Instagram story viewer> @mirrored_vacuum> Tagged

Doug Heslop Artist

@mirrored_vacuum

1.5K

followers

1731

following

Artist driven by concept, emotion, and material exploration.
Living on Awabakal land.

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

The Things a Four-Year-Old Should Have to Think About

My daughter Ayloul is four.

At her age, the world should be a collection of small, beautiful decisions: pink ribbons or yellow ones, flowers in her braids or little bows, a red jacket or a purple one.

She should be discovering the world, not trying to understand why it has become so difficult to live in.

One day, while watching children on YouTube unpack their school supplies and show their colourful lunchboxes, Ayloul asked me for one of her own.

I told her, “When the crossings open and the war is over, we’ll get you one.”

She paused, thought about it, then said:

“Then give them money. Tell them to stop the war.”

I am her mother, and I have no words adequate to explain what it means to hear this from a four-year-old.

She was not asking for food. She wanted a little lunchbox of her own, something ordinary that other children could enjoy without having to think twice about it.

Yet, in her mind, even this small wish had become connected to borders, decisions made by adults, and a war she could neither understand nor stop.

Children are supposed to believe that grown-ups know how to fix things. Ayloul still believes there must be something we can do, something we can say, some way to persuade the world to make the frightening things end.

There is something profoundly painful about watching a child use the little understanding she has of the world to search for a solution to the suffering of that world.

I think about all the things she should be thinking about instead: which colours she loves, what she wants to learn, how to count with an abacus, what she might draw on a little whiteboard, and what adventure an ordinary rainy day could bring if she had an umbrella of her own.

These are not extraordinary privileges. They are fragments of childhood.

And childhood should not have to justify its right to exist in peace.

As her mother, I want Ayloul to grow up remembering the colours she loved, the games she played, the questions she asked, and the things that made her laugh. I want her imagination to travel further than the limits imposed on her life .

1

1

Thank you to everyone involved in PRAXIS’ sold-out season at New Annual (@newannual).

PRAXIS’ presented five new interdisciplinary collaborations, bringing together five Catapult choreographers (@catapult_dance) and five visual artists from The Creator Incubator (@thecreatorincubator).

Thank you to PRAXIS Collaborators:
- Zoe Monohan (@zoemonohan) X Bronte Naylor (@brontenaylor)
- Jacinta Durney (@jacintalarosa) X Ellie Hannon (@ellie.hannon)
- Kyle Ramboyong (@kyle_ramboyong) X Doug Heslop (@mirrored_vacuum)
- Jordan Bretherton (@jrbretho96) X Marlene Houston (@marlyhart)
- Zachary O’Donnell (@milky_one_ther) X Graham Wilson (@graham_wilson_artist) X Naomi Dart (@cellist_naomi_dart)

Thank you to Newcastle Art Gallery (@newcastleartgalleryaustralia), Braddon Snape (@braddonsnape), and The Creator Incubator (@thecreatorincubator).

Photo Credit: Ashley de Prazer (@ashleydeprazer) - Witness: Doug Heslop and Kyle Ramboyong.

PRAXIS’ is supported by Create NSW (@creatensw), City of Newcastle (citynewcastle), New Annual (@newannual) & Newcastle Art Gallery (@newcastleartgalleryaustralia)

80

7

Have you got your tickets yet? 🎫🎫🎫

PRAXIS takes over Newcastle Art Gallery! (@newcastleartgalleryaustralia)
New Annual 2026 (@newannual)

Tickets are limited to 70 per night, so you will have to be quick as this will sell out!

PRAXIS presents five new interdisciplinary collaborations, bringing together five Catapult choreographers (@catapult_dance) and five visual artists from The Creator Incubator (@thecreatorincubator).

As you journey through Newcastle Art Gallery, you will discover five distinct artistic worlds—each created through the meeting of movement, visual art and shared creative practice.

PRAXIS Collaborations:

- Zoe Monohan (@zoemonohan) X Bronte Naylor (@brontenaylor)
- Jacinta Durney (@jacintalarosa) X Ellie Hannon (@ellie.hannon)
- Kyle Ramboyong (@kyle_ramboyong) X Doug Heslop (@mirrored_vacuum)
- Jordan Bretherton (@jrbretho96) X Marlene Houston (@marlyhart)
- Zachary O’Donnell (@milky_one_ther) X Graham Wilson (@graham_wilson_artist)

📍: Newcastle Art Gallery
🗓️: 1st - 3rd October
🕢: 7.30pm
🎫: LIMITED Tickets on sale in Bio!!! Get them fast!!!

