artist angela tiatia wears RWB forever patchwork pieces and our ultimate cinderella gowns shot by our mate artist samuel hodge at the RWB HQ.

we had samuel put together a little q & a for angela, artist to artist.

it was so fun to hang out with you and take these photos, and I normally don't take photos anymore, so it was really just the  chance to hang out with you in the the studio with anna from romance was born, gossip and have a laugh that made me wanna do this. I can't remember the first time we actually met, but I do recall the first time I saw your work. we were already pals by that point and I already knew you were a legend and was always so excited to run into you at events. but one day I went to artspace in sydney and there was your video documentation of soft power and I was finally able to sit with your practice uninterrupted and not drunk.

soft power shows yourself and fellow artist james nyguen, picking each other up and repeatedly throwing one another against a wall made up of thin steel sheeting over about an hour. there were several things that struck me. one was a sense of envy that it wasn't my work but also, there was a real sense of familiarity to the experience of being pushed up against a similar material, whether a shed or a fence whether from violence or passion.  my reaction was visceral and has stayed with me long after I saw it. I would love to hear where you stand with this work and what it means to you? 

you know what?  I can't remember when we first met either - it would have been at alaska projects - maybe I met you at your first solo there?  when you came back from berlin?

I love how you interpreted soft power through your own personal experiences.  I acknowledge the work is tough to watch and you also speak of the duality of emotion or states that it conjured - the violence vs passion.  and this is so important to me - because in the violence of the work, there are almost moments of pause, tenderness and rest.  for me, soft power explores the tensions between states, the tensions between violence and tenderness, power and powerlessness, female and male, love and hate etc...  - it is the space within these tensions that holds such strong resonance and meaning with me after all this time. 

life is so messy and at times brilliant - and it is precisely within these complex, layered, uncomfortable and difficult moments that I hoped soft power would be a space to acknowledge all these simultaneous states of being. in making this work and any work, i always hope that there is enough bandwidth in the work to connect to a viewer - no matter who they are or where they come from. i'm always so intrigued by someone's reading of my works, whether they hate it or love it, it brings the work to it's final resting place. 

have you found the pandemic has affected your practice? (and in what ways if it did)

no!  it hasn't affected my practice at all!  my practice and studio time is so solitary that I work by myself 90% of the time.  it is only in the final phases of an idea in progress that i will reach out to collaborate with people.

last year - exhibitions got postponed or extended - but this was so welcomed as a time to rest and think more deeply about some ideas i had brewing.  ideas became much clearer and solid which is always a good thing.

i'm sorry for the stock standard art questions, but please tell me what you've got coming up and what the future holds for you?

i have been working on a moving image work since the start of 2019 in collaboration with the art gallery of new south wales.  they have commissioned me to respond to an aspect of henri matisse's work.  their upcoming matisse alive exhibition in december will be one of the largest collections of matisse works shown here in australia to date.  this new work of mine will be opening in mid-october there - which i am so excited about.  it is a vibrant spectacle and i can't wait to see it being finished and realised to show you all.

after this, I have the ian potter moving Image commission in collaboration with ACMI to jump onto.  then after this?  i'm not sure.  maybe take a break?  maybe the pandemic will be over by then and I can travel somewhere?  i haven't travelled a lot - and there's so many places to see...