Meet Dr Eliza O’Donnell, Mary Lugton Postdoctoral Fellow 

In 2025, we were delighted to welcome Dr Eliza O’Donnell, newly appointed Mary Lugton Postdoctoral Fellow. With a background in paintings conservation and experience working with Indonesian artists and cultural collections in tropical climates, she brings a wealth of knowledge in relation to understanding issues of art attribution and cross-cultural research and practice.

Eliza O’Donnell completed her Bachelor of Arts and Master in Cultural Materials Conservation at the University of Melbourne before going to pursue her doctoral studies. Eliza reflects on her practice below in this interview by Dr Sharon Wong, who recently completed her thesis on the conservation of plastics in archaeology.

How did you first become interested in conservation?

I completed my Bachelor of Arts here at Melbourne, with a double major in art history and cinema studies. This was in the mid-2000s when the conservation labs were under the Ian Potter Building on Swanston Street, before we moved to the new Grimwade Centre labs over the road in 2015. As an undergraduate student, I used to walk down Swanston Street and peek into the paintings labs through the ground-level windows, I felt like seeing the student conservators working on their painting treatments was my first glimpse into the world of conservation.

During the BA there was a subject on conservation in art history which was a fairly basic introduction to the important role that conservation plays in caring for cultural heritage. I always saw art history or curatorship as a possible career pathway, but what attracted me to pursuing cultural conservation was the opportunity to bring together art history, archival research, and writing skills. And of course there is also that element of working hands-on with collections in a tangible and tactile way – bridging the practical and the theoretical.

Can you tell us a bit about the work you do?

This year, I started the two-year Mary Lugton Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation. This research builds on my PhD which I completed with the Grimwade Centre a few years earlier.

My post-doctoral project is called Material Mobilities and Cultural Exchange: Mapping Indonesian Diaspora Art Practices in Australia. In partnership with approximately ten expatriate Indonesian artists living in Australia, the project not only focuses on documenting their art materials and techniques, but also aims to further interrogate the artists’ relationships to their materials. Where the materials have come from and how these material preferences may reflect the cultural knowledge systems, personal histories, philosophical frameworks, and the lived experience of being both in Indonesia and Australia that informs artistic practice.

The central research questions ask: how do Indonesian art materials, techniques, and cultural knowledge transform when artists migrate to Australia? And, what do these material transformations reveal about transcultural mobility and Australia-Indonesia connections through the arts more broadly?

The project will foreground the voices and perspectives of the artists through a series of long-form studio-based artist interviews, and also by inviting them into the Grimwade Centre conservation lab to co-develop new methodologies for collaboration between conservators and artists. This year I’ve conducted studio interviews with artists based in Melbourne, Sydney and most recently, Grevillia in Northern NSW.

The project was inspired by the breadth of artist and arts practitioner interviews I conducted for my PhD, which focused on issues surrounding painting authenticity and art attribution in the contemporary Indonesian art market. This research was based in the Javanese art centers of Yogyakarta, Jakarta and Bandung and I’m currently working on developing this research into a monograph.

Both the PhD and the post-doctoral research are grounded in studio-based long-form artist interviews, working with contemporary artists and practitioners and a recognition of the importance of creating secure and verifiable records in partnership with living artists. Most of the teaching and collection-based research projects I’m currently working on dovetail with one another. All of them involve active engagement with artists and cultural knowledge holders and interdisciplinary collaboration.    

Your work focuses on Southeast Asian Art, in particular art practices in Indonesia. What sparked your interest in this topic, and what are some of the key issues around the preservation of art from this region? 

Looking back, my interest in Southeast Asian art definitely began during my time in the Master of Cultural Materials Conservation course in 2012–2014 and was inspired by my Master’s and PhD supervisor, Associate Professor Nicole Tse, who provided an entry point into this field. My master’s minor thesis built on data from Nicole’s PhD and was on the pioneer Singaporean artist Georgette Chen.

During my studies for the Master’s (2012–2014), I completed a four-week internship in the paintings lab at the National Art Gallery, the Balai Seni Negara in Kuala Lumpur. The gallery had four paintings by Georgette Chen in their collection, which I was fortunate to sample and bring back to Melbourne for further materials analysis.

Following the internship, I went to Singapore and did some further research in the archives of Georgette Chen held in a university archive. This type of collection-based research that also involves artwork examination and materials analysis, combined with in-depth archival research, is known as technical art history. This was a methodology that I continued to work with during the PhD and in my current research.

