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Louise is an artist and curator, born in Aotearoa New Zealand. She now works between London, Margate and Aotearoa. Louise uses installation, moving image, photography, writing, participatory works and sound to explore humanity's evolving understanding of Earth’s environments and the cosmos. Her experience of living under two types of night sky, the first in low level light polluted areas in Aotearoa, and the second in higher level light polluted cities and towns in England, has deeply informed her practice. She explores how living under dark skies, or light polluted skies, can change our perception of grief, the climate crisis and Earth’s deep time history and future. Louise holds an MA Art and Science from Central Saint Martins and a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Middlesex University London.
Recent awards, residencies and commissions include Somewhere Nowhere Residency, Lake District (2019), Arts Centre Christchurch Te Matatiki Toi Ora Residency, Aotearoa New Zealand (2020), Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics Space Art Summer School (2020), Delfina x Gaia Art Foundation Science Technology Society UK Associateship (2020), SECCADs Grant (2020), BigCi Environmental Art Award (2020), Bodleian Library x Fusion Arts Commission (2020), ACE DYCP Grant (2021), North York Moors Dark Skies Residency with solo exhibition (2021), Amant Siena Residency (2021), CreaTures Art/Tech/Nature/Culture Residency (2021), Grand Union x University of Birmingham MA Art History and Curating Exhibition Award (2022), Birmingham, England, British Council Pakistan - UK New Perspectives (2022), Space Studios x ARUP Commission (2022), Art + Air Exhibition Commission (2022), Curating Climate Commission Forestry England x Signal Film and Media (2022), the Jean Harrison Commission (2022), Photo Fringe 2022 OPEN Eco (2022), Vera C. Rubin Observatory Kickstarter Grant with the University of Canterbury Mount John Observatory, Aotearoa New Zealand (2022), Derby Cathedral and FORMAT23 Photography Festival (2023) and has been awarded her second Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice grant (2023), A Siren’s Call with Art on Romney Marsh (2023), GRAIN Projects Photographer In Residence at Cannock Chase with Forestry England (2023), LOM+You (2023), People United (2023), Fermynwoods Contemporary Art (2023 and 2024). Louise contributed a chapter for a book, Dark Skies: Places, Practices, Communities, edited by Nick Dunn and Timothy Edensor, published by Routledge in November 2023. In 2024, Louise was awarded a British Council Connections through Culture Grant to work with Tūhura Otago Museum in Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, Earth Photo Sidney Nolan Trust Award, Wales (2024), KOSMICA Magazine, Mexico (2024) and LaunchPad Lab Residency, Champagne-Mouton, France (2024). Louise is currently a Master Mentor for Barker Langham.
Louise has a strong collaborative practice as a director of Lumen, super/collider and Pale Blue Dot Collective. She has co-created 8 residencies in the UK and Europe and co-curated over 80 exhibitions and 80 events focusing on astronomy and/or ecology. She has collaborated with and curated events and workshops at organisations such as the Science Museum, Bompas and Parr, Greenman Festival, British Science Association, Second Home, the Ace Hotel, Floating Cinema, The Collective, Tate Britain, SALT Festival Norway, Soho House Group, Nablus Festival Israel, Blue Dot Festival, Young and Serious and Vivid Projects, Hebrides Dark Sky Festival and the Turner Contemporary.
Louise is currently mentored by Ariane Koek through her Arts Council England DYCP grant.
Collectives
Pale Blue Dot Collective is a curatorial and research project that attempts to raise awareness of ecological concerns, in collaboration with John Hooper. The collective endeavours to bring a new perspective about the detrimental impact of climate change, not only us as individuals and to our societies but to all life and all environments. Framing the impact through the eyes of evolution and the immense time period it has taken for each form of life to arrive at this point, the duo wants to create a space for discussion around the damage we are collectively participating in and its universal impact.
Lumen is a collective founded in 2014, with a gallery space in the crypt of St John on Bethnal Green Church in London. Lumen curates exhibitions, residencies, events and talks focused round astronomy and light.
super/collider is a creative agency that specialises in curating science based talks, exhibitions, workshops, field-trips and pop-up astronomy clubs. super/collider has recently collaborated with the Turner Contemporary, Imperial College London and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.
Print Science is a research project with artist/ photographer John Hooper. This project is centred around finding historical representations of the night skies and the philosophies that have been imposed on them. Print Science collects 19th and early 20th century astronomy books and photographs the plates and engravings, preserving the books’ integrity for future generations. These images are then restored and presented with a contemporary aesthetic that captures humanity’s wonder of the heavens.
