Linden New Art presents
JUNCTURE 2026 commissions and Natascha Stellmach, The Letting Go
The JUNCTURE 2026 mid-career artist commission recipients, Sarah CrowEST and Gian Manik, are now on exhibition at Linden New Art.
Selected from over 120 submissions by mid-career artists across Australia, Manik and CrowEST impressed the judging panel with their bold and thought-provoking proposals. In August last year, each artist was awarded $20,000 cash to support the development of a major new body of work, to be unveiled at Linden New Art next month.
Linden New Art CEO and Director, Vincent Alessi says, “As Linden New Art marks 40 years of championing bold, experimental practice, JUNCTURE stands as the clearest demonstration of that legacy in action, providing the resources and platform mid-career artists need to develop ambitious new work.”
Sarah CrowEST’s one thing becomes another again represents the artist’s most ambitious project to date, combining painting, textiles, photography and a sculptural installation to explore the transformative potential of language and materials. Reflecting on the impact of the JUNCTURE commission on her practice. Install images available here.
Gian Manik’s exhibition Fantasy Chamber comprises a new series of paintings which extend the artist’s ongoing investigation of queer and Eastern identity, art history and self-portraiture, made and presented in conversation with Linden’s grand Victorian architecture.
The Letting Go (2012–2026) marks the culmination of fourteen years of encounters between artist Natascha Stellmach and participants from around the world, centred on the question: “What would you like to let go of?”
An intimate performance practice shaped by the intersection of visual art, psychotherapy, embodied research and Buddhism, it unfolds through a participatory process developed by Stellmach that defies categorisation. Best known for its Bloodline tattoo—a word tattooed without ink—the work extends beyond the tattoo itself, unfolding into an evolving body of participant stories, photography and artistic research.
The exhibition, presented across Linden’s Atrium and Foyer Galleries, is a site-specific installation featuring new photographic and mixed-media works, including participatory installations that invite contemplation, rest and engagement.
The Letting Go speaks to those drawn to art as encounter, ritual as knowledge, and the fragile, enduring work of being human. This comprehensive publication will resonate with lovers of performance art, ritual practices, embodied enquiry, contemporary photography, and those engaged in conversations around mental health and wellbeing.
Natascha Stellmach’s 30-year interdisciplinary practice explores the transformation of fear, vulnerability and taboo. Working across image, text and performance, she draws on her background in therapy, with projects developing through the body, installation and artist books. Research, participation and collaboration are integral to her process. Install images available here.
JUNCTURE 2026
Gian Manik Fantasy Chamber
Sarah CrowEST one thing becomes another again
Natascha Stellmach
The Letting Go
Exhibition dates:
20 August – 8 November 2026
Linden New Art
Bunurong Boon Wurrung Country
26 Acland Street, St Kilda