The annual exhibition, ‘Shelf Life’, at Delmar Galley, Trinity Grammar School, 144 Victoria Street, Ashfield, Sydney, 20th November to 8th December, 2013, covers a range of small scale works, that can easily be placed on a shelf, hence ‘Shelf Life’. The show has been really nicely curated and installed by Catherine Benz, the exhibition curator and gallery director of Delmar Gallery.
http://www.trinity.nsw.edu.au/4_community/socArts.htm
A great exhibition of the ceramic works by the Hermannsburg Potters at Peter Pinson Gallery at Syndicate, Danks Street Galleries, 2 Danks Street, waterloo, Sydney. 12 November to 30th November 2013.
Peter Pinson represents the Hermannsburg Potters in Sydney. The Hermannsburg Potters are from the Western Arrernte community, 130 kilometers west of Alice Springs, Northern Territory.
http://www.peterpinsongallery.com
“Pottery was first introduced to the Aboriginal artists of Hermannsburg in the 1960s by missionaries working with men from the community. These men, and subsequently both men and women artists, built on the tradition of Aranda (also called Arrernte) art that can be traced back to Albert Namatjira. Today, with continued help from their pottery trainer (a practising ceramicist and teacher) and the traditional owners of the region, a small group of mostly women produces unique and highly saleable works of ceramic art.These women (and the newer artists that have followed) use the introduced medium of clay to translate their cultural and artistic heritage. In a small pottery studio in the centre of the community the Hermannsburg Potters have forged their own unique type of ceramics.”
Judith Inkamala, ‘Albert (Namatjira), Rex (Battarbee) & Family. Painting Country’, 56 x 37 cm, 2011 (including detail)
Painting by Arthur Murch, ‘Hermannsburg Potter Judith Inkamala, nee Tebora’, 1964, oil on board, 60.5 x 60.5 cm
Arthur Murch vistited Hermannsburg in 1933 and again in 1964. On his 1933 visit he painted Veronica Tebora, on his return visit thirty-one years leter, he painted Veronica’s fifteen year old daughter Judith (above), five decades later, the young daughter Judith, enjoyed a national reputation as Hermannsburg potter Judith Inkamala. One her ceramics features bellow her portrait.
Three great shows at The Hughes Gallery, 270 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills, Sydney. 2nd November – 30th November 2013
http://www.rayhughesgallery.com
Tim Kyle, ‘Brothers in Arms’, all figurative sculptures using epoxy resin and mixed media
Tim Kyle’s boisterous figurative sculptures are well known and received. He won the 2003 Wynne Prize and his larger than life seated and standing men are recognisable from their outings at Sculpture by the Sea. Kyle is a keen observer of human behaviour. He has endowed his figures with unique expressions that create a real sense of character and personality. As the artist states, “I learnt of the Flaneur in art history and I suppose that’s what these pieces are the product of – observations and evaluations of human behaviour…The subject remains the same, forlorn introspection dosed with a wanton need for clarity from perplexity.”Kyle’s works are all very tactile, you can trace the hand of the artist through the forms created by his fingers in the clay, which is then cast in epoxy resin, forming the “rugged and unapologetic” pieces for which he is known. Drawing is also important to Kyle, who sketches his compositions before sculpting them. The works in ‘Brothers in Arms’ are “new essays on figuration that are directions once held in sketchbooks but never before realised in form.” Other works in this show are crafted out of acid free paper pulp, which the artist enjoys for its “expressive nobility and physical strength,” characteristics that can also be used to describe his body of work in general.
‘Gumption’, mixed media, 57 x 40 x 25 cm
“Nigel’, mixed media, 69 x 30 x 17 cm
‘Damo’, epoxy resin, 75 x 29 x 22 cm, and ‘Poirot’, mixed media, 45 x 24 x 14 cm
At the same time, Pru Morrison, ‘A nod is as good as a wink’, all ceramics, porcelain, terrasigillata, underglaze pencil and glaze
Brisbane based ceramisist Pru Morrison uses her finely crafted porcelain pieces to comment on everyday life in Australia. Drawing from a variety of sources, from politics to art history, the works are as topical as they are beautiful. For Morrison, “The most enjoyable part of my arts practice is creating an open story. I spend a lot of time in parks and on street benches watching and noting small mannerisms and everyday colloquialisms of people as they pass by. I record these sketches in a small notebook to use as a starting point when I return to the studio. Ideas often overlap with observations on current affairs, the arts and the poetry of politics…as I see it.” These drawings form only one part of Morrison’s practice, as they are scratched onto vessels which Morrison constructs using a variety of molds and hand building techniques. Once assembled, these forms resemble utilitarian objects like teapots or vases, but with a twist. The handle of the pot may be in the shape of a horse’s head or the vase resting on four sets legs, for example. To get their unique, finely coloured and textured effect, the surface is then layered with a fine slip called terrasigillata that is mixed with body stains to produce the colours. After this Morrison scratches through the different layers of colour to build the drawing, and adds black underglaze pencil that is fired onto the porcelain surface.
‘The Song of Waste’, 21 x 20 x 6 cm, and ‘Hose for hire’, 15 x 19 x 5 cm
‘Bowls, Porcelain’, 18 x 12 x 7 cm, and ‘Sheesh’, 21 x 11 x 8 cm
Also a mixed show, ‘Life’s a beach‘ in the main gallery. Works included Jason Phu, Nick Collerson, Michael Bell, Peter Powditch, Lucy Culliton, and Cameron Haas to name a few. As well as Joe Furlonger, whose work I have admired in the gallery for a long time. Bellow are details from one of his earlier Circus series paintings, which is in the entrance foyer.
