Seven artists have been selected for Bayside's 2023 Billilla Studio Artists Program, based in what was once the servant's quarters of Billilla Mansion.
These artists will take up residence until December 2023, providing a unique opportunity to further their art practice in these beautiful grounds. This will also be a platform for the artists to connect with local communities through public programs.
Meet our artists
Jacquie Byron
Jacquie Byron developed a fondness for reading at a young age; an early love which instigated her passion for writing. After pursuing studies in Journalism, Byron devoted more than twenty-five years to the field of professional writing and has occupied roles as varied as fashion publicist, jewellery editor, and motoring writer. In 2021 she published her first work of fiction, Happy Hour which was longlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2022. The same title was recently selected to feature in the national public library reading program, Together We Read, and was borrowed 7000 times during the three-week program run.
Carolyn Cardinet
Carolyn Cardinet is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice involves the re-purposing of single use waste into experimental sculptural forms, installations, and wearable art which convey powerful environmental messages. Born in Paris, Cardinet spends time in Bayside with her family. Cardinet holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the Victorian College of the Arts and a Master of Fine Art from The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, which was awarded with distinction in 2012. She has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions, and in recent years has been involved with environmental and sustainability programs both locally and overseas.
Yvette Coppersmith
Yvette Coppersmith is a highly regarded painter whose arresting self-portrait won the 2018 Archibald Prize. In a more than two decades long career she has participated in multiple group and solo shows, including the first iteration the now widely acclaimed Know My Name initiative developed by the National Gallery of Australia in 2020. As a predominantly portrait painter, Coppersmith is particularly interested in the depiction of women and the subject of the female gaze, and regularly returns to the self-portrait as a vehicle through which to express her interests in art history, modernism and representation.
Francis Greenslade
Francis Greenslade is an established actor, director, and writer whose work is celebrated widely within Australian screen and theatre culture. In an acting career spanning more than three decades, Greenslade has performed with distinguished groups such as Melbourne and Sydney Theatre Companies, and graced Australian television screens in popular shows Winners and Losers and Jack Irish, to name but a few. In 2019 he published a book entitled, How I learnt to Act with Currency Press and has recently been working on various theatre projects, including an original play.
Marie Honoré
Marie Honoré is a visual artist whose painting practice has spanned more than twenty years. She has a particular interest in both figurative and landscape painting, and often works within the stylistic conventions of Surrealism and Magical Realism to create works which blur the boundaries between 'reality and fantasy'. In 2020 Honoré was awarded a Diploma of Visual Art through the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, and was most recently selected for inclusion in the Bayside Local 2022 exhibition.
Sean McDowell
Born in Germany and now based in Melbourne, artist and curator Sean McDowell works across a variety of disciplines including sculpture, painting and installation. His works draw on influences as diverse as planetary science, psychology, and colour theory, and are grounded in a compulsion to explore both materials and fabrication processes. In 2018 McDowell was awarded a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Sculpture and Spatial Practice) from the Victorian College of The Arts, University of Melbourne, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (First Class Honours) from the same institution in 2020. He has staged numerous solo exhibitions, including The Repositioning of an Object that Once Functioned at Seventh Gallery in 2017; Cuprum, Cuprum at Kings Artist Run in 2019 and most recently Organisms at Five Walls.
William Vyvyan Murray
William Vyvyan Murray is a composer and performer who draws heavily on cultural influences from across the globe. After abandoning a budding jazz and pop piano career, Murray turned his focus to classical music and holds multiple qualifications from distinguished institutions including a Master of Music in Musical Performance from the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana and a Master of Music from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He has worked with esteemed individuals such as Bruno Giuranna, Rainer Honeck and Peter Buck; and been fortunate to play on a composite viola crafted by Antonio and Hieronymous Amati of Cremona in 1620.
Image credits in order of appearance:
1. Jacquie Byron. Courtesy the artist.
2. Carolyn Cardinet, Neck piece 2021, found hay bailing twine, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist.
3. Yvette Coppersmith studio portrait. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Mel Savage.
4. Francis Greenslade. Photo: James Penlidis.
5. Marie Honoré in studio. Courtesy the artist.
6. Sean McDowell From Heart + Mind 2020, The Dax Centre, Melbourne. Photo: Stef Harris.
7. William Vyvyan Murray. Photo: Marije van den Berger.
