Art Gene/ 25 x 25 Residency

I am delighted to share that I was selected for the 25 x 25 Art Gene's 25th Anniversary Residency. This is a unique opportunity to engage with Art Gene's extraordinary portfolio of past projects, their ethos of working for positive change, and their longstanding focus on 'the local', the environment, biodiversity and impacts of the climate crisis.

“A 25-Day Residency in Barrow-in-Furness - an environmental and climate focus.

In 2027, Art Gene celebrates 25 years of artist-led, environmentally aware placemaking, research, artist residences, exhibitions, and socially engaged art projects - all involving artists and communities in the revisioning of their social, natural and build environments.

Founded in 2002 by artists Stuart Bastik (1965-2024) and Maddi Nicholson, over the past two and a half decades, Art Gene has built a distinctive legacy by hosting local and international residencies, curating exhibitions, and nurturing collaborations. Working with artists, architects, communities and specialists we have explored the evolving relationships between art, industry, and nature, often focusing on local issues and biodiversity in Barrow-in-Furness.

Art Gene is deeply committed to understanding and creatively engaging with place. Our approach considers the social, natural, and built environment as an interconnected whole, enhanced through thoughtful, site-specific artistic practices rather than isolated, standalone works or structures.

To mark their milestone, Art Gene invited applications from artists for a 25-day residency in Barrow-in-Furness.”

Judging/ BigCi Environmental Art Awards 2025

John Hooper and I are delighted to have been invited to judge this year’s BigCi Environmental Art Award. We won this award in 2020 - and did our month long residency in 2022, due to the border restrictions in Australia at the time.

This residency was deeply important to both of us, and has shaped our collaborative and individual practices in a profound way. Rae and Yuri were wonderful curators and guides, and we had such a fantastic time exploring the area with them, and with the other two artists, Ingrid Hess and Trish Watts. It was a magical time that we still think and talk about often, and the film we made there ‘Last verse’ continues to be shown in galleries in Australia and around the world.

“Australian and International artists from various fields – visual art, installation, multimedia, performance, literature, music, photography, film making, curating – are invited to submit entries for the BigCi Environmental Awards 2025.

Two Winners of the Awards will each receive (4) free weeks at the BigCi residency and $5,000 prize money.

The winning artists will have an opportunity to explore the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wollemi, Blue Mountains and Gardens of Stone National Parks on guided walks and will be given research assistance relevant to their projects. At the end of their residencies, they will present their work at a BigCi Open Day event.”

The deadline for submissions is 24 August 2025.
Winners will be announced on 12 September 2025.

More info here:
https://bigci.org/awards/

Conference/ National Astronomy Meeting 2025

I am excited to be presenting my practice at the National Astronomy Meeting 2025 at Durham University this Friday.

My session:
Crossing Boundaries: The benefits of ArtScience for contemporary astronomy research

With thanks to the organisers:
Ulrike Kuchner, Soheb Mandhai; co organisers: Jenni French, John Paice, Jake Noel-Storr, Houda Haidar.

Art and science both expand human knowledge by blending imaginative thinking with analytical decision-making to create original ideas. Despite their historical synergy, fully harnessing their potential in today’s astronomy research is challenging. Ever-growing data, large-scale collaborations, and the rise of artificial intelligence often limit opportunities for creative engagement with complex ideas and data. Artistic methods like virtual reality, music, digital and performance art, offer inclusive ways for exploration, understanding and communication.

While art is widely used for information visualization in outreach and science communication, this session focuses on three less-explored aspects of ArtScience:

o Creativity: ArtScience to contribute to knowledge creation will provide an overview of research and practice into ArtScience for interdisciplinary goals (eg. Kuchner+2023; Birsel+2023).
o Inclusivity: ArtScience to improve research culture and accessibility will highlight artistic methods and tools promoting equality, inclusivity, and diversity (eg. Sensory science clubs for neurodiverse audiences).
o STEAM: ArtScience to support teaching and learning will share STEAM (STEM+Art) practice for education (eg. Aguilera+2024).

