RMIT School of Art is thrilled to see so many staff, students and alumni featured in the NGV exhibition Melbourne Now.

Today we feature PhD candidate Adele Wilkes.

PhD candidate Adele Wilkes is an artist, filmmaker and researcher. Her practice encompasses moving image, photography, sound, projection and installation, with a particular focus on expanded, experimental, poetic and speculative modes of documentary and cinematic storytelling.

The Poison Garden, 2021–, is an ongoing multimedia documentary project comprising four films (A Dark Spell Slowly Fading, 2021; Whelm, 2021; Telepathine, 2022; and Flood Flowers, 2023). The project tells the story of a psychedelic botanical garden and the reclusive polymath couple who care for it. At once a study of ethnobotany (the study of human–plant relationships), psychonautics (the study of altered states of consciousness — in particular using plant entheogens, meditation, sound and ritual) and an exercise in countering anthropocentrism, The Poison Garden investigates the complex and evolving relationships between humans and plants. Drawing on theories of the ‘more-than-human’, Wilkes suggests a future relationship that goes beyond caretaking, lifting the status of plants to that of humans. Combining moving image, sound, photography, installation and online archives, The Poison Garden explores the intricate relationships and cycles that both sustain and destroy life on Earth.

Monday 3 April, 3.30–5.00pm
Tuesday 4 April, 3.30–5.00pm
Wednesday 5 April, 3.30–5.00pm
Thursday 6 April, 3.30–5.00pm
Friday 7 April, 3.30–5.00pm
Saturday 8 April, 3.30–5.00pm
Sunday 9 April, 3.30–5.00pm

Presented as part of Melbourne Now's Artist Film Program co-curated with RMIT School of Art alumnus Olivia Koh from recess, a Naarm/Melbourne based online platform showcasing contemporary moving-image works.

Free entry
Booking is not required

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square
Community Hall
Ground Level

Read the latest RMIT School of Art Melbourne Now newsletter