(b. Australia)
Lives and works, Los Angeles

Education

University of NSW Art & Design, Australia
2018 Master’s Degree, Fine and Studio Arts

Central Institute of Technology, Australia
2004 Associate's degree, Animation

ual: University of the Arts (formerly London College of Printing), UK
1991 Undergraduate degree, Graphic Design

Exhibitions

2024. Upcoming - Five Walls, YOU ARE (solo show), Melbourne, Australia
2024    Launch LA, YOU ARE (solo show), Los Angeles, USA
2024    Aesthetica Art Prize 2024, Longlist Artist, York, UK
2023    Institut für Alles Mögliche – YOU ARE (solo show), Berlin, Germany
2022    Launch LA – Neon at La Cienega + West Third, Los Angeles, USA
2022    Vivid Light Festival – Neon collaboration with author, Chelsea Watego, Sydney, Australia
2022    Brea Gallery – 37th Made in California (group show), Finalist, Los Angeles, USA
2022    Shockboxx Gallery – Regulated Garbage (group show), Los Angeles, USA
2022 Artshare LA – There from Here (group show), Los Angeles, USA
2021    Brea Gallery – 36th Made in California (group show), Finalist, Los Angeles, USA
2021    Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre – The 66th Blake Prize, Finalist, Sydney, Australia
2020    Shockboxx Gallery – Minimalism (group show), Los Angeles, USA
2020    Launch LA Gallery – neon installations on outer building, Los Angeles, USA
2020    Shockboxx Gallery – Word (group show), Los Angeles, USA
2020 Gallery 825 – Penumbra (group show), Los Angeles, USA
2019 M16 Artspace – Drawing Prize, Finalist, Canberra, Australia
2019 Gallery 825 – Applied Science (group show), Los Angeles, USA
2019    Center for Contemporary Art – Finalist, Therefore I Am, Orange County, USA
2018 Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre – The 65th Blake Prize, Finalist, Sydney, Australia
2018    Center for Contemporary Art – Music for your Eyes, Finalist, Orange County, USA
2017 UNSW Art & Design – Annual 17 (group show), Sydney, Australia
2017 Los Angeles Center for Digital Art – Electron Salon (group show), Los Angeles, USA
2017 Gaffa Gallery – Off Site (group show), Sydney, Australia

Residencies

2023 3 month artist residency, Institut für Alles Mögliche, Berlin, Germany

Awards

2017 UNSW Art & Design, Sculpture & Installation Award

Bio

Gough’s contemporary art practice links elements from drawing, painting, sculpture and light-based media into a narrative that unearths and visualizes connections between people and their environment, investigating ideas around our very existence with conceptual themes that explore ‘our place in space’ or ‘we are what surrounds us’, whole system behaviors and the illusion of time (ourselves) flowing continuously from past to present and into the future.

Her art practice draws from years of experience as a designer. In the late 80’s, she moved to London (from Australia) to undertake design studies at The London College of Printing (now ual:). These were formative years, from which her love of typography, minimalist design and an introduction to Bauhaus aesthetics and 'Gestalt' theories became the foundation of her 35 year design practice and – where threads can be seen in her current day art practice.

An opportunity for a 6 month traditional animation traineeship at the Disney Studios in Sydney in 2005 was pivotal in her conceptual thinking. In hand drawn animation, a sequence of still drawings are presented linearly, over time, to create the ‘illusion of life’ when viewed sequentially. It was here that she started to think deeply about time, how we experience it as individuals, and collectively as a whole.

Her more recent Master of Fine Art studies at the University of NSW Art & Design in Sydney encouraged a fusion of traditional art school subjects such as drawing and painting – with cutting edge technology such as 3D printing and spatial computing (AR). This was the perfect environment for her to bring the depth of her technology driven design practice into her art work.

She has exhibited in the United States, Berlin and Australia – where her work has been included in the 65th & 66th Blake Prize and the Sydney VIVID Light Festival, along with achievements such as the UNSWA&D Sculpture & Installation Award. Recent exhibitions in Los Angeles include: Made in California group shows, outer building neon installations at Launch LA and sculptural neon installations in the Los Angeles Miracle Mile district. A recent 3 month Berlin residency concluded with a solo exhibit and she is a long-list artist in the 2024 Aesthetica Art Prize in the UK.

︎︎︎ d.gough@unswalumni.com
︎︎︎ Instagram @donna_gough
︎︎︎ News

Photo credit: Abel Alejandre Studio, abelalejandre.com

Donna Gough. Artist.