Published on Wednesday, 15 October 2025 at 1:11:53 PM
Art Gallery
Throughout 2025, the Shire of Carnarvon has had the pleasure of hosting acclaimed artist Linda Tegg through the national SPACED program, an initiative bringing artists into regional communities to create work in deep collaboration with people and place.
Melbourne-based and internationally recognised, Linda’s practice explores the relationship between spectatorship, nature, and the built environment. Her past collaborations include Wetland (with Vivienne Hansen for the Perth Festival 2024), Repair (co-directed with Baracco+Wright Architects at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale), and numerous exhibitions across Australia, the U.S., and Europe. She is currently completing a PhD at the University of Melbourne.
Linda has just completed the third of four immersive residencies in Carnarvon, connecting deeply with community to develop a socially engaged artwork that will be exhibited at PICA in 2026, spotlighting Carnarvon in a major contemporary gallery setting.
The seeds of Linda’s project were sown during her first two residencies earlier in the year. Spending time on Country with community members including Raymond Edney, Naomi & Esma McMahon, Naomi Sepiso, and Devinia Wainwright (and many more), her project became grounded in Carnarvon’s vast night sky, a place where stars tell ancient stories and satellites trace new ones.
Returning for her third stay, Linda came back with a clear concept, Situational Awareness. Developed on Yingarrda Country, the work explores how our skies hold both enduring cultural meaning and the shifting presence of modern technology. With Carnarvon’s legacy in the space race, it’s the perfect backdrop, where the celestial and the earthly are deeply intertwined.
Linda’s latest residency has been shaped by deep collaboration. Working with Rennee Turner from Wooramulla Journeys, she hosted an immersive excursion to Bush Bay, where participants explored tidal patterns, satellite trails, and seagrass to create a shared artwork with a planting element. As the tide shifted and the sun set, the group gathered for a barbecue and stargazing session, connecting with land, sea, and sky. Around 30 community members took part in this experience, contributing to drone photography and creative reflection.
Linda also learned new quilt-making techniques from Linda Ebner at Jubilee Hall, which will become part of her final artwork, another layer of creative connection stitched into her Carnarvon story. Ebner attended Tegg’s initial artist talk during her first visit in March and has since played a monumental part in the developing work, teaching Linda a new skill in creating a hand-stitched puffed effect. Linda also connected with Shire of Carnarvon team member Stuart McMillan Artist to learn of process of extracting pigmentation from local plant species which will colour some of the final works.
The creative and informational skill-sharing between Linda Tegg and artists from Carnarvon has gone both ways.
Linda’s residency has been supported by emerging producer Rochelle O’Brien, the Shire of Carnarvon’s Arts Development Officer and a participant in SPACED’s OPEN SPACE program. Rochelle reflected warmly on the experience:
“Linda’s work both fascinates and inspires me. I’m eternally grateful for the opportunities this project has brought, both for my community and for me as an arts worker. Being part of workshops with the team at SPACED, PICA, and UWA’s School of Design, surrounded by passionate people working on deeply meaningful projects around the world, reignited the fire in my little arts worker heart. This is the awe, the wonder, the magic of the arts world. And I get to bring it to my community. I know I’m in the right place.”
Linda will return to Carnarvon in April 2026 for the final stage of her residency, culminating in a grand finale event celebrating community involvement and showcasing her completed works, with Carnarvon Library & Art Gallery exhibiting the pieces before they go on display at PICA. Stay tuned for a major community celebration currently in the planning stages.
📸 Pictured: To complete this third residency, Linda hosted an Open Studio at the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum on Friday 3 October, where the community got a first look at her work in progress, with imagery projected onto different surfaces and backdropped by the glorious dish.
For more information on the SPACED initiative, please contact Place & Cultural Development Coordinator Keely Robertson: robertson.k@carnarvon.wa.gov.au
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This project is presented as part of Circular Economies, a program of residencies in regional Western Australia presented by SPACED in partnership with @Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA).
SPACED produces and commissions context-responsive, socially engaged art projects across Western Australia and beyond.
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