We will address key challenges, such as navigating differing disciplinary practices, finding funding, and contextualizing collaborative outcomes. Practical advice will include available UK funding schemes, joining communities, setting shared goals, and evaluating results.

The Royal Astronomical Society is proud to present the next National Astronomy Meeting, NAM2025, at Durham University from Monday 7th July to Friday 11th July, 2025. It is organised in conjunction with Durham University's Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, the Institute for Computational Cosmology, the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, and the Department of Mathematical Sciences.

NAM2025 covers the full range of astronomy research in the UK, including the instrumentation and astro-particle communities, as well as other key issues relevant to the UK astronomy community.

Exhibition/ Self- Similar at Paul Smith Space

I am delighted to have a collection of six works in this upcoming exhibition at Paul Smith Gallery in London.

SELF-SIMILAR 
Curated by Mat Chivers 

PAUL SMITH SPACE, 9 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BL
 Private view: Thursday, 19th June 2025, 6-8pm
Exhibition runs: Friday 20th June 2025 - Sunday 8th September 2025

Reality is more than matter shaped by physics and chance; it is patterned, alive with echoes across scales — from quantum flickers to cosmic rhythms. ‘Self-similar’, curated by Mat Chivers at Paul Smith Space, gathers twenty-three artists whose works trace the delicate weave between nature and consciousness, blending science and intuition. At a moment when the future hangs in the balance, and humanity must relearn harmony with the Earth, these artists invite us to see anew — to imagine a world where human and more-than-human minds entwine, and all things are bound by a quiet, resonant thread.

Artists
A.A. Murakami
Aigana Gali
Ambrosine Allen
Emilie Pugh
Es Devlin
Gabriele Beveridge
Jonathan Michael Ray
Louise Beer
Marina Abramovic
Mark Wallinger
Mat Chivers
Nadine Talalla
Noémie Goudal
Peter Liversidge
Rachel Howard
Sam Lock
Sarah Staton
Shezad Dawood
Simon Averill
Susan Derges
Suzanne Treister
Tom Jean Webb
Will Cruickshank

EXHIBITION/ BEYOND MEASURE - EXPANDING THE SKY

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I am delighted to share images from the Beyond Measure - Expanding the Sky exhibition that was at Canberra Museum and Gallery in Canberra, Australia. The show was open from 30 March - 21 April and was curated by Dr Anna Madeleine Raupach.

Beyond Measure features:
Grayson Cooke
Louise Beer
Pale Blue Dot Collective
Yvette Hamilton
Tom Buckland
U.K. Frederick

'Beyond Measure invites us to broaden our understanding and perceptions of what we considered as ‘outer space’. While reaching to time and space beyond the human realm, astronomy is entwined with processes, methodologies, and technologies of and from the Earth.
This exhibition presents multimedia artworks that creatively engages with satellite data, photographic history, lunar exploration, atmospheric systems, time and light - and repositions Earthly phenomena of geology, biota, observation, mapping, and technology as inexplicable from what we consider beyond this world.

Tracing yet diverging from the practices that define astronomy, the artists in Beyond Measure offer alternative perspectives on our relationship with space that in turn shapes how we inhabit the world here and now.'

Images by Brenton McGeachie.

Conference/ INSAP 2025

I am very excited to be presenting my work at INSAP 2025 at Queen's University Belfast in June. I am looking forward to meeting friends old and new there!

The 13th International Conference on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena (INSAP) offers a dynamic forum for scholars, artists and enthusiasts from a variety of disciplines to explore the profound impact of astronomical phenomena on human thought, culture and artistic expression throughout history. From ancient mythology to modern art, and from literary works to cutting-edge scientific research, the conference fosters interdisciplinary dialogue that bridges the gap between science and the humanities. This year’s theme, Celestial Connections Across Time and Space, explores the diverse ways in which celestial events have driven scientific innovation, sparked ethical, religious and philosophical questions and inspired artistic and literary creativity throughout history.

