There’s a few miles yet to come my way…

Adam Gibson is a Sydney artist, performer, writer, lyricist, and musician, whose work covers spoken word storytelling, music, songs, painting, travel writing, installation, performance, video, and photography… His work is fundamentally “landscape-based”, being influenced by the land and travel and the sense of being “in” and/or part of different environments, and the stories of the people who inhabit such land, with Australian stories and language and vernacular turn of phrase being very important.

As a visual artist, he delves into the intimate and evocative aspects of landscapes, exploring them through painting, photography, and conceptual ideas. His work seeks to capture the essence of memory and remembrance, evoking feelings of nostalgia and a visceral connection to places that embody a sense of home and belonging. These places, however, are not depicted with precise clarity; instead, they are shrouded in uncertainty and ambiguity, inviting viewers to engage with their own personal experiences and emotions. Through this exploration, he aims to create a profound connection between the viewer and the subtle, often elusive, qualities of the landscapes we hold dear.

Adam has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons.) from COFA (UNSW) and a Masters of Fine Arts from COFA, plus a Masters of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Technology, Sydney. He has also performed in a wide range of capacities in various bands and worked in various forms and roles in the Australian media for over 30 years, plus as a teacher, lecturer and facilitator.

He performs regularly solo and with his band The Aerial Maps, an ensemble that has released three albums in total, the most recent being ‘Intimate Hinterland‘, plus two previous albums, ‘The Sunset Park‘ and ‘In the Blinding Sunlight‘. All three albums have met with nice reviews and response, with the band regularly playing live around the country. He also formed another band, The Ark-Ark Birds, who released two albums, with ‘Cities of Spinifex‘ following on from their first album ‘Australia Restless‘. Known (perhaps) for his storytelling and use of vernacular language and ability to evoke landscape to tell such stories, he has performed and/or exhibited in a number of venues, galleries, and spaces around Australia, China, and Finland.

The most recent Aerial Maps album was Intimate Hinterland, released in 2021, while the comprehensive compilation of Adam’s work, titled ‘There’s a Name for this Feeling: The Songs of Adam Gibson’, was released by Coolin’ By Sounds Records in 2020 to much excitement and acclaim.

He has also exhibited his paintings in a number of Australian galleries, was an artist in residence at the Arteles Creative Center in Finland (twice), and is actively involved in a wide range of artistic endeavours. His first novel manuscript was shortlisted for the Australian-Vogel Award, he has published three books of poetry, and the Aerial Maps’ first album won the 2010 Overland Poetry Festival Best Spoken Word Release, 2005-2010. He likes raging and long walks on moonlit beaches. And surfing.