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Gain a unique insight into the life and work of contemporary Australian artists through the James C. Sourris AM collection of artist interviews
James C Sourris AM is a long-time supporter and friend to many in the Queensland cultural community. His enthusiasm for contemporary Australian art and artists is evidenced through his private collection and the James C. Sourris AM collection of artist interviews held by State Library of Queensland.
These interviews, embedded below, provide an insight into the motivations, inspirations and tribulations of some of Australia’s most acclaimed visual creatives and enable research, student learning and personal enjoyment. There are three versions of each interview available - short (under 10 minutes), medium (approximately 30 minutes) and long-form (1hr+).
James and his sister Marica Sourris have been benefactors of the Queensland Library Foundation since 1998 and are honoured with naming rights of the Marica Sourris and James C Sourris AM White Gloves Room on level 4 of State Library.
This audiovisual collection speaks to the heart of James’s lifetime of experience in cinematic entertainment and production. He was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) in 2011 for service to the arts and to the community through the development of the motion picture industry and through philanthropic contributions, particularly to the Queensland Art Gallery and the State Library of Queensland.
State Library acknowledges James and Marica for making this collection possible.
Portrait of an Artist | Education resources
14 min. 33 secs.
In this digital story Dr Rosslynd Pigott is interviewed by Jane Devery in Rosslynd's Melbourne studio. Part of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2023-2024.
Interviewed 13 June 2023.
View on One Search
11 min. 12 secs.
In this digital story Dr. Elizabeth Gower is interviewed by Dr. Shelley McSpedden in Elizabeth’s Melbourne studio. Part of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2023-2024.
Interviewed 10 May 2023.
View on One Search
10 min. 29 secs.
In this digital story Jon Cattapan is interviewed by Dr. Chris McAuliffe in Jon’s Melbourne studio. Part of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2023-2024.
Interviewed 10 May 2023.
View on One Search
5 min. 22 secs.
In this digital story D Harding is interviewed by Anneka Jaspers on Bidjara Country, north of Injune, close to Carnarvon Gorge, Queensland. Party of the James C. Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2022-2023.
Interviewed 1 April 2023.
View on One Search
7 min. 14 sec.
In this digital story Emeritus Professor Pat Hoffie AM is interviewed by Dr. Alison Carroll AM in Pat's art studio. Part of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2022-2023.
Interviewed 22 April 2022
7 min. 51 sec.
In this digital story Michael Eather, Director Fireworks Gallery is interviewed by Bruce Heiser, Director of Bruce Heiser Projects and former Director of Heiser Galleries. Part of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2022-2023.
Interviewed 20 June 2022
8 min. 04 sec.
In this digital story Rosie Hays from the Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art interviews photographer William Yang about his photographic practice. Part of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2020-2021.
Interviewed 18 March 2022
6 min. 19 sec
Artist Jennifer Herd interviewed by Pat Hoffie AM. Part of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2020-2021.
Interviewed 22 March 2021
6 min. 48 sec
Artist Eugene Carchesio interviewed by Professor Bob Lingard. Part of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2020-2021.
Interviewed 24 February 2021
7 min. 4 sec
Artist Laurie Nilsen (1953-2020) interviewed by Pat Hoffie AM. Part of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2010-2021.
Interviewed in December 2019
5 mins. 19 sec
Artist Andrew Arnaoutopoulos interviewed by Michele Helmrich. Part of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2019-2020.
Interviewed 19 October 2019
5 mins. 19 sec
Artist Dr Bonita Ely interviewed by Julie Ewington. Part of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2019-2020.
Interviewed 26 June 2019
6 min. 5 sec
Vivienne Binns OAM interviewed by Helen Hughes. Part of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2019-2020.
Interviewed 25 June 2019
7 mins. 7 secs
Artist Joe Furlonger interviewed by Bruce Heiser. Part of the James C Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews 2019-2020.
Interviewed 5 June 2019
6 min. 44 sec
Artist Sandra Selig interviewed by Hamish Sawyer. Part of the James C Sourris AM Artist Interview Series 2017-2018.
Interviewed 16 May 2018
8 min. 33 sec
Artist Gordon Hookey interviewed by Bruce McLean. Part of the James C Sourris AM Artist Interview Series 2017-2018.
