Inside The Path 2025: A First Look at New Work
2025 was another stellar year for The Path led by Dr Kellie O’Dempsey. This year’s cohort included Tia Carrigan, Ofa Fanaika, Sophie Farquhar, Shae Gregg, Pippa Makgill, Megan Robinson, Dimitie Smith, Julia Rose van Haren and Amy Vowles and they came together at UniSC Art Gallery to offer a first look at their individual projects they have been investigating. The showing marked the culmination of several months of workshops, mentoring and peer exchange.
Throughout the program participants have been supported to refine their ideas, test materials and processes, and build confidence speaking about their work.
Each artist delivered a short presentation outlining the focus of their practice and the direction of their current project. Presentations included early experiments, reference material and images of works-in-progress, giving the audience a clear insight into the thinking behind each emerging body of work.
The artists have been exploring ideas connected to place, memory, cultural inheritance, identity, ecological change, embodied experience and personal narrative. The presentations highlighted the breadth of approaches across the cohort from drawing, painting and collage to photography, sculpture, projection, mixed-media installation, and experimental processes involving erasure, texture, found materials and light.
The showing functions as an opportunity for participants to articulate their conceptual thinking, discuss methods they have been testing, and share the questions guiding their current direction. Many presentations reflected expanded research, shifts in medium, and new connections formed during the program, demonstrating how peer exchange and critical dialogue have shaped the development of each project.
“The Path nurtures brave, curious, generous artists. Every cohort deepens my belief in what shared practice can ignite towards professional practice.”
— Kellie O’Dempsey, Artist & Facilitator of The Path
Alumni, mentors, arts workers and supporters from across the region came together in an informal atmosphere to meet and discuss the projects with the cohort. The showing provided a valuable moment for participants to test language around their work, gather feedback and connect with peers and industry.
As the program draws to a close, artists will continue developing their projects independently, informed by insights from the showing and the foundational skills built throughout The Path. We look forward to seeing how each project evolves as the cohort moves into the next stage of their practices.
R|The Path is delivered as part of The Refinery, SCCA’s platform of professional development programs designed to support creative practitioners working at the intersection of art, technology, environment and design.
Supported by Major Partners: the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, Sunshine Coast Council through the Regional Arts Development Fund, the Creative Ecologies Research Cluster at UniSC, and Media Partners In Publishing (IN Noosa Magazine and Hello Sunshine Magazine)