging over 15,000+ participants in site-specific works. Recently, Karma’s work was exhibited at the MACRO ASILO Museum of Contemporary Art Rome and the New Mexico State University Art Museum, with several pieces acquired for their permanent collection. Karma is an upcoming finalist in the Arte Laguna Prize, with her work set to be featured in a finalist exhibition at the Arsenale Nord, Venice, Italy. Alongside her own practice, Karma has extensively mentored young and emerging artists through numerous arts initiatives, projects and exhibitions.

Image Credit: Stephen Hughes Photography

Isabelle Devos is a visual artist living in northern NSW since 2004 after moving from Canada twenty years ago. Her work has explored the hidden stories that shape the landscapes depicted in her paintings. Devos has worked with Arts North West across northern NSW to run workshops within the Disability Arts sector in Putting the Pieces Together in 2016. While painting is the focus of her arts practice, Devos has also created conceptual and performance art projects including internationally acclaimed ‘The Insecurities Project’ in 2001 and ‘A Performance in Three Stores’, part of the Atlantic Performance Art Symposium in 1999.

Isabelle Devos is an award-winning artist and her work has been shortlisted for major art awards in Australia including the 2023 Glover Prize, the 2022 Paddington Art Prize, 20221 Lethbridge 20,000 Part Prize and the 2014 Calleen Landscape Award.

Isabelle Devos’ work can be found in public collections including the New England Regional Art Museum and the NSW State Library in Australia as well as the New Brunswick Art Bank in Canada. She is represented by Frances Keevil in Sydney and Lethbridge Gallery in Brisbane, Australia.

Tim Hansen is a performer, creator, and teacher who lives in Carcoar, in regional NSW. A passionate believer in the arts as a means to address issues of social justice and empowerment, Tim has worked with organisations such as Musica Viva, Milk Create Theatre, ATYP, Shopfront and Canberra Youth Theatre to do so. A lifelong performer, Tim has recently turned his creative attention back to the world of cabaret and music theatre. In 2017 he was an artist-in-residence at the Red Rattler in Marrickville, where he wrote the original cabaret ‘Airlock’, and in 2018 he co-wrote ‘Schappelle Schappele’ , a musical about the dehumanizing media storm that surrounded Schappele Corby’s incarceration and release, which toured for four years. He also composed for and performed in Kate Smith’s smash hit comedy musical ‘Fast Cars’ in Bathurst in 2023 and 2024.

His side-hustle is performing under his alter-ego ‘Tim Handsome’. Performing original songs and comedy in cape, hot pants and makeup, Tim Handsome’s signature tunes include ‘Don’t Be A Dick’, for which he was a finalist in the 2018 Vanda & Young International Songwriting Competition.

Sally Huguenin is a multi-disciplinary creative and cultural worker who has been at various times a practicing digital designer, textile artist, public gallery curator, community arts committee member, and museum educator. For the past 18 years she has run a successful design studio on the NSW/Victorian border providing graphic design, branding and web development services to diverse clients ranging from artists and micro businesses to festivals and government organisations.

Leisha Jungalwalla is a working musician living on Dhudhuroa country in the town of Yackandandah. She currently plays with band This Way North and has toured nationally and internationally for over a decade. This Way North has just released their debut album ‘Punching Underwater’, they are currently on tour for that. Leisha is also an educator working in schools across North East Victoria and Southern New South Wales. She has a wide range of experience teaching and mentoring young people and is excited to work with young artists to continue to support arts and artists in regional locations.

Producer/Director/Writer Hiromi Matsuoka has worked extensively on global advertising campaigns, TVCs, and TV Series, shooting all over the world. Hiromi has recently line produced the New Zealand segment of Beyond Goodbye, an 8-part original series for Netflix Japan premiering in late 2024. In 2023 she worked on the shoot and assisted with post-production for upcoming Apple TV/A24 show Sunny.

A founding member of not-for-profit associations Screen Illawarra and Far South Film, Hiromi also has a strong commitment to fostering the regional screen industry and telling local stories on the screen. She works in both documentary and drama, short form and long form. Hiromi is currently in post-production on LOST, a short film created by Dijringanj elder Warren Foster Snr and writer Jane Gordon.

