Press Release Mixed Blessing Mercure Hotel Ballarat exhibition 7 June – 8 July 2018 Opening Thursday, 7 June 2018 at 6pm Mixed Blessings is an exciting exhibition of work by 12 artists from Ballarat and district, convened by well-known musician and painter Diokno Pasilan. He is showing a large energetic painting in the manner of…
Come see my work on exhibition at the Annual Soldiers Hill Artist Collective (SHAC) – Ballarat Art Walk – two weekends of open studios and exhibitions scattered around Soldiers Hill suburb of Ballarat, part of Ballarat Heritage Week and the Australian Heritage Festival. Join us at the Launch of our Art Walk event on Friday…
Always wanted to capture the bats and here they are! East Gippsland Gallery in Bairnsdale. Current exhibition Land Water Sky presented by East Gippsland Art Gallery in partnership with East Gippsland Shire Council, acknowledges the cultural contribution of Aboriginal people in this region. It features work of important indigenous artists like Ray Thomas, Ronald Edwards-Pepper…
Breckin, which means freckled, is the moniker of Melbourne-based visual artist, poet and singer-songwriter, Heather Marsh. Her debut album, Shiner, is both bruised and brilliant. It illuminates and holds an oblique mirror to the perennial subject of love and loss in a series of songs that are equal parts elegy, sympathy card and therapy session.…
Recent epic road trip with a Paynesville-based writer Mim Cook took me to the most isolated north-eastern part of the Victorian rainforest in Errinundra National Park, Lake Tyers General Store where owner and Screaming Jets guitarist Scott Kingman and partner Lyndy lead a tree change life away from the city and the new Port of Sale Gallery…
Miron & Maria Baskakov are the owners of Sweet and Savoury on Sturt and are really supportive on featuring local Ballarat artists. On the walls are my works from “My Australia My Journey’ exhibition featuring local Ballarat personalities. Feel free to share and recommend the works to other venues – I’d love them to be circulating rather than…
•••HAPPY HARMONY WEEK!••• Celebrating Culture Diversity Week in Bairnsdale with a display outside the Library on Service St called All of Us, which aims to feature newly arrived migrants. Simply not enough wall space to feature so many stories and people of different cultural backgrounds I was able to connect with in just a few…
My “Unicorns are real” artwork has been shortlisted to 2018 Art Lovers Prize and exhibition at Left Bank Gallery, Southport, Queensland. It’s a great honour. Please help me win the Main Prize (6k) and win something for yourself too: vote for ‘Unicorns are real’ & Win the Art Lovers Australia – Subscriber Voting Prize- all…
I’m very pleased to announce that my photographic and sculptural work from In the Process of Healing exhibition has been chosen for the final of Contemporary Art Awards in Australia. In the Process of Healing is an immersive installation of photography, sound and space. It tells a story of hope and survival of a local refugee family, exhibited…
Airbnb Based On A True Review For all who love sharing your homes to strangers…Wow, it is worth facing your fears! Few months ago I took part in an international writing contest by an online hospitality service Airbnb and wrote a short story about my first ever hosting experience on Airbnb. My very first guest was…
Ballarat artist Aldona Kmiec’s exhibition reflects on trauma and healing (click to read) Photographer Aldona Kmiec’s exhibition reflects on trauma and healing Michelle Smith 9 Aug 2017, 5:30 p.m. Healing after trauma and distress is a long and often arduous path but life can begin anew and photographer Aldona Kmiec has created a striking exhibition…
Finucane & Smith world premiere of “The exotic lives of Lola Montez” at Her Majesty’s Theatre Ballarat. www.finucaneandsmith.com/the-exotic-lives-of-lola-montez/ Theatre photography: Lola Montez
In The Process of Healing is a site-specific immersive installation of photography, sound and space which attempts to remove the stigma around trauma and normalise conversations that are difficult. ‘In the Process of Healing’ tells a story of hope and survival. Responding to the stories of institutional abuse and high rates of suicide, I have…
Dreamscapes are Aldona Kmiec’s new and ongoing photographic series. Aldona’s use of photography brings the viewer a unique perspective of the Australian landscape and explores her interest in the feminine psyche. Limited edition photographs of staged performances with romantic scenes of local art heroes emerging from an ever-changing landscape are part of the Dreamscapes series. Elusive unicorn in a…
Who is Looking at You Portrait Prize In it’s fifth year, the Who is Looking at You? 2018 Portrait Prize offers audiences a broad cross section of portraiture. With the competition open to most mediums, the resulting exhibition offers a unique view at what could be considered a portrait. My portrait of a family titled “Invisible Lives‘…
Raymond Island Photo Walk is a concept photography class run by local artist Aldona Kmiec, showcasing unique Raymond Island habitat and bringing attention to endangered wildlife on the island. Aldona hopes to establish regular art classes in Bairnsdale area, if you’re interested in teaming up, please get in touch. Raymond Island Photo Walk
I’m very excited to have been selected for 2018 Gippsland Leadership Program – Australia’s longest running Community Leadership Program. Stay tuned for more updates in the next 10 months. I look forward to discovering the Gippsland region, challenge accepted!
East and West, or in between, these words succinctly describe me in one sentence. I was born in the communism era of late seventies Poland. It was tough. Growing up, I noticed that people around me have always desired change, yet often did not act on their instinct. Many simply didn’t have the means to…
