Melbourne Sculpture Biennale
Melbourne Sculpture Biennale was established by founding directors Adam Stone and Laura Couttie to foster excellence in the medium of sculpture. With over two decades of combined experience in the arts industry, they have come together to launch an ongoing project that champions sculptural artists working in greater Naarm/Melbourne, and aims to generate increased support and opportunities for contemporary sculptural practice.
Melbourne Sculpture Biennale is a non-profit project. The inaugural Melbourne Sculpture Biennale has been made possible by the visionary philanthropic support of its donors and partners. We would particularly like to recognise David Clouston and Michael Schwarz as the founding patrons of the Melbourne Sculpture Biennale, and thank them for believing in and supporting our vision from the very beginning.
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands upon which this project takes place. We recognise and pay respect to their Elders past and present.
The Burden of Objects
The Burden of Objects is the first edition of the Melbourne Sculpture Biennale, held at the Villa Alba Museum, a heritage mansion and gardens in Naarm/Melbourne. The exhibition features 19 artists based in greater Naarm/Melbourne, whose practices involve making objects at scale or in costly or labour-intensive materials. The exhibited works showcase a range of traditional sculptural processes such as carving, moulding, casting, modelling and assembling.
Sculpture can be an incredibly demanding and onerous medium: often expensive to produce, challenging to sell and difficult to store. Yet, artists continue to explore the possibilities the sculptural medium presents, tackling these obstacles in unique and creative ways. The Burden of Objects celebrates those artists and their practices.
Who we are
Adam Stone
Adam Stone is a Naarm/Melbourne based artist, gallerist and curator.
Since graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), Adam has been the recipient of numerous grants and prizes, including the Montalto Sculpture Prize, the Fiona Myer Award, the Orloff Family Charitable Trust Scholarship and travel grants from the Ian Potter CulturalTrust and the City of Boroondara.
Adam has exhibited in both group and solo exhibitions at non-profit, commercial and public galleries in Australia, Asia and America, and has created public sculptures for the City of Yarra and Moonee Valley.
Adam has undertaken residencies in Beijing and New York, and locally with City of Bayside. He has been a finalist in the McClelland Gallery Sininni Prize, the Fishers Ghost Prize, the M Collection Prize, The Deakin Small Sculpture Prize and the Churchie Emerging Artist Award.
Adam’s work is held in public and private collections in Australia and Asia, including Artbank, City of Yarra, Deakin University, Town Hall Gallery, Joyce Nissan, IOAM and Elliott Eyes Collection.
Adam Stone is Co-Founder and Director of LON Gallery, Naarm/Melbourne.
Laura Couttie
Laura Couttie is an independent curator, writer, editor, arts manager and creative consultant based in Naarm/Melbourne.
Over the past fifteen years Laura has honed her skills in creative, administrative and management roles in a variety of galleries and arts organisations. She has held roles at Artbank, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Channels Festival: International Biennial of Video Art, Melbourne Fringe, Next Wave Festival, Tolarno Galleries, STATION, and the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. She was Co-Director and Chair of Firstdraft (2021–2022) and a Board Member of SEVENTH Gallery (2012–2014).
Laura is passionate about supporting artists through creative and career development, and facilitating new work. Her curatorial projects include: solo commissions Shannon Lyons: Dark Kitchen for Heide Museum of Modern Art, and Archie Barry’s Fistimuff for Channels Festival 2019; WORK/SHOP, a curated retail project at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art; and group shows at STATION, BLINDSIDE and Bus Projects.
Laura regularly writes for artists and galleries, and her writing has been published in Art+Australia, Art News New Zealand, Art Collector, Art Guide, Artist Profile, Runway and un Magazine.
Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Art History from the University of Melbourne, and a Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing from RMIT.