More broadly, this research is aligned with the aims of the research network – Asia Pacific Tropical Climate Conservation Art Research Network (APTCCARN). Founded by Nicole Tse, along with Robyn Sloggett and others in 2008, APTCCARN comprises a group of researchers and conservators who aim to address critical research gaps surrounding cultural material conservation for collections in tropical climates. Many of the major conservation training programs, publications and research outputs are centred in the Global North, and research on the preservation of cultural material and conditions in Asia and the Pacific region is often absent from the cultural record and scholarly sources.

One of the biggest risks for collections in tropical climates is high temperature and high relative humidity, known as RH, which causes mould growth and increased pest activity, as well as the threat of natural disaster. In addition, art market issues related to authenticity and attribution are major concerns that are impacted by access to secure records, archives, and documentation of artist materials and techniques. It’s important to note, though, that the production and circulation of fakes and forgeries is certainly not exclusive to Indonesia, and is a global art market issue.

Since 2017 my research and practice has been centred on cultural material in Indonesia. Like everywhere else, archives and artists’ records are important for provenance, research, conservation, decision making and scholarly research in Indonesia. However, access to secure archives and records is often limited for a variety of reasons when it comes to Indonesia, and my research aims to address some of these research gaps.

It’s an exciting time to be working in this space because there are many grassroots archiving initiatives taking place, where several art and curatorial collectives, independent practitioners and artists are working to build secure cultural records – from the ground up – to address this issue of a lack of arts documentation. Some prominent examples include the Indonesian Visual Arts Archive (IVAA) in Yogyakarta and the Centre for Indonesian Visual Art Studies (CIVAS) in Bandung, alongside the artist-established archive documenting Heri Dono’s art practice at Studio Kalahan and curator Mikke Susanto’s Dictiart Lab archive, both in Yogyakarta. This is something that I am exploring further and I have a few collaborations with different friends and colleagues in Indonesia that I’m currently working on.

Climate, environment and sustainability as well as issues in contemporary conservation are key research themes at the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation. How does your research into issues around authenticity and art attribution in contemporary Indonesia complement the Grimwade’s focus and inform your teaching practice? And as a paintings conservator and postdoctoral researcher, what are your thoughts on how academic research and practical conservation interact? Can you share any experiences in academia that have enriched your practice as a conservator and vice versa?

My experience working as a paintings conservator has definitely informed my understanding of artist materials and techniques at a technical level, especially when it comes to artist studio interviews and engaging with artists to talk about their practice. This is something that I focused on for my PhD research – I carried out a lot of interviews with artists and other collection care stakeholders where technical knowledge of how materials behave and interact was a large focus of our discussion.

Before I started the PhD, I had experience as an emerging graduate paintings conservator working with collections in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, and more locally in Sydney and Melbourne. So I would say that this practical conservation experience definitely exposed me to diverse environments, in and out of the conservation lab, and working cross-culturally, which is a big part of my research and also one of the Robert Cripps Institute for Cultural Conservation focus areas.

In addition to having that understanding of materials at a technical level, I’ve also been working in an interdisciplinary capacity over the past few years. In several recent projects, I’ve been the only conservator working in a team otherwise made up of arts practitioners, including curators, collection managers, artists, and arts professionals. Having that conservation knowledge base definitely contributes to being able to bring a different point of reference to these projects. 

There was a conference panel that I was part of in 2024 that is a really good example of this interdisciplinary practice in action. My friend and Art History PhD colleague, Dr Chloe Ho, organised a panel for the Association for Asian Studies in Asia (AAS-in-Asia) conference held in Yogyakarta which was supported by Art + Australia. Our Panel, ‘Lukisan as a Praxis’, centred on an essay by artist and VCA PhD candidate, Zico Albaiquni, alongside art historian Dr Chloe Ho, and editor Jason Anselmo, while I was on the panel representing conservation. Zico’s essay challenged the notion that ‘lukisan’, which translates from Bahasa Indonesia to the English term ‘painting’, does not translate conceptually. The essay and Zico’s lecture performance prompted discussion around what it means for ‘lukisan’ to be performed, and what it means for lukisan or painting to be authentic in the first instance.

That panel highlights this practice of working across the disciplines. Often, I will be wearing the ‘conservation hat’, and others will be approaching similar ideas from their own disciplinary background. That’s what I learned during my more practice-based painting conservation roles – that I’m able to bring that conservation knowledge to different scenarios and learn from friends working in other areas and disciplines.

