ichelle Spence is a Meeanjin (Brisbane) based transdisciplinary artist, facilitator and curator with 17 years experience. She has created a personal process methodology which allows her to proactively navigate the pathways between the worlds of live/installation art and working with the community from empowering platforms. Spence works through a site-specific lens by challenging the audient’s (audience and participant) concept of space and to reconsider themes such as identity, displacement, social and human rights. Her live/installation artwork explores the relationship of ritual, connectedness and co-creation. Her community work’s primary focus is on health and the environment, specialising in working cross-culturally and in the Mind Wellbeing (Mental Health) Sector with people of all ages and abilities.
Her recent performance and installation highlights include Human Piñata – ALLtogether, State Library of QLD (Brisbane) & FETTERFIELD, Singapore Performance Art Festival; Mau Lagi – Lost Generation Space (Malaysia); BANG (Collaboration with Ezzam Rahman) – S.P.A.M., The Substation, Singapore; Madness = Reason – Supporting Artist at 2015 MIFQ’s Art Exhibition, King George Square, Exist in ’08, Judith Wright Centre (Brisbane). Artist in Residencies includes Jatiwangi Arts Festival (Indonesia), State Library of Queensland and Macleay Island State School for Arts Queensland and Education Queensland. Her co-authored peer-review paper with Dr Karleen Gwinner Insider Comes Out: An artist’s inquiry and narrative about the relationship of art and mental health in Arts & Health: An International Journal for Research, Policy and Practice became the top three most downloaded articles in 2014 internationally. This article discusses Spence’s process methodology and practice (DOI: 10.1080/17533015.2014.897959).
Spence’s work “aims to remind people about being human”.