Constellation Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Constellation
Constellation 2018
ConstellationMiranda SkoczekConstellation
Constellation2018
Oil And Acrylic On Linen
225 x 185 cm
SOLD 
Veil Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Veil
Veil 2018
VeilMiranda SkoczekVeil
Veil2018
Oil And Acrylic On Linen
97 x 123 cm
SOLD 
Oscillating Opacities, Archways And Archaeology Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Oscillating Opacities, Archways And Archaeology
Oscillating Opacities, Archways And Archaeology 2018
Oscillating Opacities, Archways And ArchaeologyMiranda SkoczekOscillating Opacities, Archways And Archaeology
Oscillating Opacities, Archways And Archaeology2018
oil and acrylic on linen
153 x 137 cm
SOLD 
Interior Exterior Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Interior Exterior
Interior Exterior 2018
Interior ExteriorMiranda SkoczekInterior Exterior
Interior Exterior2018
Oil And Acrylic On Linen
123 x 97 cm
SOLD 
Shadows Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Shadows
Shadows 2018
ShadowsMiranda SkoczekShadows
Shadows2018
oil on linen
123 x 97 cm
SOLD 
Prayer Rug Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Prayer Rug
Prayer Rug 2018
Prayer RugMiranda SkoczekPrayer Rug
Prayer Rug2018
Oil And Acrylic On Linen
123 x 97 cm
SOLD 
Greens And Rough Dianthus Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Greens And Rough Dianthus
Greens And Rough Dianthus 2018
Greens And Rough DianthusMiranda SkoczekGreens And Rough Dianthus
Greens And Rough Dianthus2018
oil on linen
82 x 67 cm
SOLD 
Primitive/Primordial Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Primitive/Primordial
Primitive/Primordial 2018
Primitive/PrimordialMiranda SkoczekPrimitive/Primordial
Primitive/Primordial2018
oil and acrylic on linen
82 x 67 cm
SOLD 
Portal Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Portal
Portal 2018
PortalMiranda SkoczekPortal
Portal2018
oil on linen
153 x 137 cm
SOLD 
The Spontaneists Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - The Spontaneists
The Spontaneists 2018
The SpontaneistsMiranda SkoczekThe Spontaneists
The Spontaneists2018
oil on linen
185 x 155 cm
SOLD 
Many Planes Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Many Planes
Many Planes 2018
Many PlanesMiranda SkoczekMany Planes
Many Planes2018
Oil And Acrylic On Linen
123 x 97 cm
SOLD 
Dreaming Of Betty (Woodman) Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Dreaming Of Betty (Woodman)
Dreaming Of Betty (Woodman) 2018
Dreaming Of Betty (Woodman)Miranda SkoczekDreaming Of Betty (Woodman)
Dreaming Of Betty (Woodman)2018
Oil And Acrylic On Linen
153 x 137 cm
SOLD 
Installation View Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Installation View
Installation View 2018
Installation ViewMiranda SkoczekInstallation View
Installation View2018
Installation View Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Installation View
Installation View
Installation ViewMiranda SkoczekInstallation View
Installation View
Installation View Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Installation View
Installation View 2018
Installation ViewMiranda SkoczekInstallation View
Installation View2018
Installation View Miranda Skoczek Miranda Skoczek - Installation View
Installation View
Installation ViewMiranda SkoczekInstallation View
Installation View

'Unselfconsciously playful, my work examines a process of art making devoid of stringent conceptualism. It is about the physical act of painting, exploring the role of play, intuition, improvisation and the potentiality of paint.

A strong desire for freedom results in paintings which differ greatly from one canvas to the next. They are at once awkward and right, clumsy and refined. I want the struggle, ghosts of previous layers, the out of control-ness married with intent, an affinity with folk art, Paul Klee and the pure magic of children’s art to be apparent. Totems, universal forms such as triangles, architectonic structures coupled with the fleshy, uncontrollable and controlled paint.