During your research on authenticity and art attribution in contemporary Indonesia, what challenges did you experience whilst undertaking fieldwork?

I like this question because I feel like there are always challenges and limitations, but you don’t always have an opportunity to reflect on them and share what you have learned from the process.

To begin with, painting authenticity and contentious issues of fakes and forgeries are always a sensitive topic. Research related to artwork attribution is concerned with the art market which has financial repercussions. Contested authenticity impacts collector reputations, art world relationships, and most significantly, the artists themselves, who become victims of art fraud through counterfeit painting practices. Approaching this issue as my topic of PhD research required nuance, care and respect, and this is something that I always prioritise in my fieldwork and research.

This circles back to fieldwork. Building relationships with people, trust, knowledge and understanding of different cultures, involves spending time and investing in being overseas. Spending time in Indonesia involved securing funding and applying for grants, organising visas and time away from work in Melbourne and other commitments back home. There are always challenges that you have to work through in order to participate in extended periods of fieldwork for research.

Since I finished the PhD, I’ve been going back to Indonesia a few times a year. I just returned from a recent trip and maintaining the relationships with people who I met during the PhD and in more recent years and having those face-to-face engagements is invaluable, but can be logistically difficult at times.

Conducting cross-cultural research with Indonesian artists and communities, I adopt the term ‘outsider’ to reflect my positionality as an Australian from outside the culture I am working with. It’s essential to work with respect, clear communication, ethical consideration and understanding that is grounded in relationships based on trust. Articulating my positionality in this art world is really important, and that’s something that is addressed in the Master’s program for emerging conservators. Cross-cultural research is complicated, and having an awareness of those complications and imbalances is fundamental to conducting responsible and ethical research.

What impact will your research and teaching have and how does it connect to the idea of cultural health?

I feel that in terms of connecting my research to ideas around cultural health, it is about building secure artist records and developing these cross-cultural relationships with partners and communities in the Asia Pacific region.

In my PhD research, one of the issues that came up at times around authenticity and attribution is that there was an absence of secure knowledge on the record. One of the aims of my research was to speak with artists, often quite senior artists, and further understanding, in their own words, of these issues related to intellectual property and securing the cultural knowledge in a verifiable way – protecting artists, legacies and intellectual property for future generations. This is about the preservation and protection of artists’ legacies through record-building and community empowerment, and through collaboration with local arts communities and promoting Australia-Indonesia networks and opportunities.

For the past two years I’ve supervised students in the Master of Cultural Materials Conservation program to undertake their minor thesis project, a year-long research project. The students I’ve supervised are working with the Project Eleven Foundation collection of contemporary Indonesian art based in Ballarat, which is a large-scale and diverse collection of about two thousand artworks. I’ve collaborated with the collector Konfir Kabo since 2017 and over this time we’ve worked on a number of projects together in Australia and Indonesia. Each of the Master’s students are focusing on one artist in the collection, and in many instances, they have the opportunity to engage with the artist through an interview in person or over Zoom, or other stakeholders connected to that artists practice. Through their research they are building these material records about the works, understanding the artists’ intent and creating invaluable material records that will inform future conservation decision-making and future research.

What advice would you give prospective students who are interested in undertaking postgraduate study in your field?

I think I would emphasise the importance of relationship building and active partnerships which always involve face-to-face engagement, meeting people in person, building networks and connecting with people over shared research interests. This can sometimes happen through conferences, exhibition openings, talks, events, or in the classroom. Sometimes the research and writing phase, especially for a PhD or any long-term writing project, can be isolating, so having these support networks to engage with is really important.

I’m part of a monthly coffee catch-up group, the South/East/West/North Asia research network that has been running for years now, led by Art History PhD candidate Caitlin Hughes. It’s an informal group of PhD candidates and early career researchers from the University of Melbourne (Parkville and VCA), Monash, RMIT, Deakin and elsewhere. We meet every month or so at a different campus to catch up for a coffee or see an exhibition, share updates on our work and projects. The group is always growing and it’s a great way to meet new people and stay connected.

