chelle destefano, victoria

Chelle Destefano, a Deaf woman artist, born in 1979 and currently lives in Melbourne, Victoria. She lived in Adelaide, South Australia for 18 years where she began her arts studies and arts career. She has been exhibiting since 2012 and one of her highlights was being one of the 8 artists in an Arts Exchange for Berlin with Arts Access Australia in October 2017 which gave her experience of working with other artists from different cultural backgrounds. They included workshops run by the artists and an exhibition as part of the Berlin arts festival. More recent highlights include three major exhibitions for "What I Wish I'd Told You" touring Victoria in 2022 in collaboration with Claire Bridge; collaborating in a performance with Jacqui Stockdale as part of Jacqui's Ned Kelly exhibition in late 2022; and her upcoming major solo performance and exhibition slated for mid-2023. She was the winner of a Creative Victoria's Creative Workers' grant that has enabled her to create a major performance piece for 2023.

Chelle is a multi-disciplinary artist and she works with textiles, performance, installation, sculpture, drawing media and mixed media to explore culture and identity including her Deaf culture and other forms of critical subjects surrounding identity and the environment, and her relationship with time and space. She is currently focused on dance performance using gestural movements with her Auslan language in an abstract sense to discover what her Deaf experiences mean and the history of oppression has meant in affecting her life as many other Deaf people have experienced.

Chelle has a Bachelor of Visual Arts and Applied Design (2006) from SA (South Australia) Arts School and recently completed her Masters of Contemporary Art at VCA in Melbourne University. She works individually and has been doing collaborations with other artists, notably a major Deaf project called What I Wish I'd Told You with artist Claire Bridge who is hearing and a Deaf alley.

Chelle was a winner of the Lake Art Prize (2020) for her multidisciplinary textile and performance work and has been a finalist in a number of art prizes including the Muswellbrooke Art Prize (2023), Footscray Art Award (2021), Wyndham Art Prize (2022), Banyule Art Award for Works on Paper (2019 and 2021), the Lyn McCrea Memorable Drawing Prize (2019), Fisher's Ghost Art Award (2020, 2022), the Noel Counihan Commemorative Art Award (2019, 2020, 2022), the Midsummer Post Art Award (2020), The Incinerator Art Award (2020), and the Watercolour Muster (2021).

Instagram: @chelle_destefano
Website: https://www.chelledestefano.com/

Photo of Chelle Destefano, Credit: Jim Loach

gonketa, victoria

Artist Jaycob Campbell was born profoundly deaf and thus, using his pseudonym Gonketa, focuses on the movement and shapes formed by hands and gestures, which features as a core element throughout his work. Gonketa explores this through the use of bold colours and exaggerated expressions - which are fundamental in non-verbal communication. His aim is to promote self-determination for all members of the Auslan (Australian Sign Language) community.

Instagram: @gonketa
Website: https://www.gonketa.com/

jAS SHIRREFS, victoria

Jas Shirrefs is a social worker, writer, and multidisciplinary artist. Jas has written for Growing Up Disabled in Australia released by Black Inc. in 2021. They did a life writing column for Scum Mag in 2020 and are currently working on a long form nonfiction manuscript about community, identity and shared living arrangements. Jas identifies as queer and Deaf.

Instagram: deaf_dyke

luke duncan king, victoria

Luke D King is a native Deaf artist based in the Wurundjeri people's traditional land of Kulin nation, Naarm (Melbourne). His multidisciplinary artistic practices primarily focuses on paper-based works, human portraiture, dance, performance and collaboration.

As a prominent figure in his local Deaf community, Luke actively advocates for and represents the interests of Deaf artists. He serves as a progressive force, working towards greater inclusion and recognition of Deaf artists within the arts community. King has been involved as a consultant for various organisations including Arts House, Chunky Move, Creative Victoria and the Merri-Bek council where he offers his expertise and guidance in matters related to art, accessibility and the Deaf community. Beyond his artistic pursuits and consultancy work, Luke is also engaged as a teacher, mentor, speaker and project officer. These roles allow him to share his knowledge, skills, and experiences with others and advocate for the Deaf community's needs and aspirations.

