2020 Parramatta Artists' Studios

Liam Benson is a multi-disciplinary artist based at Parramatta Artists' Studios, Rydalmere. Incorporating performance, photography, video and textiles, Benson’s work explores identity and culture as a living dualistic process, both informed by and challenging tradition. Benson’s practice is informed by working collaboratively with diverse communities through ongoing conversations about how culture, sub-culture and identity interrelate and evolve.

Cindy Yuen-Zhe Chen lives and works in Sydney on unceded Darramuragal and Gadigal lands. She uses experimental drawing and sound practices to explore processes of embodied listening. Through interactions with the surfaces, people and atmospheric contingencies of places, Chen examines how expanded drawing practices can engender new connections and enact distinct senses of place. As the recipient of the University Postgraduate Award, Chen recently completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Art, Design and Media at the University of New South Wales Art and Design. Chen has presented her research internationally in England and China.

Sofiyah Ruqayah is a Sydney-based artist working across drawing, installation, collage and painting to explore themes of mutation and entanglement. Drawing upon imagined and felt connections between various bodies, presences and memories, Ruqayah’s practice invites speculation on our nonhuman origins and intertwined fates. She is currently undertaking a 12-month studio residency at Parramatta Artists’ Studios and presented her first solo exhibition at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in October, as part of the Holding Patterns exhibition series. Ruqayah has exhibited both locally and internationally, including group exhibitions at Lubov Gallery (New York), Peacock Gallery (Sydney) and at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (Sydney) with Woven Kolektif, a collective of Australian artists with personal ties to Indonesia.