Mavanie is a Sydney-based artist with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Melbourne. Their work is informed by their Indigenous Mesopotamian heritage and the lived experience of growing up queer, brown, and non-binary in Australia. They explore cultural erasure, gender nonconformity, intersectional identity, displacement, and belonging through a convergence of Western contemporary culture and Middle Eastern folklore.

Through research and the preservation of organic, recycled, and site-specific materials, alongside the use of elemental forces such as fire and water, their art practice acts as a bridge between past and present. Within this alchemical exchange between destruction and renewal, it becomes evident that, despite historical erasure, ancestral knowledge endures, continually shaping both identity and collective memory. This affirms the unique and enduring power of art and storytelling to preserve and revitalise ancient cultures and languages, sustaining them even in the face of extinction.

Mavanie’s evocative sculptures and immersive installations reflect cycles of decay and regeneration, highlighting the interconnectedness of people, place, and the natural world. Moving beyond the divide between nature and culture, they draw on deep ecology as a guiding philosophy, embracing an ecologically attuned, magical worldview.

‘I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.’