West Space presents no rock no flower, a new work by Naarm/Melbourne based artist Andrea Illés, September 6 to October 25, 2025.
Consolidating her growing reputation as an important performance artist in this country's cultural landscape, no rock no flower explores the hyper-vigilant relationship that trans women have to the images they make with their bodies.
Adapted from research into cultural mythology and the tension between its transcription and transmutability, no rock no flower entwines translations of ancient events with the artist's experience of love, desire, identification, and relationship with her own image. no rock no flower will be activated by performance and livestream throughout the duration of the exhibition.
Andrea Illés is a new media and performance artist whose auto portraits explore the relational chasm between self and other. Merging dance, text, sound, and video, her enquiry emerges from the agony and bliss she feels being perceived and, often working with states of overwhelm, Andrea is interested in the possibilities found when bodies fail.
Andrea Illés: no rock no flower is a West Space Commission supported by Creative Australia and Melbourne University through the Victorian College of the Arts, with mentorship by V Barratt and consultation with Helen Grogan. no rock no flower forms the culmination of West Space's multi-part investment in Illés' practice following her studio residency in 2024.
ABOUT WEST SPACE
West Space is an independent contemporary art space that exists to support the next generation of artists in Australia. Housed in multi-arts precinct Collingwood Yards, Naarm/Melbourne, West Space’s year-round program reflects the breadth of artistic practice in Australia, and the complexities of our times.
KEY DATES
No rock no flower from September 6 to October 25, 2025.
West Space is open Wednesday to Friday, 110am to 6pm, and Saturday 12 to 4pm.
Entry is free.
For more info, head to westspace.org.au/program/no-rock-no-flower.
