Rhys Cousins is a multidiscliplinary artist based in Melbourne.
Blending a formal education in landscape architecture with works across sculpture, installation, and digital screens. Cousins’ practice is an investigation into the contemporary urban experience through the changing nature of landscape. His practice provokes thought about the impact of technology on our everyday lives and the haptic possibilities of an increasingly digital existence.
Cousins has been a finalist in numerous art prizes including the prestigious Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship 2024, the Sunshine Coast Art Prize 2023 and Footscray Art Prize 2023, and was winner of the 2022 emerging artist award at FortyFive Downstairs for his work ‘Pixel’, a textural reimagining of screen technologies. He has exhibited in solo and group shows across Australia.
EDUCATION
2020 – Doctor of Philosophy, practice-based, RMIT University
2017 Master of Landscape Architecture, RMIT University
2015 Bachelor of Design, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 The Leading Hand, Boom Gallery, Geelong, Australia. (forthcoming)
Hard by, Loan Goat Gallery, Byron Bay, Australia. (forthcoming)
2024 Screenscapes, Museum of Art and Culture Lake Macquarie, Australia.
2022 #1 – 10 Texture Tests, Federation Square (Screen), Melbourne, Australia.
Mire (particles), Altona Civic Centre, Hobsons Bay, Victoria, Australia.
Shallow; Nooks, Crannies and Crevices, Manningham Art Gallery, Australia.
2021 Screen as surface,Campbell Arcade, Melbourne, Australia.
Essence: The Suburban Street, Sunshine Arts Space, Melbourne, Australia.
DUO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Hold Sway. Maroondah Federation Estate, Victoria, Australia.
The Eye Touch, Sorse Gallery, Victoria, Australia.
2022 Traces, Salamanca Art Gallery, Hobart, Australia.
Things Felt, Platform Arts for Geelong Design Week, Geelong, Australia.
2021 Full Light, Assembly point, Creative spaces, Melbourne.
Objects, The Digital Gallery, Rhodes Canada Bay, Sydney, Australia.
By Texture: Identity and Locality in Melbourne, Melbourne Design Week,
The Capital - RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
GROUP EXHIBITION (selective)
2024 DARING, Curatorial and Co, Woolloomooloo, NSW, Australia.
We’re just feeling our way. The Wandering Room, Brunswick, Melbourne, Australia.
Surface + Form 2. Boom Gallery, Geelong, Australia.
In the Deep West. West End Gallery, Melbourne, Australia.
2023 Neighbourhood, Platform Arts, Geelong, Australia.
GATHER | TOGETHER, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, Australia.
2022 Movement, Metro Tunnel Creative Project, City of Melbourne, Victoria
2021 Weight, FortEARTH, Marfa Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Lookout! Gallery Lane Cove, Sydney, Australia
2020 Museum of Me, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Prizes and awards
2024 Finalist, Integrant, Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, Sydney, Australia.
Finalist, Ray, Bayside Painting Prize, Brighton, Victoria, Australia
2023 Finalist, Best Before, Merri-bek Summer Show, Counihan Gallery, Brunswick, Australia
Finalist, Street in the Afternoon Sun, Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Gallery, Australia
Finalist, Bound, Footscray Art Prize, Footscray Arts Centre, Victoria, Australia
2022 Winner, Pixel, Emerging Artist Award, FortyFive Downstairs, Melbourne, Australia
Finalist, Grounding, Art for Social Change, Incinerator Gallery, Victoria, Australia
Winner, The Mobius Universe, RMIT artwork commission, RMIT University, Victoria
RESIDENCIES
2024 Lake House Residency (funded), Lake Macquarie City Council, NSW, Australia.
2023 Testing grounds, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Platform Arts, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
2022 AIRspace Oatlands, Southern Midlands Council, Tasmania
Salamanca Art Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania
Collections
Manningham City Council (Vic, Aus), Southern Midlands Council (Tas, Aus) and private collections across Victoria.