Sundari Carmody is an Australian artist who grew up in Bali, Indonesia. Her multimedia works explore the relationships between consciousness and the cosmos. Her practice concerns itself with the question of how to engage with universal systems and aspects of being, which linger in the category of the unknown, in ‘the dark’. Using varied and carefully selected materials such as nocturnal scents, sleep-bringing poppies, fabric, brass, light and mist, she attempts to find useful frameworks to give form to things that are invisible or which lie just beyond the limits of our perception. Her work examines how we process (through the instruments of science, culture, physiology and psychology) aspects of 'the dark' and ask - what are the implications of these unknowns for our concept of knowledge itself?
Sundari graduated with a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours) from the South Australian School of Art, University of South Australia. Sundari’s work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions across Australia, including Firstdraft, Sydney; ‘Slow Moving Waters’ 2021 TarraWarra Biennial, Healesville; ACE Gallery, Adelaide; Seventh Gallery, Melbourne; Bus Projects, Melbourne; Outer Space, Brisbane; and FELTspace, Adelaide. Her work is held in private collections and Artbank.
CV
1988 Born Murwillumbah, NSW
1990 – 2006 Lived in Bali, Indonesia
2011 Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours), University of South Australia, Adelaide
Currently living and working in Adelaide, Kaurna Yerta
Solo exhibitions
2023
Turns, Protracted, and Slow, GAGPROJECTS, Adelaide
2019
Fountain, Firstdraft, Sydney
2017
Steady Illiterate Movement, Seventh Gallery, Melbourne
2015
Primal Site, Bus Projects, Melbourne
2014
The Black Swan: Suite, FELTspace, Adelaide
March of the Black Swan, Constance ARI, Hobart
The Build Up, Contemporary Art Centre of SA | Project Space, Adelaide
2013
Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
2012
Be Still, Spectrum Project Space, Edith Cowan University, Perth
Selected group exhibitions
2023
Ramsay Art Prize 2023, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
2022
Primavera 2022: Young Australian Artists, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
2021
Studios: 2021, ACE Open, Adelaide
TarraWarra Biennial 2021: Slow Moving Waters, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville
2020
If the future is to be worth anything: 2020 South Australian Artist Survey, ACE Open, Adelaide
On Elegance While Sleeping, Adelaide Central School of Art Gallery, Adelaide
2019
Intimate Intensity, Outer Space, Brisbane
2018
We Did The Soft Wind, Adelaide City Library, Adelaide
2017
Soft Spot, Hard Feelings, Holy Rollers, Adelaide
2015
Climate Century, Vitalstatistix in partnership with Maritime Museum, Port Adelaide
CACSA Contemporary 2015: multi-site survey of South Australian art, SASA Gallery, Adelaide
The Weight of Things, CACSA Project Space, Adelaide
2014
Built Constructs, Adelaide Town Hall, Adelaide
FELTmaps: Port Adelaide Public Art Project, FELTspace, Port Adelaide
2013
FELTnatural: A River Torrens Public Art Project, FELTspace, Adelaide
2012
Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition, Adelaide
On Solitude: Divergence, FotoFreo Festival, Midland Atelier, Perth
2011
Honours Graduate Exhibition, SASA Gallery, Adelaide
Pingyao International Photography festival, Pingyao, China
Grants and Awards
2023
Ramsay Art Prize (finalist), Art Gallery of South Australia
City of Adelaide Prize (finalist), Architecture Institute of Australia
2022
Project Grant, Arts South Australia
2020
Recipient of the ACE Studio Program Residency, Adelaide
Project Grant, Arts South Australia
Art Project Grant for Individuals and Groups, Australia Council for the Arts
2019
Individual Development, Arts South Australia, for Phasmid Studios residency, Berlin
2018
Churchie Emerging Art Prize (finalist), QUT Art Museum
2017
Project Grant, Arts South Australia
2015
Artstart, Australia Council
2014
Helpmann Academy Project Grant
2013
Carclew Project and Development Grant
2011
Helpmann Academy Project Grant
Bibliography
Kristensen, Annika, Adjusting to the Dark, catalogue essay, If the Future is to be Worth Anything, ACE Open, 2020
Barlow, Matt, An Invitation to Dwell in Darkness, catalogue essay, Steady Illiterate Movement, Seventh Gallery, Melbourne, 2017
Forester, Rayleen, Primal Site, catalogue essay, Bus Projects, Melbourne, 2015
Howden, Belinda, Turns, Protracted and Slow, catalogue essay, GAGPROJECTS, 2023
Reece, Madeline, Out of Sight, catalogue essay, Fountain, Firstdraft, Sydney, 2019
Shachar, Hila, Be Still, catalogue essay, Spectrum Project Space, Perth, 2012
Sliuzas, Adele, Written accompaniment to Longboard Sequence, SASA Gallery, Adelaide, 2015
van de Velde, Danica, The Erotics of Ambiguity, catalogue essay, The Build Up, CACSA, 2013