Lichen Kelp CV

Lichen’s practice comprises photography and performance chemistry, combining scientific experimentation with ikebana and DIY electronics. For the last three years, she has been performing extensively in Melbourne including at MPavilion, C3 Gallery, Testing Grounds and RMIT Design Hub as well as in Athens and Kochi.

She is co-founder and co-director (with her partner, artist Dylan Martorell) of a nomadic artist residency program called Forum of Sensory Motion (FSM) that grew out of an earlier residency, Kochi AIR, they managed in Kerala, India.

In July 2019, Lichen established SASi (Seaweed Appreciation Society international) which has held multiple forages and feats, collective gatherings and a residency at the Herbarium, Melbourne University.

In October 2019, Lichen began Biomutualism, a collaborative artistic project with Jessie French.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS, PERFORMANCES AND PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Seaweed Appreciation Society international (SASi); a mobile lab dedicated to group research of marine algaes. This community art/ science group was founded by Lichen Kelp to investigate creative ways to protect and rehabilitate marine environments. Exploring the materiality of seaweeds, its future food potential, and eco-philosophical properties through reading groups, residencies, foraging, feasts and field trips and connecting marine scientists with artists for open ended collaborations.

Yurtings, 2016 —2019 Lichen Kelp has performed at several Yurting events as well as curating over 21 music performance nights featuring diverse local and international acts including Jannah Quill, David Haines and Joyce Hinterding, Nina Buchanan, Lucy Cliche, Lin Ching Wei at a yurt venue she manages in an inner city warehouse.

cephaloPOD19, an artist field trip to witness the mating displays of the Giant Australian Cuttlefish, Whyalla. Hosted by Lichen Kelp (FSM) and Danni Zuvela (Liquid Architecture) and funded by Australia Council for the Arts. A publication resulting from the trip; The End of Dreaming, The Death of The Dreamer by Michael Dulaney appeared in The Lifted Brow magazine, Sept 2019.

Possible conditions for multicellular entanglement; Kelp D/J with Benjamin Hancock music, chemistry and dance performance. Included a series of DIY musical instruments built by Lichen Kelp; ice instruments, musical foam machine and electronic ikebana for Why Listen to Plants, RMIT Design Hub 2018

Democracy of Flowers, Lichen Kelp chemistry performance including botanicals, liquid nitrogen, hydrophones, bluetooth colour sensitive drum jewellery and a hand built water synthesiser, architectural soundtrack collaboration with Dylan Martorell at OMA MPavillion 2018

Incubating Ice Eggs, performative outcomes from Greece residency in collaboration with dancer Benjamin Hancock, artist and musician Dylan Martorell, Exit Gallery, Psiri, Athens and Testing Grounds, Melbourne, 2017 Seen and Not Seen, chemistry performance, Lamington Drive, Melbourne, 2016

Music for Meditation, group action in collaboration with Dylan Martorell, KochiAIR, Pepperhouse, Kochi, India, 2016

Roda Roda Soundsystem, community event curated in collaboration with artists Jason Heller, Lucreccia Quintinella and Dylan Martorell and including over 400 people from the local bike, art and music scenes as well the general public, Jogjakarta, Indonesia, 2010.

CURATORIAL PROJECTS

Forum of Sensory Motion (FSM) residency and exhibition for Unconformity Festival, Queenstown, Tasmania upcoming 2020

Kelp D Holden On performance and installation, Knowledge week, Port Melbourne 2020

Biomutualism Seaweed Salon, Science Gallery, current 2020

Seaweed Appreciation Society International (SASi) [founder and director], a community-based algae research group emphasising group learning and practical experimentation to connect artists with marine biologists, kelp farmers and other experts in marine habitat restoration and everyday uses for seaweed.

FLOAT Residency, Gippsland, 2019 ongoing

RESIDENCIES, ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND DEVELOPMENT

La Pause Residency, Marrakesh, Morocco, Feburarary 2020

FLOAT Residency, a six part residency on a houseboat studio, Gippsland, Australia, 2019 ongoing

Pink Laking video project, 2019, with Dylan Martorell and Hypertext

Digital Naturalism Conference, Thailand, 2018, alongside marine biologists, roboticists, neurologists and digital artists. Created a colour changing, musical drink using a Thai herbal tea and a DIY synth.

Forum of Sensory Motion Giant Cuttlefish migratory residency, Melbourne to Whyalla, 2018. Held with a group of eleven artists travelling 16 hours across Australia to see the mating of Sepia Apama, the Giant Cuttlefish. Two weeks later a night of screenings and performances resulting from the trip was held at House of Linden Studios.

Forum of Sensory Motion Greece17 residency, Athens, Greece, 2017. Travelled throughout Greece in Kythira and Serifos with 5 artists and presented 2 nights of performances and an exhibition in Athens. Funded By Creative Victoria.

Testing Grounds residency, Melbourne, Australia, 2017. A venuewide opportunity to present outcomes and further developments of personal and group works produced in Greece during the 2017 FSM Greece17 residency.

Kochi AIR, an artist-run residency established and run by Lichen Kelp and Dylan Martorell and held at Pepperhouse studios, Kochi, Kerala, India. Supported by the Kochi Muziris Biennale, this program was held in 2014 and 2016.

RELATED EXPERIENCE AND EMPLOYMENT

Making Bacteria Glow with Jellyfish DNA, a two-day workshop, run by Bioquisitive, working with green fluorescent protein, Melbourne, Australia, 2019

Colour Chemistry kids workshops, Kerala, India, Melbourne and Sydney 2014—2016

Slow Art Collective, assistant, 2015—2018

Head designer, Sunday Morning Designs, textile company based in Melbourne Australia, 2005—2015