Prototypes Opening Event

13 February 2026

The opening event for Prototypes was held at Romulus Folio Gallery on 13 February 2026. The exhibition commenced on 6 February and continues through 1 March 2026.

The exhibition, curated by Angelina Mirabito, PhD, presents work by Kasia Dudkiewicz, Lucia Medina, and Arabella Strachan within a spatial framework grounded in material inquiry and architectural activation.

Throughout the evening, visitors moved through the gallery in waves, their engagement dictated by proximity and duration. Some were drawn toward the intricate relief of the wall-mounted works, leaning in to trace the rhythmic accumulation of fibre at a near distance. Others stepped back, recalibrating their perception of the large-scale forms from across the room before returning to find new details. Many remained in place, allowing the repetitive patterns and architectural scale to settle before re-entering the flow of the crowd.

Conversations formed directly in front of the works. Exchanges occurred within close proximity to surface and structure, the installation shaping how long viewers remained and how they oriented themselves in space. The exhibition operated as a spatial condition, structuring encounter through material density and architectural alignment.

Later in the evening, remarks gathered the room into collective focus. Angelina Mirabito welcomed guests and acknowledged the Bunurong / Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. Mayor Alex Makin then officially opened the exhibition, recognising the role of independent contemporary practice within the City of Port Phillip and the cultural life of Fishermans Bend.

**(L–R) Gallery Manager Scott Ross, Mayor Alex Makin, and Creative Director/Curator Angelina Mirabito, PhD. Photo: Tim Dennis.**

At entry, the impact wall establishes the exhibition’s primary threshold. Developed through layered plaster and sustained compression, it concentrates material presence and stabilises orientation from the moment of arrival. Surface density regulates encounter while relief modulates light across the plane, shaping perception before circulation unfolds.

A cylindrical column within the gallery was activated through the same material language, extending this concentrated force vertically through the architectural core of the room. Surface and structure align, distributing weight and reinforcing coherence across the installation.

Kasia Dudkiewicz engages repetition and tactile process, allowing surface to accumulate memory through sustained material interaction. Lucia Medina’s works register gesture and duration, embedding pressure within textured form. Arabella Strachan introduces sculptural light as structural presence, shaping atmosphere and perceptual field through illumination.

Recorded reflections by the artists will be released separately.