Jo Nathan is a visual artist and designer. With a passion for fashion, fabric, colour, and art, Jo completed a B.A. in textile design at RMIT before working in Melbourne as a commercial designer. In the late 90s, Jo relocated to Deniliquin, NSW where her entrepreneurial ambitions led to the creation of her own fashion label, Wooliwooli. From humble beginnings, selling original knitted accessories at markets, Jo’s designs were picked up by city retailers. Within 10 years, Wooliwooli was being shown on national and international runways, supported by Australian Wool Innovation. Wooliwooli operated for over 20 years with a focus on slow, sustainable fashion. Jo’s designs have been featured in Australian Vogue, Marie Claire, and Harper’s Bazaar, and her hand knit designs have been published under her own name, for Cleckheaton and Patrons hand knitting yarns.

Gabrielle is the Executive Director of FLING, following her tenure as Co-Artistic Director with Rob McCredie since 2016, having joined the organisation in 2013. Her leadership is guided by a desire to creative innovative, relevant and inspiring work, that supports artists in all stages of their career, enabling FLING to become a regional hub for independent dance. Gabrielle holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Performance Creation (Choreography) from the Victorian College of the Arts, a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Education (Dance and Theatre Studies) from the University of New South Wales and was a participant in the Solo Performance Residency at Victoria University. In Australia, UK and Europe, Gabrielle has presented her own choreographic work, facilitated learning and making processes, performed, and produced events that served as a platform for other artists. Gabrielle’s practice is influenced by artists she has trained and collaborated with including Rob McCredie, Kate Denborough, Rosalind Crisp, Andrew Morrish, Caroline Bowditch, Gunilla Heilborn, Helen Herbertson, Wendy Houston, Jess Devereux, and Samara Hersch. Gabrielle was the 2007 recipient of the Wilma Firth Award for outstanding achievement in Dance Education.

Kate’s rich arts practice has traversed acting, comedic performance, playwriting, academia, advocacy and arts in health project management. She has performed in numerous works for stages and screen and written six comedic plays, touring nationally and internationally.

Recent works: Fast Cars (Stage writer/performer 2020-24 Bathurst); Roast Night (TV Dir; Rick Donald 2023); Highway of Lost Hearts (Stage Dir; Adam Deusien, touring 2024); Creative Force: a podcast with exceptional women (creator, 2024); Keynote State of The Sector, (TNN 2022, 2020); Company member Lingua Franca Theatre, Create NSW Regional Arts Fellow.

Image Credit: Jane Dempster

Danny Stanley is a professional artist living in Tamworth NSW with his partner Sophie, who is also an artist, and their two (non-artist) cats, Budgie and Squeaky. He works in a range of mediums including animation, video games, painting, photography, and more. When he isn’t working away on personal projects, such as building the cartoony-horror world of Hellsworth, or practicing and refining his art skills, Danny loves to work with diverse members of his community to tell the important stories of our time and place. Part of this work includes running Tamworth Art Academy with Sophie, which gives all ages of the Tamworth community a chance to learn a wide range of artistic techniques and theory, while enjoying the company of the other artistic types in the community. You can see Danny’s work, both commissioned and passion projects, on his website. www.dannystanley.com

Gabrielle Tozer is an award-winning author, freelance writer and editor based in regional NSW. She is the author of seven books, including The Unexpected Mess of It All, Can’t Say It Went to Plan, Remind Me How This Ends, Peas and Quiet and The Intern, which won the 2015 State Library of Victoria’s Gold Inky Award. Her non-fiction piece ‘Lessons in Growing Up’ was recently featured in the Teacher, Teacher Anthology, edited by Megan Daley, while her short story ‘The Feeling from Over Here’ was in the award-winning Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOZYA Anthology. SHe is currently collaborating on a trio of picture books with award-winning illustrator Sophie Beer.

Aya Yves’ style of blending introspective emotional lyrics with soaring soundscapes saw the singer-songwriter amass close to 2 million streams, showcase at the inaugural APRA AMCOS Queer Express Yourself, land supports for Mia Wray, Jaguar Jonze & Montaigne, landed her a spot in Songhubs curated by Troye Sivan & Lucas Keller, placed her in the top 40 of the prestigious Vanda & Songwriting Competition and gained both national and international media acclaim with industry tastemakers like NME Australia, Earmilk (UK) Pilerats, Women in Pop, Thomas Bleach, Ben Madden, Crush Cops and more.