Photos: Sia Duff
“For me, the beauty lies in the challenge of transforming the broken into something meaningful,” local artist and DJ Ruby Chew says.
Ruby will dive into this concept of restorative practice at futuristic museum MOD’s Ctrl + Zine event on Friday September 13 from 6pm to 9pm.
Along with illustrator and zine maker Rebecca Sheedy and emerging writer Maximilian Levy, Ruby will guide participants in creating their own DIY zines and artworks focused on breaking and rebuilding.
Meanwhile, Live Slug Reaction will provide a backdrop with live improvised jazz.
“Art and creation can be quite revealing, even if it’s unintentional,” Erika Barrett, MOD Engagement Officer, explains.
“It can be a way of communicating ideas that might be difficult to express or might not make sense, but it gives an opportunity to start important conversations.”
The aim of Ctrl + Zine, curated by MOD’s Youth Board, is to offer a cathartic experience linked to the gallery’s current exhibition, ‘BROKEN’.
“While the exhibition offers tools to feel hopeful about the future, it doesn’t necessarily provide that emotional release,” Erika says. “This was something the Youth Board wanted to address through the event.”
‘BROKEN’ exhibition running throughout 2024, explores the ways in which our current systems are failing us and calls for new ways of thinking. The gallery will be fully open on the night, with attendees able to explore the exhibition alongside drinks and a free DIY nacho bar.
“This event complements the exhibition’s message,” Erika adds. “We’re not aiming to stay in the broken state, but to move forward and imagine new possibilities through art and expression.”
In the lead up to Ctrl + Zine, we connect with each of the artists to hear their thoughts on how art can be a tool for healing:
Ruby Chew // artist
How can creating art be a form of healing/therapy?
Art, for me, is both an escape and a profound exploration. It allows me to immerse myself in a ‘world’ where I can make, reflect, and resolve the challenges I set for myself creatively. This space becomes a sanctuary – I can process my thoughts and perspectives about my practice and beyond, offering a powerful way to navigate my place in the world. In that way, Art is so powerful to so many.
What do broken fragments symbolise for you in the context of healing?
Broken fragments represent a journey – a process of piecing together what was whole, that now carries new meaning. It can be an opportunity to transform, and find beauty in the imperfect, reflecting resilience and growth connected with healing.
How do you approach turning something broken into something beautiful?
In recent years, my practice has embraced process-based making techniques, inspired by David Bowie’s creative approach in the studio. I often intentionally break materials or compositional elements without a clear vision of how they’ll fit into a final composition. There’s a liberating excitement in this uncertainty, and for me, the beauty lies in the challenge of transforming the broken into something meaningful.
Rebecca Sheedy // Illustrator and zine maker
How do you think creating art be a form of healing/therapy?
Creating art can help make sense of the world around us by expressing emotions that might be difficult to process internally. Sometimes it can be easier to communicate your thoughts and beliefs through your artwork than to discuss your feelings.
Why can talking to or imagining your future-self be a form of self-care or recovery?
Imagining your future self can help you envision what is important to you and what to place your time and emphasis on. By projecting an image of your future self, you can identify what you are passionate and energised about which can help bring clarity to your next goals.
What do you do when you need a reset?
When I need a reset I like to get out and about in nature, it’s nice to be able to spot different birds, get some art inspiration from the colours of the trees and flowers, and maybe get a little ice cream while I’m out.
Live Slug Reaction // instrumental groove band
How do you think engaging with art be a form of healing/therapy?
DAN – I think for me a lot of it is about self-love, respect and listening to yourself. It’s so fun to try and silence the inner critic and just draw or write or bash away at an instrument like a child would, healing the inner child through play and all that.
In what ways do you think music can address or transform intrusive thoughts?
FINN – I think that music can play a pivotal role in transforming intrusive thoughts, since it can often be intensely relatable. Music has the ability to make someone feel like they are not alone in what they’re feeling, with that providing a sense of optimism that can often help deal with that.
DAN – It’s really nice to reinforce the fact that there’s weight to your feelings and experiences, even just for yourself. At the very least it’s just fun. There’s the cliché stuff especially with music about being able to know you can relate to and connect with someone you’ve never met because of something they expressed in a song, but it is actually so incredibly true and I think it’s so important because it humanises things within ourselves that we often struggle to perceive as common human struggles.
DAN – One quote I heard about songwriting a while ago that I always try to go back to is “in the personal lies the universal” and I think it’s true. There’s a lot we’re all experiencing and feeling that we don’t talk about or even know how to talk about so it can be incredibly powerful when someone is able to express that through art. I don’t know. I have definitely felt a lot happier and more fulfilled in general since I’ve started spending more time making it and around it.
Maximilian Levy // WRITER
How do you think engaging with art be a form of healing/therapy?
If you’re a painter, musician, writer, seamstress, or specialist of any other field that requires extensive concentration and resilience, immersing yourself into the process of creating art can hone your attention and emotions to the requirements of a specific project, taking your mind away from the plights and worries of day-to-day existence as a result. Alternatively, we can utilise our frustrations or anxieties by wielding our emotional reactions as artistic stimuli. Kafka and Van Gogh each suffered from forms of depression, and are both celebrated amidst the upper echelons of their respective crafts.
I’ve written some of my favourite poems on some of my darker days. An artistic practice can liberate us from the mire if we use our negative feelings to our advantage, and we can achieve similar healing by engaging with the arts. Whether by watching live music or visiting an art exhibition, the arts open our minds to the endless array of masterful work available for our consumption and contemplation. It is through art that we can smile, weep, love, dream, laugh, and think – all of which can heal.
What do you do when you need a reset?
I do think it very beneficial and important, in theory, to wind down and reset after particularly enduring or exhausting tasks and activities. I have ADHD, and find it quite difficult to wind down in any case, but I do enjoy going for drives in the hills listening to my favourite albums, or taking a walk through the parklands near my house – again, always with music playing. My writing is also a means of resetting, as the practice helps me collect my thoughts and reflect on my experiences. And, if I have an abundance of time, I love removing myself from the city for a few days and camping someplace quiet and scenic. That’s when I get to do a lot of quiet thinking and reflection.
Ctrl + Zine: Friday September 13 // North Terrace, (adjacent Morphett Street) Adelaide 5000
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