Raquel Ormella facts for kids

Raquel Ormella is an Australian artist born in 1969. She creates amazing art using many different things. Her works include posters, banners, videos, and even needlework. Raquel's art has been shown in famous places like the Shepparton Art Museum and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Working from Sydney and Canberra, Raquel Ormella's art often explores important topics. She focuses on activism and social issues. Her unique way of showing these ideas has earned her a lot of praise.

Early Life and Education

Raquel Ormella was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1969. Her mother was from South America, and her father was from Spain. They had moved to Australia from Germany. Because her family moved, Raquel felt a bit disconnected from her European roots. This feeling made her curious and led her to study in Vienna later on.

Raquel first studied Visual Arts at Western Sydney University from 1992 to 1996. After that, she spent a year at an art school in Vienna. She also earned a Masters of Fine Arts from Western Sydney University. In 2013, she completed her PhD in Visual Arts at the Australian National University. Her special project for her PhD looked at how humans and city birds interact.

Art and Activism

Since 2006, Raquel Ormella has taught painting at the Australian National University. She also continues to create her own art.

Raquel is an artist who mixes art with activism. She explores how art can make people think about their own political consciousness and social actions. Her work often looks at the connection between humans and nature. She pays special attention to how cities grow and how people fight to protect forests.

Raquel wants to show that our ideas of "wilderness" are not just pure nature. Instead, they are shaped by humans and our values. She uses many different art forms, like textiles, videos, paintings, and drawings. She also uses zines, which are small, homemade magazines.

Raquel likes to use things like textiles and posters in her art. This fits with her focus on activism. Historically, embroidery and textile work were often seen as 'women's work'. Raquel uses these methods to support feminist art and activism in her pieces.

Her art focuses on stories about the world around her, not just herself. She uses other people's experiences to find common themes in activism. She believes her artworks should speak for themselves. They should not be judged based on her personal story.

In 2006, Raquel won the F J Foundation Acquisitive Prize. This was for her art in the New Social Commentaries exhibition. Her drawings in this show were about the campaign to save Tasmania's forests.

Three of Raquel's artworks are kept in the Cruthers Collection of Women's Art. This collection is at the University of Western Australia:

• Pick me, 2002–2003, made from flannel fabric and ribbon.
• Xanana Gusmao’s son has a tattoo of his father’s face on his chest., 1999, made from felt and wood.
• Golden Soil #2, 2014, made from nylon.

Exhibitions

Raquel Ormella's art has been shown in many places. Here are some of her recent group exhibitions:

• 2017 The 1st Californian Pacific Triennial, Orange County Museum of Art, USA
• 2017 3rd Tamworth Textile Triennial
• 2015 Artist Making Movement, Asian Art Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung
• 2015 See you at the barricades, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
• 2015 More love hours: contemporary artists and craft, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne
• 2014 Basil Sellers Prize, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne
• 2014 Protest Songs, Artful Actions, Lismore Regional Gallery, Lismore
• 2013 Conflict: Contemporary responses to war, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
• 2013 Direct Democracy, MUMA, Melbourne
• 2013 Pigeon Auction: Looking at suburban subcultures, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Liverpool, New South Wales
• 2012 8th Shanghai Biennial, China
• 2010 1st Aichi Triennale, Nagoya, Japan
• 2010 In the balance, MCA, Sydney

She has also had many solo exhibitions, where only her art is shown:

• 2019 i hope you get this, Raquel Ormella, Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University
• 2018 i hope you get this: Raquel Ormella, Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, Victoria
• 2016 Golden Soil, Milani Gallery
• 2013 Birds, School of Art Gallery, ANU, Canberra
• 2013 New Constellation, Milani Gallery
• 2012 Feeders Canberra Contemporary Art Space, ACT

Awards and Recognitions

Raquel Ormella has received many awards and grants for her art. These include:

• 2018, Visions of Australia program
• 2017, Sunshine Coast Art Prize
• 2016, One Year Studio Artist, Art space, Sydney
• 2012, Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Art Centre, NSQ
• 2009, New Work Grant, Australian Council
• 2007, PHD scholarship, Australian National University
• 2007, New Work Grant, Arts ACT
• 2007, New Work Grant, Australian Council for the Arts
• 2006, New Social Commentaries, Warrnambool Regional Art Gallery
• 2006, Capital Arts Patrons Organisations, Singapore Airways travelling grant
• 2003, Australian Postgraduate research scholarship
• 2000, Western Sydney artist Fund, NSW Ministry for the Arts
• 1999, Australia Council Studio Residency, Barcelona, Spain
• 1996, Dyson Bequest travelling Scholarship, Art Gallery of NSW for study
• 1992, William Fletcher Trust Prize

Notable Works

Some of Raquel Ormella's well-known artworks include:

• 2018, City without Crows
• 2016, Golden Soil
• 2014, Wealth for Toil I
• 2013, Poetic Possibility
• 2006-2008, Going Back/Volver