With support from CreateSA, artist Deirdre Feeney brought exhibition Plateau’s Dream to life.

A visual artist and Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Art at the University of South Australia, Deirdre Feeney’s practice focuses on collaborative, multidisciplinary methods in the areas of optical history, media archaeology, and image systems.

With support from CreateSA’s Arts and Culture Grants Program, Feeney created Plateau’s Dream, three optical image system artworks.

Drawing on the 19th-century work of Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau and combining historic and cutting-edge technologies, Feeney reveals the moment when wavelengths overlap to produce newly emergent colours.

The works featured in Plateau’s Dream were exhibited as part of Light Source, curated by Anthony Oates and Associate Professor Martyn Jolly, at Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra (August to October 2025).

The project involved extensive research at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, the Sir Eric Neal Collection at UniSA Library in Adelaide, and Ghent University Museum’s collection. It also included collaborations with mechatronics engineer Rodney Pratt and the Australian National Fabrication Facility in South Australia.

The project achieved critical success, engaging audiences and opening opportunities for international exhibition. Feeney also contributed an essay to the Light Source exhibition catalogue discussing the work of scientists and artists.

See more on Deirdre Feeney’s website.