donna davis - artist
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EDUCATION:  Bachelor of Arts (ART), Curtin University, WA

ART FORM:  Sculpture, Installation, Digital Media

BIO: I am multi-disciplinary artist who examines human and non-human relationships with respect to ecological health. Exploring the intersections between art and science I am often embedded within ecological research projects. My work tells stories that examine the science through a creative lens; exploring imagined futures and constructing new ways of ‘seeing’ complex natural systems and our role within them.  I have undertaken a number of residencies with Queensland State Archives, Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Queensland Herbarium, Department of Environment and Science and am currently artist in resident on projects with Australian Tropical Herbarium and University of Miami.

EXHIBITIONS
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
  • 2022 DE-compose, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, USA, November
  • 2022 When A Tree Falls, The Centre, Beaudesert, July-September
  • 2021 When A Tree Falls, Northsite Contemporary Art Space, May - June
  • 2021 Unseen, Dogwood Crossing @ Miles, July-September
  • 2020 Tropical Treasures, Queensland State Archives, 27 February - 24 March
  • 2019 Unseen, Warwick Art Gallery, 11 April - 18 May
  • 2019 Unseen, Redland Art Gallery, Capalaba, 2 February - 11 March
  • 2018 Unseen, Tanks Art Centre, Cairns, 1 - 14 June
  • 2018 Unseen, Pine Rivers Art Gallery, 16 March - 28 April
  • 2018 Unseen, Artsworx, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, 30 January - 7 March
  • 2017  Unseen, Logan Art Gallery, 20 October - 27 November
  • 2017  Hidden Worlds, Queens Park Environmental Centre, May
  • 2017 Unseen, Richard Randall Studio, Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, March (touring show)
  • 2016 The Plant Room, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery, 7 December 2016 - 29 January 2017 (touring show)
  • 2015 Beyond the Seed, Richard Randall Studio, Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, March
  • 2013 The Plant Room, Richard Randall Studio, Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, December (touring show)
  • 2011 Ipswich Portraits: Objects & Mementos, Ipswich Community Gallery, July (Artslink touring show)
  • 2010 Hidden REALMS, Drawing Point Gallery, December

TOURING EXHIBITIONS (Group Shows):
  • 2022      Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, South Australian Museum + National Archives of Australia
  • 2021-23  Experimenta Life Forms: International Triennial of Media Art, touring Australia from 2021-2023
  • 2021      Decadence, 2021 Queensland Touring Exhibition, Flying Arts
  • 2020      State of Diversity, 2020 Queensland Touring Exhibition, Flying Arts
  • 2019      Wunderlust, 2019 Queensland Touring Exhibition, Flying Arts
  • 2018      Iconic Queensland, 2018 Queensland Touring Exhibition, Flying Arts
  • 2017      Colours of Queensland, 2017  Queensland Touring Exhibition, Flying Arts     
  • 2016      Cream of the Crop, 2016 Queensland Touring Exhibition, Flying Arts
  • 2015      Vital Signs, 2015 Queensland Touring Exhibition, Flying Arts
  • 2014-17 Bimblebox: art - science - nature, National Touring Exhibition, Museums & Galleries Queensland
  • 2014      Living Change, 2014 Queensland Touring Exhibition, Flying Arts
  • 2013      Essential Character of Queensland, 2013 Queensland Touring Exhibition, Flying Arts

EPHEMERAL INSTALLATIONS
  • 2023  DE-compose [Afterlife], deLight [SPARK Festival], 143 Brisbane Street, Ipswich, Queensland 7 July
  • 2023  The Carbon Store: Gas Exchange, Inhabited Ipswich [Rawlings], Ipswich, Queensland, July
  • 2022   DE-CAY-dence, Curiocity [part of World Science Festival Brisbane] www.worldsciencefestival.com.au/curiocity-brisbane/de-cay-dence
  • 2022   Displaced [TransPLANT VI], ClimARTe Poster Project, Melbourne, March
  • 2021   TransPLANT [seeking refuge], Commissioned by State Library of Queensland, June - November
  • 2021   Legacy & Matrix, DeLight [SPARK Festival], St Mary's Cathedral, Ipswich, 13 July
  • 2020   Mycelium 4 (Violaceus), Curiocity Brisbane, 30 March - 3 April
  • 2019   Mycelium 4, Curiocity Brisbane, March
  • 2017  Networked..., Floating Land Festival, Noosa 23 September - 2 October
  • 2012  Green houses...., Ipswich Festival, Queens Park, May

