Popsart archive

Bec Mac interviews Amy-Clare McCarthy who is the curator of “Social Structures” which was the visual arts component of the “(The View) From Here: A Small Perspective on Big Ideas” festival held at the Metro Arts in June 2017. All the works use industrial materials to explore personal and intimate issues including queer relationships. The artists featured are Kinly Grey, Anna McMahon and Tayla Jay Haggarty.
 

Bec Mac interviews Alethea Beetson, the artistic director of Digi Youth Arts, about the performance of "Dislocated” which was a part of La Boite's Highway Festival in June 2017. "Dislocated" is a distopian story set in Brisbane 2044 which is based on the experiences and fears for the future of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. They also discuss how Alethea Beetson’s portrait was painted as a part of the Brisbane Street Art festival in 2017 and what it means to be Australian today.
 

Bec Mac interviews landscape painter, Joe Furlonger, about his paintings which were shown in Tanos Pharmacy, West End, as part of the Trace Exhibition and Auction in 2017. Joe discusses the limitations of art galleries and why he likes displaying work in public spaces. He also discusses his approach to landscape painting.
 

Bec Mac interviews actor Jimi Bani, director Jason Klarwein and Jimi’s family about their production of “My name is Jimi” which was on at the Billie Brown Theatre during July and August 2017. The show is a mixed-media, multilingual performance about preserving the culture and language of Mabuiag Island in the Torres Strait. Jimi talks about the responsibility that he has to tell the stories of the Wadagadum people.
 

Bec Mac interviews Karen Lee Roberts at the launch of the Fly Exhibition and the Access Arts Undercover Artists Festival at the KPMG building in Brisbane in October 2017. Karen Lee Roberts was the “Queen of Hearts” MC for the festival. She speaks about the challenges that artists with disabilities experience.
 

Bec Mac interviews the artist Freya Toussiant and her mother Donna Toussiant at the Access Arts Festival at the Queensland Theatre on the 13th October 2017. Freya Toussiant won the Achievement Award 2017 for her visual work. Donna Toussiant spoke about how they planned to use the grant funds from the award to empower other disabled artists.
 

Bec Mac interviews Bernard Fanning at The Triffid during his sold-out solo tour in October 2017. As well as speaking about being in the legendary Brisbane band Powderfinger, he talks about the difference between doing solo shows and music festivals. He also talks about his latest album “Brutal Dawn” and how he has evolved as both a songwriter and a singer.
 

Bec Mac interviews Samuel Tupou at the launch of his show “Site Seer” at the onespace Gallery, West End in November 2017. Samuel, who has Tongan heritage, uses traditional Tongan tapa cloth patterning, photographs and pop culture iconography to create his screen-printed visual art. In this exhibition, he explores how we perceive time and using his experience of migration, how we find our place in the world.
 

Bec Mac interviews Li Cunxin at the opening of "Mao’s Last Dancer: the Portrait of Li Cunxin" exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane in November 2017. The exhibition features artefacts from his life including costumes. Answering the question, why are people so inspired by his story, he says that people can relate to coming from an impoverished background, overcoming challenges and going on to achieve great things.
 

Bec Mac interviews Richard Bell at the opening of “Dredging up the Past”, his exhibition at Milani Gallery, on the 24th March 2017.  Richard is an Aboriginal activist who uses his life as inspiration for his art.  One the paintings features Prime Minister Gough Whitlam meeting activist Vincent Lingiari, who fought for the return of Wattie Creek to the traditional owners.
 

Bec Mac interviews Candy Bowers, Nancy Denis, Ngoc Phan, Roger Monk after the panel discussion “Deconstructing Australian-ness” which was hosted by Bec Mac at La Boite on the 17th June 2017. Takeaways included the necessity of calling out racism and sexism.
 

Bec Mac interviews John Collins at the Triffid on 20th October 2017. John (known as JC) talks about a new music venue to be built in the heart of Brunswick Street Mall which will have a capacity of 3500 people. He talks about the importance of Brisbane having world class music venues.  He says that the Festival Hall, which was demolished in 2003, has been greatly missed by international artists. 

