“I started as an individual artist who was doing individual work and then started realising – what was the meaning of doing this? It’s kinda fun to be drawing and making art, but if it’s fun and interesting for me,it should be interesting and fun for everyone. Not only for the particular artist who has been educated in the university, or has time and resources to be doing that. So community art is very important in that aspect, to give back the art to the community, yeah…to the people who haven’t really thought about themselves as artists or who haven’t really done so much artwork.”
UB Topia is a Melbourne-based visual artist, community arts coordinator, and workshop teacher. She predominantly uses printmaking skills such as stencil, woodcut, and digital media in her creative practice. She spoke with Margaret Mayhew as a part of our Creative Lives project, highlighting the work of CALD artists. In this interview, she talks about her transition to the arts sector in Australia, and her passion for community arts.
You can learn more about UB here.
Video by Maylei Hunt, a social documentary photographer specialising in dance and portraiture with a community and arts focus.
Interview by Margaret Mayhew, Melbourne-based academic and artist. She has a PhD in Gender and Cultural Studies as well as undergraduate degrees in Science, Visual Arts and Art History. She is a teacher, trainer, speaker, and community engagement expert.