How far can I push the confines of the medium itself? Quite far it would seem, for whilst some sections are pristine, glossy and spare, others are scratched and carved into, creating a physical, almost sculptural presence. Engaging the senses is a preoccupation attained through the haptic quality of the surfaces, their sheer size intending to immerse and transport the viewer. To read them, one is required to study the various layers and subtleties closely. Distance then allows for a heady, invigorating rousing of moving through emphatic gesture and joyous and unexpected colour combinations.

To be delighted and seduced and to escape is intrinsic to my practice. Yet this is not to say I do not experience and welcome the tensions abstract painting presents – taking wrong turns, the beautiful and ugly, the tension between the ideal and real. I am always vacillating between doubt and joy, it is at times taxing, but oh so right!'

Miranda Skoczek holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the Victoria College of Arts, University of Melbourne and a Diploma of Applied Arts and Graphic Design from the Canberra Institute of Technology. She has exhibited her paintings and collages internationally as well as throughout Australia in numerous solo and group exhibitions.

MIRANDA SKOCZEK 'Permission To Play'

Miranda Skoczek is inspired by opulence. Not the kind you see in lifestyles of the rich and famous, though it might be. Nor the sort you find in the troves of the world’s museums and places of worship, though again it could be. But for Skoczek, opulence doesn’t equal luxury so much as joy and the pursuit of it – just as easily found in the slums of India during Holi, when the streets become such a riot of colour and adornment that the harsh living conditions are momentarily overshadowed.

Architecture, pop culture, fashion, religious iconography, antiquities, art history, traditional arts and crafts, music, travel, mysticism, talismans, interior design and customary rituals – these are just some of the influences that shape Skoczek’s practice. Her paintings are spacial and emotional responses to everything she consumes and surrounds herself with, informed by a theoretical understanding of colour and composition.

To what extent her surroundings impact her art practice was brought into strong relief during Melbourne’s protracted COVID-19 second wave. Skoczek continued to paint while juggling home-schooling as a single mother and, though challenging, it confirmed her home as an oasis – an extension of herself and identity, where her dreams are actualised and restored. This sense of happy containment has imbued her practice with deeper contemplations on time, space, change, transience, history and meaning, while simultaneously embracing contrasts as broad as those of the artist herself – materialistic yet spiritual, sometimes physical, sometimes soft and lyrical, intuitive and feminine, strong and self-assured.

Miranda Skoczek graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art – Painting from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2004, and won the College’s painting prize the same year. She also holds a Diploma in Visual Art – Painting from Victoria University of Technology (2001) and a Diploma of Applied Arts and Graphic Design from Canberra Institute of Technology (1997). She has exhibited at Linden New Art and Heide Museum of Modern Art as well as McClelland Gallery and internationally in exhibitions in Copenhagen and Hong Kong. Her work is collected by private clients in Australia, Asia, the Middle East and in the UK.

Carrie McCarthy, December 2020

Miranda Skoczek

  • Born 1977, Melbourne
  • Lives and works in Melbourne

EDUCATION

2004

  • Bachelor of Fine Arts - Painting, Victorian College of the Arts

2001

  • Diploma of Visual Art - Painting, Victoria University of Technology

1997

  • Diploma of Applied Arts & Graphic Design, Canberra Institute of Technology

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023

  • 'Flowers Look Back at Me', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane

2022

  • ‘Inner Worlds’, Nicholas Thompson Gallery, Melbourne

2020

  • ‘Floating Moons, Dizzying Hues’, Nicholas Thompson Gallery, Melbourne
  • 'Spirit and Matter', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane

2019

  • 'Better Get It In Your Soul', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane
  • The Clayton Utz Art Partnership: curated by 3:33 Art Projects’, Clayton Utz, Melbourne (joint exhibition with Lottie Consalvo)
  • 'Suggesting Icons', Nicholas Thomson Gallery, Melbourne