Luke participated in Next Wave’s Kickstart program in 2017, resulting in an exhibition at Bus Projects as part of Next Wave Festival in 2018. He has exhibited at numerous galleries, including Tinning Street, For Heart Co., and Counihan Gallery. Luke is also part of DARE Deaf Art Residency Exhibition, a group of deaf artists focused on responding to current thematic topics. He is a member of the Naarm Deaf street art band named .MPG, along with Gonketa and Movas, and regularly hosts art tours in public and private art galleries and museums, such as the National Gallery of Victoria, the Ian Potter Centre, the Art Gallery of NSW, Melbourne Museum and Heide Museum of Modern Art.

Instagram: @lukeduncanking
Website: https://lukeduncanking.tumblr.com/

Photo by Luke Duncan King, Credit: Emily Short

melissa keller, south australia

Using a variety of mixed media Melissa Keller creates images around the notion of self-discovery. By means of colour and pattern Melissa delves into her inner self to explore and represent past and current events and feelings that have impacted her life thus far.

Melissa creates highly decorative drawn and painted surfaces with pops of colour that represent struggles and breakthroughs with personal wellness. Her photography takes the viewer on a journey through peace and calm allowing us to feel as she does when at one with nature. Overcoming struggles and boundaries in life through her art, Melissa has found her inner strength and control of her life journey.

ravi vasavan, victoria

Ravi Vasavan is an artist and designer. Creating beautiful, unique and impactful art, brand and digital experiences for the new era.

Born deaf to deaf parents, Ravi grew up in Australia immersed in deaf community, which has influenced his perspective and worldview. He knew two sign languages before English. You could say that Auslan (Australian Sign Language) is his ‘mother tongue’ — or perhaps ‘fingers’? (Semantics.)

Being visually oriented by nature, he was attracted to art and design early on, which led to his current career and practice. In his work, he is able to bring a Deaf perspective, particularly when it comes to (often hearing-oriented) accessibility, inclusivity and strategic thinking in art and design.

In 2020 he was part of the first cohort for the Google Rare Leadership Accelerator, a program for underrepresented future creative leaders who wish to fundamentally change the creative industries for the better.

Instagram: @ravivasavan
Website: https://www.ravivasavan.com/

samantha wilson, south australia

Samantha Wilson is a proud Mutti Mutti/Wemba Wemba woman living on Kaurna Country Adelaide. Samantha was a member of the Australian Theatre of the Deaf from 1989-1994. She was a co-founder of DeafTV where she worked in the roles of director, producer, floor manager, actor, editor and program planner. She has always had a strong connection to the arts through Auslan theatre and poetry. With the Theatre for the Deaf closing and opportunities in Deaf arts diminishing Sam is thrilled to be involved in Deaf Gain as a visual and performing artist, where she will be creating a sculptural work of plaster cast Auslan handshapes and language with cottons and threads connecting words and creating complex meaning. She will also be contributing Auslan poetry.

scott pyle, south australia

Scott Pyle, of Tutti Arts, is an artist known for his energetic paintings of figures and monsters from the television series Power Rangers. His work also draws inspiration from surf culture, Home and Away and the history of Adelaide. Scott has developed a unique visual arts practice that has inspired some enthusiastic collectors of his work. He has previously exhibited as part of the SALA, Fringe and OzAsia festivals as well as in numerous gallery spaces including FELT space and Greenaway Art Gallery. Scott is a keen collaborator and has co-produced work with artists Paul Hoban and Henry Jock Walker.

website: https://tutti.org.au/

Photo of Scott Pyle, Credit: Emmaline Zanelli

Curator: william maggs, south australia

William Maggs is a talented artist based in Adelaide who uses various mediums, including painting, digital art, and drawing. As a Deaf artist, William is particularly passionate about capturing the joys and struggles of being Deaf in his art. From a young age, William discovered his love for painting, which provided him with a powerful creative outlet to express his thoughts and feelings in a way that words couldn't. Currently, in his third year of university, he is studying to become a concept artist, honing his skills to turn his imagination into reality and to explore the complex and nuanced journey of life through his work.

William will exhibit in the exhibition along with being the curator.

Instagram: @zerodoodle

Photo of William Maggs, Credit: Tom Mccammon