MAGNIFY: ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
Magnify is Kingston Arts’ artists in residence program that will host up to 20 artists each year. We’re delighted to welcome another three brilliant artists to the program for May - August 2025, whose shared studios are located at Moorabbin. Throughout their residencies, these artists will experiment with new approaches to their practices, collaborating and creating a nexus of artistic innovation and cultural exchange. Keep an eye out for Open Studios opportunities for your chance to engage in the creativity and innovation of Kingston Arts' talented artists in residence.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Working from Kingston Arts Centre, Moorabbin (From 12 May)
Aimee Harel (she/her)
Artist, writer, photographer and mother
‘Real’ jobs have come and gone; creative expression endured like no other.
Forever drawn to outsider and naive art
How lucky I fell into a role that captured my heart…
Mentoring and sharing with fringe artists - many a kind
I walk into this residency, a new chapter, an open mind.
Unplanned, changing, erratic, my life and art might be
I respond to divine forces within and surrounding me.
40 soon, ageing runs its natural course,
Glad there are poems, photos and paintings that have littered it all.
@aimeeharel_art
Kate Weeks (she/her)
I was born and lived in Scotland till the late 1980's. I migrated to Australia in 1988, where I met my husband, Rob. We have lived in Aspendale, for over thirty years, where we enjoy the community spirit of Mordialloc; and what used to be long runs along the beach, but is now long walks. We have three grown up children, who have all moved out of home.
I am a sculptural ceramic artist who recently studied in Naarm/Melbourne.
I completed a Diploma of Arts (Illustration) at Chisholm Institute of Technology, Melbourne, in 1995. I then returned to study later in life where I completed a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) Honours 1st Class, at RMIT, Melbourne, in 2022, where I won the Alpha 60 Prize. I have recently completed my final year of a Master of Fine Art at The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne.
I started out as a painter at RMIT, but then found clay, through elective study, and I have never looked back. Love having my hands in clay! I am looking forward to this residency at Moorabbin, where I can expand my practice, through play and experimentation.
My slab-built architectural forms draw on happy childhood memories growing up in a low socio-economic brutalist housing scheme, in Cumbernauld, Glasgow, during the 1970’s. My sculptures subvert typical dystopian ideologies of living in social housing, presenting an alternative viewpoint, due to strong community support. The playful forms are imbued with not only a physical, but an emotional resonance.
@kateweeks_ceramics
Naomi Bishop (she/her)
Image credit: Brett Goldsmith
The unexplained and unexplored are recurring themes in the work of Naomi Bishop. She interested in exploring darkness, silence, mysterious events and peripheral, other worldly places. A shared interest in both science and metaphysics, searches for the point at which they might converge and reveal secret knowledge from unseen worlds.
Naomi has been exhibiting internationally since graduating with a Masters of Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art in London in 2003. Internationally her work has been exhibited at London’s Whitechapel Gallery, The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Fondation Hippocrene, and Galerie Nicolas Silin in Paris, Arteles Creative Centre, Finland, The National University of Taiwan, Taipei and CICA Museum, Korea.
Nationally, her work been included in exhibitions at Bendigo Art Gallery, Counihan Gallery, McClelland Gallery, Strange Neighbour, notfair foundation, Brunswick Temporary, in Victoria and Hazlehurst Arts Centre, and Airspace Projects, Sydney She has presented several solo exhibitions at Galerie Nicolas Silin, Paris, and in Melbourne at Blindside, Kings, Rubicon and fortyfive downstairs. Naomi has been a finalist in significant prizes including the Blake Prize, Paul Guest Drawing Prize, Splash Prize for Contemporary Watercolour and the Arthur Guy Painting Prize. She has received grants from Creative Victoria, The Menzies Foundation, The Wellcome Trust and Creative Australia.
@naomi___bishop
Michelle Merrifield (she/her)
Image by Yanni Creative
Michelle Merrifield has a background in Fine Arts and Graphic Design, and works across a variety of mediums, including ceramics, painting photography and digital art.
After completing her Fine Arts degree in South Africa, Michelle started her career as an Illustrator. On arrival in Melbourne Australia, she completed a Graphic Design Diploma and worked as a Graphic Designer, thereafter, moving into freelance illustration and teaching Graphic Design at Tafe.
In 2019, she returned to her love of working in clay full time. In her clay practice she concentrates on hand-built forms, including figurative sculptures which explore ideas of introspection and reflection. She works intuitively with themes, such as the symbolism of fish, which are often reflections of humanity and its fragile connection to nature and the environment.
In 2021 she won the Wrap Major Prize at East Gippsland Art Gallery for Small Sculpture. She exhibits in galleries around Melbourne and has a range of works available online and in occasional specialist markets.