Bec Mac interviews Amy-Clare McCarthy and others for the Outer Space auction in Fortitude Valley on 9th March 2018. Outer Space is an artist run initiative (ARI) opened after a tender was won from Brisbane City Council. It has space for exhibitions as well as six studios for local artists’ residencies. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Ngoc Phan at Highway festival, La Boite Theatre where Ngoc read of her story “My father that slept in a zoo” in March 2018.  It is a true story about her family who escaped from Vietnam in the 1980s and were sponsored by an Irish Catholic family in Alice Springs. The story is about family and being a refugee.
 

Bec Mac interviews Louise Bezzina, the artistic director of Bleach Festival on the Opening night, 29th March 2018. The multi-arts festival was a part of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and events were held all over the Gold Coast.
 

Bec Mac interviews audience members, award nominees and hosts of the Queensland Music Awards at the Fashions in the Field event which proceeded the awards ceremony. This was held on 14th May 2018 at the Royal International Convention Centre, in Brisbane.
 

Bec Mac interviews Emily Wurramara at the Queensland Music Awards. This was held on 14th May 2018 at the Royal International Convention Centre, in Brisbane. Emily won the Indigenous Award as well as the Fashions in the Field award. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Fez Fa’anana at the Opening night of the queer cabaret performance “Briefs: Close Encounters” at the Brisbane Powerhouse, 23rd May 2018. It was a part of the MELT festival. Fez talks about finding his place as a performance artist despite initially feeling a lack of acceptance for a ”bearded immigrant drag queen from Ipswich”, who didn’t have a formal dance or acting qualification. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Bruce Johnson-McLean who is the curator of “Tony Albert: Visible” on the opening night at QAGOMA on 1st June 2018. It is a major exhibition of Tony Albert’s work. Bruce talks about several of the works and their backgrounds, including one which features Aboriginal men with targets painted on their chests. This work is about the alienation and incarceration of young Aboriginal people.  
 

Bec Mac interviews Tony Albert on the opening night of his show, “Tony Albert: Visible” at  QAGOMA on 1st June 2018. He is the youngest person to ever have a solo show in the gallery. He started working at GOMA at the age of 20 but quit to become a full time artist. He discusses his collection of kitsch “Aboriginalia” which he started collecting from secondhand shops as a child.
 

A gala at the Institute of Modern Art was held on 15th June 2018 in honour of the artist Richard Bell. Bec Mac interviews Richard Bell, his daughter, artist Tony Albert and other attendees about the Bell’s career and influence. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Josh Milani at the opening of Milani Gallery, West End on the 9th September 2018. His reason for starting the gallery is to give local artists a world-class space for exhibitions. He believes that artists are not sufficiently acknowledged or celebrated in Brisbane.
 

Bec Mac interviews Sebastian Moody at the "City in the Sun" exhibition, held at the Museum of Brisbane on 11th November 2021. The exhibition is about how Brisbane sees itself and how it portrays itself to others. He speaks about his “sunshine psychology” work.  
 

Bec Mac interviews Darren Middleton at the Zoo, on the 19 October 2018. He has released his third album as a solo artist, “Tides”. He talks about his process for making music and collaborating with other artists. He also talks about the Powderfinger documentary “There's No Escape: The Story of Powderfinger's Internationalist” that had recently been released.
 

Bec Mac interviews Pamela Easton and Lydia Pearson at the launch of the "Designer’s Choice, the Easton Pearson Archive" exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane on 21st November 2018. They talk about the early days of the label when they first travelled overseas to sell their collection. They also reflect on their design principles and the slow fashion movement. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Leah Shelton at the Brisbane Powerhouse on the 22nd November 2018 for the launch of her show “Bitch on Heat: Sexual Politics in the Age of All You Can Eat”. The show is a collaboration with fellow performance artist Ursula Martinez. The show has been described as  “Absurdist lip-synch meets high-camp performance art” and it challenges conventional sexual politics and female stereotypes.  
 

Bec Mac interviews Henri van Noordenburg and Kim Demuth at the opening of their exhibition “Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow” at the onespace Gallery at West End on the 11th May 2018. Henri uses his family’s experience of the Second World War in the Netherlands as inspiration for the works. Kim uses photographs from a family trip around the UK after his mother died for the basis of his works. They both discuss the techniques used create art and their longstanding friendship. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Lindy Morrison at the Festival 2018, at Southbank. Lindy is playing with fellow musician, Alex the Astronaut. She speaks about how much Brisbane has changed both socially and politically from when she lived here in the 1970s and 1980s.
 

