vicmcewan.com

I work with sound, music, photography, installation, sculpture and performance, to develop a practice that is site-specific, interdisciplinary and socially and environmentally engaged. I have established a strong reputation for leading large-scale, complex, and interdisciplinary projects that are driven by collaboration and interdisciplinarity.

I am the Artistic Director of The Cad Factory, an internationally recognised, multidisciplinary, artist-led organisation, co-founder of The CASE (Contemporary Art Socially Engaged) Incubator a national hub for the development of socially engaged arts practice, and the Postdoctoral Research Associate in Creative Arts, Ecologies, and Community at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. In 2023, I completed a multi-award-winning practice led PhD at the University of Sydney as the first artist accepted into the Faculty of Medicine and Health.

I sit on the NSW Health and the Arts Steering Committee, and from 2023–24 was a Regional Arts Australia National Fellow. I recently ended a ten-year tenure on the board of Music NSW, and I have presented over 120 keynote, invited, and peer-reviewed presentations on socially and environmentally engaged artistic practice across Australia, Europe, America, and Asia.

Artwork

This page is currently being redeveloped — please excuse any missing images, links or information, they will all appear shortly.
Bio-Medical Composing Machine
InteractiveSound & Composition
Bio-Medical Composing Machine
2020–21
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Haunting
PhotographySite-specific
Haunting
2015–26
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Facial Nerve Harp
InteractiveSound & Composition
Facial Nerve Harp
2019–22
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Lachrymal Vase
InteractiveSound & Composition
Lachrymal Vase
2021
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Almost an Embrace
InteractiveSound & CompositionVideo
Almost an Embrace
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100 Notions from a Nation of Two
InteractiveSound & CompositionVideo
100 Notions from a Nation of Two
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Strand Ephemera Installation
InteractiveSound & CompositionSite-specific
Strand Ephemera Installation
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Tuned City Infrastructure
InteractiveSound & CompositionSite-specific
Tuned City Infrastructure
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Still Point Turning
Sound & Composition
Still Point Turning
2014
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Moondance
Sound & Composition
Moondance
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Lake Bogong Sound Walk
Sound & Composition
Lake Bogong Sound Walk
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I Have a Dream
Sound & Composition
I Have a Dream
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Thirteen
Sound & CompositionSite-specific
Thirteen
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PS Enterprise
Sound & CompositionSite-specific
PS Enterprise
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Buckingbong to Birrego
Site-specificSocially Engaged
Buckingbong to Birrego
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Razor Wire
Sound & CompositionSite-specific
Razor Wire
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In The Heart of Our Past
Site-specific
In The Heart of Our Past
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Reverberate
Sound & CompositionInteractiveSite-specific
Reverberate
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Shadows and Consequences
PhotographySite-specific
Shadows and Consequences
2015–
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Photographic Painting
Photography
Photographic Painting
2023–
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The Harmonic Oscillator
Arts & HealthSound & CompositionSocially Engaged
The Harmonic Oscillator
2017
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I Just Can't Say That Word
Arts & HealthSocially Engaged
I Just Can't Say That Word
2017
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Shadow Places
Site-specificSocially EngagedVideo
Shadow Places
2017
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DIRt
Site-specificSocially Engaged
DIRt
2017–
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On Common Ground
Site-specificSocially Engaged
On Common Ground
2015
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Water Well
Sound & CompositionSite-specific
Water Well
2015
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Tunnel of Anatomy
InteractiveSite-specific
Tunnel of Anatomy
2015
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Artlands Opening
PerformanceSite-specific
Artlands Opening
2016
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Spark
VideoSite-specificSocially Engaged
Spark
2016–18
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The Echo in Our Walls
VideoSite-specificSocially Engaged
The Echo in Our Walls
2015–16
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Portrait of a Shimmering Self
InteractiveVideoSound & Composition
Portrait of a Shimmering Self
2016
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National Museum of Australia Residency
ResidencySite-specific
National Museum of Australia
2015
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Grace Before Meals
Sound & Composition
Grace Before Meals
2009–
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Tension(s) 2020
CurationSocially Engaged
Tension(s) — Tamworth Textiles Triennial
2020
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Underpass
Site-specificSound & Composition
Underpass
2014
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Bogong