@mishmerrifield
Meet Our past artists in residence
Working from Kingston Arts Centre, Moorabbin
Maja Irene Bolier
My name is Maja Irene Bolier (she/her/they/them), I am a Dutch/Australian interdisciplinary artist. Although my work exists in various themes and mediums, something I feel is ever-present is the 14.784 km between my two lives. This is the amount of distance between the two countries I grew up in. In this space, I became an artist.
In my work you can always find a certain fragmentation of image. A reflection of a life in an in-between state. The feeling of being there, and not there at the same time, meets the longing of not being. My work is an exploration of yearning, identity and distorted sensuality crushed under the weight of half-forgotten childhood memories. The works I create are born out of poetry, through the practice of writing I am lead to image and idea.
I work with various media, including film, textile, collage, writing, sound and performance. What holds my practice together is identity, and the layers of it The search for belonging, whatever that may be. I want to share my stories while helping others discover their own. I make socially engaged work in which people can find themselves, creating a caring space in which we give “the other” room to exist.
@maja.irene.bolier
Romy Durrant
Romy Durrant (she/her) is an artist from Naarm/Melbourne. She is preoccupied with how abstraction can distil places imagined and remembered. “My practice cuts through the societal noise and alienation I experience as a neurodivergent person who identifies as disabled. It is my courage and way to connect.” While at Kingston Arts, Romy will explore ceramics alongside combined painting and writing practice.
@romydurrant
Candy Ng
Growing up in the vibrant city of Hong Kong, surrounded by high-rise buildings, I nurtured my creativity from a young age, often creating art with my dad. After relocating to Melbourne, I am very inspired by the mixture of nature and city in Melbourne, and I often create works about what I see and experience in day-to-day life. As a Fine Art Artist, Live Event Illustrator and Calligrapher, I love expressing my work in a lively, playful, and painterly way.
I have exhibited my art at numerous exhibitions, including the Pullman Hotels and Crown Street Stables. Live events are exciting and dynamic, offering an immediate and interactive experience. I have been fortunate to collaborate with some of the global luxury brands, using my live event illustration and calligraphy to create bespoke, one-of-a-kind personalized products that come to life right in front of the customers' eyes.
Whether painting in my studio or working at live illustration events and weddings, I strive to create art that brings joy and inspiration to those who experience it.
My artist practice involves fine art and live events, including live illustration and calligraphy. I express joy and freedom through expressive brush strokes and bold colours. I experiment with various mediums, currently focusing on oil paints and still life compositions, capturing beautiful, fleeting moments to share with my audience.
@candyngart
Claire Bridge
Claire Bridge is a multidisciplinary artist who explores cultural, ecological and material hybridity across the mediums of sculpture, ceramics, painting, sound and moving image. Incorporating personal biographies and cross-cultural mythologies, she explores notions of the ‘body’ as collective, multiple, relational, and more-than-human.
Claire’s work has been exhibited in every state and territory, including NGV Australia, McClelland Gallery, Lismore Regional Gallery, Art Gallery of WA and Art Gallery of NSW. She was a winner of the acquisitive Maroondah Mayoral Award in 2024. Her practice has been supported by grants from Creative Australia, Creative Victoria and City of Melbourne.
@clairebridge
Surya David White
Surya David White is a French-Australian artist who creates immersive spaces which unite textile, colour, sculpture, light and sound. She studied textile design at ENSAAMA in Paris and design at Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands.
Surya is currently working on ‘Hardtextiles’, a project that reimagines textile art through the medium of plaster. Inspired by the works of Anni Albers and Valentin Schlegel, Surya transforms traditional woven patterns into monumental, solid forms, exploring ornamental architectural practices such as plaster imprinting, moulding and sgraffito.
@suryadavidwhite
Laura Roos
Laura Roos is an emerging artist inspired by the intricate beauty of everyday life. Laura incorporates drawing, painting, relief printing and collage into her works, which celebrate the seemingly mundane. She sees art everywhere – whether it be in early morning beach walks or the mist rising over the local oval – and invites viewers to reflect on these subtle wonders alongside her.
@lauraroos.artful
Andreea-Monica Sfarlea
Andreea-Monica Sfarlea (monamure art) is a visual artist who earned her oil painting diploma in 1997 and rekindled her artistic passion after a 25-year hiatus. Her vibrant and introspective work explores themes of healing, resilience, and social justice, drawing from her diverse experiences growing up under an oppressive communist regime and living and working on three continents. Andreea's art reflects a deep engagement with both historical and personal narratives of trauma and recovery.
