Alicia King is an interdisciplinary artist based in the Derwent Valley, lutruwita/Tasmania. Her work is driven by a fascination with natural phenomena and the re-thinking and re-working of our relationship with the non-human world. Within this broad context, King explores the intersections of nature, technology and the sublime, as well as ideas of deep ecological time and cultural mythologies of the future. Through an alchemical approach to materiality and process, her work creates new representations of the natural environment and encourages the viewer to contemplate their connection with larger unseen forces and complex ecologies.
She holds a PhD from the University of Tasmania for Transformations of the Flesh; Rupturing Embodiment through Biotechnology.
The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA NYC features King's artwork in their book Bio Design: Nature + Science + Creativity. King’s work also appears in The Routledge Companion to Biology in Art and Architecture and New Scientist.
King has exhibited within Australia and internationally. Awarded residencies include the Australia Council Tokyo Studio; Asialink Tokyo Wonder Site Studio; Rosamond McCulloch Studio, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris; Foundation BAD, Netherlands; Organ Haus, China and Urban Glass, New York. She is winner of the Arkley Award 2021, and the MONA Museum Scholarship, and has been shortlisted for awards including the Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship, The Georges Mora Fellowship, the McLelland National Small Sculpture Award, and the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize. King's work is held in collections including the MONA Museum, and the Justin Art House Museum, Melbourne.
King curated New Alchemists exhibition, featuring Australian and international artists exploring ideas of futuristic biologies and post-human engagements within the broad intersections of art and science. New Alchemists toured to The University of Queensland Art Museum, Flinders University City Gallery, Devonport Regional Art Gallery and the Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart. The show was reviewed in Artlink magazine, Art AsiaPacific and Art Guide Australia.
Above image: Detail of Aeolian Dust commissioned by The Unconformity, for The Unconformity Festival, Queenstown, Tasmania. 19 - 22 October 2023.
Photo: Remi Chauvin