Bec Mac interviews Michael Eather at the new Bowen Hills location for the Fireworks Gallery on 15 November 2018. Michael talks about the importance of having conversations about indigenous art, non-indigenous art and what contemporary art is. Local artists Paul Bong and Anthony Lister had exhibitions at the Gallery, and works from these two are shown.
 

Bec Mac interviews Patricia Piccinini at the opening of her exhibition "Curious Affection" at Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art on 23rd March 2018. Patricia talks about how she hopes that the viewer is taken on an emotional journey when seeing her works which are inspired by Motherhood, human connection, love, and our relationship with technology and the environment.
 

Bec Mac interviews Future Destin, Gideon Mzembe and Pacharo Mzembe at the Matilda Awards 2018, at the Brisbane Powerhouse, February 2019. They had just won the Gold Matilda Award for the Best Mainstage Production for their show "Prize Fighter" (tied with The Longest Minute). Future Destin is the author and playwright of the show, and Pacharo Mzembe plays the main character and his brother Gideon Mzembe plays the supporting role. The play  tells the story of a Congolese child soldier who becomes an Australian boxer.
 

Bec Mac interviews Mel Buttle, Patience Hodges and Cindy Vogel at the 2019 Queensland Music Awards which were held at the Royal International Convention Centre in March 2019. They discussed the Cindy Vogel designed outfits that award presenters Mel and Patience were wearing.

Bec Mac interviews (Yuriyal) Eric Bridgeman at the opening of the exhibition "Second Sight: Witchcraft, Ritual, Power" at the University of Queensland Art Museum. Eric is one of a collective of artists exploring how witchcraft and sorcery practices work though art. He explains the meaning of the designs on his painted shields, traditionally used in Papua New Guinean tribal warfare.

Bec Mac interviews Troy Casey and Nick Goding at the opening of their new venue Open House in 2019.  It is a retail space in West End which sells locally designed and made wares and products by creatives. They are doing a fund raiser for artist Richard Bell.
 

Bec Mac interviews Sancintya Mohini at the opening of Beaut 19 at the outerspace Gallery on 26th April 2019.  She talks about her work which is about her family history. Her ancestors were indentured labours who were taken from South India to South African to work on colonial sugar plantations. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Richard Bell at the Embassy during the Venice Biennale on the 9th May 2019. In the background, his work is being lowered onto a barge.  The work is called "We Don’t Really Need This / EMBASSY". It is a replica of the Australian Pavilion in chains and it was sailed through the Venetian lagoon. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Jan Manton at the Jan Manton Gallery where Dadang Christanto’s work is being shown as a part of the Trace exhibition in West End in July 2019. Jan Manton discusses Christanto’s work which is about his father, who was captured and kidnapped from the family home in Indonesia in the Communist Party’s mass killings in 1965-1966. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Dr Campbell Gray and Dr Holly Arden at the opening of "Unlearning" at the University of Queensland Art Museum in July 2019. Both were working at the University of Queensland’s School of Communication and Arts at the time. They speak of the importance of getting students to engage with the gallery.
 

Bec Mac interviews Freja Carmichael, resident curator, at Institute of Modern Art’s new art space, the Belltower Gallery in July 2019. Freya discusses Mandy Quadrio’s work which uses bull kelp to reference her people’s connection to north-east Lutriwita also known as Tasmania. She also discusses Sebastian Moody’s work, “Seeing”, an installation which projects six letter words onto the gallery’s outside walls at night. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Natalya Hughes at the artist’s home studio on 31st July 2019. They discuss her work that will be a part of Trace exhibition, which places art in public spaces. Her work is about how women’s bodies are represented in late modern paintings, particularly by the artist Willem de Kooning.  
 

Bec Mac Interviews Amy Carkeek and Alicia Hollier in West End during the Trace 4101 Art Exhibition on the 10th August 2019. Amy Carkeek describes her work “You can’t learn by forgetting” that is being displayed at Hall’s Jewellery and Watchmakers at West End.  It explores the fracturing of the American/Australian dream.  Alicia is the Gallery Manger of onespace Gallery which focuses on works not displayed by traditional art galleries.  
 

