Carol Archer
Carol Archer is an Australian artist and scholar who returned to rural Australia in 2016 after living in Hong Kong and Macao for many years. Her recent drawings, paintings and prints explore encounters between groups of trees as perceived by the walker who pauses along the way. The artist sees her work as an exploration of the sense of immersion, wonder and intimacy of that experience, and hopes that the works evoke the viewer’s own appreciation of forests, at a moment when the need to protect the world’s fragile ecosystems is urgent.
Archer’s qualifications include a doctoral degree from the University of Hong Kong (2006), a Master of Arts (honours) degree from the University of Western Sydney, Australia (1998), an Associate Diploma in painting from the Australian National University, Canberra (1989), a Graduate Diploma of (Secondary Art) Education (1981) and a Bachelor of Arts (1980), both from the University of Sydney. Publications include scholarly articles on artistic collaboration, feminist aesthetics, and art education, magazine articles on contemporary art in Macao and Hong Kong, along with a range of catalogues that centre on her own solo or collaborative projects. Archer’s employment has principally been as a teacher of art history, art theory and art practice. She has also taught English as a Second and Foreign Language. Her most recent full-time teaching position (2008-15) was as an Assistant Professor in the Visual Studies Dept, Lingnan University, Hong Kong.
Carol Archer has been awarded artist residencies in Australia (Bundanon; 2009), Sweden (ARNA Art and Nature, Harlösa; 2015), Norway (Messen Kunstnarhuset, Ålvik; 2014, 2015, 2019), Cyprus (Boubouki Cottage, Mesana; 2015 ), Spain (Mas Els Igols, Penedes; 2016), and Iceland (Hafnarborg, Hafnarfjörður; 2017). A residency in northern Finland (Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort, Saariselkä), scheduled for 2020, has been postponed.
Selected Exhibitions
2020: Colour my world, Back to Back Galleries, Newcastle, Australia.
2020: Human and Nature, Art Gallery No. 6, Zini Art Town, Guangzhou, China.
2019: Back to Light, Galleria Kookos, Helsinki, Finland.
2018: Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing Finalists Exhibition, Adelaide Perry Gallery, Croydon, Australia.
2017: Drawing Breath/ Desenhar. Respirar. (solo exhibition), Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, Lisbon, Portugal.
2016: Tree Studies (solo exhibition), Gallery Estudio Nomada, Gothic Quarter, Barcelona, Spain.
2015: Messen Autumn Show, Messen Kunstnarhuset, Alvik, Norway.
2014: Postcards between Friends: collaborative drawing and creativity pedagogy
友愛明信片 : 協同繪畫與創意教學法, Lingnan University Fong Sum Wood Library, Lingnan University, Hong Kong.
2014: Cards between Friends, Galleri Rostrum, Malmö, Sweden.
2012-2013: Flora and Fauna, Bundanon Homestead, Bundanon, Australia.
2010: Time with the Sky/與天度日 (solo exhibition), Cattle Depot Artist Village, Hong Kong.
2010: Out of Thin Air: collaborative and solo works/憑空而來—個人及合作畫展, Lingnan University, Hong Kong and Sun Yat Sen University, Guangzhou.
Recent grants and acquisitions
2017: Macao Foundation grant for Drawing Breath/ Desenhar. Respirar (exhibition & catalogue), Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, Lisbon, Portugal.
2013: Acquisition of a Work of Macao Hands painting and a Work of Hong Kong Hands painting, Hong Kong Trade Office, Geneva, Switzerland.
2011: Acquisition of Time with the Sky #9, Bundanon Trust, Australia.
2010: Hong Kong Arts Development Council project grant for the Time with the Sky 與天度日 exhibition and publication.
Artworks are included in many private collections worldwide.