Five Minutes With Sandy Edwards, Curator Of October Unseen

Talk us through the concept of October Unseen.

With the concept behind Arthere, I am placing photographic artists into existing galleries of all kinds – commercial galleries, artist-run spaces, rental spaces or pop-up spaces. It depends on the work and what is appropriate to the space. It also depends on the artist’s budget, as exhibitions are expensive. As one of the few dedicated photography spaces, 10×8 Gallery is a great space for photographers to be seen in. Artists are always working at producing new work so it is important and exciting for them to show that work, even if it is work in progress.

You’ve had a long involvement with Stills Gallery – what’s appealing about this 10×8 Gallery space at Central Park?

My involvement with Stills Gallery has continued for over 20 years. I have learnt enormously from my work there. I now work very part-time at Stills Gallery. Arthere was founded in 2008 and it is an idea of my own based on my time at Stills, looking at the work of many artists coming to find what is very limited space in Sydney to exhibit work. I could see there was a need to educate artists in negotiating the art world and to support them in the many steps that are required to mount work for exhibition. 10×8 is associated with the work of photojournalists and documentary photographers and has had many fine exhibitions from both local and overseas photographers.

What can you tell us about some of the artists involved in this exhibition?

You will see a range of work offering interpretations that reflect both the portrayal of the moment and a rich variation of styles seen currently in photography. There is also a beautiful video work by Julie Williams. You will see new styles of landscape and street noir photography by Catherine Cloran, Chris Round and Lynn Smith, seemingly traditional landscapes by Lisa Sharkey and Jill Crossley, panoramas by Suellen Symons and evidence of the human spirit by Digby Duncan, Luke Hardy, Sally McInerney, Zorica Purlija, Sandy Edwards and Meg Hewitt.

What’s next for Arthere?

Good question. There are individual artists I have been working with to find venues for their work – Jill Crossley and Nancy Trieu, for example. Scott Walker has a show coming up at Gaffa in November, which is worth catching.