Elizabeth Bills

I am an emerging Perth artist currently leading an exciting experimental collaborative project with six multidisciplinary artists including two DADAA nominated artists that will culminate in an exhibition including performance nights in May 2017 at PS Art Space in Fremantle. The exhibition involves the creation of a deeply personal body of new works rooted in the artists’ subjective experience of loneliness. Under the mentorship of participatory artist Chloe Flockhart and the DADAA Reference Group the artists will seek to facilitate access and inclusivity to a diverse audience, providing patrons the opportunity to inhabit the space as co-creators and spectators of the work.

Since beginning this project I have become aware of the significant gap in my own knowledge of access and inclusion. To try to fill this gap, I have gone to events like Lawrence Wilson Gallery’s conversation on ‘Inclusive Museums and Galleries’, Disability and Vision Awareness Training organized by PIAF and DADAA, and joined a group of Perth artists who meet to discuss how they can make their practices and the institutions they represent more accessible.

My intention with this project is to understand how people with different disabilities can rewardingly interact with artwork and build these considerations into the exhibition and ultimately into the core of my own practice.

My intention for applying for this residency is to learn how to create truly accessible visual and performance art and network with what I’m sure will be a great bunch of artists championing accessibility in Perth art’s scene.