CURRICULUM VITAE

QUALIFICATIONS

Doctor of Philosophy (Art Theory), University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
↳ Thesis: Gastronomic Body: sensory and sociocultural dimensions of food art.

Master of Arts (Art Business), Sotheby’s Institute of Art (degree awarded with merit and accredited by the University of Manchester), London, UK.
↳ Dissertation (awarded merit): Ceramic Restoration: Issues and Effects Upon the Market Sectors.

Bachelor of Arts (History of Art & English Literature), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2022-present — Curator, Special Collections and Exhibitions, UNSW Library, University of NSW, Sydney.

2022 — Assistant Registrar, Powerhouse, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Sydney.

2011-19 — Gallery Manager, MAY SPACE (formerly Brenda May Gallery), Sydney.

2010-11 — Senior Gallery Assistant, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney.

2009-10 — Gallery Associate, Eva Breuer Art Dealer, Sydney.

2007-08 — Gallery Assistant, Helium Foundation, London, UK.

2004-06 — Visual Resources Collection Assistant, Media Services, Department of the History of Art, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

2021-23 — Research Officer, National Institute for Experimental Arts (NIEA), UNSW, Sydney.
Project: Cultural Sensorium: An Ethnography of the Senses
Funding: Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project
Principal Investigator: Professor Jennifer L. Biddle

2021-22 — Research Assistant, School of Art & Design, UNSW, Sydney.
Project: After Eating: Metabolizing the Arts
Principal Investigator: Dr. Lindsay Kelley
↳ Outcome: L. Kelley, After Eating: Metabolising the Arts (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2023). ISBN: 9780262545631

FURTHER EXPERIENCE & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

WRITING & EDITING

• Residency, Firstdraft Writers Program; December 2022 – January 2023.
  ↳ Outcome: Feeling images and sensing words (2024).
• Commissioned Writer [Education & Mediation Texts], Museums & Galleries of NSW; 2021-24.
• Short Course, Introduction to Creative Writing, TAFE NSW; August – October 2021.
• Short Course, Art Criticism and Writing, Node Center for Curatorial Studies; May – June 2014.
• Contributing Writer [Invited], Christian Science Monitor, Boston, MA, USA; 2010-13.
  ↳ Contributed a series of articles published in the STIR IT UP! section (24 total – see full list here).
• Project Coordinator, Researcher & Writer, National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery & Eva Breuer Art Dealer, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 2010.
  ↳ Exhibition Catalogue: Slow Burn – A century of Australian women artists from a private collection.
• Editorial Intern, Sotheby’s Preview Magazine, London, UK; 2007.
  ↳ Magazine Issue: Sotheby’s Preview, vol. 20, no. 5, September/October 2007.

ART SECTOR

• Mentorship, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney; March 2024.
• Exhibition Host, rīvus, 23rd Biennale of Sydney, Sydney; 2022.
• Student Services, National Art School, Sydney; 2022.
• Invited Juror, ArtSlant Prize (round 1), Los Angeles, CA, USA, http://www.artslant.com; 2015.

LEADERSHIP & COMMITTEES

• Reserve Member, Waverley Arts Culture and Creativity Advisory Committee; 2023-present.
• Register of Peers, Museums & Galleries of NSW; 2022-present.
• Short Course, Learn to Lead: Leading the future, Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM), UNSW Business School; 2023.
• Co-Lead, Object-Based Learning Working Group, UNSW Library, Sydney; 2022-23.
• Committee Member, Sydney Arts Management Advisory Group (SAMAG); 2021-22.