Bec Mac Interviews Bridie Gillman at the Edwina Collette Gallery on 8th October 2019. Bridie’s work featured in the Trace 4101 Art Exhibition, which places art in public spaces in West End. Bridie talks about the painting called “He pulled the blossom off the tree for me” and how she explores memories and emotions in her works, influenced by her childhood in Indonesia.
 

Bec Mac interviews Jackie Ryan in the bookstore Where The Wild Things Are in West End for the Trace 4101 Art Exhibition on 10th August 2019. She discusses the work that she had showing in the shop called “Nerd Rage”, based on the Burger Force comics.
 

Bec Mac interviews Trent Dalton at the Queensland Theatre 2020 Launch, on 18th August 2019. It has just been announced that Dalton’s novel, “Boy Swallows Universe” is to become a stage play. Trent talks about how his childhood in the suburbs of Brisbane inspired the book and also how he based many of the characters on friends and family with a criminal past. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Neridah Waters about the Common People’s Dance Eisteddfod, at East Brisbane Bowls Club on 28th August 2019. The event was held on 14th September 2019, at Southbank as a part of the Brisbane Festival. 100 people from all walks of life, were professionally costumed and they battled it out with 1980s dance moves for a trophy. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Ian Haug at the opening of “High Rotation: 30 years of Music in Brisbane” at the Museum of Brisbane on the 30th August 2019. Ian talks about the Brisbane music scene in the late 1980s and 1990s. He discusses how Powderfinger were part of a group of Brisbane bands that decided to base themselves in here rather than moving overseas for success. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Gordon Hookey at the Brisbane Writer’s Festival, State Library of Queensland on 7th September 2019, about the art installation, “Angel’s Palace”.  The installation was based on "Carpentaria" a book by Alexis Wright. Gordon talks about the challenges of creating a 15 metre high dome covered in paintings.  
 

Bec Mac interviews the men from the Mama’s Boys Collective at La Boite 2020 season launch on 21st September 2019. “Brothers Book Club” was a show at La Boite developed by the Mamas Boys Collective in partnership with Claire Christian and Ari Palani.
 

Bec Mac interviews Jody Rallah at the Queensland College of Art Graduate Show 2019, on 30th October 2019. She speaks about the collaborative artwork “250 years”, or “The Coolamon Project”. She was inspired to make this work after seeing the colonial archival manner in which the Queensland Museum was storing coolamons. Coolamons are traditional Indigenous carrying vessels, which are important cultural artefacts.

Bec Mac interviews Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow at QAGOMA for the opening of the Water exhibition on 12th June 2019. Geraldine, who is the curator of this exhibition, discusses Olafur Eliasson's work which is a vast, rocky, indoor riverbed, suggesting climate change and drought.
 

Bec Mac interviews Ben Quilty at the opening of his retrospective exhibition “Quilty” on the 2nd July 2019 at QAGOMA. He talks about the influence of his parents, how he uses humour to tackle dark subjects and about his mentor Margaret Olley.
 

Bec Mac interviews Casey Barnes at the Gold Coast Music Awards on the 2nd May 2019. He is a finalist for four awards. He talks about the strength of the Gold Coast music scene and how many artists are having success both in Australia and overseas.
 

Bec Mac interviews Fiona Omeenyo at the opening the “Matches 2” exhibition at the Fireworks Gallery on 29th March 2019.  Fiona talks about what inspires her to paint: connecting to culture, family and her ancestors. She speaks about her painting techniques.

Bec Mac interviews George Gittoes at the Mitchell Gallery on 4th October 2019 about his painting series on display and his film “White Light”. The inspiration for both came from his time in the south side of Chicago where gangs and gun violence is a major issue. Several gang members become the subjects of his portraits. 
 

Bec Mac interviews the Hanlon Brothers at the Gold Coast Music Awards on the 2nd May 2019.  
 

Bec Mac interviews Alex and Harry (two of the main creatives involved) at Mon Abri Rivermakers, Bulimba on 23rd November 2019. They have transformed a heritage listed factory into an event and gallery space featuring the works of emerging artists.  The area is now known as The Foundry Bulimba.
 

