Mandy Quadrio facts for kids

Mandy Quadrio is a modern artist who lives in Brisbane, Australia. She is a Palawa woman, which means she has ancestors from the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. Her art often explores her heritage and important stories.

About Mandy Quadrio

Mandy Quadrio was born in Melbourne, Australia. She has strong connections to her family's traditional lands in Tasmania, especially the Coastal Plains Nation and the Oyster Bay Nation. These places are very important to her art and her identity.

Mandy is a well-known artist across Australia. Her artwork has been shown in many solo and group exhibitions. Big art places like the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston have asked her to create special pieces. She creates art using sculptures, installations, photographs, and mixed media.

Her Artistic Journey

Mandy Quadrio studied art at the Queensland College of Art. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art in 2016. The next year, she completed an Honours degree in Fine Art. She even won a special award for her excellent schoolwork.

Currently, Mandy is working on her PhD at Griffith University. Her research continues to focus on the history of Palawa women. She wants to bring attention to their stories and experiences, which have sometimes been overlooked.

Materials and Style

Mandy uses many different materials in her art. She often finds objects and natural items from Tasmania. These include things like bull kelp (a type of seaweed), natural ochres (colored earths), and river reeds.

Another part of her art uses stainless steel wool. She shapes it into round forms or even like a canoe. Mandy also takes photographs, such as her series of self-portraits called face to face to face from 2019.

What Her Art Means

Mandy Quadrio uses her art to highlight the history of Indigenous people in Australia. She sees her artworks as a way to show strength and cultural pride. She explains that she wants to share Palawa culture, stories, and experiences in her own way.

Her artworks, especially those made with bull kelp, often tell stories about Aboriginal women. They celebrate female identity and the strength of women in her culture.

Notable Artworks

• I speak to uncover the mouths of silence (2020), shown at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania.
• Here lies lies (2019), displayed at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery during Hobiennale 2019, Hobart, Tasmania.

Exhibitions

Solo Shows

• 2022 Beyond misty histories, presented by Constance ARI with Mona Foma, Hobart, Tasmania.
• 2019 Mandy Quadrio: face to face to face, Kuiper Projects, Brisbane.
• 2019 Mandy Quadrio: The Country Within, IMA Belltower at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, Brisbane.
• 2018 Speaking Beyond the Vitrine, Metro Arts, Brisbane.

Group Shows

• 2021 Tarrawarra Biennial, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville, Victoria.
• 2021 Water Rites, ACE Open, Adelaide.
• 2020 Rites of Passage, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane.
• 2020 The muddy banks of kanamaluka, Sawtooth ARI, Launceston, Tasmania.
• 2018 Hatched National Graduate Show, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA).

Awards and Recognition

• 2019 Finalist, Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Sydney.
• 2018 Finalist, Hatched, National Graduate Art Show, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth.
• 2017 Winner, The St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital Award, Queensland College of Art, Brisbane.