Esk Studio is a multidisciplined, artist run initiative founded by artists Al Stark and Aviva Reed. Based on Yaegl Country in the Northern Rivers, the studio brings together art, environmental conservation, education and community engagement through a deeply ecological lens. Their collaborative practice weaves together science, myth, landscape and material experimentation, creating work that responds to place as much as it expands on broader ecological conversations.

For this Q&A, we spoke with Aviva Reed, a transdisciplinary visual ecologist and codirector of Esk Studio, whose own practice spans visual art, performance, lecture, and ecological storytelling. Aviva shared insights into how Esk Studio came together, how collaboration shapes their work, and what visitors can expect from their upcoming group exhibition, L U N A R _ B I O M E, opening at the Grafton Regional Gallery on 14 February.

From site-specific installations to collaborative curatorial projects, Byron Coathup has built a practice that blurs the lines between art-making and community-building. Based in Murwillumbah on Bundjalung Country, Byron is both a visual artist and project curator whose work has taken shape across galleries, festivals, and rediscovered public spaces, from Testing Grounds in Melbourne to Gallery HOTA on the Gold Coast, as well as major commissions for Bleach* Festival and the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Alongside his own practice, Byron plays an active role in the region’s creative ecology by working with the local orgs and supporting artists to realise large-scale projects.

For our final Northern Rivers Creative feature of 2025, we are speaking with Kate McDowell about Golden Thursdays. Golden Thursdays is a bold contemporary dance Ensemble led by Alice Boscheinen, Bryn James, Max McAuley, supported by Creative Catalysts Kate McDowell and Stuart Shugg. The company centres and elevates the choreographic voices of neuro-divergent artists, and you may recognise their work from recent performances such as the Tropical Fruits Recovery Day Cabaret and Hidden in the Hinterland’s Halloween Cabaret at the Drill Hall Theatre. Get to know Golden Thursdays from up close!

This month, we’re shining a light on Natalie Wilkin, a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the thresholds between the human body, the natural world, and the unseen forces that shape consciousness. Working across photography, film and sculptural textiles, Natalie creates immersive works where material, spirit and landscape intertwine. Her practice has been showcased across Australia and the United States, and later this month you’ll have the chance to experience it locally when her solo exhibition Moon Pool opens at Lone Goat Gallery in Byron Bay at the end of November. Read on to learn more about her creative process, inspirations and the journey that shaped her distinctive practice.

Public art has the power to transform how we experience everyday spaces, and few understand this better than Rebecca Townsend, founding Director of Creative Road, a Byron Bay–based organisation connecting artists with communities, businesses and places. We spoke with Rebecca about the heart of Creative Road’s work, the importance of collaboration, and what it takes to keep an artist’s vision at the centre of complex projects.