tiliqua tiliqua

Felix Oppen is one of the founding members of Tiliqua Tiliqua. He holds a BSc (Hons) and a BA from the University of Sydney, a diploma of graphic design from Billy Blue College of Design plus a MDes from UTS.

He has worked as a court clerk, a bartender, a graphic designer and as a lecturer in communication design. He was editor and founder of the award-wining Ligature Journal, a magazine devoted to all things design. Prior to this he co-authored of Graphic Design, Australian Style Manual a tertiary level textbook on graphic design.

Since moving away from commercial graphic design Felix has continued with his passions for type design, photography, letterpress printing and acquiring objects that drive his partner to distraction. He is also expanding his printmaking skills into other relief printing techniques.

Kate Riley is the other founding member of Tiliqua Tiliqua. She has held down more jobs than Felix but is not prepared to commit these to screen. Her life changed with a BFA (Hons) from the National Art School, where she majored in printmaking. She is an over-consumer of art, wine, food and fibre and a reluctant wearer of sensible shoes.

‘Establishing Tiliqua Tiliqua gallery initiated a shift in my artistic practice. I have allowed myself the freedom to play with the processes and media that fascinate me—rust, fibre, meditative hand-stitching, random markings. My recent works are a response to many inspirations: desert landscapes seen from the air, the marking insects make under tree bark, the traces left in sand by birds and crabs. They are maps written by natural processes that are guiding me… somewhere.’