There is now a link to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image website with the 15 Second Place Project.
My video projection from last year’s video projection ‘echo Nacht – night Echoes’ was chosen to be a part of this project about place.
Check it out if you get the chance. Just click on the link below.
When you are in that in between period of limbo where no shows are booked and a residency is about to happen it is a just the perfect time to explore new possibilities by letting yourself loose in the studio and exploring the stuff of nothing in particular by just allowing the paint to flow through you.
The work is all about nothing and a search for everything at the same time. The detail above is part of a series of large works on canvas exploring this theme. Layer upon layer of paint has been placed onto the canvas in an abstract gestural manner with a build up of interesting textures and marks on a collage of canvas on canvas – then paint scraped back, rubbed into, painted over, scratched into, glazed over then drawn over the top of the subtle limited pallete with a marker.
Twelve more works are in the studio drying right now ranging from small to medium works. One large work is now finished. Long days in the studio but it has been an interesting interlude of work for me.
The river maps have been ongoing since The Hill show earlier this year.
Still drawing inspiration from the Darling River I have been working on a series of smaller works and some lengths of silk as well.
The works on paper have a much more earthy feel shown above with the piece below titled ‘Along the River’ (h) 25cm x (w) 115cm . This piece is a reminder of an afternoon spent along the banks of the river. These works are currently on display at Essential Object in Tathra.
This work above is the first in a series of river map scrolls – ink on german etching and hand stitched with jute. They follow the ‘Flow’ scrolls from The Hill exhibition and measure (w) 380mm x (h) 105mm with blackwood hangers. Below is a detail showing the blackwood hangers and details of drawing with ink and stitching.
The silk series are hand painted onto gumma silk with ink and food colouring with pebbles and river silt delicately placed along the edge of the shape of the river to form subtle marks that echo watermarks. These works are in the process of being stitched together as a series of three scrolls measuring (w) 300mm x (h) 3.5metres for a show called ‘Creative Alchemy’ opening at Belconnen Arts Centre in September.
To coincide with the winter solstice Mark Bellringer has put together this exciting Film Festival with a series of short films by New Zealand Film makers plus one Australian – that’s me – to be viewed in Eltham on the north island. I have been very fortunate to have been selected to show an extended version of ‘echo Nacht – night Echoes’ during the Festival at the Eltham Town Hall Saturday 25th June at 7pm.
My storyboard will be also on display in a show titled ‘Screens, Stills and Storyboards’ at the PTO Gallery in Eltham. The work will be on display at the gallery from 24thJune – 18th July > Opening June 25th at 5pm
Artist Statement
‘red moon over the hill’ > mixed media on german etching 2010
______________________________________________________________
During 2009 and 2010 I visited the Far West of NSW and was inspired by the colour, light and the shapes of the industrial landscape in Broken Hill. This work tries to capture the memory of the full moon standing on the Line of Lode at sunset where old mines still stand as a memory of bygone days.
My mixed media works speak about a sense of time and place. Where fragments of past and present merge together seeking answers by revealing an intimate glimpse in a layered landscape – physically and metaphorically.
Fantastic reception at Bega Regional Gallery Friday 25th March. The show continues till 7th May 2011. Next is our Artist Talk at the Gallery. We are all very happy with the show and the feedback has been extremely positive.
Works on Paper for The Hill
Playing around with a series of the sepia works on paper as a repeat of a group of four x 5. This week will decide on just how many more of these pieces will be completed before the show opens.
The studio has been a hub of activity over the past few weeks. Work is nearing completion on the lengths of German Etching paper – measuring 400 mm wide x 4 metres long as a series of six scrolls that will suspend from the ceiling of the Bega Regional Gallery. The studio floor is a river of colour right now with the end in sight.
The video is now in the final edit too as you can see below with these film stills. Just working on sound edit right now.
The RIVER ROAD video
Over the past weeks I have returned to the making of the video. With a focus on mapping, with inspiration from the early Mapping Charts of The Darling from the nineteenth century – there has been a shift in the making of the work for show. With two residencies to Broken Hill under the belt and some time to think about what I wanted to tell in this video I decided to revisit the residency with the confrontation of such a different landscape in my mind. The reality of just how hard it was to focus on the making of something happen for a show – with a landscape that seemed to be so different and overwhelming at the same time – made the direction of what to do and how I wanted to portray the place just so much harder to make a start.
After weeks and then months of playing with the edits and thinking about how words would be embedded into the piece, I decided to just start to work and let it happen rather than think too much. I realised that the work had become too precious rather than this fluid medium where a story should unfold. One of those ‘Doh’ moments when I say to myself I should have realised earlier than this. I also met with the inspirational Vanessa Milton from ABC Open – who is a great editor – and realised that I needed to edit, think, edit and then unthink, play and then edit further again. I then rushed back to the studio and started to film the works on paper in progress as well as the movement of water and earth. Filming in front of the finished works on paper with the sounds of pouring and slowly dropping and pile onto old linoleum and painted sticks are beginning to work with the imagery now.
During this time I had the poem River Road sent to me as a final from Barbara and realised that we were both on the same page again. This coming week will be to bring it all together for sharing before making final edits. Even the bush spider dangling from its web in the foreground above the river appeared in each others work.
Studio Visit
The four artists and curator, Megan Bottari, all met at Sue Chancellor’s last week for a meeting to share and discuss work in relation to the selection of work and the hang for exhibition. It is now full steam ahead with clarity and direction for each of us to complete works for the late March opening.
At present I am working steadily in the studio getting the 2D work together for the Bega Regional Gallery show. All these works on paper are lying on the studio floor right now and are based on the flow of the Darling River {with help from google earth). Above is the first of the series of twelve works each measuring (h) 780mm x (w) 395mm.
The video work will emerge later – watch this space …………………..
With Broken Hill as the base the work has been inspired by the Darling River and the woolsheds that sit along it. After two residencies in the region west of the Darling there are four artists from the Far South Coast of NSW showing a mixture of work ranging from multi media, sculpture, paintings, video and works on paper. The artists are myself, Susan Chancellor, Poppy Benton and Jen Mallinson.
The exhibition opens March 25th at Bega Regional Gallery and continues till 7th May.