Bec Mac interviews Rosella Namok at the Fireworks Gallery on 22nd July 2019. Rosella’s works were part of the Matches 4 exhibition. The artist talks about the influence of the landscape where she grew up in Cape York on her works.
 

Bec Mac interviews Samantha Hobson at the Fireworks Gallery on 5th March 2019. Her art is featured in the Matches series, where an Indigenous artist is paired with a non-Indigenous artist. Samantha talks about the influence of the sea and the beach on the technique and materials that she uses to create her paintings.  
 

Bec Mac interviews Todd MacDonald at the launch of the 2020 season at La Boite theatre on 21st September 2019. Todd was the artistic director of the season which featured shows including The Prizefighter, Single Asian Female and the Mamas Boys. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Peta Rake, senior curator, at the University of Queensland Art Museum about the program “Union 2020” on 17th July 2019. The program is about collective action and protest. It includes “OCCURRENT AFFAIR” which features new and recent works by the Meanjin/Brisbane-based Aboriginal artist collective proppaNOW.
 

Bec Mac interviews Tamika Grant-Iramu at the onespace Gallery on the 29th March 2020. The exhibition, “Fragments:  A Printed Environment”,  was originally meant to be held at Redlands Art Gallery, but was postponed due to COVID. Her works are vinyl-lino cuts, with intricate designs of nature and the environment, reflecting her Torres Strait Island heritage.
 

Bec Mac interviews Chris Saines on 28 August 2020 at QAGOMA for the announcement of 2021’s  exhibition, “European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York”. It will include 65 paintings that showcase European art history from 1420 to 1920. Chris Saines talks about one of the paintings that will be featured “Venus and Adonis” by Venetian Renaissance artist Titian.   
 

Bec Mac interviews Thomas E. S. Kelly at the Brisbane Powerhouse on the 7th September 2020 at the opening of "Silence”.  Kelly is the director and choreographer of this work of First Nations contemporary dance which was commissioned by Karul Projects. He talks about the challenges of putting a show during COVID restrictions. “Silence” is about the continuing lack of a treaty with the Indigenous people of Australia.
 

Bec Mac interviews conductor Dane Lam on the 29th October 2020 about Queensland Opera’s production of “The Marriage of Figaro” at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. He discusses the way that Mozart revolutionized opera in the 1700s in the lead up to the French revolution. He speaks about how the themes of the opera, such as class inequality, are still very relevant today.
 

Bec Mac interviews Alison Kubler, 5th November 2020 at HOTA (Home of the Arts, Gold Coast) after a panel discussion. Kubler is the editor of an issue of Vault Magazine titled “The Future is Female” which features all female and female identifying artists. The publishing of the magazine coincides with the “Know my Name” exhibition at the National Gallery. This exhibition celebrates the work of all women artists with an aim to enhance understanding of their contribution to Australia’s cultural life.
 

Bec Mac interviews Chris Bassi at the Outer Space Gallery in West End before the opening of his exhibition, “Passages” in February 2020. The works are based on a trip Chris took to the Torres Strait Islands and Thursday Island to trace the journey of his great-grandmother. The exhibition looks mobility and the sea in the Torres Strait and how it is such a big part of the Islanders' everyday life and culture.
 

Bec Mac interviews Sharka Bosakova at the opening of “Unmasked”, at the Queensland College of Art and Design Gallery, Griffith University in October 2020.  The exhibition, which was held during the COVID pandemic, questions why we wear masks and what are we hiding. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Sofia Troncoso at Opera Queensland on 29th October 2020. Opera Queensland is rehearsing Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, in which Sofia plays the strong female character, Susanna. Sofia talks about how opera is the origin of a lot of today's entertainment, including sitcoms about dysfunctional families. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Robert Andrew at Milani Gallery for the launch of his exhibition, “Inscribed” on the 9th January 2021. One of the works he discusses is called “Continuing Depths of Connection”. It “uses a mechanism that slowly unravels ochre stained string to realise an overlapping landscape of language over the duration of the exhibition”. The work explores the word “Nganga” which is a Yawuru word which roughly translates to “Language”.
 

Bec Mac interviews Andrew McNamara, curator of the Bauhaus Now exhibition  at the Museum of Brisbane in January 2021. The exhibition features the artworks of German refugees who were sent to Australia on ships after the World War 2. These people, including Harry Sidler (architect) and Gertrude Langer (art historian) had been influenced by the Bauhaus Art School and they in turn influenced Brisbane architecture and art.  
 

