Lisa Waup
Lisa Waup is a mixed-cultural First Nations artist and curator, born in Naarm (Melbourne), with Gunditjmara (VIC), Torres Strait Islander (QLD) and Italian heritage. Her multidisciplinary practice spans weaving, printmaking, photography, sculpture, fashion, and digital art. With a deep connection to the symbolic power of materials, Lisa explores the importance of tracing lost histories and ancestral relationships, and broader narratives relating to Country, motherhood, history, and time.
Lisa Waup. Photo: Peter Tarasuik.
Lisa has exhibited extensively, with solo exhibitions at Koorie Heritage Trust (Naarm), Linden New Art Gallery (Naarm) and ReDot Gallery (Singapore). Her work was recently displayed at the National Gallery of Victoria as part of Melbourne Now, in Current at McClelland Gallery (Naarm) and is held in public and private collections across Australia and internationally. Lisa holds a Masters in Contemporary Art from the University of Melbourne, is a lecturer and tutor at the Victorian College of the Arts.
The Lisa Waup Collection features three of Lisa’s paper-based artworks, translated by Willie Weston into repeating designs. In collaboration with Lisa, we have developed a suite of fresh, vibrant colourways available across our range of commercial upholstery fabrics (with wallpaper coming soon!), which offer a new perspective on her often monochromatic practice.
Lisa’s designs for our Lisa Waup Collection are Defragmentation, Oneness, and Renewed.
Defragmentation in ‘Mountain Berry’ and Oneness in ‘Plum’ from the Lisa Waup Collection. Photo: Martina Gemmola.
Defragmentation depicts protective elements detailed in a fragmented wooden shield - translated to represent the pinnacle of protection. Lisa says, “We are all joined through paths that connect, surround and protect. Protecting history and stories of family, from the past to the present and well into the future.”
Oneness in ‘Forest’ and ‘Plum’, Defragmentation in ‘Onyx’ and Renewed in ‘Grevillea’, from the Lisa Waup Collection. Photo: Martina Gemmola.
Oneness represents the many aspects of self. Lisa says, “Oneness translates to a state of being unified or whole, comprising two or more parts. Oneness is centred around identity and belonging. This work at times appears fractured in its appearance, detailing the many aspects of how we view the world and our place in it – at times known and other times unknown.”
Oneness in ‘Forest’ on our High Performance / Outdoor fabric.
Lisa Waup, holding Country III, 2023-2024, screen-printed on jute with ink and reflective ink, variable handles, printed at Spacecraft Studio.
“Renewed represents the rains after the dryness of summer, how the rain runs away from Country after being baked for weeks by intense heat with little respite. It is a beginning of new growth, microorganisms begin to grow, they will flourish and provide care for many other living creatures. It is a renewed sense of growth and change, a shifting of seasons.”
Renewed in ‘Grevillea’ on our High Performance / Outdoor fabric.
Continuity printing. Photo: Lisa Waup.