Chrystal Rimmer: Artist Statement & Bio

It’s easy to dwell in the sadness of what is lost, to sit with a bleeding heart for too long. In my case, my heart bleeds for the erasure of delicate flora and fauna caused by symptoms of colonial industrialisation. However, there are ways to move through the loss, to recognise the importance of its impact on our lives—sometimes profound, other times subtle. We may choose to be the mouthpiece for those which otherwise seem mute, or worlds that seem hard to imagine. I choose the world I already inhabit, and in reciprocity of the magic I have witnessed here, I choose to represent the stories vulnerable to erasure, to present narratives that prioritise mutuality, resilience and regeneration.

Chrystal Rimmer is an artist and educator practicing in Gadigal/Sydney. Rimmer’s practice explores the entanglement of ecology, entropy, and waste through material experimentation. She engages with ecological grief and resilience, drawing on personal, political, and speculative narratives to promote an ethics of care and kinship. Through research-based studies, she considers how waste can act as a material of resilience amidst environmental destruction. 

Rimmer works with postindustrial materials such as plastic and aluminium to depict specimens of algae, molluscs, and native flora. The personal, political and ecological narratives embedded in each piece seek to challenge human-centric perspectives on nature and invite more-than-human ways of knowing. Through this practice, she fosters radical empathy, encouraging a shift in perspective towards greater reciprocity and a deeper recognition of the complexities and intricate interdependencies of all living systems.

Rimmer completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at The National Art School, Sydney in 2015 and was awarded the Aboriginal Art Centre Internship Program. Graduating her Masters of Fine Arts in 2019 Rimmer was awarded the prestigious Lift Off Award, comprising two fully funded international residencies including Miet AIR in Beers, The Netherlands, where she continued her study of plastic waste and explored the material properties of aluminium. In addition, she collaborated with academics in a research residency with Sail Britain across the remote Western Isles of Scotland, collecting samples and studies on the effects of micro plastics in bodies of water. In 2024, Chrystal was a finalist in the Churchie Emerging Art Prize.

Chrystal Rimmer: CV September, 2026 Download