April Phillips

April Phillips is a Wiradjuri-Scottish woman of the Galari peoples. Her arts practice is cemented in digital arts, illustraton, VR + AR research and in her role as a peer mentor for the next generation of artists. April leans into character design as a narrative tool to explore empathy, fun and form. Her use of vivid colour and unlikely digital processes celebrates the potential of computer art for a new world.

Special thanks to Megalo Print Studio for hosting me, especially Alex Lundy and Elise Stanley for teaching me how to print; Isaac Lynnah for working with me on the VR work that couldn't be shown during COVID; my family – Thierry, Elodie and Meadow Leclerc; Sophie Penkethman-Young for the encouragement and little push; gratitude to digital tool developers Nga Nguyen and David O’Reilly who created the tools I used to make this body of work; Julie Montgarrett for supporting my creative journey; and my Wiradjuri Elders and friends, especially Letetia Harris for teaching me language on country.

#1 | Scoop, 2020, screen print on paper with AR overlay, edition 1 of 5. 83.1 x 77.2 cm, 15 seconds. $790

#2 | Spike, 2020, screen print on paper with AR overlay, edition 1 of 5. 77 x 99.6 cm, 15 seconds. $790

#3 | Push, 2020, screen print on paper with AR overlay, unique state. 76.7 x 81.1 cm, 15 seconds. NFS

Phillip’s body of work is a series of virtual works and bitmap screen prints exploring figures that hatch in speculative futures. The series is informed by the natural systems and projections of tomorrow, with a focus on transformation and potential of life. Each digital drawing is converted into 2D versions from 3D OBJ media as a static form that promises flux. Using character design as the basis of development and a curiosity-driven approach, the exhibition features works that are at once fun, bold, familiar, strange and haunting.