Dr Clare Milledge is an artist and academic.
Milledge lives and works between the lands of the Garigal, Bidjigal and Gadigal people of the Eora Nation (Warrang/Sydney). She returns regularly to the place of her upbringing to work on the lands of the Arakwal and Widjabul Wia-bal people of the Bundjalung Nation (Northern NSW). She is a Senior Lecturer at UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture and is represented by STATION gallery.
Milledge's work re-examines contemporary environments with a focus on our engagement with ecology through art, in particular through the use of the historical figure of the artist-shaman. Working with fieldwork as her primary methodology she collects, re-organises, transforms and re-presents recordings, information and material gathered on ecological surveys, daily experiences and site visits. Her work takes the form of public installation environments that variously incorporate glass paintings, textile works, poetry, costumes, sets, collaborative experimental sound and performance.
Milledge completed her Doctor of Philosophy at Sydney College of the Arts, the University of Sydney in 2013. Part of her candidacy (2008) was spent at the Universität der Künste, Berlin. She completed her Honours year (also administered by Sydney College of the Arts) at the Statenskunst Akademi in Oslo (2006) and maintains an active engagement with Norwegian contemporary art.
Recent career highlights include:
The installation Imbás: a well at the bottom of the sea in the 23rd Biennale of Sydney: rīvus (2022) ; an installation of glass paintings and wood sculpture for the group show Still Life, curated by Jacqueline Doughty at Buxton Contemporary (2022); inclusion of glass paintings in the NGV Triennial (2020); an installation of glass paintings, recycled textile works, and a collaborative sound performance in Second Sight: Witchcraft, Ritual, Power, University of Queensland Art Museum (2019); a solo performance and an installation for the group exhibition Remedial Works at PICA, Perth; a solo performance Strigiformes: Binocular, Binaural, curated by Stina Högkvist for Museet for Samtidskunst, Nasjonalmuseet (Museum for Contemporary Art, National Museum of Norway); a large commissioned glass work for What Remains, curated by Silja Leifsdottir at Fotogalleriet, Oslo; (all 2017); glass paintings in Magic Object, The Adelaide Biennial, curated by Lisa Slade; the expansive installation Dämmerschlaf with Mikala Dwyer and Nick Dorey, curated by Alexie-Glass Kantor and Talia Linz for Artspace, Sydney (both 2016) and the touring group exhibition Erewhon curated by Vikki McInnes, Margaret Lawrence gallery (2016-2018).
She has held numerous solo exhibitions at commercial galleries, primarily STATION Gallery and The Commercial Gallery, and exhibited at the University of Technology Sydney, Sydney College of the Arts, Griffith University Art Gallery and numerous other University Galleries.
Milledge was three times a finalist in the Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship (2007, 2008, 2010) and three times a finalist in the Fauvette Loureiro Travelling Art Scholarship Finalists Exhibition (2016, 2017, 2020). She was one of seven artists awarded an Inaugural Artspace 1 year studio (2015) and held a studio residency at Carriageworks in 2021. Her work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, Buxton Contemporary, Monash University Museum of Art, Ten Cubed and Artbank.