Site-specificSound & Composition
Bogong
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Box of Birds
Sound & Composition
Box of Birds
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A Night of Wonder — SunRice
Site-specificSocially Engaged
A Night of Wonder — SunRice
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Tipping Point
Site-specificSocially Engaged
Tipping Point
2013
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Grong Grong Creative House
Site-specificSocially Engaged
Grong Grong Creative House
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Dance Diaries Narrandera
VideoSound & Composition
Dance Diaries Narrandera
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8 Artists
Socially Engaged
8 Artists
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Small Voices Made Loud
Site-specificVideoSocially Engaged
Small Voices Made Loud
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Siren's Song
PerformanceSite-specific
Siren's Song
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Hydro-phone
Sound & CompositionSite-specific
Hydro-phone
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Quietly Collapsed
VideoSound & Composition
Quietly Collapsed
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In Repose
PerformanceSite-specific
In Repose
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She Had to Put in Contact Lenses
Video
She Had to Put in Contact Lenses...
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Box Freezer Romance
Sound & Composition
Box Freezer Romance
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The Woman and the Sea
PerformanceSite-specific
The Woman and the Sea
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Solomon Toilet
Sound & CompositionSite-specific
Solomon Toilet
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Bluetooth, Bluebeard, Blackeye
InteractiveSite-specific
Bluetooth, Bluebeard, Blackeye
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Borrowed Language
PerformanceSocially Engaged
Borrowed Language
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Police Emergency
PerformanceSocially Engaged
Police Emergency
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Listen Now Walk
InteractiveSite-specificSound & Composition
Listen Now Walk
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From Our School House
Site-specificSocially Engaged
From Our School House
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Dance Diaries 1
VideoSound & Composition
Dance Diaries 1
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Specimen
Site-specificVideoSocially Engaged
Specimen
2016–18
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Clouds and Symphonies
Site-specificSocially Engaged
Clouds and Symphonies
2018–19
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Yenda Rain
Site-specificSocially Engaged
Yenda Rain
2013
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Hook
PerformanceSound & Composition
Hook
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Roadside Frequencies
PerformanceSite-specificSound & Composition
Roadside Frequencies
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Uncovered : Uncovered
PerformanceCuration
Uncovered : Uncovered
2013
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The Cad Factory
CurationSocially Engaged
The Cad Factory
2005–
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Fishheart
Site-specificSocially Engaged
Fishheart
2025
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More than a Fish Kill
VideoSocially Engaged
More than a Fish Kill
2023
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Pangala: Returning Home
Site-specificSocially Engaged
Pangala: Returning Home
2023
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Face to Face: The New Normal
Arts & HealthPhotographyVideo
Face to Face: The New Normal
2021–22
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One for Sorrow, Two for Joy
PerformanceSocially Engaged
One for Sorrow, Two for Joy
2021
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Collections Conversion
VideoPhotographySound & Composition
Collections Conversion
2021
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Sigh
PerformanceSound & Composition
Sigh
2020
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Big Anxiety Festival — Empathy Lab
Arts & HealthInteractive
Big Anxiety Festival — Empathy Lab
2020
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Wirramarri: Long Way from Home
Site-specificSocially Engaged
Wirramarri: Long Way from Home
2019–20
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Becoming the Future
Socially Engaged
Becoming the Future
2019–20
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Weaving Stories
Site-specificSocially EngagedPerformance
Weaving Stories
2019
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The Longest Heartbeat
Sound & CompositionArts & Health
The Longest Heartbeat
2017
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Textures of Absence
VideoArts & Health
Textures of Absence
2017
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Prepared Hospital Bed
Sound & CompositionArts & Health
Prepared Hospital Bed
2017
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EMF ICU
Sound & CompositionArts & Health
EMF ICU
2017
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Imagined Instruments
InteractiveArts & HealthSound & Composition
Imagined Instruments
2017
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Orchestra of Tears
InteractiveArts & HealthSound & Composition
Orchestra of Tears
2017
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Hospital Compositions EP
Sound & CompositionArts & Health
Hospital Compositions EP
2017
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Talks · Media · Recognition