2018

  • 'Permission to Play', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane
  • 'Flashes Across The Field', Nicholas Thompson Gallery, Melbourne

2017

  • 'Rags, Rugs and Lion Heads', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane
  • 'Physical Thinking', Arthouse Gallery, Sydney
  • Fragments and Sunbeams’, NKN Gallery, Melbourne

2016

  • 'Crazy Patchwork', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane
  • 'Fragments and Fantasy', Arthouse Gallery, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney
  • ‘All the Places’, NKN Gallery, Melbourne

2014

  • 'Constructed Reality', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane

2013

  • 'Historical Panorama', Edwina Corlette Gallery, Brisbane

2012

  • 'Spirit Garden', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane
  • 'Unicorns and Alchemy', Iain Dawson Gallery, Sydney

2011

  • 'Animal Fantastical', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane

2009

  • 'Patterns of Knowledge', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane
  • 'Rhythm & Memory', Gilligan Grant Gallery, Melbourne

2008

  • 'The Beautiful and the Good', Gilligan Grant Gallery, Melbourne

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022

  • 'Common Ground', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane
  • Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, EDWINA CORLETTE

2021

  • Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, EDWINA CORLETTE

2019

  • 'The New Gallery Show', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane
  • 'Gorman: Ten Years of Collaboration', Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne

2018

  • Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, EDWINA CORLETTE
  • Melbourne Pop-Up Exhibition, Besser Space, EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane
  • ‘9x5 NOW’, Margaret Lawrence Gallery VCA, Melbourne

2017

  • Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, EDWINA CORLETTE
  • ‘The Human Experience, We Are The Ones Doing works on Canvas/Paintings XXXX’, Carlsberg Byens Galleri & Kunstsalon, Copenhagen

2015

  • Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane

2013

  • 'Gorman Choose your own Adventure', Gorman The Galleries, Sydney
  • 'True Self', Jacky Winter Group, Melbourne
  • Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane

2012

  • 'The Design Files Open House', Melbourne
  • 'Melbourne Art Fair', EDWINA CORLETTE
  • 'The Small Works Exhibition', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane

2010

  • 'Christmas Show', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane
  • 'Directors Selection', Carbon Black Gallery, Melbourne

COLLECTIONS

  • Artbank
  • Crown Metropol
  • Collection of the Mater Hospital
  • Collection of the Epworth Hospital
  • Brian Tucker Collection

PRIZES

2018

  • Finalist, King's Art Show Prize, The King's School, Sydney

2004

  • Painting Prize, Victorian College of the Arts, Graduate Show

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2020

  • Alice Dingle ‘Miranda Skoczek’ in Art Almanac, July/August 2020

2019

  • Alison Kubler ‘Artefacts: Miranda Skoczek’ in Vault, issue 28
  • ABC Radio National ‘The Art Show’ – ‘Gorman 10 Years of Collaborations’
  • Nicola Heath ‘Heide, Gorman and 10 Years of Artist Collaborations’ Broadsheet Art and Design 5 March
  • Rima Sabina Aouf ‘We were accused of all sorts': Lisa Gorman on learning from old mistakes’ in Guardian Australia, 9 Mar
  • Sally Tabart ‘A New Exhibition of Raw, Gestural Works from Miranda Skoczek’, The Design Files, 12 February

2018

  • Miranda Skoczek’s ‘Flashes Across the Field’, The Design Files, 23 March

2017

  • Feature, Louise Martin-Chew, Art Guide, 9 November
  • Melbourne Fashion Festival: Artist Miranda Skoczek showcases a world of treasures’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 March
  • Lucy Feagins ‘The Design Files: The tree change that led to an eclectic artist’s retreat’ in Domain, 17 February

2016

  • Feature, In Residence: Celebrate Colour, Vogue Living, April
  • Mattise Strong ‘Miranda Skoczek at the Arthouse Gallery’ Broadsheet 4 June

