Meet Louise Marson (she/her) who is curating a disability-led exhibition responding to the Climate Emergency this July.
Louise Marson Studio Collingwood Yards. Photo by Pamela Kleeman-Passi
What kind of art do you make?
I usually work as a visual artist using natural recycled stone such as marble, travertine, slate and limestone to create mosaic panels and assemblage.
The individual marble tesserae resonate a powerful voice of mental health and wellness. The art process of the stone is cut and faceted. Pulling together found as well as unexpected materials my art shares diversity of our community and the beneficial experience of having a disability lens.
I exhibit the panels in galleries as smaller wall hangings as well as large public installations. I also work as a curator with a show I am putting together upcoming at the CLIMARTE Gallery in July.
How long have you been making art?
In 2016 I commenced my first mosaic and reflected on powerful Gaudi images from my Barcelona travels in the early nineties.
Louise Marson Studio Collingwood Yards. Photo by Pamela Kleeman-Passi.
What kind of art have you made in the past?
I have made painting, collage, drawings with charcoal, oil pastel, acrylic on paper and canvas. Some of this older work is featured on my website for anyone to have a look at.
What art are you working on right now?
At the moment I am putting together an exhibition at the CLIMARTE Gallery in Richmond that will showcase the unique lens that Disability provides around the issues on climate change. Expressions of interest are still open if any artists are interested in applying due by 16th June. Email me or message on instagram for more information!
As part of my masters of public space at RMIT I am working on a major public art project called ‘Corporeal Discards’ funded by Creative Victoria. This project will involve an installation of my mosaic assemblages in a public setting. It combines material from Metro Tunnels Archaeological Discards integrated with my own repurposed Mosaic works.
Louise Marson Studio Collingwood Yards. Photo by Pamela Kleeman-Passi.
What are you looking forward to?
I am looking forward to working on ‘Corporeal Discards’ and finding a site for this work to be displayed in public. Through the process of assemblage of the different material discards I will be pulling these elements together in new ways and I am exciting to see what results this process comes up with in the artwork.
For the concept behind this work I am looking at different ways to represent how diverse communities can create change. In response to climate change, I recognise the disability voice as having a unique lens. I am excited to be doing further research into who the disability voice can represent and what the disability voice can achieve in our society.
Do you have any comments or thoughts about your AAV program?
I was first introduced to AAV in a workshop where they introduced to me the NDIS and putting together planning. Since then, with the support of AAV it has both personally and professionally changed my life!
It has meant I have been able to make big changes as my experience as an artist.
I have since been able to advocate for the experience of the disabled community and the importance of sharing recognition for the disability voice.
There is so much value to a disability voice. A lot of people don’t realise that [many] disabilities are invisible, and I want my work to share ways of thinking that are not part of the mainstream table.
I am now in a place where I use the power of art and the disability voice to affect change in our society and bring these voices to the table.
Don’t miss A Disability Lens on the Climate Emergency. Exhibition runs 6 July – 5 August.
Find more of Louise’s work on her website. Follow her on Instagram, @louise.marson.
