Sam Watson-Wood is curator, cultural programmer and consultant working across artistic direction, producing and strategy. She is founder and director of Friends with Strangers, an artist-focused cultural organisation that seeks wonder, connection and revolution.
Art Money has enabled me to acquire art, providing me the opportunity to expand my collection over the past decade. By using Art Money I know the complete funds go to the gallery and artist, while allowing me to manage payments comfortably over a ten-month span. It has been an art gift!
Kitty Napanangka, Mina Mina Jukurrpa (Mina Mina Dreaming). Available from Cooee Art Leven
Kitty Napanangka is a member of the Warlpiri community, and keeper of women's lore. This magic painting portrays a Kanakurlangu clan's dream songline, recounting how women journeyed across Country as the sky, earth, night, and day. Through song and dance, they birthed life and creation, leaving it all to be dug up with the karrpanu (digging stick) to nourish knowledge of the Warlpiri homeland.
Nathan Beard, Tropical Flesh (vii). Available from sweet pea
Multi-disciplinary artist, Nathan Beard, draws on his Australian-Thai heritage to explore the intersections of culture and memory, playing with diasporic identity. His work always offers luscious scenes, this piece to me is a like a visceral fragment of a memory in sculptural form.
William Yang, The Story of Joe. Available from Art Atrium
When William Yang captures an event through his photography, regardless of its informality, I feel a sense of inclusion, as though I become a fragment of Sydney's brief history—an insignificant component of this significant archive. This candid portrait manages to encapsulate facets of a transient and intimate connection, exploring emotions of beauty and amusement. I love his gentle approach and forthright perspective.
Ebony Russel, Suspiciously Beautiful Love Tunnel 1. Available from Artereal Gallery
Ebony Russell showcases experimental ceramics. Her intricately piped porcelain creations have a romantic and kitschy charm that to me have the essence of a Marie Antoinette and Ariel love child. These vessels are treasures.
Maria Fernanda Cardosa, Random Pattern of Eucalyptus sp. Flower Buds. Available from Sullivan+Strumpf
Maria Fernanda Cardoso fuses nature, art, science, and technology to create installations, sculptures, performances, and videos. I love this work as it centres the natural world offering a playful and tender introduction to the Eucalyptus flower bud.
Main image credit: Alex the Astronaut