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
  • 2023
         Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Art Gallery, 18 August - 5 October
  • 2022 
         ArtNow FNQ, Cairns Art Gallery, 16 December - 12 February 2023
         Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, South Australian Museum, 3 June - 7 August
         Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, National Archives of Australia, ACT, 16 September - 13 November
  • 2021
         Entwined: People & Plants, State Library of Queensland, 12 June - 14 November
         Sites of Connection, University of Sunshine Coast Art Gallery,  20 August - 30 October
         Northern Beaches Environmental Art & Design Prize, Manly Art Gallery, 12 November -12 December
  • 2020
         Wyndham Art Prize, Wyndham Art Gallery, Virtual Exhibition
  • 2019
         North Sydney Art Prize, Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability, 2 - 18 March
         Moreton Bay Art Prize, Pine Rivers Art Gallery, QLD, May
  • 2018
         Art Meets Science, Department of Environment & Science, Dutton Park, QLD, 10 August - 7 September
         Wyndham Art Prize, Wyndham Art Gallery, VIC, 29 March - 11 June
         Moreton Bay Art Prize, Pine Rivers Art Gallery, QLD, May
  • 2017
         Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast Art Gallery, 8 September - 22 October
         Art Meets Science, Eco Science Precinct (DSITI), Dutton Park, QLD, 11 August - 8 September
         Moreton Bay Art Prize, Pine Rivers Art Gallery, QLD, May
  • 2016
         Still Life: Reanimating the Inanimate, Pine Rivers Art Gallery, QLD, 9 September - 2 November
         Art Meets Science, Eco Science Precinct (DSITI), Dutton Park, QLD, 8 August - 2 September
         A Conversation about Portraiture, Pine Rivers Art Gallery, QLD, 22 July - 3 September
         Stanthorpe Art Prize, Stanthorpe Regional Gallery, June/July
         Noosa Art Prize, Noosa Regional Gallery, May/June
         People & Places, Ipswich Community Gallery, QLD, 5 - 22 January
  • 2015
         Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Art Gallery, August/October
         Biodiversity/Extinction, New York Hall of Science, New York, USA, October 2015 - February 2016
         Sunshine Coast Environmental Art Prize, Arts & Ecology Centre Maroochy Botanic Gardens, November
         Residence, Eco Science Precinct (DSITI), Dutton Park, QLD, 13 - 27 August
  • 2014
         Gold Coast Art Prize, Gold Coast City Gallery, December
         Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Art Gallery, August
         Art : Science, Eco Science Precinct (DSITI), Dutton Park, QLD, August
         Moreton Bay Regional Art Prize, Pine Rivers Art Gallery, QLD, May
         Stanthorpe Art Prize, Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery, QLD, February
  • 2013
         Art : Science, Eco Science Precinct (DSITI), Dutton Park, QLD, August
         document://bimblebox, Sawtooth Gallery, Launceston, TAS, April
  • 2012
         dialogue, Swich Contemporary Art Space, QLD, April
         Stanthorpe Art Prize, Stanthorpe Regional Gallery, QLD, January
  • 2010
         Size Matters, Swich Contemporary Art Space, QLD, November
         Future Nurture, Toowoomba Regional Gallery, QLD, September/October
         Changing Perceptions, Ipswich Community Gallery, QLD, April
         Transforming Spaces: Project No. 1., Swich Contemporary Art Space, December - February

AWARDS & PRIZES:
2023  Highly Commended - Ipswich Art Awards [Digital Media]
2022  Highly Commended - Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize
2021  Finalist Northern Beaches Art and Environmental Design Prize
2020  Winner - Digital Art Award, Queensland Regional Art Awards
2019   Finalist North Sydney Art Prize | Finalist Moreton Bay Regional Art Awards
2018   Finalist Wyndham Art Prize | Finalist Moreton Bay Regional Art Awards
2017   Finalist Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award
          Finalist Moreton Bay Regional Art Awards | Second Place Photography, Somerset Art Awards
2016   Winner 'The Edge Digital Art Prize' QLD Regional Art Awards | Finalist Noosa Art Prize | First Place Photography, Ipswich Art Awards | 
          Finalist Moreton Bay Regional Art Awards | Finalist Stanthorpe Art Prize
2015   Winner Sunshine Coast Environment Award | Finalist Sunshine Coast Art Prize
2014   Highly Commended Queensland Regional Art Award, Vital Signs | Finalist Gold Coast Art Prize | Finalist Sunshine Coast Art Prize |
          Finalist Moreton Bay Regional Art Awards | Second place Photography, Ipswich Art Awards
2013   Best of Show, Ipswich Art Awards | Second place, Sculpture, Ipswich Art Awards | Finalist Flying Arts Queensland Regional Art
          Awards | Finalist Moreton Bay Regional Art Awards | Ipswich Art Gallery Acquisition Prize, Ipswich Art Awards
2012   Winner The Wayne Kratzman Art Prize, Queensland Regional Art Awards | Highly commended: Sculpture, Ipswich Art Awards
2011   Objects & Mementos exhibition selected to tour as part of the 2012/2013 Artslink Touring Program | Best of Show, Ipswich Art Awards |
          First Place: Sculpture, Ipswich Art Awards
2010   First Place: Photography, Ipswich Art Awards
2009   Highly Commended: Photography, Ipswich Art Awards | Ipswich Art Gallery Acquisition Prize, Ipswich Art Awards

