HULLABALOO

Hullabaloo was an exhibition featuring ceramics from Molly Desmond and paintings from Sophia Childs.

A Hullabaloo is noisy, it forces our attention. Desmond and Childs are interested in how ‘noisy’ aesthetics can excite new material possibilities. Being a ceramicist and painter, respectively, involves working within some type of historic system. Some rules must be followed to create an object, yet these systems can be expanded. Both artists are driven by process-based systems that interrogate the assumptions of their chosen mediums. Yet, there is an awareness of the autonomy, or memory, of materials. Clay and paint each hold the marks of the making—though this is not a one-sided exchange. Desmond and Childs are conceptually interested in the tension between intuition, modes of automation and moments of disruption and chance that occur when you forfeit complete control. Sculptural forms and painted shapes recur as each artist experiments with their systems of making, with each form contributing its own voice. Material agency underpins this exhibition.

Their art practices are aware of a contemporary context that is information-dense and confusing. With so much happening, it is easy to feel lost, uncertain and disheartened. Their art practices strive to interrogate ways of making to shift the ways we see, think and understand—within and beyond visual arts practices. Conceptually, Desmond and Childs wish to highlight the endless potential, which can reinvigorate how each of us respond to our worlds.

Sophia Childs and Molly Desmond graduated with first-class honours from the ANU School of Art & Design. Sophia has presented multiple solo exhibitions and group exhibitions within Canberra—most recently, BLAZE 2025 at Canberra Contemporary. Molly has participated in various group exhibitions across Canberra and held her first solo exhibition at Grainger Gallery in 2024. Her work is held in private and public collections, including the Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra.