Art
This is a curated archive of my art including music composition, chamber opera, cross-art form collaboration, film and other projects.
When you start working, everybody is in your studio — the past, your friends, enemies, the art world, and above all, your own ideas — all are there. But as you continue painting, they start leaving, one by one, and you are left completely alone. Then, if you are lucky, even you leave.
John Cage
Art was my life for 25 years — composing, directing, building companies, collaborating — travelling from Australia to Asia, Europe, the US and Africa. The work was always new and always on the edge. I no longer compose or direct performances, but I still consider myself an artist.
Chamber Made Opera
Chamber Made Opera is Australia’s most progressive contemporary chamber opera company. As artistic director from 2010 to 2013, I commissioned and produced ten new living room operas. The Minotaur Trilogy made with Margaret Cameron was the culmination of my entire arts practice. Margaret and I called it ‘the art of everything.’
more chamber operas
Aphids
Aphids was co-founded by myself, Cynthia Troup, Sarah Pirrie and Kath Banger in 1994. We made cross-artform collaborations with artists from almost every discipline, travelling from Australia to Asia, Europe, the US and Africa. After more than 30 years Aphids is still pushing boundaries, continuing the spirit of experimentation that we instilled all those years ago.
I gravitated towards collaborating because composing was too solitary. Aphids became a chosen family, seeking the unfamiliar. Each Aphids event was completely different, each a very specific conjunction of people, places and ideas.
more Aphids projects
Music
Music composition is the thread that runs through all this art. I studied piano, then composition with Liza Lim at the University of Melbourne and completed a PhD at the University of Queensland. The music is mostly for small ensembles and settings, intricate and complex. At first I wrote on musical staves with ink and paper, but increasingly became obsessed with graphic notation, introducing symbols, images, watercolour, photographs, even animation.
The autobiographical song cycle, Thousands of Bundled Straw, was described as ‘like seeing a world in a grain of sand.’ Music was not my primary interest. I was less concerned with how it sounded, and more interested in the ideas, the musicians, the listeners and what happens in between.
more musical works
Film
Deborah Hay: Alignment is everywhere — a portrait of the radical American choreographer, made with Peter Humble.
Other projects
Many other projects, residencies and collaborations also took place — here is a small selection.