Bec Mac interviews Mia Boe at Boe’s exhibition at Open House West End, on the 2nd February 2021. Originally the exhibition was focusing on the history of the Queensland Native Police, but after the event was postponed due to COVID, it was expanded to include deaths in custody and Black Lives Matter. The artist hopes that people who see her works will reflect on the realities of life in Australia for Indigenous people. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Patrick Nolan at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre for the premier of Opera Queensland’s production of “Lorelei” in March 2021. “Lorelei” is a new contemporary Australian opera which flips the myth of the Lorelei in German folklore, where they are sirens who enchant sailors with their alluring songs. Its themes are timely as Australia comes to terms with its history of being a culture of patriarchal violence.
 

Bec Mac interviews Leecee Carmichael on the 23rd March 2021 at the onespace Gallery before the opening of the artist’s exhibition “Present Surroundings”.  These works explore her connections with ancestral lands, how she sees country now and her hopes for the future. She developed the woven works, including dilly bags, in collaboration her mother, artist Sonja Carmichael and her sister. 
 

Bec Mac interviews several independent fashion and jewellery designers at Brisbane Art and Design’s event “Radical Localism” which was held at the RNA Showgrounds on 12th May 2021. The labels and designers interviewed include ShiloLydia, Alice Nightingale, Nelson Molloy, Jess Blak, Blaklash and Sharka Bosakova. Themes included repurposing & upcycling clothing, zero waste and the independent Brisbane design scene. 
 

Bec Mac interviews designer Phoebe Paradise at Practice Studio on the 5th May 2021. Practice Studio is partnering with Artisans for Radical Localism as a part of the Brisbane Art and Design festival in May 2021. Phoebe discusses the influence of Brisbane’s subtropical environment on her work as well as the city’s thriving art scene.
 

Bec Mac interviews James Hornsby at onespace Gallery in May 2021 during the Brisbane Art and Design festival. James discusses the live performance art that had taken place, involving painting, visualizations, audience participation and music. His solo exhibition called Hi-Vis Fumes took place later in the year. 

Bec Mac interviews Lincoln Austin before the opening of his mid-career survey “The Space Between Us” at the Ipswich Art Gallery on 17th May 2021. Lincoln talks about how being a part of the installation of the exhibition made him reflect on his career so far. He talks about the hard work involved making many of the works on display, for example “Imperfect Pattern” which is a corflute sculpture, which takes three days to be assembled. 

Bec Mac interviews Vernon Ah Kee on the 17th October 2021 at West End. Vernon is set to create a landmark mural at the bookshop Avid Reader, funded by Chrysalis Projects. He speaks about the challenge of public art, his inspiration for the work and why he will not be doing anything to do with either Black Life Matters or COVID. Chrysalis Projects is an initiative created by Bec Mac and Carmel Haugh to raise funds for artist-led, place-based projects that generate jobs for the creative workforce. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Mona Ryder at the launch of “Writing Mona Ryder” at the QUT Art Museum on 15th October 2021.  “Writing Mona Ryder” involves six writers writing critical essays that explore her work and her life in an online platform. The influential artist reflects on why she has not received more exposure in galleries.  
 

Bec Mac interviews Joyce Crombie and Jean Barr Crombie at Canvas to Catwalk which was part of the Women of the World Festival at Charleville on the 21st June 2021.  The clothing showcased was from Red Ridge the Label, which is Joyce and Jean’s label. Women from the local communities modelled the pieces. They speak about the importance of passing their knowledge on to the younger generations. This is something that Joyce and Jean missed, as their parents were from the Stolen Generation.
 

Bec Mac interviews Sebastian Moody at the "City in the Sun" exhibition, held at the Museum of Brisbane on 11th November 2021. The exhibition is about how Brisbane sees itself and how it portrays itself to others. He speaks about his “sunshine psychology” work, which "playfully subverts marketing campaigns that have sought to link Brisbane's psyche with the sun".

Bec Mac interviews the artists from Wik & Kugu Aurukun Art Centre, including Roderick (Rick) Yunkaporta, Leigh Namponan  and Keith Wikmunea at the Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair on 7th July 2022. The works in the exhibition include bark paintings and their famous camp dog sculptures. They describe how the knowledge for creating their art was passed to them from their father from a very early age. They also describe how the camp dogs (Ku’) are made and the significance of the patterns painted on them. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Sam Cranstoun and Bella Ford at the launch of Botanica in the City Botanic Gardens on the 19th May 2022.  Botanica is produced by Museum of Brisbane. The works featured respond to place. Sam discusses his work which is a half-submerged replica of the Story Bridge in the pond, which was very relevant, given the extreme flooding that Brisbane experienced in early 2022.  
 

Bec Mac interviews photographer Mick Richards and co-curator Warraba Weatherall at the opening of Mick’s retrospective show “Above and Below” at the Redcliffe Art Gallery in May 2022. Mick discusses his photograph “Daniel Yock Protest March” from 1993 taken after Daniel Yock, an Indigenous man from Cherbourg,  died in police custody. Warraba discusses the process of selecting the images that would be part of the show from Mick’s collection of 500 000.

Bec Mac interviews Margot McKinney for the opening of her exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane on the 16th June 2022 called “The world of wonder”. Many collectors of her work have loaned back pieces for the exhibition. Margot talks about one of the pieces “Constellation” which took ten years to create, containing black opals from Lightning Ridge.
 

Bec Mac interviews Connor D’Netto the composer of “The Call”, an Opera Queensland production to be featured in the Brisbane Festival 2022.  The opera is based on an original story by Auburn Sheaffer and it is the first opera that Connor has composed. The music incorporates electric guitars to give it a contemporary feel.
 

Bec Mac interviews Dylan Mooney at the opening of his show “A Story of My People” at the Cairns Indigenous Art Festival on the 8th July 2022. One of the large, rendered drawings was originally a very small photograph from the State Library of Queensland. It shows Dylan’s ancestors, Yuwi men & women of the Mackay region, who were forcibly removed from their land.  Bec asks Dylan how he feels about being a part of the flourishing contemporary movement of First Nations visual artists.  
 

Bec Mac interviews Delvene Cockatoo-Collins at the Cairns Indigenous Art Festival on the 12th July 2022. Her designs were a part of the festival's fashion parade. Her grandmother used to tell a story about native bees and Delvene has transformed this into a design which she uses in her clothing and jewelry. She also speaks about her public artwork on Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island which are 2.5 metre tall eugarie shells.
 

Bec Mac interviews Teho Ropeyarn at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair on 14th July 2022. He talks about how his artworks have been inspired by his childhood when his parents would take the family camping on country. The exhibition is called ‘Traversing Three Realms” which are the physical, natural and spiritual worlds.
 

Bec Mac interviews Justene Williams at the media launch of the exhibition “Embodied Knowledge”, QAGOMA in  August 2022. The exhibition features 19 contemporary Queensland artists. Justene discusses her installation which features distorted mannequins and screens to reflect on her experience of working in retail and of people who have very different online and in real life personas.  
 

Bec Mac interviews Megan Cope at the media launch of the exhibition “Embodied Knowledge”, QAGOMA in August 2022. Megan talks about her work “The Tide Waits for No One”.  The work consists of kiln formed glass bones from dugong, television screen waste and ilmenite (black mineral sand) from country, sitting on a light box. It is a commentary on the consequences of digging up mass resources and mass killing, such as the whaling and dugong industry in the past, and the climate crises of today.
 

Bec Mac interviews Dylan Sarra at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair in July 2022. His work is about uncovering the Burnett River Rocks, which were ancient petroglyphs, or stone carvings, that were removed and dispersed in the early 1970s so that the Burnett River could be dammed for agriculture. Dylan has been rediscovering these culturally significant artifacts and using muslin cloth and to uncover the drawings.
 

Bec Mac interviews Michael Zavros at the opening of his exhibition “The Favourite” at the QAGOMA in September 2022. It is a retrospective of his work. Many of his works feature members of his family. He talks about being the son of a Greek migrant and his partnership with his wife, Alison Kubler, who also works in the creative sector.  
 

