CURRENT MISSION/S

Exploring the emancipatory potential of community education, the radical possibilities of public art, the transformative hope of political organising.

ABOUT ME

I think and write about feminism, contemporary art, politics and identity. I co-organise a Free University (brisbanefreeuniversity.org) and I produce a weekly 2-hour community radio program (radioreversal.org).

I like reading and writing, drawing, painting, textiles. I love cycling and hiking, dancing to live music, climbing the occasional tree. I'm super interested in aesthetics and politics, art, literature, poetry.

I live with 9 people in a busy and bright sharehouse....I love boozy late-night conversations, and I crave time alone.

PHILOSOPHY
To create is to resist, to resist is to create.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've spent most of my traveling life sleeping on couches. I have experienced amazing generosity. When I have a place to share, I wanna share it. I'm also super interested in the radical potential of gift economies. I love projects like Couchsurfing because they're such a powerful resistance to the idea that humans are only ever motivated by profit and greed. Moreover, as a community worker and educator, I'm all about stories and ideas. When I'm in a new city, I wanna know it through the stories of folks who live there. I travel with a sketch book and a zoom recorder. For me, travel is always about the people....and about finding ways to subvert capitalism.

Interests

Public, political art (esp performance art, digital media, printmaking, illustration). Contemporary literature and poetry (esp feminist, surrealist, speculative, magical realist).

Permaculture and community gardening, radical anthropology, dumpster-diving, living on the fringes.

Community organising and public education.

General ratbaggery.

• arts
• writing
• books
• literature
• poetry
• performing arts
• contemporary art
• illustrations
• dancing
• education
• womens rights
• cooking
• gardening
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• drawing
• music
• live music
• cycling
• hiking
• backpacking
• scuba diving
• rock climbing
• anthropology
• communications
• teaching

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I think travel opens us up to incredible opportunities for magical realism. I've talked about the politics of "development" on a crowded street in Gilgit, listened to Ani di Franco with devout, (and very high) Muslim med students in Islamabad, swapped memories of West End gigs with a Spanish backpacker in Cape York, shared some tomato-and-mozarella salad with a Bulgarian farmer on a train from Sofia to Belgrade...and watched as short-term couch hosts turn into long-term friends.

Teach, Learn, Share

- Printmaking (lino and screen printing)
- Illustration
- Cooking
- Research and editing skills
- Basic bicycle maintenance
- Basic gardening skills
- Dumpster-diving local knowledge

What I Can Share with Hosts

My house, my skills at living on the fringes of capitalism, public art projects, my knowledge of Brisbane's south side, my extra bicycle.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Greece, India, Iran, Japan, Pakistan, Serbia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Austria