Aldona Kmieć

ARTIST STATEMENT

"My recent work focuses on long-exposure photographs of myself dancing. Producing this series involved labour-intensive repetition of the body movement and wearing layers of colourful compositions. This kind of repetitive physical effort required to create a photograph is a form of contemplation itself and it helps to increase the awareness of my body and mind."

Aldona Kmieć is a photographic artist based in Melbourne. She migrated to Australia in 2009 with an Advanced Diploma in Photography from London Metropolitan University.

Aldona began photographing as a teenager with a Soviet-made Smena camera. Her work explores memory, identity and migrant narratives.

Based for many years in Ballarat, Aldona's projects include the participatory project We R You (2013), in which hundreds of residents featured in pasted street posters; Under the Floorboards (2012-2013), a series of life-size mosaic portraits of Uniting Care staff and volunteers; and In the Process of Healing (2017), an immersive site-specific installation of photography and sound that shed light on the experiences of a Tamil family seeking asylum in Australia. 

Between 2020 and 2022 Aldona worked on two photography commissions from the State Library of Victoria, documenting the effects of bushfires and the Covid-19 pandemic. 

At Gasworks, Aldona is undertaking mentorship to help her develop the Hills Hoist project.