COLLECTIONS:
  • Moreton Bay Regional Council Art Collection, QLD
  • E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, North Carolina, USA
  • City of Ipswich Collection, Ipswich Art Gallery, QLD
  • The University of Southern Queensland Art Collection, QLD
  • Sunshine Coast Collection, Caloundra Regional Art Gallery, QLD
  • SWICH Contemporary Art Space, QLD
  • Wayne Kratzman Collection, QLD
  • Milonvic Neale Consulting Engineers Collection, QLD
  • Private Collections

RESIDENCIES:
2019-23          Artist in residence, 'Wood, Termite, Fungi' Project: University of Miami (2019-2022)
2019-23          Artist in residence, Australian Tropical Herbarium, QLD: Mountain Flora Project (2019-2022)
2019               Creative in Residence, Queensland State Archives (May - September)
2018               Artist in residence Tanks Art Centre, Cairns QLD
2017               The Edge, State Library of Queensland ( http://edgeqld.org.au/design/a-week-in-the-life-of-an-edge-resident/ )
2016               Artist in residence, Science Division, Department of Science, Information, Technology & Innovation
2013 & 14       Artist in residence Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens
2012               Bimblebox Nature Reserve, Artist Camp Residency

PUBLICATIONS + ESSAYS:
2022  ‘Deconstructing Decay: Donna Davis’ DE-compose works’, [Exhibition Essay], by Adjunct Associate Professor Lisa Chandler, University of Sunshine Coast, Australia, August 2022.  To Read: sway.office.com/qWwJWqPfa4zAbQMs?ref=Link

2022 'The Bigger Picture', [Art/Science Collaboration on the Wood, Timber, Fungi Project], by Adjunct Associate Professor Lisa Chandler, University of Sunshine Coast, Australia, August 2022. To Read: sway.office.com/Q4Nig9wosHHenp8m?ref=Link

2021 Artwork essay by Louise Martin-Chew about my work 'TransPLANT [seeking refuge]' presented as part of 'Entwined: People & Plants' exhibition at State Library of Queensland, June - November 2021.
To read:  www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/transplant-donna-davis

2021 Panel Discussion 'Examining the art and science behind When a Tree Falls; exhibition by donna davis'. Donna Davis [artist], Professor Darren Crayn [Director Australian Tropical Herbarium], Dr Amy Zanne [George Washington University] and Adjunct Associate Professor Lisa Chandler [University of Sunshine Coast].
To View: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtzN6iNMd00

2019 Chandler, L & Davis, D., 'Unseen: an art-science collaboration exploring the dynamics of hidden ecosystems', Special Section: Abstracts from the Spectra 2018 Symposium: Interspecies. Leonardo just Accepted publication 16 September, 2020. doi:10.1162/leon_a_01971
To View: www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/leon_a_01971

2018 TEXT Special Issue no 52, 'Anticipatory Imaginaries: Dialogues between academic research and the creative imagination' edited by Marcus Bussey, Lisa Chandler, Gary Crew and Rachel Robertson, October 2018. 'Where do all the faeries live? The future off biodiversity in a rapidly changing world'. Nigel Fechner, Lisa Chandler and Donna Davis.
To Read: www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue52/Fechner&Chandler&Davis.pdf

2017 'The Purga Story' by Nigel Fechner Senior Mycologist, Queensland Herbarium & 'Reciprocal Wonderlands' by Beth Jackson, Arts Curator, Artfully (Unseen Exhibition).
To Read: https://donnadavisartist.weebly.com/unseen-essay.html

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