CURATORIAL PROJECTS

MAJOR PROJECTS

• Sonus Maris, travelling exhibition (2 venues – New South Wales); 2023–24
  (forthcoming) Jervis Bay Maritime Museum, Huskisson, NSW; 4 July – 13 October 2024. 
  UNSW Main Library, Level 5, Sydney, NSW; 6 February – 5 May 2023.
  Sonus Maris navigated the intersections between art and science emerging from an ongoing collaboration between artist Dr Nigel Helyer and water engineers and scientists at the UNSW Water Research Laboratory (WRL). The exhibition featured audio-visual media reinterpreting data which charts the unique dynamics of intermittently closed and open lakes and lagoons (ICOLLs) along the NSW coastline.
  ↳ Nominee, MGNSW IMAGinE Award 2023 (Exhibition Project – Museums & Heritage – Medium).
• Aftertaste, Fairfield City Museum & Gallery, Fairfield; 15 April – 12 August 2023.
  Aftertaste considers how food can act as a channel between a subject’s past, present, and future, activating and encoding memories that can connect individuals to a shared cultural experience or place. The exhibition will ignite conversations around culture, identity, and representation by way of tastes on the tongue.
• reminiSCENT, MAY SPACE, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 25 July – 11 Aug 2018.
  reminiSCENT surveys contemporary artists initiating multisensory experiences through olfactory encounters. The artworks in this exhibition privilege the sense of smell over that of vision and emphasises language and memory as understood through bodily engagement.
• Kitchen-Studio, Black Box Projects, MAY SPACE, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 10 Oct – 4 Nov 2017.
  The artists of this exhibition take the space of the kitchen as the site of their performative artwork. Utilising the domestic gesture of cooking and preparing food, the artists interrogate a number of broad themes including the body, labour, and collaboration.
• Mouthfeel, travelling exhibition (4 venues – Australia & United States); 2015 – 2018.
  Upper CVPA Gallery, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, MA, USA; 5 Feb – 9 Mar 2018. [Invited].
  Screen Room, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin, NT, Australia; 9 April – 7 May 2016.
  Parer Place Urban Screens, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, 30 Nov – 10 Dec 2015.
  Black Box Projects, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 9 June – 4 July 2015.
  The objective of this exhibition is to stimulate a synaesthetic response in the viewer through the observation of these films. The mouth is used by these artists to trigger the sense of taste and touch by the ingestion of edible and non-edible substances.
• Sugar, Sugar, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 1 – 19 Oct 2013.
  This exhibition featured contemporary art made exclusively with sugar by ten female artists. By embodying the ephemeral nature of the substance, many of the installations only lasted for the duration of the exhibition.
• Art + Food: Beyond the Still Life, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 2 – 20 Oct 2012.
  This exhibition considered the representation of food within the visual arts and beyond the standard still life tableaux.

ADDITIONAL EXHIBITIONS (selected)

• Hearts, Hands, Minds: 75 years UNSW Art Collection (co-curator), UNSW Main Library, Sydney; 25 March – 14 June 2024.
• Liberating History: 50 Years of Tharunka’s “Women’s Issue”, UNSW Paddington Library, Sydney; 6 March – 14 June 2024.
• Protests & Pranks, UNSW Main Library, Law Library, Paddington Library, Sydney; *postponed.
• Strange Tastes, UNSW Main Library, Sydney; 21 November 2023 – 18 March 2024.
• Care is a relationship, UNSW Main Library, Sydney; 4 September – 17 November 2023.
• Flesh & Bone: Illustrations of Anatomy, UNSW Main Library, Sydney; 22 May – 18 August 2023.
• Love. Respect. Pride. (co-curator), UNSW Main Library, Sydney; 24 February – 26 May 2023.
• Ex Libris: 20th Century Australian Bookplates,UNSW Main Library, Sydney; 5 December 2022 – 30 January 2023.
• Threefold: artistic approaches to flexing form (co-curated with Olivia Welch), Maitland Regional Art Gallery; cancelled due to program disruptions caused by COVID-19.
• Shelf Life (co-curator), MAY SPACE, Sydney; 6 – 24 February 2019
• On-Site (co-curator), MAY SPACE, Sydney; 7 – 24 February 2018.
• Ceramic Revisions II (co-curator), MAY SPACE, Sydney; 28 November – 23 December 2017.
• Out of Line (co-curator), MAY SPACE, Sydney; 7 – 25 November 2017.
• MAY SPACE: FOURTEEN (co-curator), MAY SPACE, Sydney; 1 – 25 March 2017.
• Kitchen-Studio, Black Box Projects, MAY SPACE, Sydney; 10 October – 4 November 2017.
• Op Art (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 11 June – 7 July 2016.
• Sculpture 2016: Bronze (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 29 January – 18 February 2016.
• 30 Artists | 30 Years | 30 Artworks (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 24 November – 19 December 2015.
• Untitled Show (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 29 September – 24 October 2015.
• Paper Works III (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 14 April – 2 May 2015.
• Sculpture 2015: Sculpture Park (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 28 January – 14 February 2015.
• Sculpture 2014 (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 29 January – 22 February 2014.
• Art + Science (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 1 – 19 October 2013.
• Paper Works II (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 16 April – 4 May 2013.
• Sculpture 2013 (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 23 January – 9 February 2013.
• Chiaroscuro (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 10 – 28 July 2012.
• Major Artists, Major Works (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 14 February – 3 March 2012.
• Sculpture 2012 (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 18 January – 11 February 2012.
• Body Language (co-curator), Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 27 September – 22 October 2011.

