“I can’t escape the body as praxis; as an artist and as a person,” says Atong Atem, whose work graces the cover of Art Guide Australia’sNovember/December issue. As Atem tells writer Santilla Chingaipe on the eve of the artist’s major survey exhibition, the body is at the nexus of how she explores the world. Inside this issue we find art situated between the body and its environment. In the work of Michelle Nikou, everyday domestic objects have a particular and sometimes peculiar relationship with our bodies. And for artist Anna Louise Richardson, the everyday means rural farm life, its objects resonating with history and potential. 

Drawing our attention to our physical impact on the environment, Rox De Luca transforms plastic rubbish she collects on the beach into sculpture, while Henry Jock Walker’s love of surfing results in works interwoven with a keen awareness of the ocean.

Connection to Country and community are core for the Pitcha Makin Fellas. The group’s bold, impactful works are showcased in their first major survey exhibition, but as Josephine Mead writes, activism and identity are as important as art making to this collective.

This and more in the November/December 2026 edition of Art Guide Australia. Subscribe today.