PRAXIS is supported by Create NSW (@creatensw), City of Newcastle (@citynewcastle.au), New Annual (@newannual) & Newcastle Art Gallery (@newcastleartgalleryaustralia)

71

3

My Work “the same breath… moved through me, moved through you” at @thecreatorincubator Birthday exhibition 9x9

I really love these poetic works. And I love that other people love them too.
Thankyou for purchasing mystery buyer ❤️
It’s been a massive hurdle trying to think about how I can make art going forward after chronic illness hit.
But this is definitely a promising direction for me.

.

#poetry #embroidery #photography #textileart #chronicallyill

3

9

📣 LAST DAY 📣 9X9 – 55 resident artist exhibition.
Celebrating a remarkable 9 years as a fully independent art space.

Doug Heslop @mirrored_vacuum
Sally McDonald @sallymcdonaldart
Tess Rendoth @tess.rendoth
Aksara Harriram @aksaradesigns
Jo Lynch @srs_face
Leslie Duffin @leslieduffinart
Shane Williams @strikingnewcastle

🔗 View the catalogue via our website!
We’re open 12-5pm, Thursday-Sunday

📷: @strikingnewcastle

↘︎
The Creator Incubator 15a/50 Clyde St, Hamilton North

74

1

18

0

And that’s a wrap! @notfair_artfair 📷

77

8

My installation, A Kind Of Resistance
at Not Fair.
Open from 11-5pm until this Monday.
83 High St, Prahan.
Melbourne

Thank you to all the lovely people who have responded to my work, and especially to my dear friends Sigi, Ylva, Paulo and Alia for my Melbourne residency, and to the amazing Brie Trenerry and Ashley Crawford for curating me in to the show.
Also to Liss Fenwick and Darren Tanny Tan for your curating and to the whole Not Fair team.
This level of deep connection with thinking artists and inquisitive audiences, curators and critics, is exactly the reason I continue to devote my life to making art.
X

@argento6 @darrentannytan @liss_wick @notfair_artfair
@ashleycrawford1318
#melbourneart

148

24

Now showing in the Big Space:
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘮
DOUG HESLOP & JAMIE BASTOLI

The Moon of Bethlehem, is a collaborative exhibition between Doug Heslop and Palestinian/Filipino artist Jamie Bastoli—It consists of an installation featuring sculptures, paintings and a curated loop of Palestinian short films.
 Come on in to see this spectacular and powerful collaborative exhibition between two of TCI’s resident artists, Jamie Bastoli (@premiumcoconutwater) and Doug Heslop (@mirrored_vacuum).

On show until: 30 NOV 2025
Open: THURS–SUN 12–5PM

———
Images: (1) @micheleheibel (2) @mirrored_vacuum 
↘︎
The Creator Incubator
15a/50 Clyde St, Hamilton North
Muloobinba/Newcastle
___
#TheMoonofBethlehem #DougHeslop #JamieBastoli #TheCreatorIncubator
#NewcastleArtist #artnewcastle #australianartist #palestine #artexhibition #mulubinba

40

1

I had such a wonderful time at the openings of @thecreatorincubator and @pseudonym.gallery last weekend 😍
#artexhibition #throughtheeyesofapalestinianprisoner #mohannadalazee #damienlinnane #freepalestine #and
#thepause #menopause #womenbusiness

31

0

A NIGHT OF SOLIDARITY 🕊️

Saturday 22 was a special night as we gathered for the opening of Visions through the eyes of a Palestinian Prisoner and Moon of Bethlehem @thecreatorincubator

A night like this is not possible without the amazing artists who participated and collaborated to make this show a reality @muhannad194 @damienlinnane @mirrored_vacuum @premiumcoconutwater @narrelleaodeh @dobbyau and a big thank you to @davidshoebridge for officially opening the exhibition.

The exhibition is open until 30 November. Stop by and see this true work of solidarity from Palestine to Muloobinba.

82

6

An absolutely wonderful coming together at the @thecreatorincubator for raw, powerful ‘Visions Through the Eyes of a Palestinian Prisoner’ and beautiful, poignant ‘The Moon of Bethlehem’ ❤️

So much more … but ‘tis time for bed!

@muhannad194
@damienlinnane
@premiumcoconutwater
@mirrored_vacuum
@narrelleaodeh
@dobbyau
@dazduzstuff
@palestine.justice.movement
@palestiniansocialfund
@conversationsforpalestine
@newy_watermelon_collective
@newcastlemumsforpalestine

On until the 30th!

157

7