Artist Statement
Processes play an important part in my work. It matters whether or not the materials are dissolved, fixed, fired, wound up, cut, distorted, sagging or nearing a collapse.
I am interested in the loss of certitude. The devices that I am using in the process of making perform useful functions in ordinary life. However here they are being tested and pushed to their limits. Subverting their functions initiates possibilities for things to redefine themselves.
Lines which delineate boundaries and organise forms become fugitive. They follow a path of deterriolalisation, whether they may take the form of drawings with ink on paper or with thread in thin air. Liberated from the lack of finality, they form an optimistic relationship to the future. There are holes in the grid and the future is open. light weeks away is about the possible.
Biography
Marzena Topka arrived in Australia in 1983 from Poland and, since 2009, is an Academic Staff member, Art OUA Studies at Curtin University. She studied art history at the University of Western Australia (1992) and Fine Art at Central TAFE (2003) and Curtin University (2011). In her practice, Topka works across various media (e.g. sculpture, textiles, drawing and film), drawing inspiration from irrationality of systems and their failure. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including Here & Now19 at Lawrence Wilson Gallery, 2019.
C.V.
Born Chojnice, Poland, 1969
Resides Perth – Boorloo, Wadjak Noogar Boodjar, Western Australia, 1985 – current
Education
2011 Master of Creative Arts (Fine Art), Curtin University of Technology, Bentley, Western Australia
2005 Bachelor of Art (1st Class Hon)(Fine Art), Curtin University of Technology, Bentley, Western Australia
2003 Advanced Diploma of Fine Arts, Central TAFE, Perth, Western Australia
1993 Bachelor of Arts (1st Class Hon) Art History, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2014 Boundaries of Beige, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, Western Australia
2010 light weeks away…, Galerie Düsseldorf, Mosman Park, Western Australia
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 30 x 30 Exhibition and Auction Fundraiser, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia
2024 Resurface: Gothic Tales from the Indian Ocean, IOTA24, Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, Western Australia
2022 What Remains, Lost Eden Gallery, Dwellingup, Western Australia (e-cat)
2021 Totemism: Climate Altered Species, Spectrum Project Space, Mount Lawley, Western Australia
2021 Transmigrations, Nyisztor Studios, Palmyra, Western Australia (e-cat)
2020 Sum of Parts, Gallery Central, Perth, Western Australia
2019 HERE&NOW19, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Nedlands, Western Australia (cat)
2018 Staff Room, Edwin Millen House, Victoria Park, Western Australia
2018 Drawing 2018, Art Collective, Perth, Western Australia
2016 Polygraphics: Walking the Line, Gallery Central, Perth, Western Australia (cat)
2015 Staff Room, Free Range Gallery, Perth, Western Australia
2014 Staff Room, PS Art Space (PSAS), Fremantle, Western Australia
2014 Otherworldly, Heathcote Museum & Gallery, Heathcote, Western Australia (e-cat)
2014 Flawless Measures, Melody Smith Gallery, Carlisle South, Western Australia (cat)
2013 LP the times they are a changing!, Galerie Düsseldorf, Mosman Park, Western Australia
2012 Staff Room, The Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery, Fremantle, Western Australia
2012 Open by Necessity, The Museum of Natural Mystery, North Perth, Western Australia
2011 Staff Room, The Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery, Fremantle, Western Australia
2010 GET smART, John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley, Western Australia
2010 Wallpaper, Central TAFE Gallery, Perth, Western Australia (e-cat)
2009 dOFa09, Department of Art Post Graduate exhibition, John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley, Western Australia
2008 24 Hour Drawing Project, Central TAFE Artist-in-Residence Space, Perth, Western Australia
2008 Safety Measures, The Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery, Fremantle, Western Australia (cat)
Awards/Scholarships/Grants
2012 Development Grant, Department of Culture and the Arts, Western Australia
2009 Galerie Düsseldorff/Curtin University, Department of Art, Post Graduate Scholarship Award, Western Australia
2006 Arts Development Grant, ArtsWA, Western Australia
2003 Award for Innovation, WA School of Art, Design and Media, Central TAFE, Western Australia
Artist Residencies
2008 – 2019 Artsource Studio Residency, East Perth, Western Australia
2014 Artist in Residence, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, Western Australia
2005 Graduate in Residence, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley, Western Australia
Selected Presentations
2019 Social Fabric Symposium, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Nedlands, Western Australia
2019 Tactile Tour, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Nedlands, Western Australia
2014 Artspoken. Artist talks, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, Western Australia
2009 John Curtin Gallery Artist Floor Talks, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley
2008 Engaging Place(s)/Engaging Culture(s), The 9th Humanities Postgraduate Conference, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia
2007 BEAD Symposium, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley, Western Australia
Selected Membership
2025 AC4CA (Australian Centre for Concrete Art)
2008 Third Week feedback, an Artist-run-initiative, Perth, Western Australia
2005 Boardroom, an art collective based in Perth, Western Australia
Collections
Lloyd R. Horne Art Collection, Bunbury, Western Australia
Various private national and international collections