Platform, 2008, mixed media, Sydney College of the Arts Gallery, 3m x 4m approx. Photo:Peter Endersbee. Image subject to Copyright.
NEWS
Short listed public art commission, UofT, Toronto, Canada
Battle of the Majestic Beings, Opening July 18th, Wil Aballe Art Projects, Vancouver, Canada
For the love of petroleum, Opening Saturday July 20th, 3-5pm, Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Sydney, Australia, Exhibition runs til August 4, 2024
52 Artists 52 Actions (curated by Talia Linz, Artspace), Gladstone Regional Gallery, Gladstone, Queensland
Limited Edition artist's perfume of the Four Directions, 2022, available at The Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada or email me for orders in Sydney, Australia
July 2024 Socially Engaged Workshops Seaton House, Public Art, Commissioned, George Street Public Art, Toronto, Canada, 2022-2024
BIOGRAPHY
Rolande (Wassay) Souliere became a visual artist after moving to Sydney in the late 1990s and enrolling in a BVA at Sydney College of the Arts. Prior to this, Souliere's artistic expression was embedded in her Anishinaabe culture where she learned many aspects of her culture by attending, as child and up to her teens, a First Nations afterschool program, sponsored by the Canadian government. This experience is ingrained in Souliere's work, where repetitive processes of wrapping, weaving, stacking, stitching and layering, and the use of tactile and colourful materials are utilised to address the social, political, and cultural aspects of Indigeneity internationally and globally.
Souliere's interest in this position stems from the concept of the transnational - a way of understanding art that encourages the idea that art and its histories are interconnected beyond its point of origin. Her unique position of working on Gadigal Land of the Eora Nation (Sydney, Australia), traveling several times a year to Turtle Island (North America) to participating in exhibitions, working with communities and visiting family, situate her within an interconnectedness of contemporary art, Indigenous cultures and communities: This unique situation provides a long-term and continual ideological engagement with Indigenous alliances on a transnational scale.
Souliere's technique combines abstraction and the assisted readymade with handmade processes to discuss Indigenous narratives internationally. Construction road tape, reflective road signage, automible headlights and brake lights, variable message boards, construction road materials and household items are her trademarks. These universal materials are stripped from their usual context, manipulated and repurposed into dynamic installations.
In 2021, Artspace Sydney commissioned her for "52 Artists 52 Actions" and she is also included in the group exhibition "States of Collapse" at Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, Canada. In 2020, The Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver and Translink BC commissioned her for three large scaled site specific temporary public art works including a double length public transportation bus. Other permanent and temporary public art commissions include "Indigenous Womxn Banner Project", 2019, Mediating the Treaties (2017-2018) by The City of Winnipeg and Bringing Back Wabakinine, (2015) commissioned by the City of Toronto, Canada.
Socially engaged art is also part of Souliere's art practice. She has worked with several Indigenous communities, with Tlacolulokos Collective in Mexico (2021), in North America and Australia on her Collage of Indigenization social art project (2013-2018) and an international street project, Coyote Responds: I like America and America likes me, (2016-2018) in Toronto, Berlin, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Sydney for Or Gallery, Berlin.
Souliere's Phd titled Toward an Indigenous History: Indigenous Art Practices from Contemporary Australia and Canada was well received as providing expert knowledge (both practically and scholarly) in the field of Indigeneity in a contemporary international context. The study was rooted in contemporary art theory that deployed a transnational and transcultural approach. This approach highlighted the striking parallels between First Peoples' colonial histories and visual art practices in the context of two settler-colonial states: Australia and Canada.
Souliere is Anishinaabe, member of Michipicoten First Nation, born and raised in Toronto, Canada and an Australian citizen, she works between Australia and Canada. Souliere has a Phd, MVA and BVA from Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney.
