MADA Now 2025 - Monash University Grad Show

Pamela Thodis

I went into the MADA Grad Show with no expectations. The campus is foreign to me, I don’t know any of the grads, and the people I know who go to Monash are in the music department. I was blown away. Given all the artists are BFAs or Honours, and my somewhat chaotic experience of the RMIT show, I expected a similar experience- in fact I skipped out on opening night in the hopes of avoiding chaos. I regret that, and will not be making the same mistake again. The show feels almost airy. Each artist has space to breathe, the building is gorgeous, with ample light and wooden floors. With limited exceptions, each artist felt like they had taken full advantage of their time at art school, producing works that felt like the full culmination of an undergrad. 

Camille Ferguson’s As I leave, I look back was the first work I walked through (quite literally.) The stained glass works, dotted through the airy foyer of the art building almost haphazardly played with the light in gorgeous ways. Reminiscent of colour gels, the stained glass reflected onto the walls, playing with the soundscapes of Justine Walsh’s Singing in the Half Light. Walsh’s work plays with the reflective qualities of limestone, directing and reverberating sound through the space. On the walls were Phoebe Haig’s encompassing canvases. Open or Closed/Only Momentarily are a set of three works, all close up images of the body, almost abstracting the figurative with the use of light and movement. Her portrait work, with the eyes fully obscured by a beam of light, was the highlight of the trio- I returned to it time and again during my peruse of the exhibition. 

Janae Hunter had a room of her own. Made up of four works, In for, out for deconstructs a bed, and had me reflecting on the pivotal role of rest and security spaces of comfort hold for us. It felt like a spiritual successor to Tracey Emin’s My Bed- not just in their shared subject matter, but in the deeply personal connotations that the works both hold. Hunter’s Pillows, pillowcases mounted on wood still bear the remnants of eyeshadow, the one photo in the exhibition is an unmade bed. The work was gorgeous, stark but not bare, and deeply interesting.

Camille Ferguson

Casey Nicholls-Bull

Aisha Hara’s works on linen and paper were grounded and earthy. The tones of the paintings blended with the linen, taking full advantage of the tone and texture of the material. Pamela Thodis’ works on paper had a similar airiness to them, though were totally different in composition and form. Thodis has created works that transform mark making and absence into hypnotic forms. 

Presented on a ledge in front of a mirror Kate Umseher’s Winners Only was a refreshing take on the trophy- making fun of the trophy itself but also how much younger generations are held in contempt for participation trophies, as if they are awarding them to themselves. Smack dab in the middle was a work with ‘LOSER’ in bold silver (‘WINNER’ was on the reverse, as seen in the mirror), no doubt my favourite of a few trophy works that have been on show recently. Sze Ching Tay’s large plaster work, all white with red detailing, was a sculptural showstopper. Viewed from all sides, the work was equal parts centrepiece and window, framing and obscuring the rest of the room. 

A Costume Without a Carnival, a room of works by Casey Nicholls-Bull was haunting. I will not lie and say I either love or trust clowns- I don’t- or that I’ve been overly fond of the proliferation of clown and harlequin imagery in recent years. Nicholls-Bull turned this on its head. From spindly hands weaving themselves arms and a body, to a jester’s hat with no head to wear it, and a drum waiting to be played, the work created a world, a portrait with no face. Every detail, from the video work to the detailing on the wall and wire based sculpture added dimension, each work in clear conversation with each other and building a world inside the smallest room of the gallery. 

I’ve spoken about a mere selection of the works from the Fine Art department- there were so many more I felt connected to, and didn’t even mention the Design or Architecture departments (both interesting, both out of my wheelhouse.) The MADA show was a calm, near meditative experience. So many of the artists had practices that were not just defined but sure in their ways- not only worth a trip to Caulfield but necessitating one. 

MADA Now 2025 is on until December 5th.