Interviewed 5 May 2018
6 min. 13 sec
Former gallery director Peter Bellas interviewed by Robert Lingard as part of the James C Sourris AM Artist Interview Series 2017-2018.
Interviewed 2 May 2018
6 min. 16 sec
Dr Philip Bacon AM talks to Louise Martin-Chew about his career as an art gallery director covering the establishment of his gallery in July 1974 in Fortitude Valley Brisbane, artists represented and exhibitions.
Interviewed 26 February 2018
7 min. 44sec.
Gareth Sansom talks to Steve Cox about his life, art practices and success at winning the Hugh Williamson Prize, McCaughey Memorial Prize and Dobell Prize for Drawing.
Interviewed 21 December 2016
8 min. 15 sec.
Doug Hall AM talks to Rex Butler about his career as an art gallery director beginning at age 21 and the creation of the Asia Pacific Triennial.
Interviewed 15 December 2016
7 min. 05 sec.
Helga Groves talks to Jane O'Neill about her life, art and influences on her practice such as landscape and geology which she is interested in at both a macro and micro level.
Interviewed 13 December 2016
8 min. 42 sec.
Ray Hughes talks to Glenn Barkley about his life and his career beginning with Gallery1Eleven in Red Hill, Brisbane.
Interviewed 31 August 2016
6 min. 40 sec
Lawrence Daws talks to Bettina MacAulay about his life, his paintings and computer generated prints, and how his interest in philosophy, literature and psychology has influenced his work.
Interviewed 26 February 2016
6 min. 56 sec.
William Robinson talks to Vanessa Van Ooyen about his art, his success at winning the Archibald Prize and his busy life as both a teacher and an artist.
Interviewed 6 February 2016
8 min. 09 sec.
Leonard Brown talks to Angela Goddard about his art, his first solo exhibition at age 19, and his involvement with the Anglican Franciscan Friars and Russian Orthodox Church.
Interviewed 1 December 2015
5 min. 50 sec.
Anne Wallace talks to Sean Sennett about her art, her studies at the Slade in London and her upbringing.
Interviewed 24 November 2015
6 min. 14 sec.
Peter Kennedy talks to Max Delany about his art, his artistic career, and being credited with presenting the first exhibition in Australia to use neon light.
Interviewed 16 March 2015
5 min. 47 sec.
Sebastian Di Mauro talks to John Stafford about his art, his artistic career, and the influence of his Sicilian background.
Interviewed 15 October 2014
4 min. 58 sec.
Normana Wight talks to Noreen Grahame about her art, her artistic career, the influence computer technology has had on her art and her future aspirations.
Interviewed 21 August 2014
5 min. 44 sec.
Ian Smith talks to Louise Martin-Chew about his life and his art in the past, present and future.
Interviewed 8 May 2014
6 min. 48 sec.
Fiona Foley talks to Louise Martin-Chew about her life as an artist and the influences on her practice including her sense of justice, desire to tell the hidden histories, her family memories and her love for Aboriginal culture.
Interviewed 19 Jun 2013
6 min. 13 sec.
Judith Wright talks to Julie Ewington about her childhood imaginary world, that which has influenced her art including the loss of her baby girl and the fragility of human life, as well as discussing various aspects of her artist works.
Interviewed 12 Jun 2013
8 min. 17 sec.
Gordon Charles Halloran Shepherdson talks to David Burnett about his art, and the influences on his practice including having worked in an abattoir, the sea, fishing and darkness.
Interviewed 31 Aug 2012
6 min. 35 sec.
Madonna Staunton talks to Professor Robert Leslie Lingard about her art and life, the influences on her art including her childhood, fragile health, and poetry, the various artists and experiences that she has encountered and that which motivates and inspires her.
Interviewed 4 Apr 2012
6 min. 07 sec.
Judy Watson talks to Louise Martin-Chew about her art practice, her family and the future of Aboriginal art in Australia.
Interviewed 31 May 2011
6 min. 15 sec.
Richard Bell talks to Rex Butler about the development of his artistic practice, about winning the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award and the artist group Proppa Now.
Interviewed 19 April 2011
5 min. 03 sec.
Luke Roberts talks to Doug Hall about growing up Catholic in Alpha (Qld), being a gay artist and his show AlphaStation/Alphaville at the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane, Queensland.
