Rive Roshan, Radiance Bench, Dark Ruby, 2023, RR02 textured coloured reflective glass, timber substrate 140 x 40 x 47 cm. Edition of 3 plus 1 AP.
Describing studio Rive Roshan’s presentation, Dan-Cuthbert says: “Through the use of glass, and the interplay with colour, they bring attention to the shifting red sands of the outback; a sunburnt country.” And designer and artist Charles Trevelyan made two lamps and a coffee table, “which reference the texture and colour of the bark of eucalyptus, moss and Australian coral”. Clients travelled from across the States to meet Olive Gill-Hille in person, “one of Australia’s most exciting emerging artists”, Dan-Cuthbert declares. “Her skill, understanding and intuitive wrangling of huge logs of timber is beguiling.”
Damien Wright and Bonhula Yunupingu, Dhanparr Garak lights 1 and 2, 2024, 10,000 year old Ancient red gum, Gadayka (Darwin Stringybark), Copper Wire, Led light, Tung oil finish. Photographed by Bernie Wright.
The collaborative work that Bonhula Yunupingu and Damien Wright presented feels particularly pertinent—a First Nations Australian artist from North East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, and a white Australian artist from Redcliffe, Queensland, working side by side. “Bonhula has gone back and investigated the early designs and purpose of ceremonial poles, and the two of them have worked to make a contemporary version, turning it into a light,” Dan-Cuthbert explains. “When you go on Country you usually approach a fire and you ask to come on their land—it’s part of a greeting and warmth. Whereas Damien has said in his culture, being a non-Indigenous artist and person, that fire is more often a warning; it’s something that’s scary. They try and bring it together and mould the pieces to retell their combined stories, really wanting to unite and not be about either Indigenous or non-Indigenous. It’s about a way forward that we can work in this country and I think that’s really important.”
Damien Wright, 2.22pm 2/2/22 Mono-block, 2022, 10,000 year old Ancient Red Gum, Polypropylene 80 x 100 x 80 cm. Photographed by Bernie Wright.
The fair pops up across the globe, from LA to Basel and Paris, with December 2024’s iteration at its mecca, Miami Beach. It has strict rules to ensure this is very much a design, rather than fine art, event, and Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert, which opened in 2019, specialises in traversing these two disciplines. “The gallery was established to champion Australian and New Zealand design,” Dan-Cuthbert says, although her professional background in fine art at Christie’s, in curation and advisory roles, meant that including art as well proved too irresistible a force. “We are one of the first galleries to really champion art and design together,” she states, and her selection for the fair certainly reflects this crossover.
Damien Wright, Tectonic (Side table/stool) and Tectonic (Console), 2023, DW02 10,000 year old Ancient Red Gum, resin, bronze. Edition of 10 plus 2 AP. Photographed by Bernie Wright.
Through the Design Miami lens, the gallery’s participating talent may change the way the world sees Australian art and design. It is not one thing; it is varied; kaleidoscopic, just like the country’s population. “Something that I really want to champion is that we are a very diverse nation,” Dan-Cuthbert says. “We don’t choose our artists based on who they are, we choose them on the quality of their work, on what they are trying to say.”
Kyoko Hashimoto and Guy Keulemans, Bioregional Rings (Sydney Basin). Photographed by Traianos Pakioufakis.
For Design Miami, Dan-Cuthbert united 10 intergenerational creators whose works extend into the farthest reaches of what high design can be; a curated spectrum of art and design in Australia right now. The fair’s Blue Sky curatorial theme is reflected in the natural bent of much of their work. Take the practice of featured designers Kyoko Hashimoto and Guy Keulemans, who showed “exquisite objects d’art—a series of rings featuring natural materials like sustainably sourced coral and sandstone”.
David Tate, Eganu, 2023-2024, emu eggs, emu feathers, cotton, plywood 174 x 108 x 63 cm. Photographed by Dan McCabe.
It makes sense that Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert was chosen for Design Miami given the great number of clients who are USA-based collectors. “We sell a lot overseas,” says Dan-Cuthbert. “We have already placed clients in very important collections in America so obviously people are seeing our work over there, which explains why Miami.” She believes collectors are increasingly drawn to Antipodean artists and designers as part of a hunt for “new names”. Thanks to its geographical isolation, Australia can offer this, with social media creating the connect. “A lot of this is people reaching out to us, coming across us on Instagram or our website,” the director confirms.
