Artist, Curator & Arts Leader
Blake Griffiths
What holds particular significance for you in/about Neilsen Park country and Bottle and Glass Point?
Seymour is particularly drawn to seaweed, a vital component in marine systems that provides food and habitat for diverse aquatic life. Seaweed aquaculture further positions itself as a potential aid in the climate crisis, holding uses as food, biofuels and fertilisers. It is important to recognise that First Nations have a deep and diverse traditional knowledge of Australian natural resources, including seaweed. Through Seymour’s research for the Rockpools project, she considers sustainable and ethical methods of ‘extracting’ seaweed as a material for artistic purposes.
How do you create spaces for contemporary leadership, learning and collaboration with other people and the environment?
My work and leadership evolves tentatively but with focus. When people come together to discuss and learn, an approach that relies on openness, honesty, respect and dedication is required. I try to uphold this in all my movements as artist, collaborator, student and teacher.
Background
Blake Griffiths is an artist, curator, and arts leader whose textile-based practice is driven by research, critical inquiry, and community engagement. With a background spanning education, curatorial practice, and arts administration, Blake brings a distinct perspective to both making and mediating contemporary art and culture.
He is currently a creative resident at the Powerhouse Museum where his textile studio is housed, and serves as Head, La Perouse Museum in Sydney. In this role, Blake leads a team investigating the entangled histories of early colonial settlement and First Nations culture in NSW.
Blake previously directed the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery and has curated programs across both regional and metropolitan Australia. He has worked extensively with institutions including the National Gallery of Australia, the Australian Design Centre, and the Art Gallery of South Australia.
His textile work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including in the touring Tamworth Textile Triennial, Radical Textiles at the Art Gallery of South Australia, and in solo exhibitions such as Glass Beach (2023) and Trading Cloth (2025). Blake has received numerous awards, including an Ian Potter Cultural Trust grant for research across Scandinavia, and was selected by the Australia Council as an Emerging Arts Leader for the 2019 Venice Biennale.
A critical voice in the field, he was guest editor of Art Monthly Australasia’s 2024 special textile edition and has served on the Visual Arts Artform Board for Create NSW. His practice is informed by ‘textile thinking’ - particularly the metaphor of warp and weft - as a conceptual framework for understanding, collaboration, and repair.
Blake holds degrees in Art Education and Textile Design from UNSW and is completing a Master of Arts and Cultural Management at Deakin University. He advocates for the central role of craft, community, and critical making in shaping contemporary Australian culture.
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We live and work on Bidjigal, Birrabirragal and Gadigal Country. We honour the ongoing cultural and ecological relationships First Nations Australians hold with Country, waters and skies and acknowledge their continued custodianship.
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