You  recently returned from conducting fieldwork in Indonesia. Can you tell us about the research trip, your experience and your key learnings?‘

From mid-June to early July, I completed my first period of field work as part of the postdoctoral fellowship. This involved a 10-day ‘Indonesian Art Study Tour’, a symposium that I co-organised at Institut Seni Indonesia (Indonesia Institute of the Arts [ISI])  in Yogyakarta, followed by a week of independent research. The final week mostly involved touching base with friends and research partners who had contributed to the PhD research and further developing my book manuscript, as well as connecting with new people, visiting collections, archives and exhibitions.

 The Indonesian ‘Art StudyTour’, co-run by Project Eleven and 16Albermarle, is conducted annually for members of the Australian visual arts community to connect with colleagues in the Indonesian visual arts sector to facilitate relationship building and knowledge. During the ten days, we went to Ubud in Bali, Jakarta, Bandung, Solo (Surakarta), Magelang and concluded in Yogyakarta. We travelled mostly by bus, apart from the flight from Ubud over to Jakarta, and it was incredible – busy and intense!

One of the highlights was a visit to see the Kamasan paintings in Ubud at the Kertha Gosa Pavilion in the Klungkung Regency. The artist and priestess, Mangku Muriarti, spoke to us  about the Kamasan panel paintings and the history of restoration of the panels. It was a privilege to listen to Muriarti, whose father, Mangku Mura, painted many of the panels, and Muriarti has been involved in the restoration process. Learning about this history of artist-led restoration practices was so interesting, especially because some of my research looks at the history of conservation practice in Indonesia.

Another highlight was a visit to the performance artist Melati Suryodarmo’s Studio in Solo, Plesungan. I am a big fan of her work and saw Melati earlier this year at Asia TOPA where she performed some of her well-known performances, including the ‘Butter Dance’.

In Solo, Melati’s students at Studio Plesungan shared some of the performances that they are currently working on for our group. We felt so honoured to be invited into these private spaces, artist homes, their studios and have that real face-to-face connection that you can only experience in person. Ideas around performance conservation have been coming up more and more in my interviews with artists recently, and part of the element of the performance is also bearing witness and the embodied experience of being in the audience and experiencing that moment in time.

One of the projects that I’m really proud of that I was a part of this year during my time in Yogyakarta was co-developing the program for the symposium, Practice and Process: Art Education and Art Ecosystems in the Asia Pacific. I was the convenor of the one-day symposium and curated the program in collaboration with the Australia Indonesia Art Forum (AIAF) and our partners at Institut Seni Indonesia in Yogyakarta, that I mentioned earlier.

The symposium included two keynote lectures from Dr Elly Kent (ANU) and renowned poet, essayist and artist Goenawan Mohamad, as well as panel discussions focusing on art, pedagogy, entangled art ecosystems and interdisciplinary collaboration. The program of speakers included academics, curators, artists, conservators and arts practitioners from Indonesia, Australia, Thailand and Malaysia. It was the first year we had held the event, and based on its success there is now a follow-up symposium in the works for 2026.

What are your plans post completion of your fellowship in early 2027? Do you intend to continue your research on the issues of counterfeit work in contemporary Indonesia art or is there another area that you would like to focus on?

At the moment, it is difficult to know what will come next, but there are a few exciting projects that I am currently working on that I hope will pave the way for future research and partnerships.

One of them is developing the PhD research as a published monograph which I hope will be published in 2027.

I am also developing an intensive conservation subject, ‘Conservation Dialogues’, that will run in May next year. The subject will focus on artist interviews as a methodology for emerging conservators and we will be working with the Project Eleven contemporary Indonesian art collection in Ballarat that I mentioned earlier. During this subject, students will have the opportunity to undertake collection-based fieldwork in Ballarat, and then conduct interviews with artists held in the collection who are based in Melbourne. 

My outcomes for my postdoc project are a work in progress, however I’m hoping to make the video recordings of the studio-based artist interviews publicly available online, as well as produce a publication of the findings.

It is possible that publication of the book will conclude my research on the art attribution and counterfeit painting production and circulation; however, I’ve also learned that this is such a wide and broad topic with many twists and turns that is changing all the time, so it’s very hard to know if this is the end or only the beginning…

Ideas around artist interview methodologies that I’m exploring in the postdoc and with the new intensive subject is something that I would also hope to carry forward. I think that will happen organically and I will see what emerges.

Eliza O’Donnell’s current research project focuses on ‘Material Mobilities and Cultural Exchange: Mapping Indonesian Diaspora Art Practices in Australia’. She will also be teaching ‘Conservation Dialogues’ as part of the subject ‘Conservation Intensive’ (CUMC90003) in 2026.