Carbon, Creativity & Collapse with Esk Studio
Where: Ignite Studios - 60 Crane Street Ballina
Date: Sat 12 September 2026 | physical workshop
Sat 17 September 2026 | online gathering and learning space via zoom
Hours: 10am - 1pm | physical workshop
6pm - 8pm | online gathering and learning space via zoom
Age: 18+
Cost: $15 (includes materials and simple catering)
Carbon, Creativity & Collapse is a 3-hour workshop exploring ecological thinking, complex climate change science, and contemporary art processes. Bringing together the creative practices of Al Stark and Aviva Reed, who make up Esk Studio, this workshop offers participants an interdisciplinary space to engage with the intellectual and emotional dimensions of living in a time of environmental uncertainty. Through combining philosophy, climate change science, locally grounded regenerative practices, and visual arts-based approaches, participants will explore meaningful ways to engage and process complex environmental issues in the face of impending changing climates and ecological collapses.
This workshop will be held at regional galleries across the Northern Rivers and will be followed up with an online gathering, whereby participants can develop a community of practice furthering themes and philosophies generated through these workshops.
This project is supported by Ingrained Foundation, Vickie Brooke and Arts Northern Rivers. It is delivered in Ballina with support from Ballina Shire Council.
Esk Studio is a multidisciplinary, artist-run collective based on Yaegl Country in northern New South Wales. Directed by artists Aviva Reed and Al Stark,Esk Studio operates at the intersection of art, ecology, and community, creating works that explore the interconnectedness of life through ritual, performance, visual storytelling, and environmental practice. Esk Studio functions as both a creative hub and a site for creative experimentation. Its projects blur boundaries between gallery and community encounter, using art as a means to reimagine ecological relationships and foster collective responsibility for the living world. Guided by the belief that art can be ritual, research, and a way of living, Esk Studio’s practice is rooted in listening to land, to story, and to each other.
Ignite Studios is a wheelchair accessible venue. Please contact us ahead of time if you have accessibility needs you would like us to be aware of.
For more information contact the Gallery on 02 6681 0530.
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Image: Collage and photgraph by Al Stark, 2025