Bec Mac interviews Carmel Haugh, Leanne De Sousa and Katherine Hoepper at the launch of the Brisbane Creative Collab on 15th April 2023 at the Princess Theatre. The Creative Brisbane Collab is an initiative to bring the arts and business communities together to make Brisbane a global city which values the creative sectors. They discuss how they would describe Brisbane’s personality.

Bec Mac interviews Kris Kween at the launch of the 2023 Brisbane Writer’s Festival at State Library of Queensland in March 2023. Kris is launching their new book “Fat Girl Dancing”. The book looks at our relationship with our bodies, questioning why this is often so destructive for larger people and how it can be reframed.
 

Bec Mac interviews Mandana Mapar at the University of Queensland Anthropology Museum for the opening of “Anthropocene: Linking past and present to shape a better future”, in April 2023.  Mandana is the curator of this exhibition which was a result of UQ  based researchers collaborating with First Nations communities. It looks at how First Nations knowledge can be used to better manage climate change, heritage protection and biodiversity loss.
 

Bec Mac interviews Judy Watson at the Milani Gallery at the opening of her exhibition, Indigo Spine, in February 2023. Some of the works look at the Gulf region of Queensland (Waanyi country) and the impact climate change has had on the beaches in that area. Judy would like viewers to feel a greater respect and connection to both country and its ancestors. 

Bec Mac is at the Museum of Brisbane for the launch of the exhibition, “Clay: Collected Ceramics” where she interviews Bonnie Hislop and Karen Hislop, in May 2023. The exhibition featured works from the MOB collection, as well as newly commissioned works. Karen, who is Bonnie’s mother, has worked in ceramics for many years and now supports Bonnie’s practice. Bonnie’s works speak to the patriarchal systems that still dominate contemporary art, including ceramics.  
 

Bec Mac interviews Cheryl Leavy at the season launch of the Brisbane Writer’s Festival 2023 on the 29th March 2023. Cheryl is on the board of the Brisbane Writer’s Festival. This year she also hosted the poetry event and also was part of the panel that interviewed Alexis Wright about her book on climate change “Praiseworthy.”  Cheryl speaks about the relevance and diversity of this year’s program which also promises to be joyous and energizing.
 

Bec Mac interviews Paddy Dempsey and Jon Coghill at the Hunting Ground Studios in 2023. Paddy is recording a new album and has invited Jon to play drums. They are also in a band together called Shock Fungus. Jon talks about his not for profit film and television incubator called Sunny Coast Showdown. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Libby Harward and Dominique Chen to talk about The Blak Laundry in July 2024. The Blak Laundry is a functional pop-up laundromat which is also a space and fund raiser for new and emerging First Nations artists. It is described as a “touring laundromat where you can wash your clothes, engage in critical conversation, performances and ‘agitations’, interact with art objects, and become a part of an ever-evolving socially and politically engaged artwork.”.
 

Bec Mac interviews Katina Davidson at the media launch of Judy Watson’s new exhibition, mudunama kundana wandaraba jarribirri at QAGOMA in March 2024. Katina Davidson is the curator and she talks about the process of selecting the artworks and telling a cohesive story when the artist has been working for 40 years.
 

Bec Mac interviews Luke Roberts at the Rockhampton Museum of Art for the opening of his exhibition “Beyond the Great Divide” in July 2024. He talks about Luke Roberts taking centre stage while Pope Alice, the character he is famous for, taking a back seat. He reflects on his career as an artist for 50 years and how he believes that this show demonstrates that you can make great art no matter where you come from.
 

Bec Mac interviews Nicole Voevodin-Cash, the artist of M.A.D.E walking at Southbank and Kangaroo Point in 2024. They walk along the Art River Trail and talk about Chris Trotter’s pelicans, Peter D. Cole’s art from Expo 88 which was a homage to Brisbane’s achievements, the Venus Rising sculpture by Wolfgang Buttress at Kangaroo Point and the Wormholes series for playgrounds by Alexander Knox. Nicole also talks about her own work, The Green Room and Afforest, which involves grafted trees and land art within the parklands. 
 

Bec Mac interviews Wendy Whiteley about the Brett Whiteley exhibition at the Logan Art Gallery called “Inside the Studio” in July 2024. Wendy Whiteley talks about why Brett’s work is still so powerful, many years after his death. She also talks about what it was like to be married to Brett, his genius and his drug addiction.