Dean Ansell (b. 1997, he/they) is a multidisciplinary artist of Melanesian (Riḡorabana, Balawaia, Papua Niugini), Maltese, and Anglo-Celtic descent, based in Meanjin, Australia. His practice connects his cultural heritage to material processes that harness his body and the environment. Spanning installation, soundscape, and embodied performance, Ansell interprets Melanesian mythologies and rituals. Correlating inherited knowledge with his personal experiences of cultural displacement, Ansell’s work is an expression of the complexities of his Melanesian diasporic experience.
He has exhibited in galleries and spaces across Australia including Carpark Gallery | Milani Gallery, Blindside Gallery, Wreckers Artspace, and performed at Outerspace. He has recently graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Arts) and was the recipient of the 2023 Hilde Chenhall Memorial Scholarship at the Queensland University of Technology. In 2023, Ansell was selected to produce a public artwork in collaboration with Brisbane City Council, Victoria Park/Barrambin, and the Green Heart Fair. He is invested in the local arts ecology, working at the Institute of Modern Art, Queensland University of Technology Galleries and Museums, and Metro Arts, as well as supporting several other Brisbane galleries.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
Guli (Pit), 138 Gallery, Melbourne (upcoming)
Ḡaumaḡauma, Bus Projects, Melbourne (upcoming)
The Riḡorabana, The Balawaia, Outer Space Gallery, Brisbane (upcoming)
2024
Second Nature, Third Space, Wreckers Artspace, Brisbane
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
A Narrow Strip Along a Steep Edge, Fort Lytton National Park, Brisbane (upcoming)
Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works, Blindside Gallery, Melbourne
2024
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, Carpark Gallery, Brisbane
2023
Theremonic, VENTspace, Brisbane
inFORM 2023 QUT Visual Arts Graduate Exhibition, Queensland University of Technology Creative Industries Precinct, Brisbane
PUBLIC EVENTS
2024
Tectonic Noise (live sound performance), response to Hannah Hallam-Eames’ exhibition Time Tunnels, Outerspace, Brisbane
2023
Historical Contours of Barrambin (public artwork) apart of Finding Barrambin project, Barrambin/Victoria Park, Brisbane
sediment of body and sea (live performance), Chauvel Place, Brisbane
AWARDS, PRIZES, SCHOLARSHIPS
2023
Recipient, 2023 Hilde Chenhall Memorial Visual Arts Scholarship, Queensland University of Technology
2015
Recipient, Young Artist Award, TAFE Queensland East Coast
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kyle McIntyre, “Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works”, Blindside Gallery, January 30 2025, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RGSv4DtG-jEzstiPWx-8E_L8mRhz5IVX/view?usp=sharing
Kyle McIntyre, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”, Carpark Gallery, August 3 2024, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CO5-qzgCNoGLeolueFzaomDsbH7syptp/view
Sally Molloy, “2023 inFORM: QUT Visual Arts Graduate Exhibition”, Lemonade Letters to Art, November 22 2023, https://lemonadeletters.com.au/2023/11/22/inform-qut-visual-arts-graduate-exhibition-2023/
Georgia Hennessy, “Balawaian Filtration Device - Dean Ansell”, ScratchThat Magazine, June 2023, https://scratchthatmagazine.com/untitled-dean-ansell/
Roxanne McCarty-O'Kane, “Art Goes Underground”, My Weekly Preview, October 26 2017, https://issuu.com/myweeklypreview/docs/mwp472, p. 14
TEXTS
“Contaminated”, Exhibition title, Outer Space, Brisbane. 2024. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WN7I1LxWzK8mnuJIlY2N_Gqe8WC4BB5S/view
ART RELATED EMPLOYMENT
2024-Present Exhibition Installation Technician, Metro Arts, West End, QLD
2023-Present Visitor Services Assistant & Exhibition Installation Technician, Queensland University of Technology Galleries & Museums, Brisbane City, QLD
2022-Present Gallery Assistant & Exhibition Installation Technician, Institute of Modern Art, Fortitude Valley, QLD
INTERNSHIPS
2023
New Colombo Plan Taiwan Study Tour through Queensland University of Technology
Exhibition Installation Technician, Institute of Modern Art, Fortitude Valley, QLD
EDUCATION
2021-23
BVA with Distinction (6.176), Queensland University of Technology, QLD
2020
Online micro credential, CEH.1-ENx European Paintings: From Leonardo to Rembrandt to Goya, Universidad Carlos iii de Madrid (UC3Mx)
2015
VA Diploma, TAFE Queensland East Coast, QLD