(1991) lives and works in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia
Emily Simek uses a practice in digital art, sculpture, installation, writing and gardening to explore the conditions that sustain ecologies. Her practice explores relationships within food webs and ecosystems. Living beings and digital technologies are engaged as collaborators during processes in art making.
Emily Simek’s 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 on Wurundjeri Land at Joe’s Market Garden, Coburg.
Pronouns: She/her
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
2024 Next Wave, Brunswick (forthcoming)
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
2023 - 24: co-worm-ing, Blindside, PHOTO 2024; Testing Grounds, Fringe Festival, 2023. Co-produced with Joy Zhou.
2022 - 24: Patch-Work, Joe’s Market Garden, Coburg; CERES Community Garden, Brunswick East. Co-founded with Merri Cheyne.
2023 Quarry Pedagogies Camp: B-roll, The Quarry, Beech Forest. Co-produced with Leitu Bonnici.
Solo Exhibitions
2024 Hot Compost Home Tour, home-based exhibition tour, public program, Seventh Gallery (forthcoming)
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
2024 Future Anterior, Blindside, PHOTO 2024, Naarm
2023 Artists Bookworks #4, George Paton Gallery, Naarm
2023 A sky the colour of a dead channel, Brunswick Temporary, Brunswick East
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
2009 Top Shots, Monash Gallery of Art, Wheeler’s Hill
2008 Top Arts, Ian Potter Center, National Gallery of Victoria, Naarm
Publications
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
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
Prizes
2022 Noel Counihan Commemorative Art Award, Counihan Gallery
2021 Lionel Gell Foundation Award, University of Melbourne
Dialogues
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
Senior physiotherapist at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Naarm
︎ emily.marella.simek@gmail.com
︎ emily_simek
Photograph by Astrid Mulder