Session 2: Illuminating the Unknown: Art, Grief and the Cosmos in a Changing World

Dark Skies and Cosmic Reflection: Grief, Time, and the Climate Crisis
Louise Jane Beer (Freelance Artist)
You, Darkness: A Collaborative Project in Eco-poetry, Art, and Astronomy at Berea College
Ansel Elkins (Berea College)
Sequential Lunar Observations
Betsey Price (Glendon College, York University, Canada)

Find out more here.

Exhibition/ Beyond Measure - Expanding the Sky

It is very exciting to share that John and I have been included in this wonderful exhibition curated by Dr Anna Madeleine Raupach.

'Beyond Measure: Expanding the Sky' at Canberra Museum and Gallery in Canberra, Australia.

Beyond Measure features:
Grayson Cooke
Louise Beer
Pale Blue Dot Collective
Yvette Hamilton
Tom Buckland
U.K. Frederick

'Beyond Measure invites us to broaden our understanding and perceptions of what we considered as ‘outer space’. While reaching to time and space beyond the human realm, astronomy is entwined with processes, methodologies, and technologies of and from the Earth.
This exhibition presents multimedia artworks that creatively engages with satellite data, photographic history, lunar exploration, atmospheric systems, time and light - and repositions Earthly phenomena of geology, biota, observation, mapping, and technology as inexplicable from what we consider beyond this world.

Tracing yet diverging from the practices that define astronomy, the artists in Beyond Measure offer alternative perspectives on our relationship with space that in turn shapes how we inhabit the world here and now.'

Invitation image by U.K. Frederick.

Find out more here.

Display/ Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge

I am displaying a collection of selected works at the Observatory Library at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge on Saturday 22 of March. This Is part of the IoA and KICC’s open days, and part of Cambridge Festival. This display is part of my two year Artist in Residence programme.

Find out more information here.

Residency/ The Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge

I am honoured to share that I have been appointed Artist in Residence at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge for two years. This long-term residency will provide me with the opportunity to deeply engage with the department’s research community to create projects exploring the intersection between art and science, including a further iteration of my project Earth, a Cosmic Spectacle.

My residency has been developed with Public Astronomer Dr Matthew Bothwell whose research centres around the role of gas in galaxy evolution over the last 12 billion years of cosmic history. As the Public Astronomer for the Institute of Astronomy, Dr Bothwell works with schools, offers stargazing at the University and writes books and articles about astronomy.

The Institute of Astronomy is the largest of the three astronomy departments in the University of Cambridge, and one of the largest astronomy sites in the United Kingdom. Around 180 academics, postdocs, visitors and assistant staff work at the department.

Research at the department is made in a number of scientific areas, including exoplanets, stars, star clusters, cosmology, gravitational-wave astronomy, the high-redshift universe, AGN, galaxies and galaxy clusters. This is a mixture of observational astronomy, over the entire electromagnetic spectrum, computational theoretical astronomy, and analytic theoretical research.

There are so many incredible scientists connected to the IoA, including Lord Martin Rees who John Hooper and I interviewed several years ago.

Thank you so much to Ort Gallery, the British Council and my DYCP Mentor Ariane Koek for supporting the development of this project.

Daydreaming of the Night by Debbie Meniru

I am so pleased to share a beautiful and thoughtful text that Debbie Meniru has written about my project, Earth, a Cosmic Spectacle, after our studio visits during the Launchpad Lab residency in France last year. Debbie is a London based writer, editor and curator and Assistant Curator, Research and Interpretation, at Tate Modern and Tate Britain.

I loved my studio visits with Debbie in France and in the UK. Through our discussions, she helped me to develop the shape of the project and to find new threads of interpretation throughout the photographic and sound based elements. It was a thrill to be able to share the finished project at my Margate exhibition late last year.

After the Launchpad Lab residency, I started my residency at Tūhura Otago Museum funded by a British Council Connections through Culture grant to work with Dr Ian Griffin on this project, resulting in an exhibition in my hometown of Dunedin, and in Margate, UK.

Read the text here.

ORT Gallery/ Residency

I am so pleased to share that I was selected for the ORT Gallery Warmth Residency for 2024/2025.