PUBLISHED WRITING

DISSERTATION/THESIS

Fizell, Megan R. “Gastronomic Body: Sensory and sociocultural dimensions of food art.” PhD thesis, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2021.
Fizell, Megan. “Ceramic restoration: issues and effects upon the market sectors.” Master’s dissertation, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London, UK, 2007.

SaveSaveSaveSaveSave

EXHIBITION CATALOGUES & TEXTS

Fizell, Megan R. “Foreword.” In More-than-Human Wellbeing (exhibition reader), 3. Sydney: UNSW Sydney and ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, 2023. ISBN: 9780645758795.
Fizell, Megan. “Glazed Images.” In Acquired Taste: Food and the Art of Consumption, edited by Alyssa Cordova and Heather Richards, 19-20. Fullerton: California State University, 2012. ISBN: 9780935314823. [Invited].
Fizell, Megan R. Glossary in Dennis Golding | POWER – The Future is Here Mediation Handbook, 10-12. Sydney: Museums & Galleries of NSW, 2024. Web [PDF].
Fizell, Megan R. Glossary in Zanny Begg | These Stories Will be Different Education Kit, 4-5. Sydney: Museums & Galleries of NSW, 2022. Web [PDF].
Fizell, Megan R. Glossary in Zanny Begg | These Stories Will be Different Mediation Handbook, 6-7, 9, 13, 16. Sydney: Museums & Galleries of NSW, 2022. Web [PDF].
Fizell, Megan. “Performative and Interactive Aspects of Sugar in Art.” In Sugar, Sugar: an exhibition of ten female artists, 2-3. Sydney: Brenda May Gallery, 2013. ISBN: 9780646904030.
Fizell, Megan R. “Remembrance of Tastes Past.” In Aftertaste, 6-9. Fairfield: Fairfield City Museum & Gallery, 2023. ISBN: 9780645785104.
Fizell, Megan. “Scentual Encounters.” In reminiSCENT, n.p. Sydney: MAY SPACE, 2018.
Fizell, Megan R. “Sensing Data.” In Sonus Maris, 20-24. Sydney: UNSW Library, 2023. ISBN: 9780733441158.
Fizell, Megan R. Suspended Moment Mediation Handbook, 3-12. Sydney: Museums & Galleries of NSW, 2022. Web [PDF].
Fizell, Megan R., and Emily Morandini. “Crafting Stories of Care.” In Care is a relationship, 8-11. Sydney: UNSW Library, 2023. Print. ISBN: 9780733440786. 
Fizell, Megan, Natalie O’Connor, and Louise Tegart. Slow Burn – A century of Australian women artists from a private collection. Sydney: National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery & Eva Breuer Art Dealer, 2010. ISBN 9780646536835.

PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS

Fizell, Megan. “Evidence of a Catastrophe.” Artlink 32, no. 4 (2012): 72-73. Print.
Fizell, Megan. “Ken and Julia Yonetani / Janet Tavener [Exhibition Reviews].” Artlink 31, no. 2 (2011): 156. Print.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Caruth, Nicole, Megan Fizell, and Andrew Russeth. “Gastro-Vision: The Best in Food-Art 2010.” ART21 Magazine, 17 December 2010. Web. [Invited].
Caruth, Nicole, Megan Fizell, and Andrew Russeth. “Gastro-Vision: The Best in Food-Art 2012.” ART21 Magazine, 21 December 2012. Web. [Invited].
Fizell, Megan. “Books Unbound.” IMPRINT 51, no. 4 (Summer 2016): 18-21. Print.
Fizell, Megan. “Cloaca.” FEAST Journal, Issue 2: Digestion (2012): 6, 9-11. Print. [Invited].
Fizell, Megan. “Dance & drawing: ways of seeing trace.” RealTime 127 (June/July 2015): 21. Print.
Fizell, Megan. “Eating Robert Gober’s Bag of Donuts.” ART21 Magazine, Special Issue: Failure (December 2013/January 2014). Web. [Invited].
Fizell, Megan. “Fast Food through the Lens of Still Life Photographers.” Curator, 12 November 2010. Web.
Fizell, Megan R. “Feeling images and sensing words.” Firstdraft, 23 January 2024. Web.
Fizell, Megan. “From palette to plate.” Appetite, April 2012, 62-69. Print.
Fizell, Megan. “Gastroporn, or The Sexualised Eater.” Runway Australian Experimental Art, Issue 29: Porn, 25 November 2015. Web.
Fizell, Megan. Inset comment in Jo Higgins, “Good Taste.” Art Collector 85 (July-September 2018): 172. Print.
Fizell, Megan. “Last Supper.” Ceramics Monthly 59, no. 7 (September 2011): 42-45. Print.
Fizell, Megan. “Love, Loss, Masculinity and the Absurdity of the Human Condition.” Journal of Australian Ceramics 50, no. 3 (November 2011): 48. Print.
Fizell, Megan. “Perfection, Repair and Use.” Ceramics Monthly 57, no. 10 (December 2009): 54-57. Print.
Fizell, Megan. “Review: Street Art Exhibition @ Tate Modern.” MyVillage: South Bank, 29 May 2008. Web.
Fizell, Megan R. “Satiating artists and audiences: ‘SIMMER’ at MAMA.” Art Monthly Australasia, 12 January 2022. Web.
Fizell, Megan. “Sugary masterpieces.” Appetite, November 2013, 44-47. Print.
Fizell, Megan. “Squashings, pressings, and stains: food as a medium in printmaking and works on paper.” IMPRINT 50, no. 1 (Autumn 2015): 26. Print.
Fizell, Megan. “Who Will Seek to Serve with Conscious Clear.” IMPRINT 50, no. 3 (Spring 2015): 6-7. Print.
Fizell, Megan. “Wire Mesh Steel Dresses.” Das Superpaper 17 (2011): 32-33. Print.

PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS & RECORDED MEDIA (selected)

• Opening speech for the exhibition Aftertaste, Fairfield City Museum & Gallery; 15 April 2023.
• Opening speech for the exhibition Love. Respect. Pride., UNSW Library, Sydney;  2 March 2023.
• Invited Speaker, “Curating Multisensory and Food-Based Art,” presented at SPARK: Museums. Ideas. Connections., convened by Museums & Galleries of NSW at the Art Gallery of New South Wales; 21 September 2022.
• PhD conference paper, “Affect and food art,” presented at Higher Degree Research Conference (Panel 5: Cultures; Performances; Mediations), UNSW Art & Design, Sydney; 24 October 2019.
• Invited Speaker, Backing Yourself As An Artist: Professional Development Short Course, convened by Suzanne Davey & Dr. Therese Kenyon, Eramboo Artist Environment, Terrey Hills, NSW; 9 March 2019.
• PhD conference paper, “Seer as Seen: Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s concept of reversibility applied to food-art,” presented at Higher Degree Research Conference (Panel 4), UNSW Art & Design, Sydney; 4 September 2018.
• Radio Interview, “Arts Friday,” hosted by S. Lindeman, Eastside Radio 89.FM, 7min: 29sec; 27 July 2018.
• Invited Speaker, “The Still Life: Past and Present,” presented at The Last Supper: A Sustainability Talk for the exhibition The Last Supper by Ken + Julia Yonetani, Hazelhurst Regional Art Gallery; 12 April 2014.
• Podcast Recording, “Food & Art Exhibition Podcast,” Eva Breuer Art Dealer, 1min: 59sec; 26 March 2010.
• Podcast Recording, “Rosemary Valadon Exhibition Podcast,” Eva Breuer Art Dealer, 2mins; 14 Oct 2009.
• Radio Interview, “Arts Monday,” hosted by L. Ryan, Eastside Radio 89.FM, 21min: 22sec; 7 Sept 2009.

