Augusta Vinall Richardson (b. 1991, l. Naarm/Melbourne) has established herself as a leading sculptor of her generation. In her industrial metal studio in inner-city Melbourne, she works with sheet and cast metals to make abstract composite sculpture. Each element of each sculpture has its own idiosyncratic form but, in a puzzle-like way, becomes part of a larger, modular assemblage.
Her templates and maquettes are constructed out of recycled cardboard, paper and various tapes, easy vehicles for three-dimensional thinking. As well as offering freedom of studio experimentation in the development of sculptural ideas, Vinall Richardson chooses these ephemeral materials for their compelling aesthetic qualities. Her paper products play an important role in the encounter with the finished metal sculptures especially those in cast metals made in the foundry. Her hand-drawn templates and the volumes of her boxes that make up her maquettes speak to but depart from the perfect geometries of minimalism, allowing the expression of organic idiosyncrasy. These alt-ideals continue in the irregular jig-sawing of the volumes of her sculptures, a subtle and enlivening disorder in the way they occupy space.
In 2022, Vinall Richardson was awarded a Master of Fine Art by Monash University. As part of her undergraduate studies at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, she undertook an exchange semester at Gerrit Reitveld Academie in Amsterdam.
Key exhibitions
- Augusta Vinall Richardson, solo exhibition, The Commercial, Sydney, 2025 (forthcoming)
- Melbourne Sculpture Biennale: The Burden of Objects, Villa Alba, Melbourne, 2024
- Augusta Vinall Richardson: TEMPLATE / SKETCH, Caves, Melbourne, 2023
- Circles of dialogue, curated by Amelia Wallin, La Trobe Art Institute, Bendigo, 2023
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LIGHTMOVING, The Commercial, Sydney, 2022
Key readings
- Augusta Vinall Richardson’ artist profile, RUSSH Home, Issue 3, 2024
- Augusta Vinall Richardson: TEMPLATE / SKETCH, artist publication in conversation with Rose Nolan, Yanni Florence Design, Melbourne 2023
- ‘Augusta Vinall Richardson TEMPLATE / SKETCH’, Random (re) View, 30.10.23
- Augusta Vinall Richardson: Boxes, artist publication, edition 50, No One Special, Melbourne, 2021
Video interviews
Collections
Cbus (437 St Kilda Road)
Celine Art Project (FR)
Lendlease (One Sydney Harbour)