(1991) lives and works in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia
Emily Simek is an artist with a practice in digital art, textiles, installation, writing and gardening. Often working collaboratively, Emily is interested in relational practices within food webs and local networks of exchange.
Emily is of Czech and Dutch ancestry and lives on unceded Wurundjeri Country. Her art practice cross-pollinates with her work as a paediatric physiotherapist and home gardener. She is a caretaker of a worm farm compost system and contributor to Patch-Work, a collaborative project at Joe’s Market Garden, Coburg. Emily provides technical support for the online space WORLDWIDEWORMS.NET.
Education
Permaculture Design Certificate, CERES (2023)
Master of Contemporary Art, VCA (2022)
Graduate Certificate in Visual Art, VCA (2015)
Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours), Monash University (2013)
Residencies
2025 co-worm-ing, Boyd studio residency, City of Melbourne
2024 Friends of the plants of Next Wave, Next Wave, Brunswick
2022 Art + Ecology, Centre of Visual Art (CoVA), University of Melbourne
2022 Making Space, Merri-bek City Council
2021 - 22 Compost residency, Siteworks, Brunswick
2020 Interbeing, George Paton Gallery, Naarm
Collaborative Projects
2024 Hot Compost Home Tour, lead artist, touring exhibition with Seventh Gallery
- Home Tour, workshop with Doug Webb
- Making-do, home-based exhibition, curated by Merri Cheyne
- Open for Inspection, home-based exhibition, curated by Eric Jong
- Grow home, home-based exhibition, curated by Mei Sun
- Homecoming, home-based exhibition with Anna Dunnill
2023 - co-worm-ing, practice with Grey Dear and Joy Zhou
- co-worm-ing, MARS Gallery, 2024
- co-worm-ing, Blindside, PHOTO 2024
- co-worm-ing, Testing Grounds, Fringe Festival, 2023
2022- Patch-Work, co-founded with Merri Cheyne, Joe’s Market Garden, Coburg. Previously at CERES Community Garden, Brunswick East.
Curatorial Projects
2024 ‘Web Working Bee’ with WORLDWIDEWORMS.NET, Composite Moving Image Agency & Media Bank, Brunswick
2024 Do-It-With-Others, workshop co-facilitated with Caitlin Dear, Abbotsford Convent
2023 Quarry Pedagogies Camp: B-roll, The Quarry, Beech Forest, co-produced with Leitu Bonnici.
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Worm Care, Siteworks, Brunswick
2022 Remix, CERES Community Garden, Brunswick East
2021 Limber, George Paton Gallery, Naarm
2020 Dispersion, Online Group Practice Event
Group Exhibitions
2025 Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award, Wangaratta Art Gallery (forthcoming)
2024 Naturally Inclined, Retractable Art Space, Clifton Hill
2024 B-side, fundraiser exhibition, Blindside, Naarm
2024 Future Anterior, Blindside, PHOTO 2024, Naarm
2023 A sky the colour of a dead channel, Brunswick Temporary, Brunswick East
2023 Artists Bookworks #4, George Paton Gallery, Naarm
2022 Future Tense (Merri-bek Summer Show), Counihan Gallery, Brunswick
2022 Evanesce, curated by Centre for Projection Art at Climarte Gallery, Richmond
2022 Projection Art Masterclass, Meat Market Stables, North Melbourne
2021 Composting... MCA Graduate Exhibition, University of Melbourne
2021 Nutrient Cycling, Mud Festival, University of Melbourne
2021 FORT EARTH, Marfa Gallery, Abbotsford
2021 The Darkest Night, The Old Bar, Fitzroy
2021 From Where I Stand #3, VCA Student Gallery
2020 3 x 3, @vcaartspace
2019 Street, Noir Darkroom, Coburg
2018 Black Cell, The Stables Studio Space, Princes Hill
2015 Graduate Exhibition, VCA Student Gallery
Publications
2024 Homecoming, text by Anna Dunnill, design by Emily Simek. Published as part of Hot Compost Home Tour, Seventh Gallery, 2024.
2023 What To Do With Agricultural By-Products: An Incomplete Guide, Art + Australia
2023 Leisure time for bots*, www.worldwideworms.net
2023 The Curator-Farmer, essay, 16 page zine
2022 How to Make Digital Compost, essay, 12 page zine
2022 Worm Care, 8 page zine, collaboration with Leanne Bock, first edition
2022 Duty of Care: Morwenna Schenck, exhibition text, e-zine
Prizes + Grants
2025 Finalist, Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award, Wangaratta Art Gallery
2024 VCA50 Creative Development Grant, University of Melbourne
2024 Small Project Grant, Yarra City Council
2022 Noel Counihan Commemorative Art Award, Counihan Gallery
2021 Lionel Gell Foundation Award, University of Melbourne
Programs
2023 Emerging Writers Program, Seventh Gallery, Richmond
2023 Public Art Park, Testing Grounds, Naarm
2023 Quarry Pedagogies Camp, Beech Forest
2022 Projection Art Masterclass, Centre for Projection Art
2021 Artist Mentorship, George Paton Gallery, Naarm
Dialogues
2024 Merri-bek Summer Show, panel discussion, Counihan Gallery
2024 Engagement in Environment through Creative Practice, panel discussion, Sticky Institute, Naarm
2023 Decomposition as Methodology, panel discussion, Dancehouse, Naarm
2022 Guest lecturer, Experimental Textiles, RMIT
Bibliography
Mia Palmer-Verevis, Into the Wormhole, catalogue essay, published alongside co-worm-ing (2024), Blindside, Naarm, 2024.
Katie West, Following Evanesce, published alongside Evanesce, group exhibition curated by the Centre for Projection at Climarte Gallery, Richmond, 2022.
Physiotherapy Practice
Physiotherapist at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Naarm
︎ emily.marella.simek@gmail.com
︎ emily_simek
Photograph by Astrid Mulder