Rural Utopia 2022: Broome-based textiles artist Jacky Cheng to take up six-week residency in Margaret River

As part of a multi-year program of residencies and socially engaged art projects, a Broome-based textiles artist is excited to learn more about the South West when she ventures to Margaret River. Jacky Cheng is set to arrive in Margaret River on Monday to start a six-week residency, where she will draw on community interactions, histories and working methods to develop a collection of stories that will become the inspiration for a collaboratively developed artwork. Cheng told the South Western Times the first thing she thought about when she was approached to take part in the program was the vastly different different weather patterns but was excited to explore another tourist town within WA. “I see there’s a lot of similarities between Broome and Margaret River because they’re both tourist towns but they attract people at different times of the year,” she said. “If you dig deeper, I am curious to figure out what attracts people to locations like those and even revisit my thoughts on why people choose to live in regional towns. “From an art sense, it’s going to be interesting because this will allow me to take part in a socially engaged project and get to know other people and artists in Margaret River.” Under the program, Cheng will be collaborating with Margaret River Makers, a collective of artists based in the area. She said she was excited to be able to exchange ideas with other artists and potentially learn new techniques. “In any sense of artmaking, there’s always a two-way learning,” she said. “You might carry some techniques and when you go somewhere else you learn even more and it sparks a new way of working. “I think collaboration is important in any art practice and I’m always a keen learner and I think it’s exciting because there’s just no way to learn everything in a lifetime. “It will be a great opportunity to be present and share skills.” Following the six-week residency engaging with various members of the community, Cheng will return to Margaret River early next year to start producing a work focusing on the idea of ‘Rural Utopias’ for an eventual exhibition. She said she hopes to produce a work exploring immigration, drawing on her personal experience as well as the perspectives of people she may meet while in Margaret River. Presented by leading arts organisation Spaced, Rural Utopias is a multi-year program of residencies and socially engaged art projects in regional and remote Western Australian communities, including 12 artists from across Australia.