Inpatient by Tess Hider

08 Apr 2025 - 02 May 2025
11:00am - 05:00pm
FREE
Melbourne City
First Site Gallery Storey Hall Basement, 344 Swanston Street, Melbourne

First Site Gallery

Tess Hider shares personal experiences of disability and chronic pain, speaking to broader complex and intersectional realities of acquired disabilities.

Opening celebration night

Date:Wednesday 9 April

Time: 5-7pm

Tess Hider, Hip hole detail, (digital photo), 2024. Image courtesy of the artist

Inpatient by Tess Hider

Tess Hider shares personal experiences of disability and chronic pain, speaking to broader complex and intersectional realities of acquired disabilities. Inpatient features soft sculptures responding to her recent hip surgery, hospital stay, and recovery, as well as a lifetime of disability-related experiences. The large scale of the works bring attention to the realities of invisible illness, while the soft forms create a humorous, and comforting aesthetic that allows the topic of disability to be more approachable for the viewer. Shapes, colours and motifs associated with Tess’s experiences presented in Inpatient bring attention to the marginalisation of disabled communities and invite us to address ableism in society and offer greater accessibility through art.

Artist Biography

Tess Hider is a multidisciplinary artist working across installation, painting, and craft. Her work visualises personal experiences, emotions and feelings associated with disability and chronic pain, and the personal, social, financial, and political impacts. She uses humour, Pop art aesthetics, and large scale to engage with serious topics of pain, illness and medical spaces in a light-hearted way. Tess offers her own experiences to prompt conversations about wider disability awareness in society.

I feel the art I make gives the pain I experience a purpose. If I were to find a positive, I wouldn’t be able to make these works without my adverse life experience as influences.

– Tess Hider

Upcoming events

Monthly RMIT Games Day 2026

25 Jan 2026 - 14 Dec 2026

RMIT City campus

RMIT are back for RMIT Games Day 2026 tournaments!

The Concentric Influences of Sol LeWitt: Foundations, Pivots and Place

05 Jun 2026 - 29 Aug 2026

'The Concentric Influences of Sol LeWitt: Foundations, Pivots and Place' positions Australia at the centre of an ambitious global dialogue on conceptual art, influence and the circulation of ideas. Instigated and directed by Dr Irene Barberis, the project demonstrates how Australian scholarship and curatorial innovation can actively shape international discourse surrounding one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century.

Intercessions: On-Site with Axel Garay

14 Jul 2026 - 09 Aug 2026

Axel Garay's immersive exhibition, 'Intercessions', draws together a suite of multimedia works to consider how the ‘algorithmic age’ is affecting our ability to truly immerse deeply with our world, materials and selves.

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

Learn more about our commitment to Indigenous cultures

Inpatient by Tess Hider