Living and Working with Diffability 1964 to Now – Artist as Arts and Disability Worker 2014-17
AXIS Wunderkammer ‘#’ 2 by artist Paul Andrew Epciormia Collective NRCG 1988-2016 Image: AXIS Art Projects artists Paul Andrew, Jay Younger, Lehan Ramsay 1987-89 AXIS ‘Does New York Exist? photograph attributions: Jay Younger and Matthew Burless
They said an arts and disability ARI in the Northern Rivers was impossible: ‘artists are far too dispersed in the region.’ They were wrong.
Motivated by a long-standing experience as an artist living and working with diffability was the core catalyst for me in founding a new A & D ARI in Ballina.
Epicormia or The Epicormia Collective was a Northern Rivers-based arts and disability artist-run initiative comprising six professional artists—Jeremy Hawkes, Julianne Zoviar Clunne, Julie Milner Barratt, Paul Andrew, Marion Conrow, and Scott Trevelyan—together we explored themes of trauma and resilience through the botanical metaphor of “epicormic” growth. Established in late 2014, we worked collaboratively on an integrative, high-production-value project with a high value collective mindset.
The core aim was to explore varied and novel ways of “re-authoring” the self after firsthand experiences of trauma through artistic practice. We each experienced brain injury ranging from acquired brain injury, mild traumatic brain injury to traumatic brain injury, typically resulting from motor vehicle accidents or acts of violence. As an explicitly queer/ed arts and disability ARI, Epicormia was unprecedented in the region, and perhaps in Australia.
ARI members included six artists and ARI colleagues Scott Trevelyan from Willowbank Studio in Alstonville (printmaking/installation), Marion Conrow (photo media/video/installation), Julianne Zoviar Clunne who was part of the Tropical Artists Guild ARI in Cairns in the 1980s (painting/light boxes), Julie Barratt (artist books/audio/printmaking), Jeremy Hawkes (performer/visual artist), and long term ARI member Paul Andrew (photo media/video/installation/producer/curator).
Origins: The group began in November 2014, with significant development and museum-quality art project delivery funded by Accessible Arts NSW between 2014-2017.
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Key Projects: Collectivising made all new works possible, we presented multiple museum-quality installations staged at the Northern Rivers Community Gallery (NRCG) and presented work from many of the artists involved in the previous decade of Willowbank Studio (Alstonville). The key museum project was the exhibition ‘The Re-Authoring Impulse’, video documentation and a zine as community archive.
by artist Paul Andrew
See also>>
https://www.blurb.com/b/7460964-epicormia-collective-the-re-authoring-impulse
In this new and evolving 2023-32 series artist Paul Andrew reflects on their creative practice explorations 1964 to Now. Encompassing reflective practice, artistic practice, social practice, archival art initiatives and lived arts and diffability experiences. Viewed as deeply entwined modalities in the ever-morphing analogue and digital space. Motivated by social justice and cultural justice concerns the artist advocates and amplifies artist-run culture and heritage. Their interest in the increased potential for participatory archives, community archives and community archiving is ongoing.
Mitigating the erasure of artist-run culture, artist identities, queer identities involves a multi-faceted approach combining active documentation of history as a type of memory work, digital safety and optimisation measures, community building, ongoing crowdfunding as funding for Australian archival art projects is rare and outreach with education to counter censorship, symbolic annhilation of ARI cultural heritage and structural invisibility.
Through the multi-lens of Community-based Archives, Queer Time and ARI Time, queer erasure occurs when non-normative LGBTQIA+ lives are rendered silent, denied, or normalised into cis-heteronormative or normative structures, often resulting in harmful and detrimental physical and psychological effects, such as those seen in marginalised communities and in queer-trans, trans activism, Blak-POC-BIPOC, disability, Crip Time and bisexual invisibility in mainstream media and the mainstream cultural monolith. Typically, ARIs are non-dominant, non-elite and non-monolithic safe and affecting places for artists, non-conformists and non-normative people. They function as joyful and life affrming spaces and places or ‘third spaces’ where artists make a living, and make artist communities.
Warm wishes,
Paul
Paul Andrew | he/they
Whistling Kite Artist’s Studio
‘ Artists Make Queersland ‘
Australian Artist, Community Facilitator, Zinester & Curator
Pronouns: He, They
NB: I am currently on long service leave in 2026
Current Archival Art Project [Expanded Internet Art]
ARI Remix + Extra Zine – A Polyvocal Memory of Queensland/Australian Artist Run Culture & Heritage 1940 to NOW
Internet Artwork Accessed: https://ariremix.com.au/
Please join us on the socials here:
Australian ARI Living Archives | Artist-Run Culture & Heritage 1940 to NOW
https://www.instagram.com/ari_remix
https://www.instagram.com/extra_zine
https://www.instagram.com/vignettestream
https://www.instagram.com/paulandrewart
RECENT EXHIBITION DOCUMENTATION:
Headlands Revisited Presented by ARI Remix
QUT Doctoral Research: Dr Paul Andrew (2025) Artists as A(na)rchivists: Unpacking Brisbane Artist-Run Initiatives and the Archive.
I acknowledge the Quandamooka People, Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and seas where I live and work with arts, diffability, digital creative practice and culture today. I pay my respects to Elders, past, present, and future.
If you are enjoying this expanding internet artwork please considetr making a donation, no matter how large or small here. This will support the artist with annual digital infrastructure, marketing, art making and research outlays.
Help Paul to Preserve the ARI REMIX PROJECT 2025-32
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-preserve-ari-remix-living-archives