I went and had a look at the National Art School, Postgraduate exhibition, Sydney, for 2013, held at the National Art School Gallery.
Some interesting work.
http://www.nas.edu.au/NASGallery
Emporio Armani National Art School Postgraduate Exhibition 2013
Exhibition: 1- 9 November 2013, Monday-Saturday 11am-5pm The National Art School Postgraduate Exhibition showcases the best emerging talent from students graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) and Master of Fine Art.
Rachael McCallum, ‘Bananas’, earthenware ceramics
Rachael Mc Callum’s work in the ceramic display case, C Block
Joanne Makas, ‘Yellow streak’, installation
Ann-Mare Jackson, ‘Boxed 1’, ceramic and plywood
Kirsten Drewes, ‘Terminus- part 3 + conversation’, paper-mache, acrylic paint, fur, string
Part of the Southern Highlands Arts Festival is the Art Studio Trail
2nd & 3rd November and the 9th & 10th of November 2013
Once again the feature event of SHAF is the annual Southern Highlands Art Studio Trail, when artists open their studio doors and allow visitors inside to explore their creative habitats across the first two weekends of November, 2013.
This year 22 studio doors are opening for the Art Studio Trail, so visitors will be able to meet the artists, see their work in the place it was created and purchase directly from the studio door.
A few examples from the day;
The vegetable garden at the back
A great studio, designed by Celeste Coucke
Interior with work by Julie Krone
The surrounding landscape, on top of the ridge, looking out to the coast line.
Artisans in the Gardens
I had my work in this years exhibition, with six ceramics and two paintings.
Saturday 19 – Sunday 27 October at the Lion Gate Lodge, Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney.
http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/foundationandfriends/events/friends_events/artisans_in_the_gardens_2013
“The popular Artisans in the Gardens exhibition returns, in 2013, for its thirteenth year. In keeping with its iconic location the exhibition will showcase the work of some of Australia’s leading contemporary artists and craftspeople along with Indigenous Australian artists.
The exhibition will feature the works of artists from around Australia including emerging and established contemporary jewellers, ceramicists, glass makers, textile artists, weavers and sculptors.
This annual spring exhibition, presented by Foundation & Friends of the Botanic Gardens, brings together some of the country’s most innovative and exciting artisans whose inspiration for their outstanding work is drawn from the beauty and complexity of nature.”
My artist statement;
The ceramic work and paintings are inspired by the Australian landscape ensuing from a recent residency at The Art Vault, in Mildura, Victoria and painting trips to regional NSW.
A conversation between clay and paint culminating in totemic symbols of the landscape; the river, the trees, the rocks and the broader special vistas. The stoneware ceramic vessels are hand built, a direct and tactile link to the earth. Painterly marks are applied with glaze, transformed in the heat of the kiln, iron oxide bleeds through the ceramic surface to create an alchemy of glaze, gestural marks and clay.
In recent times floods and rainfall have transformed the fragile semi arid landscape of inland Australia. This tension between the arid and abundant, layered histories, echoing past stories with unearthed relics, the cyclical nature of the environment with its destruction and renewal, are mirrored by the resilience and fortitude needed in life itself.
Other works;
The ceramic artist, Jenny Orchard
The ceramic artist, Sarah O’Sullivan
Textiles by Injalat Art & Craft Association
This was the first year there was also the accompanying Artisans Sculpture Walk in the Botanical Gardens itself.
“For a new perspective on the Garden take a stroll along the Artisans Sculpture Walk. This inaugural exhibition opens on Saturday 12 October and will see the addition of 12 stunning new sculptures to the Garden. It will feature a diverse range of contemporary artists working in both ephemeral and traditional mediums. These installations of steel, bamboo, timber, plastic and wire will adress the instinsic beauty of nature, the changing Australian landscape, botany and contemporary environment concerns. The works set in the Garden will create a rich and playful dialogue between the artists and the viewer.”
Rae Bolotin, ‘Seed Form 5’
Kevin Draper, ‘Threshold’
Also the Botanical Garden itself became an installation in itself!
Overland: From the Cradle to the Lake
Ceramic works by Barbara Campbell-Allen
28 September – 13 October 2013
Incinerator Art Space, 2 Small Street, Willoughby, Sydney
http://www.barbara-campbell-allen.com.au
Barbara Campbell-Allen is my ceramic teacher at Workshops Art Centre, Willoughby. Her work is beautiful, and this was a great exhibition, and installation.
Ceramic artist Barbara Campbell-Allen is exhibiting a series of ceramic installations embedded in the evocative environment of Central Tasmania. This work reflects Barbara’s journeys through the Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Parks.
“The abiding characteristics of Campbell-Allen’s practice are an exploration of the expressive capacities of clay and anagama-style wood-firing, and an embodied relationship to land, with many works developed in response to specific locations. In Overland; From the Cradle to the Lake, Campbell-Allen’s concern is for the groupings to convey the different emotional sense of each landscape and her journey.”
uy
I am painter and ceramic artist based in Sydney, Australia.
This blog site is record of images and experiences in my everyday life that refer to and inspire my art practice.