Interviewed 26 February 2011
5 min. 42 sec.
Vernon Ah Kee talks to Daniel Browning about his art, his family, the artist group Proppa Now and being an Aboriginal artist.
Interviewed 6 December 2010
The James C. Sourris AM collection of artist interviews consists of interviews with significant Australian artists and figures in the art world. It is a growing collection that provides insight and context to the practice of some of our most respected artists.
Each artist is profiled via three distinct recordings: a full-length interview between the interviewer and the artists, a 30 minute version, optimised for education purposes and a shorter version, generally 5 to 9 minutes in length that gives a quick taste of that person’s artistic practice.
All of the recordings are transcribed and available for viewing online – via State Library’s catalogue, OneSearch, YouTube or Vimeo. They can be used for research today but also by future generations to reveal insights about the artists and their practice, and to explore the artists' work in the context of their life story.
These engaging stories present a unique opportunity to learn a little more about a number of important artists.
The James C. Sourris AM collection of artist interviews is part of the Australian Library of Art at State Library of Queensland.
1 hour. 3 min. 38 sec.
In this Portrait of an artist event, First Nations poet and social justice activist Cheryl Leavy sat down with artist D. Harding to discuss their life and practice.
D. works across a wide variety of media to explore the visual and social languages of their communities as cultural continuum. A descendant of the Bidjara, Ghungalu and Garingbal peoples, they draw upon and maintain the spiritual and philosophical sensibilities of their cultural inheritance within the framework of contemporary art internationally. Often paying homage to or involving family members, Harding’s work seeks new forms for sharing materials and knowledges.
Event held: 10 May 2024, Auditorium 1, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
1 hour. 7 min. 51 sec.
In this Portrait of an Artist event, Michael Aird, Director of University of Queensland's Anthropology Museum sits down with renowned First Nations artist Richard Bell.
Richard came to art through political activism and has fought for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over decades. Working across video, installation, painting and text, Bell's work is sharp and satirical, always seeking to challenge pre-conceived ideas of what Aboriginal art is or should be. Bell co-founded the ProppaNOW artists' collective in Brisbane in 2003. While he was relatively successful in the following decade, his career has gained serious momentum in the last few years.
Event held: 3 August 2023, Auditorium 1, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
1 hour. 49 sec
In this Portrait of an Artist event, Angela Goddard, Director of Griffith University Art Museum sits down with artist Bonita Ely.
Bonita is best known for her performance work, her practice encompasses a wide range of media and is highly experimental, challenging traditional approaches to art. Feminism and environmental issues have been at the forefront of Bonita’s career. Her most recent work continues to shine a light on Australia’s relationships with its waterways, highlighting the fish kills in the Menindee Lakes and the Great Artesian Basin, the world’s largest aquifer.
Event held: 7 July 2023, Auditorium 1, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
1 hour. 09 min. 22 sec
In this Portrait of an Artist event, curator Julie Ewington joins renowned Queensland artist Leonard Brown onstage at State Library to talk about his life, his practice and his career. With a deep interest in religion and religious iconography Brown, who was baptised into the Russian Orthodox Church in 1976, has developed two parallel practices: minimal abstraction painting and traditional icon painting. Both are two sides of the same artistic quest.
Event held: 14 April 2023, Auditorium 1, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
1 hour. 03 min. 37 sec
In this Portrait of an Artist event, QAGOMA Curator, Rosie Hays joins William Yang onstage at State Library to talk about his life, his practice and his career. William Yang is a renowned Australian photographer whose work straddles the boundary between social documentary and art. Since the late 1970s William has candidly portrayed artists and celebrities as well as families and friends, adding his own commentary to his photographs by way of handwritten text.
Event held: 4 November 2022, Auditorium 1, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
1 hour. 3 min. 36 sec
In this Portrait of an Artist event, Josh Milani from Milani Gallery Brisbane, Poet and Artist Nathan Shepherdson, and Peta Rake, Curator at the University of Queensland Art Museum, discuss the career and legacy of the late artist, Madonna Staunton OAM.
Madonna was a renowned artist of national significance who made important contributions to Australian Modernism over five decades.
Event held: 16 September 2022, Auditorium 2, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
1 hour, 7 min, 54 sec
In this Portrait of an Artist event, Heiser Projects and Gallery Director, Bruce Heiser sits down with artist Joe Furlonger.
