Dr. Amanda Stuart

Biography

Amanda Stuart is a Canberra-based visual artist whose practice deeply engages with themes of country, music, and storytelling. Her sculptural work creates objects that inhabit the environment and invite psychic reimaginings of historical wounds involving humans and unwanted animals. The materiality of her work reflects Australian regional terrains and fauna, addressing social, cultural, and political challenges surrounding estranged human-animal relations and contested environments. Amanda's art practice spans drawing, object-making, installation, and photographic documentation, shaped by her background in land management and experiences as a park ranger. This informs her understanding of white settler and colonizing relations in Australia. She increasingly incorporates cross-cultural and interdisciplinary themes in her work, acknowledging the profound connections Indigenous peoples have with the land. Amanda actively engages with museum collections, reimagining the stories embedded in objects. Along with numerous collaborative and solo exhibitions, she has completed large public commissions and field-based research focusing on wild dog and dingo communities. Currently a lecturer for Environment Studio Foundation Workshops, she is also a co-founder of the Balawan Elective and was awarded the Vice Chancellor's Award for Reconciliation in 2018.

Research Interests