Ignite Studios Artist Residency  |  July - September 2023

Verity Nunan is a research-based artist, completing her PhD at Griffith University. She uses mapping as an intersection between architectural and artistic place inquiry. In this space Verity attempts to trace how biased legacies manifest as rationale.

My PhD research topic is What the mapping of human-water relationships can teach us about legacies as a mode of Rationality. There are several components to unpack within this research question. The residency at Ignite Studios, Bundjalung Country, Ballina, was an opportunity to unpack the later part of the research question pertaining to how legacies operate as a mode of rationality. The aim was to interrogate my existing methodology of walking and drawing approach to mapping that has been developed on Barkindji and Wilyakali country, Far West NSW. Two walking practices emerged.

Community Walk:

To evaluate how community members rationalise boundaries in human-water environments, I invited participants to walk the waters-edge of Ballina. The decision to follow the waters-edge as per the task or divert and respect the boundary of the property is the point of interest for this study. By revealing the course of actions that the participants make may provide an insight into the existing rationale.

Night Walk:

Reflecting on how daylight influences our sense of rationality I also conducted a counter study and used my own experience as the site of investigation. Women walking alone at night is widely considered an ‘unsafe’ practice. I’m interested in how much my rationale of safety can be influenced by my walking re-enactment practice. I walk without a light, and some parts of Ballina are barely lit. Re-walking my journey back in the studio gave me a chance to face these spaces again, offering a new perspective and challenging my existing rationale.

This residency has been instrumental in deepening my understanding of human-water relationships in Ballina, Bundjalung Country. This was important, as my walking-based practice has mostly been developed in arid areas. The residency location and facilities gave me a great exposure to an alternative human-water environment that help challenge any assumptions/biases in my practice. It has been positive for my professional development as I gained experience with community engagement, facilitating a community walking exercise as a post-residency outcome.

There have been several opportunities that have emerged because of taking part in this residency. One of these is an exhibition opportunity at the Northern Rivers Community Gallery in 2025. The relationships formed with the community and the staff of Ignite Studios have been meaningful and I’m excited to maintain these connections into the future.

My experience has been overwhelmingly positive for my practice and for this reason, I would recommend this residency to other artists and creatives.

Ballina is unlike many other parts of the Northern Rivers, there is a practical and honest engagement between people and place that I think is important to acknowledge. For this reason, I feel it is reputationally unassuming.

My walking-based residency at Ignite Studios helped reveal the subtleties of what makes this place unique. Ballina is filled with Story.

Verity Nunan - 17 January 2024