The paintings of poet and artist Lionel Fogarty, a Yugambeh man born on WakkaWakka land in South East Queensland, light up the cover of the September/October issue of Art Guide, which explores the power of art to open doors to new ways of seeing and understanding. As Timmah Ball explains, Fogarty is using painting to transform and elevate the written word—connecting his poetry, informed by a lifetime of activism, with new audiences.

American artist Tschabalala Self speaks to Oliver Giles on the occasion of her first Australian solo exhibition about the multi-faceted figures in her works, and the universal experience of being embodied. Elsewhere, Savanhdary Vongpoothorn tells Sophia Halloway how she brought the experience of a recent residency at a Laotian botanical garden back to her Canberra studio. And, we consider what the Packing Room Prize might reveal about the changing face of the Archibald.