READ > Gross Accumulation, Percussive Maps, and Finding One’s Way

I came across a blog post that began with the words...

“Products are an archive — the work is done. The process is what keeps me alive.”

and I was immediately intrigued.  I wanted to share it because it investigates process-based work some of which includes textile processes. It was such a comfort to read about others coming to the same conclusions,  sharing the same thoughts and feelings about their work as you have about your own work.  

The article is called Gross Accumulation, Percussive Maps, and Finding One’s Way by Sharon Arnold who is part of a Seattle group called the Project Room.

I really encourage you all to check it out and let me know what you think.

SEE > Charlotte Haywood

Last weekend I just made it to A-M Gallery in Newtown to see Charlotte Haywood's exhibition Under My Skin.  I was really excited to see contemporary tapestry.  Haywood's portrait like works were bright and colourful.  They reminded me somewhat of religious ornamental and iconographic images.  I was a little sad that they were framed with glass.  I know this makes the work more sellable but personally I don't like glass to separate me from the threads.

Haywood also had some larger pieces which pushed tapestry towards a make-do aesthetic with strips of cloth used as yarn.  I also really enjoyed the use of the ends of the threads as part of the work itself.

There were also crocheted bust like figures situated on a glowing circular plinth which gave a red glow to the base of the white yarn.  Alongside these sat two electric saws whose functionality had been transformed with the addition of feathers and crochet.

Watch this is a artist talk by Charlotte Haywood.

WATCH> Those who make

I recently came across this wonderful collection of videos and interviews about all kinds of makers called Those who make. The videos are a visual and inspirational treat and let us see inside the studios of makers around the world. From delicate ceramics to boutique gin to delicious donuts to wooden canoes...

This one I've included is on book making:



and this one is about reuse, specifically upholstery:



I find inspiring videos are an excellent form of productive procrastination, do you?
Click here to visit the site for yourself. enjoy.

SEE > Photographs from our Exhibition

For those who were unable to make it here are some photographs of our exhibition "Uncommon Threads" at the Manly Q Station (taken very generously by Bec).  It was an interesting experience to work with the historic house that was originally the living quarters of the doctors and nurses.  I felt that we managed to inhabit the space without overpowering it.  It was both challenging and exciting to work within the parameters of the historic houses requirements.  It was especially interesting for us as textile artists to work in a domestic space as many of the techniques we use originate from the domestic sphere. 

Alex Falkiner ::

Anthea Fitzgerald ::

Belinda Von Mengersen ::

Paula do Prado ::

Cathie Edlington ::

Gillian Lavery ::

VISIT > Feminage. The logic of feminist collage

Paula do Prado's work Sepia Siren has been included in a new group exhibition at Cross Arts Projects - Feminage:The logic of feminist collage.

 

Paula do Prado, Sepiasiren, 2012 (series of 16). Vintage paper collage, each 24 x 33cm

The Cross Art Projects

Contemporary Art and Curatorial Platforms

8 Llankelly Place, Kings Cross Sydney 2011 

2 August to 15 September 2012

Opening: Saturday 4 August at 3pm

Artists: Karla Dickens, Elizabeth Gower, Emily Hunt, Mehwish Iqbal, Deborah Kelly, Fiona MacDonald, Paula do Prado, Sangetta Sandrasegar, Sally Smart, Tai Snaith, Nancy Spero, Jemima Wyman.

'Each artist adopts collage as radical verb, embracing collision and weaving and an affective spectrum running from the slow pulse of stitch and weave to sharp, kinetic shock. Here, paper itself is the matter — ground, split, flayed and then re-stitched.' www.crossart.com.au

VISIT > Eveline Kotai - Infinate Threads 

Last week I visited the Connie Dietzschold  Gallery in East Sydney.  There is a wonderful show there at the moment called Infinate Threads by Perth based artist Eveline Kotai.  Kotai influenced by Agnes Martin has stitched rows and rows of canvas onto canvas. The works are subtle and provocative and profoundly moving.  It was very interesting for me to find another artist working with textile processes and drawing a connection to the repetition in Agnes Martins work.  The repetitive nature of making is embedded in Kotai's work.  I felt that her work held me in the same way that the minimal works of Agnes Martin have been described to hold the viewer. 

To read the review by John McDonald in the Sydney Morning Herald Click here.

To visit the web site of Eveline Kotai go to www.evelinekotai.com.au

MAKE > paper bags with friends

Our first collaborative project as a collective has begun: Paper bags with friends!

We each begin with a paper bag and then alter it with stitching, drawing, tearing, dyeing, puncturing, painting, marking, repairing... then we pass it on to another member of the collective.

Do you use Pinterest? We have started a collaborative Pin board full of paper bag inspiration here.
My favourite image on the pin board so far is a work by Yuken Teruya. Teruya is an artist based in New York who creates intricate paper cuts. His work Notice - Forest a collection of trees sculpted from shopping bags is currently showing at the Art Gallery of NSW as part of the Biennale of Sydney. It is definitely worth a visit!

 images from here

More info on the project coming soon!

WATCH > TED talk: Kelli Anderson Design to Challenge reality

Kelli Anderson: Design to challenge reality

I saw this TED talk and I found it really inspiring and I thought that you might like it too.
It makes you think about how creative thinking cannot be valued in any measurable way but is so valuable none the less.  Enjoy!

 

image from here

You can find out more about Kelli Anderson and her projects including this counterfeit newspaper project on her website: here.

WATCH > Jean-Michel Basquiat doco

image from here

The ABC does a really good documentary series on Sunday evenings where this doco about Basquiat was originally aired on 8/1/2012.

It was a really interesting look at the life of Basquiat who was lucky enough to live in New York in the early 80's when creativity was incredibly alive. What struck me was how there was such an atmosphere of needing little to be able to do your work, that you were an artist and you made it happen. He believed that this was his calling and he used whatever he could to make it happen.  His style is often seen as child like but he also has an amazingly mature and insightful social perspective. I am someone who really struggles with drawing and I found that Basquiat's approach to drawing/painting/mark making inspiring.  He famously says:

"believe it or not I can actually draw"

 

 

You can find out more about the doco here, and about Basquiat here.

VISIT > Rodney Love

I came across Rodney's exhibition when walking past the 3 Foot Square exhibition space (the hole in the wall at Cofa). His artist's statement reads:

"This work is called Fences. It’s woven with a galvanised steel wire warp, and a paper weft. The paper is hand made and includes human hair, plant material, pigments, and spices. The wire was then allowed to rust, staining the paper. The title came because the coils of woven wire reminded me of fences waiting to be rolled out across the landscape.

Until recent rains and flooding, the dominant discourse about the countryside was the drought that had been causing hardship to farmers across the country. The rusted paper in Fences made me think of abandoned farms, rusted fences, and the brown, dusty soil of drought-affected farms."

You can find out more about Rodney Love here.