About the Artists

For SPARK Ipswich 2024, local artist Renee Yates was commissioned to create Home, a mixed-media artwork using coloured pencil drawings and cut paper collage that captures four different landscapes of the Ipswich region. Elements of the work are featured throughout the festival program and through the light art installations at d’Arcy Doyle Place and Pixel.

Renee has lived and worked in the Ipswich region for 16 years. Her practice focuses on storytelling using hybrid analogue and digital techniques, combining original coloured pencil drawings, cut paper collage, and digital media – including field recordings – to create representations of local landscapes. In addition to her arts practice, Renee is an award-winning educator and Media Arts teacher at a local high school.

Jacob Lee Adlington’s creative process is driven by a unique sensory experience of synaesthesia, where he transforms sound and music into visual forms by harnessing the physics of vibration. His work is a celebration of the harmony and symphony of life, showcasing the beauty of nature and the profound power of sound and vibration. His work hints at a deeper understanding of motion and form, and may remind us, that there is a song in everything.

With the intent of capturing and sharing a warm nostalgic feeling, Christopher Bentley’s work is empowered through a loud sense of fun. Using both old and new digital technology, Christopher explores the limitations, how the value of digital artwork has changed and the playful nature we engage with technology.

Cynthia Copley is an award-winning landscape artist from Ipswich, whose visual language is an expressive interpretation of her interactions and connection with the natural world. Working in oils and watercolour, Cynthia shifts between representational and abstract-expressionist responses, through observation, memory and emotion to evoke a sense of place in her artworks. A painter who deeply observes her surroundings, capturing the intricate patterns, the entangled beauty and the shifting light.

Kate Douglas paints highly detailed reproductions of how she sees the world. She is known for her labour-intensive artworks with unique compositions and viewpoints. Intimate glimpses of nature and reminders of bygone days are recurring subjects, reflecting her focus on environment and preservation.

Emily Kate is an emerging Ipswich Artist, that uses a bright and vibrant palette to capture her interpretation of Australian floral, in acrylic paintings on canvas. Emily Kate has a particular focus on local native and endangered flora species in Ipswich area, wanting to create long lasting images that showcase the beautiful treasures of our Ipswich environment to the wider community.

Miss Gertrude is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artist, Musician and Performer. She enjoys the process of exploration, research and expanding her art practice through her study of the Bachelor of Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art through Griffith University at Queensland College of Art.

Nailz has been drawing his whole life and began tattooing 20 years ago. Completing his apprenticeship is Ipswich, Nailz worked in Brisbane for 5 years before returning to Ipswich and opening his own studio, Compass Tattoo. Nailz produces custom creations and contemporary Japanese influenced designs every day and works with 7 other very talented artists to create a unique body of work showcased in deLight.

As a Tulmur/Ipswich experiential designer, digital artist, and design activist, Kirsty O’Brien’s creativity enriches our city. Kirsty seamlessly integrates digital and analogue methods, exploring dimensions of space and time. Her thought-provoking creations have activated city spaces to much acclaim. Kirsty enjoys using emerging technology to portray local scenes from a new perspective, imagining how things could be in a fully saturated hyper-reality.

For over 25 years, Dave Reid and Drag Photos has been the beating heart of Ipswich’s motorsports scene. He has captured the fire-breathing fury of dragsters, the electrifying blur of supercars, and the raw emotion of drivers pushing their limits. More than just a chronicler of speed, Dave’s imagery is woven into the fabric of the Ipswich community, supporting countless events, immortalizing local heroes, and preserving automotive memories for generations.

Kaden Sutherland is a young Kamilaroi man living in Ipswich. As an emerging artist, Kaden is using his talent to push himself to new horizons, and uses his art to connect to land, culture and self. With a vivid, contemporary artstyle Kaden hopes to invite younger generations to pursue art and to de-mystify the creation process.

Chenaya Bancroft – Davis is a Bundjalung and Gumbaynggirr woman from Northern New South Wales, living in Ipswich. She has a diverse artistic practice including, imagery design, painting, printmaking and jewellery making.  She uses her work to engage people in stories, as they serve as a reminder of the need to protect non-material culture. Chenaya believes that art creates and connects us to our culture.

Kacie (Kc) Rae is an Aboriginal woman of the Kamilaroi nation. Art has become an integral part of her journey in reconnecting with culture. She is passionate about sharing her art as a means of healing community, sharing  cultures and histories, and exploring what it means to be a part of the oldest living culture through a 21st century lens.

Danielle Leedie Gray is a First Nations Artist and Graphic Designer who creates bold, contemporary pieces that make people feel joy and connection. Her work is guided by a deep sense of empathy towards her cultural heritage and family history, inviting unity and healing.

Kylie Hill is a proud Aboriginal woman from the Kalkadoon and Waanyi from far North Qld Mount Isa & from Quandamooka Country on North Stradbroke Island. Kylie now calls Ipswich home along with her husband and jarjums on Yuggera land. One of her biggest desires and inspirations is to connect with people through her art. Kylie’s art practice is an integral part on her engagement in her local community, sport and charity work.

Jennifer Kent lives in Ipswich and identifies her First Nations ancestry with Quandamooka, Jinibara and Darumbal and has kinship with the Waluwarra and Kalkadoon of Northwest Queensland. Jennifer acquired a love for painting when she attended boarding school in Townsville but didn’t start professionally until 2017.  Jennifer has a unique story telling attribute that allows her to engage and relate to audiences from all over the world.

Jacob Sarra is a Goreng Goreng artist born and raised in Ipswich. His art is a continuum of time, drawing on Jacob’s experiences from his past, present and his visions of his future. Jacob draws heavily from nature and space and his family for inspiration.

Robin ‘Tallman’ Wakkajinda is a descendent of the Wakka Wakka Jinda people of the Burnett region. As a visual artist, his goal is to bring to life individuals’ stories using vibrant acrylic paint. When he lets his guard down and shows his vulnerability, people open up and connect. These heartfelt conversations inspire the paintings he creates, so Tallman can tell the diverse and layered stories of people’s lives.

SPARK Ipswich works in partnership with SAE Creative Media Institute to provide hands on industry experience for students studying in the creative industries.

Ashleigh Scriven is an animator specialising predominantly in 3D. After participating in Pixel in 2023, Ashleigh has moved into project managing the 2024 SAE Creative Media Institute student team to bring Renee Yates artwork to life in both 2D and 3D formats. Working with Ashleigh are Rebecca Thomson, Sam Barham, Connor Galy, Jacob Elvy and Oliver Harris.