‘Building on the Emergence(y) programme we embarked upon in 2021, the Deliberation Programme seeks to take a cohort of artists on a creatively-affirming journey that prioritises hope, experimentation, and self-interrogation by working in a gentle and considered way as underpinned by our organisation’s methodology - Warmth.

Ort Gallery is a visual arts and poetry organisation based in Birmingham. We are on a social mission to redefine contemporary visual arts by rejecting the sector’s exclusivity, centring access and equity, and providing inclusive high quality art experiences. We support this mission with a care-centred approach (aka Warmth) and strive to work non-hierarchically across the board - whether that be alongside artists and creatives or within our organisation and community.

Ort believes everyone should have access to high quality art experiences and aims to meet this standard by providing exhibition and professional development opportunities to artists, creatives and community members across all backgrounds.

We place Warmth at the heart of all our work. We recognise that galleries can be sites of oppression which centre and reproduce white normative and elitist ways of ‘being’ under the supposed guise of neutrality. We are interested in challenging this head on; whilst also committing to creating space for local artists and marginalised community groups across Birmingham and beyond to play an active role in shaping such practices, in the hopes of transforming ourselves, our city, and the wider arts ecology.’

I recommend signing up to the Warmth programme on the ORT website - to have access to their incredible research into making the arts industry a fairer place.

Solo Exhibition/ Bright Island Studio Margate

I am so pleased to share that I am displaying my exhibition, Earth, a Cosmic Spectacle, at Bright Island Studio near Margate, England, from 14 - 23 November. 

‘The artist’s digitally manipulated photographic works bring together an archive of photography from locations in Aotearoa New Zealand and England. Together with the sound piece, recorded in Pūrākaunu, the artist explores different temporalities; the long and slow development of life on Earth since the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago, the rapid changes due to the climate crisis, and the momentary nature of a lifetime, reflecting on the cosmic significance of all life on our planet. 

The exhibition includes philosophical reflections of the climate crisis from scientists who have a relationship with astronomical time periods and deep-time and local high school students, gathered under the dark skies of Aotearoa New Zealand. Through engagements with biologists, geologists, physicists, archaeologists and astronomers based at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka Otago University, GNS, Orokonui Ecosanctuary, the University of Canterbury and at Tūhura Otago Museum, the artist has begun to gather a time capsule of knowledge of how we understand this moment of Earth’s history and future. 

This project was funded by a British Council Connections through Culture Grant and in collaboration with Dr Ian Griffin and Tūhura Otago Museum, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand.’

The photographic works in this exhibition were developed during my Launchpad Lab Residency.

Exhibition open
14 - 16 and 21 - 22 November 12 - 5PM
23 November - 10 - 12PM
Private view
15 November 5 - 7PM

Bright Island Studio
Unit 5
Sheriffs Court Farm
Sheriffs Court Lane
Minster CT12 4JD
07966659804

After turning down Sheriffs Court Lane, you will pass a big house on the right hand side. Keep right, and keep right again. You will pass some large sheds on your right hand side - the exhibition is located in the second one.

Book your free tickets here.

The Transparency of Night

An excerpt of my chapter 'The transparency of night' from Dark Skies: Places, Practices, Communities is included in the reading room of the Ikob Museum Into the Void - Empty Spaces as a Tool of Artistic Knowledge exhibition which is open until 05 January 2025. The incredible exhibition includes Ton Slits, Tinka Pittoors, Leo Vroegindeweij and Nathalie Brans.

Nathalie said that 'One of the exhibition rooms is transformed into a place for the visitors to reflect and react on the exhibition. In this room you can also find my growing collection of Moon Stories and add your own personal Moon Story.'
Gathering Light was commissioned by Format Festival and Derby Cathedral in 2023 and explored my connection to the night sky, the tides, and grief and loss. Dark Skies: Places, Practices, Communities was edited by Nick Dunn and Tim Edensor - I am forever grateful to have been invited to contribute! You can read the entire book for free here.

Exhibition/ Far Far Out

I am pleased to share that my piece ‘Revolving through the Megacosm’ will be displayed in this group show.