Her work has been exhibited in Europe and Australia, where she uses her platform to inspire, empower, and connect with audiences. Andreea's art offers a unique perspective that resonates deeply with collectors and enthusiasts, blending abstract and figurative elements to capture the complexities of human emotion and the transcendent beauty of the natural world. Through her art, she aims to foster healing and encourage dialogue around the themes and events that shape our lives.
@monamureart
Daril Atkins
Daril Atkins is a qualified sculptor and certified clinical anaplastologist. Daril began honing his artistic skills in sculpting from 1965, though for much of his life, Daril’s talents found a scientific application: he created lifelike medical prostheses from silicone for 54 years.
Nowadays, Daril is exploring the artistic potential of upcycled cardboard and paper, turning waste into intricate sculptures. Daril’s artistic remit is diverse – he has also published two fiction novels and is preparing to release a book of verses.
@lyradnikta
Jayne McSwiney
Jayne McSwiney is an artist who works within drawing, photography, video, scent and performance. Informed by personal experience and research, Jayne’s recent work delves into the realms of mysticism and storytelling, focusing on threshold places: the intersections between the divine and the human, sleep and awakeness, night and day.
Jayne’s work has been exhibited at galleries such as Holmes a Court, May Space and MPRG. She is the winner of the prestigious Fiona Myer Award for excellence.
@jayne_mcswiney
Lori Hakim
Lori Hakim is a contemporary jeweller and object maker. Influenced by vintage colour combinations, bold patterns and kitsch objects, Lori makes jewellery with strong silhouettes and distinctive personality. She fuses traditional and contemporary techniques, incorporating enamelling, casting, painting and 3D printing into her practice.
Lori finds joy in the movement, details and personal aspect of making. Her current work is centred around colour, humour and repetition.
@lori.hakim
Merel MAY Tieland
Merel MAY Tieland is a Dutch artist with a background in drawing, painting and photography. Today her primary medium is oil painting. Merel uses classic techniques with modern ease, navigating the line between impressionism and realism.
She has a deep-rooted affinity for the outdoors and believes deeply in exposing nature’s wonders – to remind us how beautiful the world could be.
@merel_may_tieland
Belinda Wilson
Belinda Wilson is a visual artist whose practice spans over 20 years. Her paintings explore the Australian landscape, emphasising its fragility and the impact of natural phenomena on the human psyche. Using oils, watercolour and gouache, Belinda highlights the beauty in chaos and our connection to the environment.
Belinda has created bespoke artworks for galleries and private commissions for many years. She has been selected as a finalist for awards including the Omnia Art Prize and Art Olympia International Art Competition.
@belinda_wilson_artist
Arabella Strachan
Arabella Strachan is a textile and mixed media artist and designer, using contemporary and traditional rug-making techniques combined with timber and other collected and reused materials to create juxtaposing textures. Since her residency at Kingston Arts, Arabella has held an exhibition at the Abbotsford Convent and secured a residency at Gasworks, Albert Park.
@arabella.strachan
Shea Oberleuter
Shea Oberleuter is a graduate from Melbourne Polytechnic in Glass and Glazing, who constantly explores the world of glass by studying its fascinating qualities and discovering new techniques and possibilities. Since Shea completed her residency at Kingston Arts, she has been awarded an international residency starting in LA, Seattle and New York.
@lewaglass
Working from Shirley Burke Theatre, Parkdale
Amy Lees-Doherty
Amy Lees-Doherty is a Melbourne-based contemporary gold and silversmith, artist and craftsperson known for her wearable art. Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) (Honours) with Distinction. Her work intricately weaves storytelling, narrative, and themes of place and identity. Her work intricately weaves storytelling, narrative, and themes of place and identity. Her work has been showcased in Radiant Pavilion. Lees-Doherty continues to explore new techniques, with her recent stained glass course in Scotland marking her latest endeavour. Reflecting her ongoing commitment to blending traditional craftsmanship with environmental consciousness, she is excited to further experiment and explore her practice in the Magnify residency.
@amyleesdoherty
Timothée Chalazonitis
Timothée Chalazonitis is a Paris-born sculptor whose work is informed by his diverse range of studies in art history, archaeology, graphic design and stone engraving. His childhood travels to Greece, where he played among ancient ruins, sparked his interest in the human desire to preserve stories and memories.
Timothée’s artistic practice often revolves around letters and words, centering on the act of writing as a means to establish direct dialogue with architecture.
@timotheechalazonitis
2025 - 2026 ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
Submissions for Magnify: Artists in Residence 2025 - 2026 have closed and successful artists will be notified soon. The next round will open for applications in mid-2026.
ACCESS
G1, G2 and G3 Artspaces are wheelchair accessible and accessible toilets are available.