Quorum 2: Athena Thebus unpacks desire

Athena Thebus is an artist who works with Desire.

Athena Thebus. Courtesy the artist

She has presented solo and collaborative work at Next Wave Festival, Melbourne (2018); Performance Space’s Liveworks Festival (2018), Sugar Mountain Festival (2018), Campbelltown Arts Centre (2018), Adelaide Contemporary Exhibitions (2018), Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (2016), and Verge Gallery (2020).

Most recently, she was shortlisted in the 2020 Churchie Emerging Art Prize, presented at the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane. Athena has been a Co-Director since 2019.

Firstdraft: Athena! Congratulations on being shortlisted as a finalist in the Churchie Emerging Art Award! Can you tell us anything about your Churchie work?

Athena Thebus: The work is titled Angel’s Warning and it’s based on the biblical story of Lot’s Wife. In case you are not familiar with the story, angels appear to Lot urging him and his family to flee the ‘sinful’ city of Sodom and that they will be saved if they leave immediately and never look back. As they are leaving, Lot’s wife takes one last look back at the burning city and as a result is transformed into a pillar of salt. Historically, the word Sodom has negative connotations of homosexuality which inspired me to reinterpret this story. Sodom sounds like fun and I reckon she didn’t really want to leave.

I’ve made a wallpaper of the moment Lot’s wife looks back, just before she is turned into a pillar of salt. I don’t think she was stupid for looking back, I like to think there was something there she didn’t want to leave and I am obsessed with that feeling of being so compelled that you’re willing to risk it all. In my interpretation of the story for this work Lot’s wife has a tattoo of throne angels on her back. Throne angels are the most lyrical of angels and closest to the divine and I wanted to subvert the original story and make her the anti-hero and centre her narrative to face what you desire no matter the cost.

Behind the scenes of Angel’s Warning, 2020. Photo: Joe Brennan.

Installation view of Angel’s Warning. Photo: Instagram of Talia Smith @edithcollier.

FD: You’re originally from Brisbane, which is where the Churchie is presented. How would you characterise the different artists and art ecologies of Brisbane and Sydney?

AT: There is definitely a more DIY energy and aesthetic in Brisbane, particularly the artists that I went through university with. I really love this energy and hold onto it in my practice. There is a big ARI scene in Brisbane which I think attributes to that. The whole vibe is a bit more off the cuff. Sydney is gorgeous and horny and loves performing, like a peacock. Theory is embodied, it comes out in gestures and movement. This is what I adore about Sydney artists.

“face what you desire no matter the cost”

Athena Thebus, Demented Fury, 2015, installation view, Metro Arts, Brisbane. Courtesy the artist.

“There is definitely a more DIY energy and aesthetic in Brisbane... The whole vibe is a bit more off the cuff. Sydney is gorgeous and horny and loves performing, like a peacock.”

FD: You’re “an artist who works with Desire” – what does this mean for you and how does it manifest in your practice?

AT: It’s about motivation and drive. When I was 9 years old my mother wrote in permanent marker on a whiteboard in my bedroom “DESIRE + DETERMINATION = SUCCESS”. This phrase has really stuck with me; it is a powerful equation to live by. I love how compelling the force of desire can be. 

A few years ago Seini Taumoepeau advised me never to be motivated by fear, guilt, or shame. This made me reconsider what I want to be motivated by, and that is desire. In creating works, I pursue ideas that feel similar to having a crush on someone, that feeling like your world has shifted and everything is exciting. Then I stick with the ideas that seem warm and natural, as though it would be uncomplicated to see through. This explains why I only make a few works a year haha!

Akil Ahamat, Ainslie Templeton, Athena Thebus, Real Real #3, 2018, installation detail, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney. Photo: Rafaela Pandolfini. Courtesy the artists.

FD: Drippy Rock, Demented Fury, Angry Angels... the titles behind your exhibitions are highly evocative, and text features prominently in your work. How do you conceptualise text in your practice?