2015

  • Feature, The Tale of Miranda & Harper Skoczek, The Grace Tales, 12 May

2013

  • Arent & Pyke, The Design Files, In/Out Design Blog

2012

  • Interview, The Design Files, 12 October

2011

  • Prue Gibson, Art Watch, Review, Australian Art Review

February 26, 2022

MIRANDA SKOCZEK - Interview for Vault Magazine

There is more to Miranda Skoczek’s paintings than immediately meets the eye. They are built intuitively and in layers, from colours, patterns and objects that she absorbs in her immediate home environment – and all over the world. They are often abstract, sometimes with figurative elements; they focus on paint and colour, process and time, to create a space that takes us somewhere other, outside the material world. Inspiration comes from art and antiquities, folk art and contemporary design – and through obsessive consumption of images. Skoczek describes herself as “a sponge,” confessing to VAULT: “I have 95,000 photographs on my phone.”

The mystical is evident in Skoczek’s hope that her paintings work like amulets for those who acquire them. Protective elements aside, in their sensual textures and influences, so powerfully evoked, these paintings emerge as poignant and poetic visual essays written to the past and the present.

Front Cover: Miranda Skoczek, Vault Magazine

READ MORE HERE

March 22, 2021

MIRANDA SKOCZEK FOR DAVID JONES MAGAZINE

Copywriter and content specialist Elle McClure was asked by the team at Medium Rare Content agency to help produce content for the autumn 2021 issue of the David Jones magazine, JONES HOME. As well as compiling trend pages and writing copy across the issue, Elle interviewed Otis Hope Carey, Louise Olsen and Miranda Skoczek as part of profiles on the artists.

You can read more HERE

November 30, 2019

MIRANDA SKOCZEK, VAULT MAGAZINE

'Artefacts', Alison Kubler, Vault Magazine, Issue 23, 104-105pp.

March 6, 2019

10 YEARS OF GORMAN | HEIDE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

In celebration of Gorman’s decade-long collaboration with visual artists, Heide is presenting a two-week pop-up exhibition in the iconic modernist building, Heide II.

The exhibition will feature garments from a new range by Gorman created in conjunction with ten artists who have worked with the Australian clothing label since 2009: Rachel Castle, Megan Grant, Claire Johnson, Dana Kinter, Studio Elke, Rhys Lee, Ellie Malin, Mirka Mora, Liz Payne and Miranda Skoczek. The garments will be displayed alongside the artworks which inspired them.

Rad More HERE

October 4, 2018

THE KINGS SCHOOL ART PRIZE

Miranda Skoczek, Julian Meagher and John Aslanidis are finalists in The Kings School Art Prize 2018.

The King’s Art Prize is a $20,000 acquisitive award presented to the best contemporary artwork created by an artist resident in Australia and represented by a commercial gallery, supporting both the artists and the fine arts industry. Entry is by invitation only and the finalists are selected by an appointed Art Prize panel.

READ MORE HERE

November 10, 2017

MIRANDA SKOCZEK IN ART GUIDE MAGAZINE

Miranda Skoczek's exhibition 'Rag Rugs and Lion Heads' is featured on the Art Guide website. Miranda spoke with Louise Martin-Chew about her latest exhibition 'Rag Rugs and Lion Heads', her inspiration and the shift in her practice to looser, more expressive works:

Miranda Skoczek’s abstract paintings evoke old walls with layers of forms and shapes that emerge over time. In her studio, she might work simultaneously on nine canvases. Transferring from one to the other, she allows each oil layer to dry before repeatedly painting over it until jewel-like colours resonate and a spatial sensibility has been established within which the viewer may dwell. Skoczek told Art Guide Australia, “I don’t paint about social concerns. I create wholly immersive, beautiful pictures. They are places for escape and restoration: harmonious, calming pictures.”

Miranda's exhibition is at the gallery from 14 November until 5 December 2017.

