QUEER CONTEMPORARY
I didn’t expect to live this long is an exhibition of large-scale sculpture and installation works that offers a personal and political queering of time, space, materiality, and ideas by NAS alumna Liz Bradshaw. Integrating new works alongside a fragment of an artwork created at the National Art School in the 1990s, the installation folds together the artist’s personal experiences with the complex histories of the NAS site and the broader Darlinghurst area, which served as an epicentre of Australian queer history. Typical of Bradshaw’s minimalist practice in sculpture, the work blurs fiction and reality, inviting us into a space that is in itself deeply queer.
EXHIBITION
13 February – 7 March 2026
Building 25 Project Space
Thank you to everyone who joined us at the opening of The Grad Show!
Find works by this year`s cohort exhibited throughout the NAS campus until 14 December. Open daily from 11am — 5pm and until 9pm on Fridays.
View online via 🔗 in bio.
—
Video: Tim Connolly
Dec 5
Introducing Sosiua Pouhila Afa, Luuk Zilich and Amelia Schremmer, three of our graduating students in Sculpture.
Celebrate the future of contemporary art at The Grad Show Opening Night, Thursday 4 December.
RSVP link in bio.
—
Sosiua Pouhila Afa
`Grounding`
video installation, sound
90 x 57 x 32 cm
Luuk Zilich
`Echo`
limestone block
22 x 29 x 29 cm
Amelia Schremmer
`Untitled`
menstrual blood-based bioplastic
60 x 38 x 0.5 cm
Portrait: @soybased_snack
Documentation: Peter Morgan
Dec 3
Introducing Mia McCall, Dawn Toerien McGuire, Jillian Nalty and Sarah Parker, four of our graduating students in Sculpture.
Celebrate the future of contemporary art at The Grad Show Opening Night, Thursday 4 December.
RSVP link in bio.
—
Mia McCall
`Horse in Bag`
earthenware, plastic
43 x 29 x 17 cm
Dawn Toerien McGuire
`Loud Thought`
linen, cotton, grosgrain ribbon, thread
196 x 70 cm
Jillian Nalty
`Slippery Bit`
plaster, paraffin wax, oil,
found ceramic tiles
70 x 30 x 30 cm
Sarah Parker
`Sharp Objects`
wool, resin, steel
45 x 35 x 35 cm
Portrait: @soybased_snack
Documentation: Peter Morgan
Dec 3
Introducing Frank Stackpool, Milla Watts, river wright and Juniper Alexander, four of our graduating students in Sculpture.
Celebrate the future of contemporary art at The Grad Show Opening Night, Thursday 4 December.
RSVP link in bio.
—
Frank Stackpool
`Yearbook Proxy`
compressed charcoal on paper
108.5 x 108.5 x 5 cm
Milla Watts
`A hat to try your best in`
felt, wire, thread, wood
100 x 30 x 10 cm
river wright
`King Total Quality System Delta Box Arm Viva Spice`
chair, wok, plant
dimensions variable
Juniper Alexander
`Spitting Teeth: A Series of Irreversible
Transgendered Daily Operations and Rituals`
single-channel HD digital video, colour, silent
1:30 minutes
Portrait: @soybased_snack
Documentation: Peter Morgan
Dec 3
Introducing Cade Aslaugh, Braidon Fairclough, Eleni Ioakimidis and Kyiesha Booth, four of our graduating students in Sculpture.
Celebrate the future of contemporary art at The Grad Show Opening Night, Thursday 4 December.
RSVP link in bio.
—
Cade Aslaugh
`A Pole`
steel, hat, thread
156 x 18 x 28 cm
Eleni Ioakimidis
`Shoes`
expanding foam, epoxy, found shoes
17 x 20 x 14 cm
Braidon Fairclough
`Baroque 4x4`
earthenware
9 x 10 x 1 cm
Kyiesha Booth
`Untitled`
lemongrass, raffia, organic
and synthetic yarns
38 x 38 x 30 cm
Portrait: @soybased_snack
Documentation: Peter Morgan
Dec 3
Introducing Willow Bergquist, Rose Blunt and Deborah Kam, three of our graduating students in Sculpture.
Celebrate the future of contemporary art at The Grad Show Opening Night, Thursday 4 December.
RSVP link in bio.
—
Willow Bergquist
`Bare`
reclaimed toy bear, steel, fur
70 x 64 x 78 cm
Rose Blunt
`Mother`s Brew`
board, textile, stuffing, spray paint,
unfired earthenware, dirt, dust, hair
27 x 57 x 42 cm
Deborah Kam
`Menemora`
woven repurposed blanket, acrylic yarn, pearl
beads; interactive component: audience tactile
engagement and meditation
60 x 60 x 5 cm
Portrait: @soybased_snack
Documentation: Peter Morgan
Dec 2
