Sera Waters


Dr Sera Waters is a South Australian textile artist, arts writer, and arts educator. She lectures at Adelaide Central School of Art.

Biography

Sera Waters was born in Murray Bridge, South Australia, in 1979. She has a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the University of South Australia, a Masters of Visual Arts from the University of Adelaide, and a PhD from the University of South Australia. She received the Ruth Tuck Scholarship in 2005 and used it to undertake study at the Royal School of Needlework in the UK. She lectures in art history at Adelaide Central School of Art.

Artistic style and subject

Waters specialises in textile arts and techniques, such as embroidery. Waters’ blackwork is considered her signature technique. In her PhD thesis, she used textile arts to explore family genealogy. Her works have been described as deeply conceptual, witty, and using humble needlework to encompass worlds of concern. As well as examining the colonial experience through her art, she is concerned with practicing art on Aboriginal land and the impact of colonisation. She is also interested in textiles arts embodying labour and time.

Awards, residencies and scholarships