Australian Women Artists

The Podcast

Episode 3 eX de Medici

I should start by saying that eX de Medici is a very private person (but very generous - delicious pastries and coffee on arrival!). She eschews social media, is very private about her personal life, and rarely allows herself to be photographed (or filmed). Her art does the talking for her. I was very fortunate to therefore have this opportunity to have this wonderful conversation with her in her fabulous studio in Canberra.

eX de Medici’s paintings have been described as ‘a mirror to society's ills, using beauty to draw viewers into confronting uncomfortable truths about violence, corruption, and environmental destruction’.

The paintings are beautifully crafted, meticulous, symbolic, and address difficult themes. She deliberately chooses watercolours to work with - which is apparently considered a 'woman's medium' - literally and figuratively weaponising those watercolours to fight conservatism.

And the use of watercolours was a by product of her government grant to head to LA to study tattooing in the 80's. All of which had her the subject of fierce debate in a Senate Estimates Committee.

She grew up in Canberra in the midst of punk and experimental art - and the influences on her work are obvious.

It's a fascinating story.

She has exhibited extensively across Australia and internationally, and her pieces are held in major collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, and various state galleries. She has won the National Works on Paper prize and has been a finalist in several prestigious awards, including the Dobell Prize for Drawing, the National Self-Portrait Prize, and the Singapore Art Prize. But, and I’m hazarding a guess here, I suspect she is just as pleased with the difficult conversations her work provokes.

Head to the link in my bio to hear our conversation for Australian Women Artists

Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Ep. 2 Tamara Dean

Tamara Dean is a critically acclaimed Australian photo media artist whose practice encompasses photography, installation, and moving image. She is known for her evocative and often surreal photography, particularly her series that explore themes of nature, human interaction, and the environment...almost like her subjects are in an intimate relationship with nature.

She has received numerous awards including the Goulburn Art Prize, the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize, the Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award and the Olive Cotton Award. She is a three-time finalist of the National Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery and her work has been acquired by the National Gallery of Australia, Parliament House Art Collection, Art Gallery of South Australia; Artbank Australia and the Francis J. Greenburger Collection, New York, amongst others.

There's a beautiful, often ethereal quality to her work and, as I mentioned, many of the scenes are set against the immensity of nature. You can feel the story behind a lot of these works.

This conversation took place just before her exhibition The Flower Duet (7 Feb-8 March 2025) at Michael Reid Gallery in Sydney. It's sooo worth seeing. Michael Reid describes it as her 'magnificent entanglements of human and natural worlds reaching a wild crescendo with her operatic new series of lushly romantic, hyper-floral photographs, The Flower Duet – a landmark body of work in which lithe figures plunge through prismatic thresholds in a dazzling pas de deux with camellias, roses and other blooms.'

You can have a sneak peak going to her instagram @tamaradean

Just a heads up about the zoom sound - my sound, not so good (you'll still understand it all), Tamara's is good. And that's the important voice.

Image of Tamara , Jack Sewell

Image in video: Ebenezer Rock Drop, 2015 archival pigment print on cotton rag. 150x200cm unframed of 3+1 AP

Tamara is represented by Michael Reid (@michaelreidart)

Head to the link in my bio to have a listen to our conversation. Really enjoyed this. Alternatively, head to where you get your podcasts and search 'Australian Women Artists'.

Follow me on @australianwomenartists and the sister account @reallyinterestingwomen and you won't miss out on anything.

Australian Women Artists

The Podcast

Episode 1

Jo Bertini

Jo Bertini is a painter, art educator, lecturer and writer. She is known internationally for her paintings and drawings of desert landscapes here in Australia as well as India and the US.

She’s not only a landscape painter but she’s a highly regarded portrait painter having been shortlisted for the prestigious Portia Geach Memorial Award at least 14 times (I say ‘at least’ as I tried counting them, but I suspect there’s more).

Arthouse Gallery describes her work thusly (?): Jo Bertini’s paintings traverse well-worn landscapes in an exploration of the true nature of wilderness. Drawing from the traditions of artists on scientific and ecological survey expeditions into the most remote and inaccessible regions, Bertini celebrates her long and intimate engagement with the desert. Her work bears witness to natural and human histories of nomadism observing the seasonal rhythm of landscapes and the people connected to them. With loose yet refined brushwork, Bertini depicts the fragile beauty of the world's remote desert landscapes connecting to what is seen and felt within. An innate longing that she expresses through her visceral, emotive paintings that serve as an act of devotion to the natural world.

It's stunning really. And the conversation was so engaging. Jo thought she might have 'gone on a bit' and that I could cut bits out. I tried....I couldn't. It was so interesting.

Her work has been acquired by private and public collections both nationally and internationally and is on display in many public art galleries, museums and institutions.

Head to the link in my bio to hear our conversation. Alternatively, search in Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Enjoy!

Video photo image: Thomas Studer

Hi everyone, welcome to the trailer for Australian Women Artists. My name is Richard Graham. You may know me from my podcast Really Interesting Women which I started in 2020. It has since evolved into a popular Instagram account by the same name.

It was from that project that Australian Women Artists evolved. After interviewing and profiling a number of Australian women artists I became more aware of just how underrepresented and undervalued they were and are in this country despite the stunning artistic works that have been produced since the mid nineteenth century.

I wanted to shine a light on those works by talking to the artists themselves, to experts on artists from history as well as covering many other topics and events of interest.

Given that my other project is called Really Interesting Women and this project is focussing on Australian Women Artists, I’ve been asked a number of times how I found myself in this women’s rights/gender equality space and it’s because, firstly, the injustices should concern everyone, but secondly, in 2000 my wife and I swapped roles and I became the primary carer for our 3 young daughters, the youngest of whom was 7 months old. She’s nearly 25 now. I decided to lean in to that fairly unique (for the time) first-hand experience by highlighting the incredible contributions women have made, not only to my life, but to this country as a whole.

This project is for artists and art lovers and art curious. I’m hopefully asking the questions even non artists (like me) would want to hear.

The new Instagram account is, unsurprisingly, @australianwomenartists and the podcast (by the same name) will be published on all major platforms such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify as well as many others. I’d love you to follow that account and the podcast.

It’s been a revelation to me and even Katy Hessel who wrote the international best seller, The Story of Art Without Men, wrote about the Australian Women Artists she discovered while visiting here recently...I feel like my art history has been overturned.

Tune in and follow me and you’ll see what all the fuss is about. Hope to see you very soon.

Richard