Know Thy Neighbour #3 artist focus: Olga Cironis
Over the next weeks, we’ll be introducing our Know Thy Neighbour #3 artists, along with their community partners.
Know Thy Neighbour #3, presented by Spaced with the UWA School of Design, is a provocation to the familiarity of place, asking communities to step outside of familiar engagements and locations; to seek out scenarios or contexts that defamiliarize and recontextualise "the local" for audiences, communities, or the artists themselves and ask how we can meaningfully engage in the making of our cities.
Here, we introduce Olga Cironis who will be working with the City of Armadale.
Olga Cironis is a multidisciplinary artist who explores the murky undertones and impact that history and memory have on personal and shared identity. She examines the notions of belonging in today’s cultural globalisation — in particular, appropriated histories and accepted attitudes on belonging in the Australian cultural and social landscape.
Within her work are layers of research, collected stories, muted voices and cultural heritage. Olga’s work is psychologically loaded with meaning, provoking and seducing the viewer, navigating them through history and inviting them to question our social and environmental connections. By engaging viewers to become part of her work, Olga questions the meaning of public and private space, gender and social norms that permeate our accepted actions. Her artistic investigations are founded upon her Greek, Czech and Australian heritage. These aspects are used to engage people beyond the familiar. Cironis holds a Diploma of Education, Edith Cowan University, a Masters and Bachelor of Visual Arts, University of Sydney. She is represented in numerous prominent collections nationally and internationally.
Located 30km South East of the centre of Perth, the City of Armadale is among the fastest growing local government areas in Australia. With an average of 14 new homes being built per week in Armadale, the City offers a diverse mix of urban hills living from sprawling vineyards, orchards, green open spaces, and bushland against the backdrop of the Darling Ranges. Harrisdale and Piara Waters consist two of the City’s recent neighbourhood developments, attracting an influx of migrants to the area.
Stay in touch with the Know Thy Neighbour #3 artists and their process here, or sign up to our newsletter to get regular updates on all things Spaced.
Olga Cironis
