Opening launch: Wednesday 15 January 6–8PM

Trocadero Graduate Award 2023

‘When I was 17, I somehow got the idea that personal artworks should never take up space in a public setting or exhibition. From that moment, I vowed to only publicise works that I have made for the public. I strategically sorted my creativity to fit within intellectual considerations and the criticality of art school, creating work that would receive high grades and win art awards, like this one.

But to be honest, I’m just a human. Here are some of the works I’d make if art wasn’t an industry!!!’

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jessica Tanto is a Chinese-Indonesian artist and facilitator living between Naarm/Melbourne and Java, Indonesia. They hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Humanities (Extended Psychology and Anthropology), and are currently studying Occupational Therapy.
As a multidisciplinary artist, Jessica creates site-specific artworks, performances and community lead projects. Their socially engaged practice incorporates unconventional mediums to produce interactive, immersive and multisensory installations across both digital and physical spaces. Grounded in curiosity and lived experience, Jessica's work invites the public to engage in conversation and reflect on the nuances of everyday life, often with a playful and humorous tone.

Jessica has exhibited at several institutions across Indonesia and Australia, including Ruangrupa GUDSKUL, Galeri Nasional, Jakarta Biennale, Nandur Srawung Festival (Indonesia), Signal, Testing Grounds (Naarm/Melbourne), Art Centre ONGOING (Japan), and Tributary Projects (Ngunnawal/Canberra). In 2021, they received the Prince Claus – Seed Award and in 2023, they received the Les Kossatz Memorial Award. Jessica has participated in several art residencies, most recently at Way Over There Collective x Connection Arts Space (2021) and at Signal Arts (2023–2024). They also completed Master Classes in Indonesia with FX Harsono at Inkubator Inisiatif (2019–2021) and at GUDSKUL (2019 and 2021).

Jessica's current ongoing projects include Comfort Objects, Slow Walking, and the MEga Yoga (Yoga by Me, for Me)

Jessica is Trocadero Projects’ 2023 Graduate Awardee.

Image credit: Jessica Tanto, I love strawberries but they don’t love me back, 2024, crayons on paper, 30 cm x 42 cm.