Talks, Media
& Awards

—
Art of Health and Wellbeing Conference — Art Gallery of NSW
Talking the Walk / Walking the Talk — ANU / Sydney University Forum
Smart Arts Creative Experiences — Murray Arts
2026
More than a Fish Kill — Screening — National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh — With Aunty Cheryl Blore, David Doyle and Barbara Sefa-Attakora.
More than a Fish Kill — Screening — Australian High Commission, London — Australia House, The Strand.
2025
Artist Talk for Haunting — Art Atrium, Botany NSW
Arts in Medicine, Health and Wellbeing — Emotions in Medicine Symposium, University of Sydney
More than a Fish Kill — Screening and Panel — Ripple Fest, Port of Echuca
River Country Tour — Moree RSL Regional Military Museum
Inhabiting Wounded Landscapes and Environments — Keynote — University of Ljubljana, Slovenia — EU DeepLandS project. Alongside Prof. Tim Ingold. ↗
More than a Fish Kill — NAIDOC Week Screening — Cinema Nova, Carlton
More than a Fish Kill — MESHscreens, University of Cologne — ↗
More than a Fish Kill — Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, Cinema Nova, Carlton
2024–25
More than a Fish Kill — India Tour — Delhi & Ranchi, Xavier Institute of Social Service
2024
More than a Fish Kill — Screening and Panel — ANU Immersia Festival — With Kirsten Wehner, Bradley Bell, Prof. Simon Haberle. ↗
River Country Tour — Broken Hill City Art Gallery
River Country Tour — Narrandera Fisheries Centre
More than a Fish Kill — Screening — University of the Sunshine Coast
More than a Fish Kill — Bath Spa University — eARTh group
More than a Fish Kill — Presentation — 11th Australian Stream Management Conference, Adelaide
More than a Fish Kill — Screening — Sydney Environment Institute / Sydney Health Ethics, Palace Central Cinema — With Kirsten Wehner, Prof. Simon Haberle, Dr Kate Trinick. ↗
Attending to the other stuff: An artistic enquiry into patient expectations at the Sydney Facial Nerve Clinic — Manchester Metropolitan University — With Coulson SE, Hooker C, Dwyer P.
Artistic practice in the clinic and beyond — University of Bath, Environmental Humanities and Art Research Group
2023
More than a Fish Kill — Premiere — ABC RN Big Ideas / NMA River Country Community Day — Hosted by Natasha Mitchell. ↗
Enhancing Medical Care through Art and Levinasian Ethics — ADSA Conference, Adelaide — With Hooker C, Coulson SE.
Face to Face: The New Normal. Navigating cross-disciplinary clinical care — QUT School of Creative Practice — Published in Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies.
2022
Cross Sector Collaboration: Arts and Health — Goldsmiths, University of London — Leadership Exchange, Institute for Government.
The potential of artistic residence at the Sydney Facial Nerve Clinic — Culture Health and Wellbeing International Conference, UK
Face to Face: The New Normal — Keynote — Enhancing Person-Centred Practices Conference, Wollongong — With Coulson SE, Hooker C, Dwyer P.
2021
The Social Imagination — Panel; Artist Floor Talk for Haunting — Ten Days on the Island, Burnie Tasmania
Embedding a contemporary artist as part of the clinical team at the Sydney Facial Nerve Clinic — Chris O'Brien Lifehouse Research Symposium
2020
How to walk through walls: reimagining health and healthcare through the arts — The Create Centre, USyd — ↗
Performing Care — Panel — UNSW ADSA Conference
One for Sorrow, Two for Joy — Artstate Festival, Wagga Wagga — ↗
Curator's Talk and Forum — Tension(s) 2020, Tamworth Textiles Triennial Launch
2019
Arts, Health and Healing — Sydney Ideas — ↗
Regional Practice & Textiles Triennial Overview — Artstate Tamworth
An Artist's Interpretation of Facial Palsy — Inaugural Sydney Facial Nerve Symposium, Chris O'Brien Lifehouse
2018
Collaborative Conversations — Keynote on Socially Engaged Art Practices — Tate Liverpool — ↗
Patient Experience Symposium — Keynote — Sydney
