2 Halves as A Whole

2 Halves as A Whole is the collaborative practice of artists Paige Templeton (she/her) and Ali Bagnato (they/them). The duo formed in 2022 after bonding over a shared passion for maximalist aesthetics, digital culture, and the absurdist humour that defines Gen Z. Since then, their practice has evolved into a multidisciplinary, satirical, and critically engaged body of work.

Working across painting, digital media, assemblage, soft sculpture, performance, and installation, 2 Halves as A Whole interrogates contemporary social trends through a distinctly queer lens. Their work explores themes of consumerism, commodification, and aestheticisation, often engaging playfully with internet ephemera and early-2000s visual culture. Informed by their identities as female and trans artists, their practice is grounded in lived experience and sustained by a critical interest in disrupting normative cultural frameworks.

A central tenet of their practice is collaboration. Every work is co-authored through continual dialogue, experimentation, and mutual critique. This collaborative methodology allows them to expand beyond individual perspectives, challenge one another conceptually, and remain grounded in the belief that art-making is inherently social.

Currently, the duo are residents of the Yarra Youth Services Artist-in-Residence program.