Joe is regarded as one of Australia’s most respected landscape painters, known for his use of hand-made acrylic paints and reused canvases. His works are very physical, with large swathes of paint, usually a mix of figurative and abstraction.
Event held: 29 July 2022, Auditorium 2, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
55 min. 35 sec
In this Portrait of an Artist event, Associate Professor and artist Pat Hoffie, AM and Director, Fireworks Gallery Michael Eather sit down with Mbarbarrum artist Jennifer Herd. Jennifer is known for the delicate process and powerful message of her shield designs, she uses the depiction of shields as a way of connecting to her heritage and culture, referencing the frontier resistance by First Nations peoples in North Queensland.
Event held: 26 November 2021, Auditorium 2, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
57 min. 53 sec
One of Australia’s most well-known First Nations artists, Vernon Ah Kee sits down with Griffith University Art Museum Director, Angela Goddard to discuss his art and life story.
Vernon Ah Kee, a Kuku Yalandji, Waanji, Yidinji, Koko Berrin and Gugu Yimithirr man was born in Innisfail and studied art at the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University. In 2004, he co-founded the now-legendary proppaNow artists’ collective with fellow artists Richard Bell and Jennifer Herd, which grew to include Gordon Hookey, Laurie Nilsen, Bianca Beetson, Andrea Fisher and Tony Albert. Vernon’s work has been exhibited in a number of culturally significant national and international exhibitions over the last 20-plus years and is widely collected by major public institutions and private collectors.
Event held: 7 July 2021, Auditorium 1, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
Vernon Ah Kee digital story, educational interview and oral history.
54 min. 45 sec
In this Portrait of an Artist event we pay tribute to the late Laurie Nilsen. The panel discussion is between photographer, anthropologist and researcher Michael Aird, artist and Director of FireWorks Gallery Michael Eather and artist Pat Hoffie AM.
Event held: 14 April 2021, Auditorium 1, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
1 hour. 1 min. 57 sec
In this Portrait of an Artist event we pay tribute to the late Gordon Shepherdson. This panel discussion is with arts writer Louise Martin-Chew, art dealer Bruce Heiser and Gordon’s son Nathan Shepherdson, speaking about Gordon’s enduring work and legacy.
Event held: 11 Oct 2019, Auditorium 2, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
Gordon Shepherdson digital story, educational interview and oral history
1 hour. 1 min. 10 sec
Enjoy an intimate question and answer session with artist Gordon Hookey and artist/curator Shannon Brett to hear his fascinating musings into how an artist thinks, feels and works.
Event held: 26 July 2019, Auditorium 1, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
Gordon Hookey digital story, educational interview and oral history
1 hour. 34 sec
Enjoy an intimate question and answer session with artist Sebastian Di Mauro and Louise Martin-Chew to hear his fascinating musings into how an artist thinks, feels and works.
Event held: 5 April 2019, Auditorium 1, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
Sebastian Di Mauro digital story, educational interview and oral history
1 hour. 4 min. 8 sec
Enjoy an intimate question and answer session with artist Lawrence Daws led by QAGOMA Director Chris Saines CNZM to hear his fascinating musings into how an artist thinks, feels and works.
Event held: 2 November 2018, Auditorium 1, level 2, State Library of Queensland.
Lawrence Daws digital story, educational interview and oral history
The James C. Sourris AM collection of artist interviews offers a unique insight into the life and work of contemporary Australian artists. Supplemental education resources encourage students to delve into the lives and works of contemporary Australian artists such as Vernon Ah Kee, Judith Wright and Fiona Foley. The James C. Sourris AM collection of artist interviews education resources support the delivery of the Queensland Senior Visual Art syllabus and ACARA Visual Art outcomes.
Grade Levels: Primary years, Middle years, Senior years
Subject Areas: Visual Art
Learning Resource James C Sourris AM Collection education resource: Years 5 and 6, Visual Arts
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Learning Resource James C Sourris AM Collection education resource: Years 5 and 6, Visual Arts
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James C Sourris AM Collection education resource: Years 7 and 8, Visual Arts
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Learning Resource James C Sourris AM Collection education resource: Years 9 and 10, Visual Arts
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