FarFarOut features 10 artists whose work traverses the relationship between science and art, while exploring the many scales of our earthly existence—both on our planet and beyond. The exhibition follows a journey from ground level, to the underground, and finally to the outer cosmos. Each piece invites visitors to consider the links between earthly materials and cosmic phenomena, reminding us that all creation, both human and natural, stems from the same universal fabric. Join us to explore the convergence of worlds, scales, and realities.

 FarFarOut opens November 6th, 5-8pm at Way Out East Gallery, celebrating the University of East London’s Year of Science.

Louise Beer
James Capper
Ecem Ergin
Paul Greenleaf
Jay Ho
Harriet Pozansky
David Rickard
Ilona Sagar
William Waterhouse
Samuel Zealey

Takapō Starlight Conference 2024

Tonight I will be presenting my chapter, 'The Transparency of Night' in Dark Skies: Places, Practices, Communities, and my project, 'Earth, a Cosmic Spectacle' to an audience of astronomers, other scientists, lighting engineers, policy makers, writers and more. I wish I could be there in person but I am so pleased to be able to present my work online. The location of the conference is Takapō, one of the most incredible places that I have ever been. John Hooper and I did a research trip there in 2022, where we stayed at Ōtehīwai Mount John Observatory in Takapō for a week - see the second image.

The main theme of the Starlight Conference 2024 is Dark Skies for All: a Call for Action!

My session is below:

Astrophotography and astroaesthetics; astrotourism

Chairperson: John Hearnshaw
- Steve Chadwick, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Beauty in the Stars: a journey through the cosmos
- Jianfeng (Jeff) Dai, Chongqing, China Capture the Wonder of the sky
- Hidehiko Agata, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan The emotion “Awe” and the effect of the starry sky
- Amie Young, Destination Development Manager, Great South, Invercargill, NZ Dark skies in Murihiku, Southland
- Louise Beer, writer, curator and artist, Margate, UK
The Transparency of Night

The conference is jointly hosted by the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve (AMIDSR) in Takapō, Aotearoa New Zealand and by the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. AMIDSR was awarded the Dark Sky International (formerly IDA) Dark Sky Place of the Year in 2018. Dark Sky International is a supporting organization for the 2024 Starlight Conference.

Find the programme book here.

Solo Exhibition/ Earth, a Cosmic Spectacle

I am delighted to share the details of my upcoming exhibition in the Beautiful Science gallery at Tūhura Otago Museum in my home city of Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand. I have been working with a range of incredible scientists from the University of Otago and Tūhura to develop the work for the exhibition. The project has been supported by a British Council Connections through Culture Grant and in partnership with astronomer Dr Ian Griffin who is Director of the Museum.

Elements of the photographic work was developed during my GRAIN Projects and Launchpad Lab Art residencies, and with the expert guidance of my mentor Ariane Koek and photographer John Hooper during my ACE DYCP grant.

The exhibition will include digitally manipulated photography, sound and written reflections from astronomers, marine biologists, physicists, geologists, paleoclimatologists and other scientists who have a special knowledge of the long periods of time on Earth and in the Universe that it has taken for our planet and all of it's ecosystems to develop. Alongside the scientists' responses, the exhibition will include a collection of beautifully considered responses from highschool students, including from Logan Park High School and Kaikorai Valley College. The scientists and students have been asked to write these reflections under the dark skies of Ōtepoti. I will be sharing some of these online.

This project has been such an incredible experience. Everyone has been so friendly and so generous with their time, and I have had some of the most fascinating conversations of my life! I could not be more thrilled that the first iteration of 'Earth, a Cosmic Spectacle' has been in Dunedin.

PV - 5.30PM on 16 August
Talks 11AM - 17 August. Free tickets available via my Events page.

Kunstrum Fyn Art Weekend Under the Dark Sky in Denmark

I am really pleased to share that my piece, Gathering Light, will be shown at Kunstrum Fyn Dark Skies Festival Art Weekend Under the Dark Sky 28 – 30 June!