CV
| Education | |
| 2013-2017 | Doctorate of Philosophy (Phd), Visual Arts, Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney |
| 2005-2006 | Masters of Visuals Arts (Painting), Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney |
| 2000-2004 | Bachelor of Visual Arts, Honours (Painting), Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney |
| Selected Solo Exhibitions | |
| 2024 | Battle of the Majestic Beings, Wil Aballe Art Projects, Vancouver, Canada |
| 2024 | Artist in Residence, Griffin Art Projects, Vancouver, Canada |
| 2021 | Slangsextalkdrugsandotherrelatedmatters, Schmick Contemporary, Sydney, NSW |
| 2019 | Form and Content II, Forest City Gallery, London, Canada |
| 2019 | Frequent Stopping Part V and VI, Contemporary Art Gallery (curated by Kimberly Phillips), Vancouver, Canada |
| 2017-18 | Form and Content, (curated by Manuela Well Off Man), IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Art, Sante Fe, New Mexico |
| 2017 | Coyote Responds: I Like America and America Likes Me, (curated by Jonathan Middleton), Or Gallery, Vancouver, Toronto and Berlin |
| 2011 | CrossRoads, Urban Shaman, Winnipeg, Canada |
| 2010 | I am JUST not that good at following directions, The New Gallery, Calgary, Canada |
| 2009 | GPS-(The Good Red Road), Peloton, Sydney, NSW |
| 2008 | Materiality and Otherness, Grunt Gallery (curated by Daina Warren), Vancouver, Canada |
| 2007 | Binessiwags in Da House, Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, NSW |
| 2007 |
Connections/Disconnections, Firstdraft, Sydney, NSW |
| 2005 | Materiality, Exit gallery, Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW |
| 2004 | Bahn Trang, Space 3, Sydney, NSW |
| 2003 | Transformation of the Abject into Beauty, newspace, Sydney, NSW |
| Selected Group Exhibitions | |
| 2024 | For the love of petroleum, (curated by Lucy Merrett), Chrissie Cotter, Sydney, Australia |
| 2024 | 52 Artists, 52 Actions, Museum & Art Gallery of NT, Darwin, Australia |
| 2024 | 52 Artists, 52 Actions, Gladstone Regional Art Gallery, Gladstone, Queensland |
| 2024 | Frybread as Fok, Emily Carr University Commons Gallery, Vancouver, Canada |
| 2023 | Candy Apple Grey, (curated by Sebastian Goldspink), China Heights, Sydney, Australia |
| 2023 | 52 Artists, 52 Actions, Jervis Bay Maritime Museum, Jervis Bay, Australia |
| 2023 | 52 Artists, 52 Actions, Wangarrata Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia |
| 2022 | Scents of Movement Scents of Place, (curated by Lindsey Sharman), Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada |
| 2022 | 52 Artists, 52 Actions, Bega Vallery Regional Gallery, Bega Valley, Australia |
| 2022 | 52 Artists 52 Actions, Penrith Regional Art Gallery, Penrith, NSW |
| 2022 | Humm & Buzz, Neo Lite Gallery, Sydney, Australia |
| 2021 | Indigenous Womxn Banner Project, temporary public art (curated by Red Embers) at Ashbridges Bay, Toronto, Canada |
| 2021 | Indigenous Crossroads, with Tlacolulokos Collective, commissioned mural by the Canadian Embassy Mexico, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| 2021 | States of Collapse, (curated by Wendy Peart), Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, Canada |
| 2021 | 52 Artists 52 Actions, (curated by Talia Linz), commissioned, (travelling), Artspace, Sydney, Australia |
| 2020 | Society, Art Metropole, (curated by Jonathan Middleton), Toronto, Canada |
| 2020 | The Auto Show, United Contemporary, Toronto, Canada |
| 2020 | Frolic Freeze, Articulate, Sydney, Australia |
