Art Guide’s September/October cover artist is Micheila Petersfield, who uses self-portraiture to consider how identity is constructed. Petersfield’s works remind us that things are often not what they seem on the surface—a motif bubbling throughout this issue. 

In her Brisbane studio, artist Justene Williams tells writer Bree Di Mattina about the past lives of her materials; while Michael Lindeman reveals how he uses humour to smuggle institutional critique into his art; and Joseph Earp considers the tension between the smooth surfaces and hidden depths of the late David Hockney’s work.

Elsewhere in this issue we encounter projects that hinge on interactions between artists and their surroundings, from the Melbourne Sculpture Biennale in an historic mansion, to the Regional Arts Triennial across Western Australia. In Canberra, TAKEAWAY: Tales from the Flavour Superhighway takes a broad view of food networks and the cultural practices intertwined with them.