Jacqueline Stojanović: Units

The tradition of hand weaving is an ancient repository of culture for artist Jacqueline Stojanović. Through her expanded practice of weaving and drawing she manifests the folk traditions of her dual Serbian and Vietnamese heritage. Forging a dynamic interplay between tradition and modernity, past and present, her work shines a light on our contemporary human condition.

Borrowing from the vocabulary of Abstraction, Stojanović reinterprets folk techniques within a contemporary context. Her assemblages, made with a host of materials from the industrial to the domestic, navigate shifts in collective social and material values. The tactile and authentic quality of her hand-crafted textiles emphasise the value of human touch, sustained attention, and collective cultural expression. In Stojanović’s work the values of continuity and craftsmanship stand in reaction against the alienation of the digital and migratory age.

Drawn predominantly from the collection of Anthony Scott, this exhibition presents a selection of Jacqueline Stojanović’s oeuvre as a catalyst for discussion around cultural preservation, identity, and socioeconomic disparities. Here, nostalgia, interwoven with contemporary cultural practice, prompts us to reflect on the active role the past plays in shaping our present and future.

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Jacqueline Stojanović is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Naarm Melbourne. She is an artist, weaver and educator who works with historic and contemporary textile processes. Jacqueline holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from Monash University and graduated with Honours from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2015. Following her tertiary studies, Jacqueline undertook research in the Caucasus, Middle East, and Eastern Europe to further learn histories of flat woven textile design.  Her works are held in public and private collections including The Justin Art House Museum, The Australian National University Art Collection, along with a series of works made in collaboration with her mentor John Nixon, at the National Gallery of Victoria.

Jacqueline has worked in Australia, New Zealand and Europe presenting exhibitions, facilitating workshops, and undertaking creative residency appointments including The Icelandic Textile Centre in Blönduós, Iceland (2017); Lottozero in Prato, Italy, and the Fondazione Lisio in Florence, Italy, funded by the Ian Potter Cultural Trust (2022); and the Australian Tapestry Workshop (2025). She was a finalist for the Darebin Art Prize at Bundoora Homestead (2021), the Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize (2023), and the Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award (2025). Jacqueline currently teaches Crafting Woven Textiles at RMIT University Fashion and Textiles School and Tapestry Workshops for new settlers at Foundation House in Dallas and TAMA Gallery in Ararat.

Jacqueline is represented by Hayden’s Gallery  in Naarm Melbourne, Australia.