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The State Buildings is delighted to launch our inaugural Artist in Residence program on Monday 11 January, 2021.

Featuring Albany born artist Erin Coates, the residency invites a creative to literally live in-house at COMO The Treasury, whilst developing new or existing artworks, allowing for our Perth community to observe daily and enjoy this fascinating process.

During Erin’s residency at the State Buildings, she will create new graphite works on paper for the Perth Festival exhibition Reflection/Submersion, to be held at Holmes à Court Gallery in February.

Erin’s ‘studio’ is located in The Mark (south western corner of Postal Hall) where we invite you to observe her working, explore her existing works hung on the walls and watch the short film, ALLUVIUM.

Her new series of works continue her fascination in the relationship between human and non-human biology and the interconnectedness of marine ecosystems. Her research for this series draws on marine biology as well as her family’s history in seafaring and shell diving.

With a deep-rooted desire to support the burgeoning cultural fabric of this great state, we welcome Erin Coates to the State Buildings family and invite you to witness an Artist in Residence.

BIOGRAPHY

Erin Coates is an established Perth artist working across drawing, sculpture and film. Her artwork focuses on human physical thresholds and draws from her own background in rock climbing and free diving. Erin’s practice is informed by her deep interest in the natural world, biology, science fiction and genre film cultures. Recently, her work has centred on the oceanic Gothic via the surreal physiology of marine flora and fauna endemic to Australian waters. Her graphite drawings depict hybridised creatures that subtly allude to humanity’s evolutionary, oceanic origins while reflecting on our impact on the nature world.

Erin Coates was born in Albany, Western Australia, and trained as an artist in Perth as well as in Vancouver, Canada. She works across mediums, often creating projects that span drawing, sculpture and moving image. Her artworks are shown in galleries and film festivals internationally and she has shown in a number of significant exhibitions, including; Adelaide Biennial: Monster Theatres, Art Gallery of South Australia (2020); 52 ACTIONS: online commission for Artspace, Sydney (2020); Videobrasil – 21st Contemporary Art Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil (2019); Dark Water, Linden New Art, Melbourne (2019), The National: New Australian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2017); Driving to the Ends of the Earth, Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan (2017).

Erin’s work is currently on show at Goolugatup Heathcote, Perth, in the solo exhibition Alluvial Gold. This project will also include a series of performances in February for Perth Festival, in which her sculptural works will be used as instruments by percussionist Louise Devenish, with composition by Stuart James.