Home → Associated Groups → Wattspace → Exhibition 11.06

Exhibitions to be opened by artist Kim Blunt, Public Programs Co-ordinator at Maitland Regional Art Gallery, at 6.30pm on Thursday 10 August, 2006.

Spin
Nerida Ackland, Gail Burrell-Davis, Jessica Coughlan, Alexandra Gilmore, Naomi Gow, Annetta Luspinner, Stephanie Oliver, Olivia Parsonage, Carol Strachan , Jade Perry
curated by Jessica Coughlan and Nerida Ackland

fibres

Spin is to turn on one’s axis, to face a new direction, to draw out and twist fibres to produce thread, weave thread from the body to produce a web, spin a yarn, fabricate a story. Spinning is dynamic, a movement to be made in the air, on the ground, into the earth, or within internal mental space. In this exhibition the students response to ideas in the areas of food, pattern, weaving and colonial discourse have been curated to a framework with Spin the underlying concept.

With the opportunity to explore via various textiles media, come found objects and ancient processes. Communications through the visual arts are accessed here through tactile memories, both the artist and viewer respond to the work with an instinct to touch, permeating the very boundaries set by art and the gallery construct, where objects of art are set as shining examples of value and thought.

The show seeks to tempt from the beginning to discourse through the physical, with two works though inviting habitats, are impenetrable, not to the elements, but to life form, human and animal. Playful interactions with light allude to an outdoor presence, transparency aids ideas of the accessible being untouchable, the human desire for transcendental experience.

Chillies cured in air, their contradiction sweet and hot, spice at a price, the visual meets sensual memory. As sensitive as materials can be to touch, they are powerful in their familiarity and so as communicators on social platforms common tools. The garb that we wear for protection and comfort may come at a price, with histories and current discourses on our pasts not just what is legible in the great canons, or volumes, but in our cupboards, closets, even on our beds.

In Fibre art practice it is the very familiarity of materials and objects that may prompt art/craft debate, however within that sense of past is the tap to a collective memory, giving work a sensual potency. Jessica Coughlan

L-R Alexandra Gilmore Untitled 2 tea, rag paper, calico; Carol Strachan It's about killing, not hunting baby blanket, toy soldiers, ribbon; on shelf Jessica Coughlan Hunting words industrial felt, found belt, below shelf Jessica Coughlan Motherland acrylic wool, lace, ribbon

L-R Gail Burrell-Davis Untitled recycled wool; Steph Oliver Not just for eating chilis, tarleton

L-R Jade Perry Lace Pots lace, paverpole; Naomi Gow Lingering Shadows thai cotton paper, wood, ink; Annetta Luspinner Water Vessel #1 copper consumer mains electrical wire

L-R Olivia Parsonage Here and the afterlife series (detail) wool, velvet, plastic bags, denim; Nerida Ackland Tearing Strips I canvas, wooden frame, netting

Unexpected Visions

Ann Nicholson
photography

My primary interest is the "unexpected", the unusual reflection and light, the rhythm and sensuality of what are "ordinary things" whether natural or man made. To me the photographic image is the desired objective … itself … not as a representation of what was photographed, but rather as its own independent being. Ann Nicholson

L-RTulip centre, Palais Gate, Porcelain Rainbow (details) all photographs on epson semi-gloss archival paper

Tamworth 2005 Grads

Helen Andrew, Alison Carr, Shass Haynes, Lewis Kable
painting

Shass, Lewis, Alison and Helen, four Tamworth 2005Graduation students, diverse in age, interests and style, were fortunate to be able to study through a joint initiative between Tamworth TAFE and the University of Newcastle. They hope you enjoy this exhibition showcasing works developed over their final degree year and past six months.

L-R Alison Carr Gum Tree Bark 1(detail) wax and oil on canvas: Lewis Kable Untitled oil on canvas

L-R Helen Andrew Sunset (detail) oil on canvas: Shass Haynes Out the Back (detail) triptych mixed media on board

SILENCE

Sean Roche

printmaking

These works exhibit sublime representations of sunsets, exploring the notion of capturing fleeting moments and associated emotions as memories. Expressed as silkscreen prints, the series SILENCE prompts the viewer to experience these emotions, as the image's eerily quiet sunset progressions unfold on hand-sewn paper. Sean Roche

L - R Details of series of screen-printed hand-sewn works from the series of 10

Lingua Obscuratum

Mark Calderwood

drawing

All too often, contemporary art ignores or rejects the renaissance as being imperialist and politically incorrect, or too daunting in its technical rigours. Given that its heritage still saturates our culture, denying the validity of this tradition is pointless. Lingua Obscuratum invites the viewer to step outside their expectations and contemplate the details, craftsmanship and myriad possibilities of each detailed work; for surely the world can only seem more abundant when we speak once more in such a rich, forgotten language. Mark Calderwood

L-R Untitled carmine and graphite pencil on paper Miranda sepia, body colour and liquid gold on paper

Fractured Beat

Suzanne Robertson and Elizabeth Wright

installation
Suzanne Robertson's work looks at the intense, life giving beat of the Orgasm, and how the feelings released wrap you in a passion and allow you to be what are meant to be. Elizabeth Wright's work looks at this intense beat, not from a complete sensual point, but from an identity point, where a beat that is strong, or fractured, by life experience, shapes your sense of self and your relationship to others.

L-R Image 1 and 2 Elizabeth Wright Tapestry(details) mixed media: Suzanne Wright Orgasm oil on canvas

Exhibition 11.06