| 2019 | Indigenous Womxn Banner Project, temporary public art (curated by Red Embers) at Allen Gardens, Toronto, Canada |
| 2018 | How Far Do You Travel?, (curated by Kimberly Phillips), Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada |
| 2018 | niigaankwewag, (curated by Rheanne Chartrand), Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada |
| 2017 | Language of Puncture, (curated by Joi Arcand), Gallery 101, Ottawa, Canada |
| 2017 | Future Memories (Present Tense):Contemporary Practices in Perspective, (curated by Lorenzo Fusi), Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Calgary, Canada |
| 2017 | How to Picture Living Systems No. 2, (curated by Petra Maitz) KLI, Vienna, Austria |
| 2016 | Degree Examinations, Sydney College of the Arts Galleries, Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney, NSW |
| 2016 | Culture Shift: Contemporary Native Art Biennale, Third Edition, (curated by Mike Patten), Art Mur, Montreal, Quebec |
| 2015 | SNO 115, Sydney, NSW |
| 2015 | Believe not every spirit, but try the spirts, with Mikala Dwyer and Alterbeast, Monash Museum of Art, Caulfield East, Victoria |
| 2015 | Kiss Me Swiss in "Private Collection" (curated by Beata Geyer) WEST Project Space, Hazelbrook, NSW |
| 2014 | SNO 110, Gallery 9, Sydney, NSW |
| 2014 | 20/200 with Mikala Dwyer, Sarah Cottier Gallery,Sydney, NSW |
| 2014 | Beat Nation, (curated by Kathleen Ritter and Tania Willard), Dalhousie Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| 2013 | Beat Nation, (curated by Kathleen Ritter and Tania Willard), Musee d'art Contemporaine, Montreal, Quebec |
| 2013 | Goodnight, Peloton, Sydney, NSW |
| 2013 | Cabinet of Curiosities, Callan Park Gallery, Sydney,NSW |
| 2013 | Sydney Non Objective turns 100, Sydney Non Objective, Sydney, NSW |
| 2012 | Beat Nation, (curated by Kathleen Ritter and Tania Willard), Toronto PowerPlant, Toronto, Canada |
| 2012 | Beat Nation, (curated by Kathleen Ritter and Tania Willard), Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada |
| 2011 | 50-500, Urban Shaman, Winnipeg, Canada |
| 2011 | Mikala Dwyer 'Alphabet for Ghosts' for Alterbeast, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne, VIC |
| 2011 | Finalist, David Harold Tribe Sculpture Prize, Sydney College of the Arts Galleries, Sydney, NSW |
| 2011 | Alterbeast with Mikala Dwyer, Carla Cescon, Tine Havelock Stevens as special guest, Penrith Regional Gallery, Penrith, NSW |
| 2010 | Scotiabank Nuit Blanche (curated by Gerald McMaster), Toronto, Canada |
| 2010 | An Oeuvre both Abundant and Diverse (curated by Brad Buckley), SCA Galleries, Sydney, NSW |
| 2010 | No. 61, (curated by Rhonda Davis and Camila Tellez), S.N.O., Sydney, NSW |
| 2010 | Safari 2010 (curated by Lisa Corsi) Sydney, NSW |
| 2010 | Minus Space, SNO Group Gallery 9, Brooklyn, USA |
| 2009 | No. 50, S.N.O., Sydney, NSW |
| 2009 | Remote Control, Tortuga Studios Gallery, Sydney, NSW |
| 2009 | Fundraiser, The Narrows, Melbourne, NSW |
| 2008 | Finalist Fauvette Loureiro Memorial Artists Travel Scholarship |
| 2008 | Point of Origin (curated by Gary Pearson) Artspace, Sydney, NSW |
| 2007 | Echelon, Peloton, Sydney, NSW |
| 2007 | Smash Hits, Parramatta Studios, Parramatta, NSW |
| 2007 | Square Dance, Firstdraft, Sydney, NSW |
| 2007 | Intermediaries, MOP Projects, Sydney, NSW |
| 2007 | Finalist Helen Lempriere Traveling Art Scholarship, Artspace, Sydney, NSW |
| 2006 | Finalist Helen Lempriere Traveling Art Scholarship, Artspace, Sydney, NSW |
| Conferences /Panel Discussions | |
| 2020 | 22nd Sydney Biennale, Aabaakwad, with Wanda Nanibush, MCA, Sydney Australia |
| 2017 | Locating Ourselves:Revisiting Inclusion in Indigenous Arts, with Suzanne Morrissette, Alberta Collage of Art and Design, Calgary, Alberta |
| 2017 | Aksokgowamoski (Making Relations), Symposium, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, Canada |
| 2017 | Transcultural Collaborations, with Janelle Evans, Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney Australia |
| 2016 | Decolonizing Conference, OISE, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada |
| 2017 | Language as Puncture, with Joi T. Arcand, Gallery 101, Ottawa, Canada |
| 2008 | Point of Origin, with Blair French, Artspace, Sydney, NSW |
| Grants/Awards | |
| 2024 | Longlisted Public Art Commission, Howard Levitt, Toronto, Canada |
| 2023 | Professional Development Grant, National Art School, Sydney, NSW |
| 2022 | Commissioned, George Street Revitalisation Public Art, Toronto, Canada |
| 2021 | Shortlisted, West Donlands Indigenous Public Art, Waterfront Toronto, Toronto, Caanda |
| 2021 | Shortlisted, George Street, Public Art, Toronto, Canada |
| 2021 | Short Term Grant, Canada Council for the Arts, Canada |
| 2021 | Professional Development Grant, National Art School, Sydney, NSW |
| 2020 | Longlisted, Richmond Street, Public Art, City of Toronto, Canada |
| 2018 | Travel Grant, Canada Council for the Arts, Canada |
| 2018 | Shortlisted, Scarlett Road Bridge, Public Art, City of Toronto, Canada |
| 2018 | Shortlisted, Dartmouth Sports Complex, Halifax, Canada |
| 2017 | Mediating the Treaties, Public Art Commission, Indigenous Sculpture Park, Winnipeg Art Council, Winnipeg and City of Winnipeg, Canada |
| 2016 | Shortlisted, Indigenous Sculpture Park, Winnipeg Art Council and City of Winnipeg, Canada |
| 2016 | Sydney University Postgraduate Research Support Scheme Grant, Sydney, NSW |
| 2015 | Bringing back Wabakinine, Public Art Commission, Bala Underpass, City of Toronto, Canada |
| 2015 | New Work Grant, Canada Council for the Arts, Canada |
| 2015 | Shortlist, Public Art Commission, Bala Underpass, City of Toronto, Canada |
| 2012 | New Work Grant, Canada Council for the Arts, Canada |
| 2012 | Shortlisted, Blake Prize, Sydney, Australia |
| 2011 | Finalist David Harold Sculpture Award, SCA Galleries, Sydney, NSW |
| 2009 | Shortlisted, Urbanest/BatesSmart Public Art, Sydney, NSW |
| 2007 | Marketing Grant, National Association for Visual Arts (NAVA), Sydney, NSW |
| 2007 | Finalist, Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship, Artspace, Sydney, NSW |
| 2004-2006 | Postgraduate Support Scheme Grant, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW |
| 2006 | Finalist, Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship, Artspace,Sydney, NSW |
| 2006 | Shortlisted, RIPE, Art&Australia/ANZ Bank Contemporary Art Award |
| 2006 | Michipicoten First Nation Incentive Grant, Wawa, Ontario, Canada |
| 2005-2006 | Michipicoten First Nation Post Graduate Student Support Scholarship, Wawa, Canada |
| 2000-2004 | Michipicoten First Nation Student Support Scholarship, Wawa, Canada |
| Artist Residencies/Artist Talk/ Mentoring/Workshops | |
| 2024 | Artist talk, Griffin Art Projects, Vancouver, Canada |
| 2024 | International Women's Day - A Shared Table, Lane Cove Gallery, Sydney, Australia |
| 2024 | Workshops, Aboriginal Gathering Place, Emily Carr University, Vancouver, Canada |
| 2022 | Art Gallery of Alberta, Artist Talk, Edmonton, Canada |
| 2021 | Artforum, National Art School, Sydney, Australia |
| 2021 | One Day Mentorship, BFA Honor Students, University of Regina, Regina, Canada |