PUBLIC PROGRAM & SPECIAL EVENT CONVENER (selected)

• Crafting Care Workshop Series for the exhibition Care is a relationship, UNSW Library, Sydney; 2 August, 21 September, 18 October 2023.
• Todd Fuller: Unite Project (participatory artwork inviting attendees to colour in film stills to be included in Unite 3), MAY SPACE pop-up project for Mardi Gras FAIR DAY, Victoria Park, Camperdown; 18 February 2018
• Drawing Conclusions (panel talk) for the exhibition Out of Line, MAY SPACE, Sydney; 25 November 2017.
• Dessert II (dining performance) by Elizabeth Willing for the exhibition Sugar, Sugar, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney; 3 October 2013.

MEDIA/REVIEWS/CITATIONS

Research & Curatorial Projects (selected)

Briere, Shenandoah. “Art show leaves students with a mouth full of emotions.” Dartmouth Week, 22 February 2018: 13. Print. (web).
“Exhibition Brief: Mouthfeel.” Art Almanac, June 2015, 49. Print.
Frost, Andrew. “Funny, crafty women make a serious point about our expectations of art.” The Guardian, 1 October 2013. Web.
Gorman, James. “Exhibition Hoping to Prove a Sweet Success.” Central Magazine, 25 September 2013: 7. Print.
Jansen, Charlotte. “Eat It!” Elephant 21 (Winter 2015): 62-71. Print. (web).
Kelley, Lindsay. “Kitchen Futures: Participatory Taste Workshops and the Battle for Together.” Australian Feminist Studies, 12 April 2024, 7. DOI: 10.1080/08164649.2024.2338793. Web.
“This month’s best shows.” Time Out Sydney, October 2013, 46. Print.
Vandepeer, Sarah. “Sugar Sugar.” Art Almanac, October 2013, 46-47. Print.
Walker, Ainslie. “Niche Fragrance News.” esprit Magazine Australia 58, October 2018, 68. Print.
Wilkinson, Don. “A Year You Had to See: 12 memorial exhibits from around the SouthCoast.” The Standard-Times, 27 December 2018: H6-H7. Print. (web).
Wilkinson, Don. “CVPA’s ‘Mouthfeel’ exhibit gives viewers a lot to chew on.” The Standard-Times, 22 February 2018: H12. Print. (web).

Feasting on Art (selected)

“Artist’s Palate.” Virgin Blue Voyeur #111, October 2010, 141. Print.
Barbour, Evan. “Life Imitating Art.” Fine Cooking, 14 June 2010. Web.
Bennett, Jennifer. “Art that’s good enough to eat.” Wentworth Courier, 16 December 2009, 30-31. Print.
Birnbaum, Molly. “Good Enough to Eat.” ARTNews, September 2009, 40. Print.
Brocket, Jane. “All consuming.” The Guardian Weekend, 4 August 2012, 44-46. Print.
“Feasting on Art. “MiNDFood, May 2010, 152. Print.
“Feasting on Art.” SBS Food network, 15 June 2011. Web.
Kaur, Karanjeet. “Eat your art out.” Time Out Bengaluru, 7-20 June 2013, 19. Print.
Krueger, Ron. “Flint native shares art of food in new blog.” The Flint Journal, 4 September 2009, D4. Print.
Libuda, Klas. “50 Kochrezepte von Cara Nicoletti: Speisekarte der Weltliteratur.” Rheinische Post, 23 August 2017. Web.
Messala, Luciana. “Piet Mondrian.” Revista Stile no. 44, 2016, 22. Print.
Riley, Gillian. “art, food in.” In The Oxford Companion to Food, by Alan Davidson, edited by Tom Janie, 39. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. Print.
“Sites we Love: Feasting on Art.” Saveur, 1 March 2012. Web.
Wan, Ren. “Eyes on Food.” Antipasto 11 (2013): 10-15. Print.
Yemma, John. “Foodie nation: Why we’re in the kitchen.” Christian Science Monitor, 9 July 2011. Web.