AustLit

Nien Schwarz is a visual artist working on Palawa Country in Lutruwita (Tasmania). She was the ANU Canberra School of Art’s first doctoral candidate (1999) and subsequently taught sculpture and environmental art at Edith Cowan University (2000–2018), where she is currently an Honorary Senior Lecturer. Nien’s participation in remote geoscience mapping expeditions, as a cook with the Geological Survey Precambrian Division across Canada’s arctic (1981–92), and in Western Australia since 1993 as field assistant, underpin her multidisciplinary arts practice. Her works are infused with the ground beneath her feet, particularly sites associated with extractive economies and colonisation. Her eclectic practice spans constructed textiles, sculpture, print media, video, site-specific installations. She intends to provoke consideration of where we come from, where we are, who we are, what we’ve done and what will sustain us all into the future. Significant exhibitions include the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial 2021; Japan and Australia Sculpture Exchange (Gomboc Gallery, Choju Contemporary Art, Kyoto, Kaede Gallery, Osaka); Dialogues with Landscapes (UWA Perth Festival 2011); Over My Shoulder (2006 solo Perth Institute of Contemporary Art); Promised Land (2001 solo for the Perth International Arts Festival). Commissions include the Canberra Museum & Gallery lift and the Perth Core Library. She has written for Artlink and Art Monthly Australia. (AXON: Creative Explorations 13.1)