A woman with blond curly hair lying on a gray floor, resting her head on a globe-shaped paper mache object painted with landscape scenery, smiling and looking at the camera, with a light gray wall in the background.

Aoife Billings (she/her) is an Irish-Australian artist, researcher, and teacher working across sculpture, performance, spatialised sound, video, projection and live feed.

Her practice draws on pre-colonial Irish ontological structures, applying them to the construction of installations and Situations that probe contemporary Western understandings of time, relationality, and perception.

She holds an educational foundation in art, technology, and design, and is currently completing a Master of Fine Art at RMIT University, Melbourne, where she also completed her Bachelor of Fashion Design and Technology.

In 2018, Billings formed Pink Ember Studio, an LGBTQIA+ artist-run initiative in Coburg, currently home to 22 studio artists. As Founding Director, she has secured and managed multiple grants, led the studio's move to double the venue’s size, launched workshop programs, and continues to curate exhibitions, performances, and community events.

Billings' solo and group exhibitions include Beochaoineadh and Process at Pink Ember, Blow Up at Off the Kerb Gallery, and group shows at Mixed Zoning, Artemisia, Platform Arts, and Tinning Street Gallery, among others.

Alongside her research and studio practice, Billings has taught ceramics and embroidery for over a decade across institutions including ACCA, VCASS, Shepparton Art Museum, and numerous Victorian councils, introducing hundreds of participants to sculptural and textile art.

Billings lives and works in Narrm (Melbourne).


Education

Current | Master of Fine Art, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

2019 | Bachelor Fashion Design and Technology, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

2017 | Associate Degree in Fashion Design and Technology, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

2014 | Bachelor of Arts/Visual Arts, Monash University

2014 | Curatorial Program, Signal Arts (City of Melbourne)

Professional Practice

2018 - Current | Founding Director, Events & Workshops Manager, Pink Ember Studios (ARI, Non-For Profit)

2014 - Current | Workshop Provider, Ceramics Teacher, various councils & studios

Select Solo Exhibitions

2025 | Beochaoineadh, Pink Ember, Coburg VIC

2024 | Process, Pink Ember, Coburg VIC

2023 | Blow Up, Off the Kerb, Collingwood VIC

Select Group Exhibitions

2025 | Dreams and Nightmares, Artemisia, Windsor VIC

2023 | Backw13ds, Backwoods Gallery, Collingwood VIC

2021 | A Droplet of Dew on her Glittering Web, Tinning St Presents, Brunswick VIC

2014 | Soft, Fort Delta, Melbourne VIC

Select Curation

2024 | Pipes, Pink Ember, Coburg VIC

2024 | Annual Great Queer Pottery Throwdown, Pink Ember, Coburg VIC

2023 | Annual Performance Night, Pink Ember, Coburg VIC

2023 | Thas Mento Illness Luv, Platform Arts, Geelong VIC

2022 | Best Dressed, Schoolhouse Studios, Coburg VIC

Grants & Awards

2023 - 2024 | Merri Bek Capital Works Grant, secured on behalf of Pink Ember Studios

2023 - 2024 | Merri Bek Flourish Grant, secured on behalf of Pink Ember Studios

2022 - 2023 | Merri Bek Capital Works Grant, secured on behalf of Pink Ember Studios

2022 - 2023 | Merri Bek Flourish Grant, secured on behalf of Pink Ember Studios

Commissions & Presentations

2024 | Research Presentation: Speaking to Pictures, Hellenic Museum. link

2024 | Contributing Artist: Flowing Loops - Dan Koop, Deakin University. link

2018 | The Round Table: Embroidery Workshops with Bats of Leisure, Australian Centre of Contemporary Art (ACCA). link