Critical Care Book Launch — Manchester Metropolitan University — ↗
Arts and Health — Presentation to Medical Students — University of Sydney
2017
Culture, Health and Wellbeing Conference — Keynote — Bristol, UK
Critical Care Forum — Tate Liverpool — ↗
NSW Rural Health and Research Congress — Keynote — Wagga Wagga
Creative Regions National Summit — Parliament House, Canberra
Artists in Health Care Environments — Big Anxiety Festival, Sydney — ↗
Remix Sydney Summit — Sydney
Accessible Arts — Panel — National Gallery of Lithuania
Changing Cultural Values in Regional Australia — Panel — Lindy Hume Essay Launch
Friday Seminar — Sydney University
The Art of Farming, Mental Health and Creating — Swan Hill Gallery Seminar
Rice, Communities and Art — Panel — Gallery 4A
DIRt Project — Presentation — Critical Path
2016
Arts and Health Panel — Keynote — Artlands Dubbo
Seminar — Manchester Metropolitan University
Land Dialogues Conference — Charles Sturt University
2015
Regional Stakeholders Forum — Powerhouse Museum
Seminar — Manchester Metropolitan University
Art + Space — ArtChat — MGNSW, Freda's Bar, Chippendale
2014
Yenda Rain — Presentation — Manchester Metropolitan University
Restructure Conference — La Trobe University
2026
Powerful documentary on the Menindee fish kills screens in UK — NITV / Narrandera Argus — ↗
2025
How a new 'Fishheart' project is combining science, community and Indigenous art — The Conversation — ↗
2023
McEwan Sees the Bigger Picture — Review of Haunting at the National Museum of Australia — The Canberra Times — ↗
Feature: The Harmonic Oscillator — MRI Choir Duet — Arts Health Network NSW/ACT
—
In Conversation with Vic McEwan — Creative Responders Podcast, Season 4
Socially Engaged Arts Practice — ChangeMakers Podcast — With Amanda Tattersall.
Artist Interview — Studio International Magazine — ↗
Interview: Haunting Project — National Museum of Australia — ↗
Interview: PS Enterprise — National Museum of Australia
The Artist as Disruptor — NAVA — ↗
Art in the Real World: Hospital Ward to the Tate — Create NSW — ↗
Art for Water & A Common Magic — Real Time Magazine
Diversity and Disruption in Arts and Health — Artlink Magazine — ↗
Video Documentation — International Arts and Health Conference, Bristol
2025
The Potentials of Artistic Engagement in Clinical Spaces — UCFM Podcast — ↗
2023
Ghosts must wait a little longer to be laid to rest — Review of Haunting — Canberra CityNews — ↗
Haunting — Interview — Prime TV News
2022
Face to Face: The New Normal — Review — A Rich Life — ↗
2021
Six Questions to Festival Artist Vic McEwan — Ten Days on the Island — ↗
2019
The Big Anxiety Festival — Unveiling — ABC National News
Artists in Health Care Environments — Review of talk — Palliative Care NSW
2018
Shadow Places — Article — Narrandera Argus
Shadow Places — ABC News
Critical Care — Book Review — The Daily Review
2017
The Art of Dis-ease — Artlink Magazine
The View From Here — Arts, Health, Inequality and Activism — Leeds Arts in Health Forum — ↗
2016
Artlands 2016 — Feature — Runway Magazine
Artlands Dubbo — Review — Regional Arts Victoria
The Artist as Disruptor — Art and Education Pt 1 — NAVA Ideas
The Artist as Disruptor — Art and Education Pt 2 — NAVA Ideas
Interview — GBM / Shanghaiist
Still Point Turning — Review — Sydney Morning Herald
2015
Haunting — Interview — Arts Alive
Yenda Rain — Interview and Overview — Yenda Rain Project
Awards & Fellowships
IASH Postdoctoral Fellowship — University of Edinburgh
7% acceptance rate
2025–26
Thesis Excellence Award — Faculty of Medicine and Health, USyd
2024
National Fellowship — Regional Arts Australia
2023–24
CHASS Distinctive Australian Work Prize — Face to Face: The New Normal
2023
University Medal — Charles Sturt University
2018
CHASS Distinctive Australian Work Prize — The Harmonic Oscillator
2018
Create NSW Inaugural Regional Arts Fellowship
First fellowship of its kind
2015
vic@cadfactory.com.au