Read the full article here

October 13, 2017

MIRANDA SKOCZEK AT CARLSBERG BYENS GALLERI & KUNSTSALON, DENMARK

Miranda Skoczek was a featured artist in the international group exhibition, The human experience, we are the ones doing works on canvas/Paintings XXXX at the Carlsberg Byens Galleri & Kunstsalon in Denmark. The exhibition was curated by Galina Munroe (Great Britain), Simon Ganshorn (Denmark) and Jordan Kerwick (Australia). The show featured 116 artists each working with abstraction through painting in their own distinct manner to promote diversity and highlight the possibility of medium and painting theory.

Read more on this exhibition here.

March 21, 2017

MIRANDA SKOCZEK 'DESHILADO'

Miranda Skoczek presents her first collection of jewelled works at Pieces of Eight Gallery in Melbourne as part of the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival 2017.

In DESHILADO, Miranda pays homage to the samplers created by stitchers in the early 16th Century. The collection is a three dimensional gathering of a myriad of interests and influences remixing materials and techniques, blurring the boundaries between objects, jewellery and art.

With a desire to connect ancient traditions with fashion, while acknowledging the archaeological importance of jewellery as artefact, Skoczek takes the opportunity to bring permanency to ornaments that have up to this point existed as abstract fragments in her paintings.

The exhibition is current until 25 March 2017.  View more here

February 6, 2017

MIRANDA SKOCZEK ON THE DESIGN FILES

Miranda Skoczek is featured on The Design Files blog with a look at her move from an inner city two bedroom apartment, to a bucolic retreat set amongst the verdant landscape of the Dandenong Ranges.  Miranda and her seven year old son Harper speak about the influence of nature on their lives and the impact a move to the country will have on her painting practice.

Read the article here.

November 30, 2016

MIRANDA SKOCZEK FOR COUNTRY ROAD

Miranda Skoczek is renowned for her engaging, energetic works and her spectacular use of colour. A fixture on the Australian art scene, her work is instantly recognisable for its layers of intuitive colour, pattern and motifs. Iconic Australian label Country Road thought her work was perfect for a collaboration with charity RedKite. Miranda has designed two tote bags and a t-shirt, with all proceeds from each sale going towards providing essential support to children and their families who are facing cancer. 

Read the interview with Miranda here.

April 8, 2015

Miranda Skoczek and Gorman

Miranda Skoczek has collaborated with Gorman Clothing for their 2015 winter collection. In sync with the label’s aesthetic, Miranda’s artwork blends seamlessly into signature Gorman textures and styles. Her work is featured across all 53 pieces in the collection, with every print originating from five of her artworks.

Read more about the collaboration here.

16 November 2023 – 2 December 2023
Miranda Skoczek ‘Flowers Look Back at Me’

8 – 11 September 2022
SYDNEY CONTEMPORARY

26 November 2019 – 14 December 2019
MIRANDA SKOCZEK 'Better Get It In Your Soul'

26 June 2019 – 17 July 2019
THE NEW GALLERY SHOW — A Group Exhibition

12 – 16 September 2018
SYDNEY CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR - DAN KYLE, MIRANDA SKOCZEK, MARK WHALEN, YARRENYTY ARLTERE ARTISTS

29 August 2018 – 15 September 2018
THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION

14 November 2017 – 5 December 2017
MIRANDA SKOCZEK 'Rag Rugs and Lion Heads'

18 October 2016 – 5 November 2016
Miranda Skoczek ‘Crazy Patchwork’

9 – 13 September 2015
Sydney Contemporary Art Fair

20 – 22 September 2013
Sydney Contemporary Art Fair

10 September 2013 – 12 October 2013
5th Anniversary Exhibition

16 October 2012 – 3 November 2012
Miranda Skoczek ‘Spirit Garden’

26 September 2011 – 15 October 2011
Miranda Skoczek ‘Animal Fantastical’ (Gallery 1)

30 October 2009 – 21 November 2009
Miranda Skoczek ‘Patterns of Knowledge’