M. Sunflower is a culturally diverse Australian artist who identifies as living with disabilities.
A descendant of the Aboriginal Warmuli people of the Darug Nation, Lebanese post-war migrants, Chinese gold rush miners and UK convicts, M. Sunflower embodies the diverse ancestral legacy of Australia’s painful and complex colonial past.
She holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Photomedia) from Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, and in 2016 was an inaugural recipient in the Emerge Program, an engagement project between the Art Gallery of NSW and Front Up, a Western Sydney based arts and culture program and hub, founded by Ability Options.
She is currently Co-Director at Firstdraft on the 2021-22 Board of Directors, and 2021 projects included: a solo photographic exhibition in June 2021 as part of Artspace Ideas Platform, a Panel Talk for Arts Activated 2021, and exhibition works for Fairfield Museum and Gallery, Off The Wall Gallery, and Accessible Arts. She was a finalist in the Bluethumb Art Prize 2021.
Her interdisciplinary practice encompasses photography, video, multimedia and installation, which she deploys to bring visibility to issues and experiences related to identity, trauma and disability. A strong believer in art as activism, she is founder and curating contributor of Off The Wall Gallery, Sydney, an outdoor and online exhibiting initiative centred on creating opportunities for marginalised artists, including those living with physical and mental disability. She is a strong advocate for human rights and works actively to create opportunities and support for marginalised peoples of all identities.
EDUCATION
2009 Graduated Bachelor of Fine Arts, SCA, USYD
SCHOLARSHIP
1999 Metro Screen Tv & Video Production
SELECTED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2021Recruited to Board of Directors, Firstdraft
2020 Off The Wall Gallery, Curator
2020 OTWG Artists Collective for Artists With Disabilities, Co-ordinator
2019 Obscured Residency, 107 Projects, Hack Sounds x Murmuration
2019-2020 Front Up Co-ordinator and Administrator of GOG!
2019 ReCollection: Interviewing William BIL Anderson, The Art Gallery of NSW
2019 Artist Talks: Asking Difficult Questions, Vivid Art After Hours, AGNSW
2019 Transformers: Creating Change Through Personal Impact, Arts Activated
2019 AwesomeSauce, Vivid Ideas Exchange, MCA Australia
2019 Camera Lucida Drawing Presentation, MCA Australia
2019 GOG! Artist Talk by Artists Living with a Disability and AGNSW, RPA
2017 ANZ Customer Weekend A rtist Demonstration: Optical Reflections,
Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age: Masterpieces from the
Rijksmuseum, A GNSW
2018 MCA Zine Launch, Artist Manifesto, live performance, MCA Australia
2017 AGNSWPanelTalkArtAndHealthConference, AGNSW
2017 Create NSW, FACS Live, Work, Play: NSW the State of Inclusion, ICC Sydney
2016 Panel Discussion: Front Up Emerge, The Art Gallery of NSW
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2021Firstdraft 2021 Auction, Firstdraft
2021 “2021″, Fully accessible online exhibition in collaboration with Allison Reynolds and Accessible Arts. Part of Arts Activated Conference.
2021Fearless Fat, Artspace
2020OTWG Collective , Off The Wall Gallery
2019 Obscured Showing, 107 Projects, Hack Sounds x Murmuration
2019 GOG! Showcase, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital 12th March
2018 Get Out Of The Garret Launch, Suitcase Popup, Art Gallery of NSW
2018 PACT Salon: The Wild Things
2018 IlluminARTe Wollondilly 2018
2017-18 Recovery In Art, Being, Mental Health Commission, Gladesville
2017 Recovery In Art, Being, NSW Parliament House
2017 Live, Work, Play: NSW the State of Inclusion, ICC, Sydney
2016 Makers Matter, Gaffa Gallery
2016 I’m Still Here, Barangaroo, Front Up, AGNSW, and Ability Options
About the artist
M. Sunflower is a culturally diverse Australian artist who identifies as living with disabilities.
A descendant of the Aboriginal Warmuli people of the Darug Nation, Lebanese post-war migrants, Chinese gold rush miners and UK convicts, M. Sunflower embodies the diverse ancestral legacy of Australia’s painful and complex colonial past.
She holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Photomedia) from Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, and in 2016 was an inaugural recipient in the Emerge Program, an engagement project between the Art Gallery of NSW and Front Up, a Western Sydney based arts and culture program and hub, founded by Ability Options.
She is currently Co-Director at Firstdraft on the 2021-22 Board of Directors, and 2021 projects included: a solo photographic exhibition in June 2021 as part of Artspace Ideas Platform, a Panel Talk for Arts Activated 2021, and exhibition works for Fairfield Museum and Gallery, Off The Wall Gallery, and Accessible Arts. She was a finalist in the Bluethumb Art Prize 2021.
Her interdisciplinary practice encompasses photography, video, multimedia and installation, which she deploys to bring visibility to issues and experiences related to identity, trauma and disability. A strong believer in art as activism, she is founder and curating contributor of Off The Wall Gallery, Sydney, an outdoor and online exhibiting initiative centred on creating opportunities for marginalised artists, including those living with physical and mental disability. She is a strong advocate for human rights and works actively to create opportunities and support for marginalised peoples of all identities.
EDUCATION
2009 Graduated Bachelor of Fine Arts, SCA, USYD
SCHOLARSHIP
1999 Metro Screen Tv & Video Production
SELECTED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2020 Off The Wall Gallery, Curator
2020 OTWG Artists Collective for Artists With Disabilities, Co-ordinator
2019 Obscured Residency, 107 Projects, Hack Sounds x Murmuration
2019-2020 Front Up Co-ordinator and Administrator of GOG!
2019 ReCollection: Interviewing William BIL Anderson, The Art Gallery of NSW
2019 Artist Talks: Asking Difficult Questions, Vivid Art After Hours, AGNSW
2019 Transformers: Creating Change Through Personal Impact, Arts Activated
2019 AwesomeSauce, Vivid Ideas Exchange, MCA Australia
2019 Camera Lucida Drawing Presentation, MCA Australia
2019 GOG! Artist Talk by Artists Living with a Disability and AGNSW, RPA
2017 ANZ Customer Weekend A rtist Demonstration: Optical Reflections,
Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age: Masterpieces from the
Rijksmuseum, A GNSW
2018 MCA Zine Launch, Artist Manifesto, live performance, MCA Australia
2017 AGNSWPanelTalkArtAndHealthConference, AGNSW
2017 Create NSW, FACS Live, Work, Play: NSW the State of Inclusion, ICC Sydney
2016 Panel Discussion: Front Up Emerge, The Art Gallery of NSW
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2019 Obscured Showing, 107 Projects, Hack Sounds x Murmuration
2019 GOG! Showcase, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital 12th March
2018 Get Out Of The Garret Launch, Suitcase Popup, Art Gallery of NSW
2018 PACT Salon: The Wild Things
2018 IlluminARTe Wollondilly 2018
2017-18 Recovery In Art, Being, Mental Health Commission, Gladesville
2017 Recovery In Art, Being, NSW Parliament House
2017 Live, Work, Play: NSW the State of Inclusion, ICC, Sydney
2016 Makers Matter, Gaffa Gallery
2016 I’m Still Here, Barangaroo, Front Up, AGNSW, and Ability Options
2016 Sydney’s Smallest Gallery 2016, Nauti Studios
2015-16 Recovery In Art, Being, NSW Mental Health Commission
2000-01 Northern Exposure, Mosman Art Gallery
SELECTED CURATORSHIPS
2016 Modern Princess by Edull, Off The Wall Gallery, St Peters
2016 MaryCry Art Exhibition, Off The Wall Gallery, St Peters
2016 Freedom From Perception by Deb Chilton, Off The Wall Gallery, St Peters
2015 A Very Merry Gallery Warming, Off The Wall Gallery, St Peters
2011-13 I Heart Gallery, Newtown & Ulladulla
2012 Off The Wall, Sydney Fringe Festival
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2017 M. Sunflower’s Artist Manifesto: An #ArtForAnxiety Colouring Book,
Book Machine (Sydney) II, Artspace, Woolloomoolloo
2017 The Disability Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP) 2017–20, AGNSW
2017 Being, Artist Stories, 23 August
2016 Mornings with Wendy Harmer, 702 Sydney 14 November
2015 Recovery In Art, Sydney Morning Herald