Art Steps by Rochelle Haley

Rochelle Haley, 2023, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, Photographer: Leanne Mason

Art Steps by Rochelle Haley

Hello, my name is Rochelle. I am an artist living and working on Dharawal and Gadigal lands. I am interested in colour, light, and movement, and how our bodies relate to our natural and built environments.

My performance work A Sun Dance is all about how sunlight, buildings and performers dance together across a day. When I was making the work, I noticed how sun beams change shape as the earth rotates, or how sunlight feels as it warms your skin.

Activity 1

  1. Choose a window in your home where the sun comes in. You could also use the side of a building outside.
  2. Notice the shape that the sunlight makes on the wall or the ground. Is it a rectangle? A triangle? A rhombus shape?
  3. Using painter’s masking tape, mark out the shape of the sunlight. You can tape around the whole shape on the wall or ground, alternatively you could choose to mark some lines, or a corner.
  4. Come back after 30mins and notice how the sunlight shape has changed and moved.
  5. Tape around the new shape, leaving the first tape shape where it is.
  6. Repeat this a few more times, after an hour or more, a few days, or even at a different time of year. How do the shapes change? What kind of patterns can you see?
  7. You might like to draw the shapes and patterns that you’ve noticed on paper or cut out large carboard shapes and arrange them on the floor or wall.

Activity 2

  1. Find some bright sunshine in or around your home.
  2. Close your eyes and move your hand and arm slowly into the light.
  3. What can you feel on your skin? Is it warm? Does it tingle?
  4. Think of some words to describe how it feels for you.
  5. Choose some materials from around your home to experiment with that sensation. Think about how you can use them and what they feel like.
  6. Can you lay glad wrap on your arm and feel your skin warm up? Is there some shiny fabric that makes your skin tingle? Can you find some gloves that feel like sunshine?

See A Sun Dance video.

Rochelle Haley, A Sun Dance (work in development, November 2023), Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra 2023. Assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body. With additional support from the Australian Research Council through research and commissioning partner Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum. Dancers pictured: Angela Goh, David Huggins, Lizzie Thomson, Niki Verrall and Ivey Wawn. National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra. Photographer: Leanne Mason

A group of dancers walked up stairs in the brutalist National Gallery architecture.

Rochelle Haley, A Sun Dance (work in development, November 2023), Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra 2023. Assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body. With additional support from the Australian Research Council through research and commissioning partner Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum. Dancers pictured: Angela Goh, David Huggins, Lizzie Thomson, Niki Verrall and Ivey Wawn. National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra. Photographer: Leanne Mason

Rochelle Haley, A Sun Dance (work in development, November 2023), Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra 2023. Assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body. With additional support from the Australian Research Council through research and commissioning partner Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum. Dancer pictured: Angela Goh. National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra. Photographer: Leanne Mason

Dancers with their hand to the ground

Rochelle Haley, A Sun Dance (work in development, May 2023). Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra 2023. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body. With additional support from the Australian Research Council through research and commissioning partner Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum. Dancer pictured: Ivey Wawn. © National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra

Photo of a water colour by Rochelle Haley

Watercolour by Rochelle Haley

A dancers stands in the light from a window in the brutalist National Gallery architecture.

Rochelle Haley, A Sun Dance (work in development, November 2023), Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra 2023. Assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body. With additional support from the Australian Research Council through research and commissioning partner Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum. Dancer pictured: Angela Goh. National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra. Photographer: Leanne Mason

A dancer moves amidst the brutalist architecture of the National Gallery

Rochelle Haley, A Sun Dance (work in development, May 2023). Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra 2023. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body. With additional support from the Australian Research Council through research and commissioning partner Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum. Dancers pictured: Ivey Wawn and Angela Goh © National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra.

Working Drawings of A Sundance by Rochelle Haley. Sun shining on hand.

Rochelle Haley, A Sun Dance, Working Drawings 2022-23