Paula Dunlop is an artist, designer and maker based in Brisbane, Australia. She has a persistent interest in materiality and making; our apprehension of, and how we engage with, the material ‘stuff’ of the world. Dunlop’s work explores the physical and cultural locations of making, and the bearing of these locations on what we do and how we do it — how we make, and are ourselves simultaneously made, by the practices, spaces and things we engage with. She is drawn in particular to the histories and traditions of creative work undertaken in domestic spaces, and the way we conceptualize and engage with quotidian objects and materiality. These concerns carry through all the work she produces, regardless of the end object or outcome.
Aesthetically, Dunlop is interested in parts, wholes and processes, in particular, the use of repetition as both a visual device as well as a process. She employs time-honored and time-consuming construction techniques, preferring to work by deferring to the limitations presented by the material and by deferring to the processes of the form itself.
In 2009, Dunlop co-founded the community fashion and art group The Stitchery Collective, and completed a PhD in fashion, design and ethics at the Queensland University of Technology in 2011.
Paula Dunlop’s residency is made possible through the ongoing studio partnership with Residency Unlimited with support from the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, state and territory governments. Image: Paula Dunlop, Ribbon (matte black), 2018; glass beads, thread; 15cm x 155cm.