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Zahra

@odea_studio

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Multidisciplinary Artist
Practising in Naarm | Melbourne
✨
Bad ideas, but ideas none the less

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More documentation (and my final post) of my 2025 ‘Fibre Optics’ installation.

I am proud of the effort that brought this project into existence and forever grateful for the support of everyone who made it possible.

This piece was the culmination of my third year studio proposal: My Hands Exist and With Them I Create Problems And Art - examining the disruptive power of fibre art in institutional critique.

To grasp something is to care for it, to hold space for its weight, and to insist on its relevance.

The dual meaning of the word ‘grasp’ speaks to this intersection: it is both the physical act of holding and the cognitive act of understanding.

A deep interest in tangibility lies at the heart of my practise - what it means to hold, feel, and understand in an increasingly disembodied world. I am drawn to textiles in this way for their associations with care, craft, femininity and domestic labour.

Stitching is slow, it demands presence. Through that presence, it invites connection. As society grows more virtual, we are exposed to an overwhelming stream of injustices, yet without material grounding, the imagery is disembodied and we become desensitised to what we see.

Tactile practises like fibre art reintroduce the body, the hand, and the labour behind care. In this way, my work often operates as a dialogue between the body and the systems that seek to contain it.

The hand, often overlooked, becomes central in this way of working. It is through our hands that we create, we mend, we collect and gather, we push back, and we hold tight to each other. by @odea_studio

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20 days ago

Fiber Optics
2025

cotton poplin, calico, acrylic paint, furniture foam, polyester quilt

This work transformed a university-wide participatory project into an immersive installation. A cross-stitched QR code shared across campus invited RMIT students and staff to anonymously share experiences of institutional harm or neglect.

Upon the larger-than-life screen of the laptop, these responses appear as pop-up alert windows. The piece is intended to create an alternative space for testimony beyond official university channels which normally shield feedback, reports, and complaints from public scrutiny - disrupting the sanitised narrative of institutional care and questioning who these systems truly protect. by @odea_studio

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24 days ago

Bachelor of Fine Arts, painting sneak peak!
Zahra O’Dea is installing in building 2, for the up coming Graduate Exhibition.

Each year RMIT’s city campus comes alive as art students exhibit and celebrate their work.

The graduate exhibition for Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) offers visitors a unique opportunity to experience graduating student work across a variety of media. Ceramics, drawing, gold and silversmithing, painting, print, sculpture, video and sound are just some of the types of art that are on show.

An accompanying website with profiles of our graduates will document the making and thinking behind their work.

RMIT School of Art Graduates 2025
schoolofartgraduates.rmit.edu.au

Opening Night & Awards Ceremony:
Tuesday 18 November 2025
5pm–8pm

Register for the Opening Celebration (link in @rmit_art bio)
https://events.humanitix.com/copy-of-bachelor-of-arts-fine-art-graduate-exhibition-opening

Exhibition Hours:
Wednesday 19 Nov 11am – 5pm
Thursday 20 Nov 11am – 5pm
Friday 21 Nov 1pm – 7pm
Saturday 22 Nov 11am – 4pm
Sunday 23 Nov 11am – 4pm

Venues:
RMIT Buildings 2 and 4, Bowen Street off La Trobe Street
RMIT Building 37, Level 1, corner of Swanston and A’Beckett Streets
First Site Gallery, 344 Swanston Street

🎥 @hollygoodridgeart by @odea_studio

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10 months ago

Colour study
2023

Oil on canvas paper

Ik am haunting your feed but the art backlog is crazy and I promise I’m getting through it. by @odea_studio

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2 years ago

Bad Reverie
2023

Short film stills

This is the one of the first video pieces I attempted, in line with my first year proposal examining neurodivergence through surrealist lens.
Shot in two days in my apartment with a two-person crew, special thanks to Brynn for their creative input, set designing and lead-acting.

Short film: https://youtu.be/f85Gb9V1vbU?si=oWU3JL9d60xFNxSy

Brynn: @brynnieboi by @odea_studio

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2 years ago

Graphic
2023

Acrylic on canvas

Content warning: Graphic imagery by @odea_studio

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2 years ago

Noise
2023

Digital Photograph

This piece depicts physical embodiment of the mental space consumed by overlapping, racing thoughts.
For me, this work reflects on moments of external silence occupied by an internal cacophony of voices; overlapping streams of consciousness, looping songs, fleeting ideas and plans, fragmented memories, and strong inner critiques.
This inner world feels vast to me, as though it could comprise enough people to fill entire rooms.
It is loud, relentless, and often needs to be masked, as to remain present in the moment.

Thank you to @ilanda.t for your dedicated involvement in capturing this work. Like always, I came to you with a strange half-formed idea and you invested your time, mind, energy and whole evening on an empty train to ensure it came out incredible. by @odea_studio

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2 years ago

Scapeland
2023
Oil on stretched canvas

Unfiltered unregulated train of thought, or something.
The final piece, the sketch and the original idea by @odea_studio

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2 years ago

Dopamine landscape
2023

Digital drawing

A study in preparation for second semester self directed project examining ✨spice✨ through surrealist imagery.
This work was an exercise of colour palate and scale, specifically creating visual depth. by @odea_studio

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2 years ago

Portrait studies
2023-4

Oil on paper and canvas by @odea_studio

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2 years ago

The Card Game
2023

Oil on canvas

Inspired by The Poker Game by Felix Vallotton, special thanks to the four subjects who sat so patiently for the references for this. by @odea_studio

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2 years ago

Perceived
2023

Oil on board

This was the first piece I ever made in my fine arts uni degree. On a trip to the Royal Botanical Gardens, I was sketching this lake when a mother and her daughter quietly stopped behind me and watched me draw for a while, before the daughter approached me and we had a conversation about what I was doing.

Despite being a very pleasant interaction, I couldn’t get the feeling of knowing that they were standing behind me watching over my shoulder out of my head.

So when we were given the prompt to make artworks inspired by this excursion, this interaction became my inspiration. Having only just stepped into the art space at the time of this work, the sensation of being perceived, especially by strangers, felt new and striking. Up until now my process had been private.

I attempt to reflect the sensation of vulnerability and that instinctual protectiveness over unfinished processes in this piece. It remains of my proudest self portraits to date. taken in Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria by @odea_studio

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2 years ago