Rate My Professor Heidi Axelsen

Heidi Axelsen is a researcher affiliated with the University of Newcastle, listed in the official researcher directory. She serves as Research Coordinator in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences and contributes to initiatives in the School of Architecture and Built Environment within the College of Human and Social Futures. A PhD candidate at Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA), Monash University, Axelsen possesses over 15 years of professional experience as an artist, curator, and planner focused on public art and cultural projects. Her career encompasses positions such as work with FASTLAB at the University of Newcastle, along with engagements at Blue Mountains City Council and the City of Sydney.

As co-director of MAPA, the art and architecture collaborative practice shared with Dr. Hugo Moline, Lecturer in the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Newcastle, Axelsen pursues a speculative arts practice. This work interrogates human collective organization and interpersonal relations, with particular attention to overlooked domains like plant life and care work. The duo crafts speculative elements of alternative worlds—tools, furniture, shelters, and systems—to promote novel relational dynamics. Exhibitions of their oeuvre span national and international venues, including Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation (Sydney), RMIT Design Hub (Melbourne), and Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale (Japan), with coverage in Architecture AU, Architecture Bulletin, and Architectural Review Asia Pacific. Axelsen has advanced the University of Newcastle's non-traditional research outputs through "The Open Field Agency" (2023), co-developed with Dr. Moline. This initiative devises mechanisms for authentic public space co-creation, reshaping community involvement and procurement in public art; competitively selected by the City of Sydney, it informs their Development Control Plan. A recent highlight is the "ANCHOR" installation for New Annual 2025, employing analogue techniques to invert familiar environments.