Art Weekend Under the Dark Sky
Wolfgang Tillmans (DE/UK)
Moon in Earthlight (audio photography)
Build from here (audio photography)

Hanne Nielsen & Birgit Johnsen (DK)
Particles (film installation and sculptures)

Louise Beer (NZ/UK)
Gathering Light (audio visual installation)

Marian Wijnvoord (NL/DE)
Emptiness and Substance (paintings)

HC Gilje (NO)
Ebb & Flow (light installation)

Kunstrum Fyn is happy to present Art Weekend under the Dark Sky, a weekend dedicated to art, talks, music, performance and sound.

The event is free and open to the public. 

We humans are light and dark; destruction and construction. Art Weekend Under the Dark Sky explores our future from both a dystopian and utopian perspective: We look into the future with both fear and hope. We live with climate destruction, conflicts and war, but also with nature conservation, humanism, development of sustainable science and technology. Art Weekend Under the Dark Sky trying to absorbing these contradictions, creating connections and spaces between light and dark, day and night, body and technology, architecture and nature, psychology and the universe.

Find out more here.

Pale Blue Dot Collective/ Earth Photo 2024 - Sidney Nolan Trust Residency Prize

We are so excited to discover that we have been awarded the Sidney Nolan Trust Residency Prize for our film Last Verse, which we entered into the Earth Photo 2024 open call. We will be working with the Sidney Nolan Trust over the next year, and can’t wait to stay in the Jacobean house called The Rodd, and spend time in the surround landscapes and environments. Thank you so much to Forestry England, the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) and Parker Harris. 

Sidney Nolan Trust Residency Prize
Founded by the famous Australian modernist Sir Sidney Nolan, the Sidney Nolan Trust is delighted to offer a new residency prize to a UK based practitioner. The two-week residency at Nolan’s former home The Rodd will offer unique access to the artist’s important photographic archives and will be awarded for internationally relevant storytelling and innovation.

Our film was developed during our BigCi Environmental Art Award Residency which we did in 2022, in the Blue Mountains in Australia. Watch the film here.

Read more about Earth Photo here and the Sidney Nolan Trust here.

Pale Blue Dot Collective/ Podcast

We have collaborated with Fermywoods Contemporary Art to create a podcast. Listen here.

‘The first episode of our Love + Light season of the Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast presents Of Immeasurable Consequence by Pale Blue Dot Collective.

Pale Blue Dot Collective (artists Louise Beer and John Hooper) spent four months in residence with Fermynwoods to create Of Immeasurable Consequence – originally an immersive photographic and sound based installation installed in All Saint Church, Aldwincle, from 24th March to 7th April 2024.

In this version of Of Immeasurable Consequence, which has been adapted to include parts of recorded conversation, Pale Blue Dot Collective examine our place within the universe, framing the impact of the climate emergency through the eyes of evolution and the immense time period it has taken for each form of life to arrive at this point.’

Pale Blue Dot Collective/ Earth Photo 2024 Shortlist

We are delighted to share that ‘Last verse’ by Pale Blue Dot Collective has been selected for the ‘Final Earth Photo 2024 Shortlist’ in the moving image section. We loved making this film during our BigCi Australia 2022 Environmental Art Award Residency (awarded in 2020).

‘Each year, Earth Photo invites photographers and filmmakers from around the world to enter images and/or short films. With a high-profile jury of industry experts we will be inviting submissions from image makers based worldwide who have a compelling story to share about the environment, about nature, about people, forests, the landscape and the varied impacts of climate change.

Out of over 1900 entries, a judging panel made up of experts from the fields of photography, film, geography and environment selected the Earth Photo 2024 shortlist: 112 Images and 13 videos by photographers and film makers from around the world.

Earth Photo 2024 selected shortlisted works will on show at the Royal Geographical Society, London, from 18 June 2024. A selection of shortlisted photos will be shown on a national tour to Forestry England sites: Moors Valley Country Park and Forest , Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest, Dalby Forest, Haldon Forest Park, Fineshade Wood, Grizedale Forest, Sidney Nolan Trust, Herefordshire, The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall.’

Read more here.