Sera Waters receives the 2020 Guildhouse Fellowship

Adelaide-based textile artist Sera Waters has been awarded the 2020 Guildhouse Fellowship, valued at more than $AU50,000.

The award aims to support the practice of a South Australian visual artist, craftsperson or designer who is at the midpoint of their career, seeking an opportunity to further explore their distinct artistic expression. It includes $AU35,000 to support research and development, including the creation of new work. Delivered in partnership with the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), the opportunity will include the presentation of new work at the Gallery.

The Fellowship was inaugurated in 2019, with support from the James & Diana Ramsey Foundation.

Since she was awarded the Ruth Tuck Scholarship in 2006 to study hand embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework in the UK, Sera’s practice has become known for its dark stitching work depicting colonial histories. She merges home craft traditions and patterns with meticulous artistry to truly explore the impacts of colonisation on the cultural and geographical history of Australia.

Sera was previously a finalist in the 2019 Ramsay Art Prize for her wool-stitched seven-metre-long landscape depicting a fallen tree before a setting sun, named Falling: Line by Line.

Sera was chosen for the Fellowship by the selection panel including AGSA Director Rhana Devenport, Guildhouse CEO Emma Fey, and the 2022 curator of the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art Sebastian Goldspink.

Sera is represented by Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide.

Image: Sera Waters in front of her work Falling: Line by Line in the 2019 Ramsay Art Prize. Photo: Nat Rogers. Courtesy: the artist and Hugo Michell Gallery.