AT: Text is so immediate. You can evoke a scene, a feeling, and speak directly to someone's gut with just a couple of words strung together. I try not to think too hard about text works, instead tap into the feeling of being a teenager where everything feels brand new, pure but, like, devastating.

Athena Thebus, TOTAL DEVOTION: Elvira, Jindalee, QLD, 2016, gyprock, sun, magnifying glass, installation view of Athena in Thorns, Firstdraft. Photo: Zan Wimberley. Courtesy the artist

“When I was 9 years old my mother wrote in permanent marker on a whiteboard in my bedroom “DESIRE + DETERMINATION = SUCCESS”

Poster from Athena Thebus and Chloe Corkan’s Drippy Rock, 2019, TCB Art Inc., Melbourne. Courtesy the artists.

FD: Who are some of the people who have shaped your practice, and why?

AT: Most profoundly in the last few years, Marcus Whale. Our Lucifer series led me into new territory of set design and costuming which is so fun. I think of it as an extension of my sculptural practice. Our collaboration is founded on a similar appreciation for drama but we push each other in different ways. Also collaborating with Chloe Corkran has brought a joie de vivre and some much needed humour to the process of making work. As for other influences, Eileen Myles showed me how to live as an artist and Kylie Minogue showed me how to dive deep.

Athena Thebus and Chloe Corkan, Drippy Rock, 2019, TCB Art Inc., Melbourne. Photo: AM Stuart. Courtesy the artists.

“Text is so immediate. You can evoke a scene, a feeling, and speak directly to someone’s gut”

Athena Thebus, Angry Angels, 2015. Courtesy the artist

FD: What does a typical day of work look like to you? How has the lockdown changed your practice, if at all, and are you working on anything now?

AT: Self-isolation definitely slowed things down and I appreciated the time to reevaluate productivity and outcomes. With more time on my hands, I’m working the design for another studded leather piece. It’s going to be more decorative than the last one and with a central motif of a wilted daisy.

“I appreciated the time to reevaluate productivity and outcomes”

FD: Your 2016 Firstdraft exhibition Athena in Thorns synthesised a number of material and thematic structures that you frequently revisit in your work, namely columns, skins and textiles, magnifying-glass sun-etchings, gyprock, chains, bodies of water etc. Can you elaborate more on these elements and why you’re drawn to them?

AT: All the materials I use are things that were around when I was in my late teens really. It was a time where it felt like I was experiencing the absolute magnitude of whatever feelings I had and also becoming more and more cognizant of my body. It’s a common experience I’m sure. Everything felt brand new, so thrilling, even the devastating parts. In my work I’m always trying to cast back to that feeling of being a teenager and those kinds of building materials were around then so it makes sense for me to use them now, scribe onto it, transform them in some way, or just see them for what they are. The columns are replicas of ones my dad made for my mum in our old family home. Very camp, very inspiring.

Athena Thebus, installation detail of Dreaming about you woke me up, 2018, installation view from Into My Arms, 2018, curated by Toby Chapman and Frances Barrett, ACE Open, Adelaide.

FD: Who or what are you listening to, watching, reading? How do you stay connected – or how do you disconnect – in these times?

AT: Listening to XnorKpowka, the podcast; watching and re-watching RuPaul's Drag Race; and reading Myra Breckinridge by Gore Vidal. Connecting outwardly by sharing memes and connecting inwardly by meditating more frequently.

FD: Do you have a favourite or particularly memorable exhibition that you saw at Firstdraft, and why?

AT: Justin Shoulder’s live night Ouroboros because I love Justin’s characterisation and costuming of his mythological creatures. It was one of the first things I saw in my first year in Sydney that really wow’d me. Now that I think about it, when I was describing Sydney earlier I was really thinking of Justin.

FD: Why did you want to become a Co-Director?

AT: I wanted to contribute to something larger than myself.

Event image from OUROBOROS: The End is the Beginning is the End, 2015, live night curated by Justin Shoulder, Firstdraft.

“I wanted to contribute to something larger than myself.”

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