April Widdup

Statement

April Widdup is an early career multidisciplinary artist from Australia, currently living and practicing in Europe. Widdup’s practice has been focused on the political potential of art and its ability to challenge and encourage critical thinking. Envisaging an arts practice that aims to not only create, but to generate meaningful dialogue with their viewers.

Widdup’s works often range in tone from playful to more serious, as they explore our relationship to the world at large, from our relationships with ourselves and others, to how we engage with the natural and built environments we inhabit. Exploring the intersections of structural power and human agency to better understand the roles we [can] play as individuals and communities.

GlogauAIR Project

Politics and structures of power impact our surroundings, our behaviour, and our experiences in built environments every day, often unbeknownst to the majority. My proposed project for this residency will investigate the relationship between (i) power and privilege (ii) the body (iii) spatial design and effects, and (iv) specifically how they relate to and inform the lived experience and our experiences of life and death. The project will draw on memory studies and the ethical imperative or role of an artist. Employing strategies such as prosthetic memory and visuality, as well as decentring and activating the viewer as a means of creating knowledge. The development of this project will be divided into four stages: Research and early project development (1), Material tests and Maquettes (2), Feedback and Adjustments (3), and Fruition of work (4).

CV Summary

Education

• 2022. Bachelor of Visual Arts, Australian National University School of Art and Design

Exhibitions

• 2022. IMMATERIAL #2, Sideway, ACT
• 2022. SEEN, Tributary Projects Gallery, ACT
• 2022. GradShow Exhibition, Australian National University, ACT
• 2022. GradCollect Exhibition, Gang Gang Gallery, ACT
• 2023. View2023, PhotoAccess, ACT
• 2023. Sensory Bodies, M16 Artspace, ACT
• 2023. Cruel Optimism, Tributary Projects Gallery, ACT
• 2023. Concurrent 5, Concurrent Gallery, ACT
• 2023. Unseen, Studio Altenburg, NSW
• 2023. IMMATERIAL #3, Sideway, ACT

Awards, Grants and Residencies

• 2022. Art Monthly Australasia Award (EASS Award)
• 2022. Studio Altenburg Exhibition Award (EASS Award)
• 2023. ArtsACT Grant: Arts Activities Funding up to $5k
• 2023. ANU x Corning Museum Sponsored Scholarship
• 2023. Lincoln City Residency

Gallery