This engaging workshop invites students to explore themes of identity, cultural storytelling and self-expression through wearable materials and hands-on artmaking. Led by artist Nathan Beard, students will reflect on their own identities while drawing inspiration from future-facing art practices.
Perfect for Visual Arts, Media and Civics classrooms, this session encourages critical thinking, cultural understanding and creative confidence.
The workshop focuses on Beard’s artwork Noi (2024), which is on view in the In Bloom exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery until 12 April 2026. Noi is crafted from Thai silk sarongs worn by Beard’s late mother, repurposed into a deeply personal and culturally rich piece.
Students will reflect on meaningful garments and textiles in their own lives and explore material folding techniques with paper to create an artwork that reflects identity, memory and celebration.
About Nathan Beard
Nathan Beard is a Naarm/Melbourne-based multidisciplinary artist whose work draws on his Australian-Thai heritage. His practice explores culture, memory and authenticity through sculpture and photography.
Beard holds a BA (Art) with First Class Honours from Curtin University and has exhibited nationally, including at Perth Institute of Contemporary Art and the Art Gallery of Western Australia (WA), 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and Firstdraft (NSW), and TarraWarra Museum of Art (VIC). He was a finalist in the Ramsay Art Prize (2021) and the Churchie National Emerging Art Prize (2020).
Curriculum connections
- Learning Areas: Visual Arts (Exploring and Creating)
- General Capabilities: Creative and Critical Thinking, Intercultural Capability
