Studiolada

The Super Hwy series is a cartographic hymn composed of intersecting maps and topographies.

These works trace an eidetic, meandering route that once appeared accidental but was, in hindsight, pre-determined. It reflects an enduring, esoteric relationship with kunanyi, whose wisdom and quiet compassion led me the long way around lutruwita to Queenstown. What initially felt like a ramble or deviation reveals itself as a trajectory; an indirect passage guided by an ever-shifting ‘conceptual north’, a compass paradoxically pointing toward the Wild West Coast.

Each panel depicts a landscape overlaid with gilded roadmaps and topographies. From the first mark on the linen there is destruction: chaotic gilding slashes through terrain, erasing and re-inscribing paths. Layers rupture and repair one another as maps, paths, trails and trials surface, only to be repaved.

The work mirrors a landscape in transition and regeneration, alongside the archetypal traveller undergoing the same. It is a portrait of place merging with a perpetually displaced person... someone who never arrived, never left, and never returned.

A cartographic hymn composed of hidden maps, paths, trails and trials summiting Kunanyi in a gale which knocked me off my feet and head-first into clarity and awareness. This tetraptych delineates my trio of residencies at Salamanca Arts Centre.

Lada Dedić
Who You Callin' Borealis? (ambient, semi-dark, dark lighting), 2026
Oil, rare earth elements, 24kt gold, sterling silver, copper on linen, UV light
950 x 950 mm

Lada Dedić, arrangement in collaboration with Boorloo/Perth musician Louis Ingliss

Sound-bites recorded during Act I became the ambient soundscape, composed in collaboration with Boorloo (Perth) musician Louis Ingliss, a friendships formed through the ping of a phone. The sound echoing the feeling of being perpetually on hold and hidden away, much like The Studio Gallery where the collection is exhibited with its quirky, topographical asymmetry; an inconspicuous sacred space where artists and makers drift through on a communal trail.

This collection of works is dedicated to the memory of Jon Kudelka 1972 - 2026

”The mountain is always watching (and listening)”

The ‘kunanyi’ exhibition presents the outcome from a multi-year project developed across a trio of residences at Salamanca Arts Centre’s Artist’s Cottage by fulltime time-travelling artist Lada Dedić

The works are a cartographic hymn composed of maps hidden within the paintings; a chorus of the Cottage, Kelly’s Steps and artist Lada Dedić’s enduring and ongoing mountain conversation which continues to this day wherever she may be in the world.

The paintings, sound and poems composed over the trio of residencies and beyond, depict a clandestine path to tragic poetic chaos and joyful inevitability.

Just as lutruwita Tasmania opened borders, health guidelines mandated that Lada’s initial residency was in precious solitude; amidst echoes of nipaluna Hobart’s annual festivities, yacht races and as the city called in 2022 with fireworks observed from the back steps of the cottage, made for an extraordinary experience and a residency like no other.

Lada was present as the children from the tragic Hillcrest Primary School jumping-castle disaster were medi-helicoptered overhead one by one; bells tolled for funerals but also weddings and celebrations; as mobs of ‘anger’ passed-by shouting “FREEDOM!” ironically, unaware that she, quarantined in her little paradise cottage felt totally free in her solitude. It was the most surreal of times. Punctuated by the strum of her guitar, the ping of her phone, visits from bumble-bees and birds, hours on hold with TasHealth; She and the mountain built a deep conversation from the back steps, kunanyi’s mists seemingly replying to questions or offering stability and wisdom as only a mountain can.

 Although alone with only the mountain for company, friendships were formed through the ping of a smartphone… some of these relationships were fittingly fleeting while others endure to this day, with each residency, new connections formed leading to creative-collaborations within The Arts Centre, across the state and beyond.

The soundscape composed from recordings taken during her period of quarantine in Act I, is made in collaboration with musician and sound engineer Louis Ingliss from Boorloo Perth, Western Australia. The edible art which can be sampled at the finnesage closing event is the second in a series of collaborations forged through the ethically aligned friendship formed between Lada and Dr Julie Martyn, microbiologist and co-founder of Artisa Plant Based Cheeses based in lands surrounding the kanamaluka Launceston.

In May 2024, Lada returned to The Artist’s Cottage for Act II; a chapter of exploration with freedom of movement, a rather spectacular Aurora Australis and an amusing encounter with TasWater. The third residency was completed from November 2024 into January 2025, this time focusing on connection, collaboration and community.

Collaborators
Soundscape:
Louis Inglis - Boorloo Perth, WA

Edible Art:
Dr Julie Martin, Artisa Tasmania - kanamaluka Launceston, lutruwita Tasmania

About the Artist

Lada Dedić is a rambler in thought, speech and practice, known for straying off the path in both life and work. Her multi-disciplinary investigative approach explores themes of meditative contemplation, the interplay of science & art, and playful cartography. Having a peculiar relationship with direction has led her to make unconventional maps, sure to send even the most seasoned navigator on an unexpected adventure. A full-time traveller often wandering between Australia, the South Pacific and South East Asia. As the child of political refugees… perpetually displaced, she has found security in solitude and the discomfort of transitory life.

 Follow her work and travels on: Instagram: @studiolada

kunyani is muwinina country and Lada acknowledges the palawa people of lutruwita as the traditional owners of this land she is so grateful to wander on and work on as an artist and a maker.

Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.