| 2021 | 15 minute Mentorship, Mentoring Artists for Women's Art (MAWA,) Winnipeg, Canada |
| 2019 | Forest City Gallery, Artist Talk, London, Canada |
| 2019 | Contemporary Art Gallery, Artist Talk, Vancouver, Canada |
| 2018 | This Place, Indigenous Sculpture Park, Artist Talk, Air Canada Park, Winnipeg, Canada |
| 2017 | Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Artist Talk, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, Canada |
| 2017 | Artist in Residence, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, Canada |
| 2017 | University of Calgary, Artist Presentation, Calgary, Canada |
| 2015 | Artist in Residence, Hunan Normal University, Hunan, China |
| 2015 | Canada Council New Work Grant, Canada |
| 2015 | Artist in Residece, Yamaji Art Centre, Geraldton, Western Australia |
| 2015 | Artist in Residence, Roebourne Disrict High, Roebourne, Western Australia |
| 2014 | Artist in Residence, Yamaji Art Center, Geraldton, Western Australia |
| 2014 | Artist in Residence, Barkly Artist Camp, Tennant Creek, Northern Territory |
| 2014 | Artist in Residence, Ngurratjuta Art Center, Alice Springs, Northern Territory |
| 2013 | Artist in Residence, Yamaji Art Center, Geraldton, Western Australia |
| 2013 | Artist in Residence, Artback, Alice Springs, Northern Territority |
| 2012 | Simon Fraser University, Artist Presentation and studio critiques for Masters students, Vancouver, Canada |
| 2011 | University of Manitoba, Artist Presentation, Winnipeg, Canada |
| 2011 | Artist in Residence, The Sofitel on Colllins, Melbourne, VIC |
| 2010 | Artist in Residence, The New Gallery, Calgary, Canada |
| 2008 | Australia National University, Artist Presentation, Canberra, NSW |
| 2008 | University of Newcastle, Artist Presentation, Newcastle, NSW |
| 2008 | Studio Residency, Artspace, Sydney, NSW |
| 2008 | Artist in Residence, University of British Columbia (Okanagan), British Columbia, Canada |
| 2007 | Studio Residency, Firstdraft, Sydney, NSW |
| 2006 | Shortlist, Ripe, Art & Australia/ANZ Private Bank Contemporary Art Award |
| Writings on the Artist: | |
| 2019 | Akimbo, Hit List, https://akimbo.ca/akimblog/rolande-souliere-artist-sydney/ |
| 2019 | Rolande Souliere: Frequent Stopping IV and V by Kimberly Phillips, https://www.contemporaryartgallery.ca/exhibitions/rolande-souliere-frequent-stopping-iv-and-v/ |
| 2019 | Red Embers Public Art Installation at Toronto’s Allan Garden, Canadian Architect, July 2, 2019 https://www.canadianarchitect.com/red-embers-public-art-installation-transforms-torontos-allan-gardens/ |
| 2018 | CBC Radio Interview with Jaime Lee McKenzie, September 28, Winnipeg, Canada |
| 2018 | Finding a Way, curated by Bryan McGee, The Globe and Mail, January 6, 2018, Opinion, p. 4, 6-8 |
| 2018 | Global News, Morning Show, Indigenous Sculpture Park Launch, September 29, Winnipeg, Canada |
| 2018 | Rick Garrett, Michipicoten artist's new installation in New Mexico, Anishinabek News, January11,2018, http://anishinabeknews.ca/2018/01/11/michipicoten-artists-latest-installation-in-new-mexico/ |
| 2018 | Cathy Mattes, Sites of Visual Remedy, catalogue essay, Winnipeg Arts Council, http://winnipegarts.ca/images/uploads/files/Public_Art/THIS_PLACE/Sites_of_Visual_Remedy_text_by_C_Mattes.pdf |
| 2018 | Mop Projects 2003-2016, Publication, Formist, Sydney, NSW |
| 2017 | McDonald's Youth Campaign, television commecial, Skin and Bones Film Company, https://abancommercials.com/ca/vid/750/det/mcdonalds-we-believe-in-canadian-youth-tv-ad-commercial |
| 2017 | U Turn, music video, Warner Music Canada |
