ARTPOST #13

on the couch...  
  

Our Visitor Programmes Organiser Lynda Cullen interviews the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Intern 2020, Joanna Osborne.

LC: Before your internship, you were finishing a PhD? Could you sum up your focus in a few words, and how this has influenced your approach to art?
JO: The PhD was a wonderful opportunity to refine research and writing skills and focus deeply on a subject for a few years. My focus was based in studies of religion, theology and the arts. A highlight was a conference trip to Italy (on the topic of ‘wonder’) where I also got to visit some significant art historical treasures, and a Venice Biennale.

LC: What aspect of your role as do you think will be the most enjoyable?
JO: I am currently really enjoying researching works and exploring the Gallery’s collection. I’ve spent hours with the database, and upon returning after lockdown I’m enjoying the occasional field trip down to the store room and stacks.

LC: Can I ask if you have a favourite artwork in the shows on display at the Gallery at the moment?
JO: I have so many favourites for so many different reasons. I really enjoy the way that Emily Hartley-Skudder’s exhibition Additions + Alterations enfolds a selection of recent acquisitions from the Gallery’s collection within a cohesive whole.

Joanna Osborne’s Intern exhibition is scheduled for December 2020 at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

The Dunedin Public Art Gallery Curatorial Internship is generously supported by Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa.

[above: from Additions + Alterations – YVONNE TODD Founding CEO 2008. Lightjet print. Collection of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. + EMILY HARTLEY SKUDDER Staging Your Comeback 2020. Found carpet, PVC wall stickers, wall paint, found and fabricated furniture, oil on linen, found fireplace surround and electric wood embers, MDF, pine and aluminium trim. Courtesy of the artist and Jonathan Smart Gallery] 

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