Designer Talk: Sarah Lynn Rees and Danielle Brustman

Participants

Danielle Brustman
Danielle Brustman’s studio encompasses a broad spectrum of practice from residential, retail and educational interior design along with furniture, lighting and object design for exhibition and installation. Danielle’s design work is narrative driven and informed by dynamic colour relationships and material explorations. Brustman’s installation Coloured in, along with her Chromatic Fantastic cabinets and wall light were exhibited as part of the NGV Triennial 2020. Her installation Inner – Terior was a finalist in the Rigg Design Prize 2018 at NGV Australia. In 2022, Danielle was a finalist in The Australian Furniture Design Award and her project Ten combs was included in Melbourne Now at NGV. Her furniture designs and installations have been presented at: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Milan Design Week, Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne Design Week, Useful Object gallery. Most recently Danielle presented a suite of objects and a multimedia installation at the Jewish Museum of Australia titled I could have danced all night. Inspired by her grandmothers the presentation explored intergenerational connection and the power of objects to hold memory.

Sarah Lynn Rees
Sarah Lynn Rees is an associate and lead Indigenous advisor at Jackson Clements Burrows Architects, and a lecturer at Monash University. She is a director of Parlour: Gender, Equity, Architecture, a member of the Victorian Design Review Panel for the Office of the Victorian Government Architect, and co-chair of the Australian Institute of Architects First Nations Advisory Working Group. In 2021, Sarah created Gathering Space: Ngargee Djeembana with Senior Boonwurrung Elder N’arweet Dr Carolyn Briggs AM, which was commissioned by the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), Melbourne, as part of the major 2021–22 exhibition Who’s Afraid of Public Space? The result was a topographical installation that reflects on the character and composition of public spaces and the material identity of Country across Victoria. More than fifty-five materials feature – from timber, stone and minerals to sand, water and glass – either in their raw form or in the refined form they take within the built environment. Visitors are encouraged to ask themselves not only upon whose Country they are standing, but also from whose Country are the buildings around us made?

Timothy Moore
Timothy Moore is the Curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture, and Melbourne Design Week at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). In this role, he has contributed to major exhibitions such as NGV Triennial, Melbourne Now, the NGV Architecture Commission, Liam Young: Planetary Redesign, and Watch&Chill 3.0 (that toured to MMCA, PEM and TONO Festival) as well as Melbourne Design Week from 2017 to 2025. Timothy is also the founder of Sibling Architecture, a practice recognised for its socially engaged architectural work. Sibling’s exhibitions and designs have been featured at the NGV, the Istanbul Design Biennial, the São Paulo Architecture Biennial, Melbourne Design Week and Science Gallery Melbourne. In addition to his curatorial and architectural work, Timothy serves as Associate Dean (Engagement) at Monash University's Art, Design and Architecture (MADA). He is a researcher with XYX Lab at Monash University, where his work explores the intersection of gender, sexuality, equity, and architecture. Timothy's professional experience spans architecture offices in Melbourne, Amsterdam, and Berlin, as well as editorial roles with influential publications such as Volume, Architecture Australia, Future West (Australian Urbanism), Memo Review Architecture, and They Shoot Homos Don’t They?.