| 2017 | Zoom Zoom Magazine, Mazda Motor Corporation |
| 2012 | Beat Nation, Catalogue, Vancouver Art Gallery and Grunt Gallery, November 2012. |
| 2012 | Marsha Lederman, A New Native Art, Globe and Mail, February 29, 2012, p. R1, R3. |
| 2011 | Elizabeth Fortescue, David Harold Tribe Sculpture Prize, The Daily Telegraph, June 6, 2011 |
| 2010 | Nancy Tousley, Artist Doubles her Direction, The Calgary Herald, July 24, 2010 |
| 2010 | S.N.O., Catalogue, S.N.O., Sydney, NSW |
| 2010 | David Garneau, Rolande Souliere's Sign Language, catalogue essay, The New Gallery |
| 2009 | Gary Pearson, ‘Point of Origin: a curatorial essay in seven parts’, Column 3, Artspace Visual Arts Centre Ltd. 2009, p. 15-24. |
| 2009 |
Suzanne Boccalatte and Meredith Jones, Trunk Volume 1: Hair, Sydney: Boccalatte Pty Ltd, 2009, p. 153-155. |
| 2008 |
Skeena Reece, ‘Rolande Souliere’, brunt grunt gallery in print, Issue 4, September 2008, p. 28-31 18. |
| 2008 | Video Interview: ‘Materiality’; Interview with Rolande Souliere http://www.grunt.ca/the-kitchen.html |
| 2008 |
‘Preview’, Canadian Art, Winter 2007, v 24, no. 4, p. 20. |
| 2008 | ‘Art Attack’, Harpers Bazaar, March 2008, p. 385. |
| 2008 | Kevin Griffin, ‘Exhibition opens a door to another world’, The Vancouver Sun, March 13-19, 2008, p. D18. |
| 2008 | ‘Art Exhibition -Rolande Souliere’, Michipicoten First Nation News, March 2008, p. 15. |
| 2008 | ‘Vancouver’, Preview, February/March 2008, p. 41. |
| 2008 | Vancouver< em> 2010 Cultural Olympiad 2008 Program guide, Cultural Olympiad, Vancouver, 2008, p. 107. |
| 2008 | Vancouver Cultural Olympiad, ‘Rolande Souliere Materiality and Otherness’, FRONT Contemporary Art and Ideas, January/February, p. 6. |
| 2007 | Tony D’Fabrici, ‘Intermediaries’, catalogue essay, MOP Projects. Sydney, 2007, p.3. |
| 2007 | ‘Rolande Souliere- Another Artisan of MFN, Michipicoten First Nation News, April, p. 2. |
| 2006 |
Le Flaneur, ‘Rolande Souliere: G&A Studios’, Australian Art Blog, June 4, http://blogon.saatchi-gallery.co.uk |
| 2005 | Rick Garrick, ‘Anishinabe Artist Down Under’, Anishinabek News, April, p. 18. |
| Related Experience | |
| 2022 | Acting Head of Painting, National Art School, Sydney, Australia |
| 2021- | Senior Lecturer (Painting), National Art School, Sydney, Australia |
| 2020 | Lecturer, (Painting), National Art School, Sydney, Australia |
| 2019 | Sessional Academic, (Studio Practice) University of New South Wales, Art and Design, Sydney, Australia |
| 2019-2016 | Sessional Academic, (Painting-Masters Program), National Art School, Sydney, Australia |
| 2012-15 | Sessional Academic, (Painting-Honours Program), National Art School, Sydney, Australia |
| 2013 | Sessional Academic, Sculpture, Performance, Installation (SPI), College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia |
| 2012 | Foundation Studio, Sessional Academic, Painting, Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney |
| 2010 | Foundation Concepts Sessional Academic, Painting, Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney |
| 2009 | Sessional Academic, Studio, Painting, Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney |
| 2008 | Sessional Academic, Studio, Painting, Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney |
| 2003-2004 | ARTPORT, Artists Run Initiatives Committee member, Museums and Galleries, Sydney |
| 2003 | Representative, Board of Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney |
| 2003-2001 | Director, newspace, 680 Darling Street, Sydney, NSW |
Included in Private Collections in Australia and Canada