Sally Arnold (SA), Rebecca Birch (UK), Mary Good (VIC), Elizabeth Hetzel (SA), Olga Sankey (SA) - lighthousekeeping

Opening - 5:30 PM - Wednesday, 2nd September

Artist Talks - 6:00pm

Running - 3rd September 2015 - 19 September 2015

Curated by Elizabeth Hetzel and Catalogue Essay by Lisa Harms


‘Darkness was a presence. I learned to see in it, I learned to see through it, and I learned to see the darkness of my own.’
‘…it was discovered that every light had a story- no every light was a story, and the flashes themselves were the stories going out over the waves, as markers and guides and comfort and warning.’

From ‘lighthousekeeping’ by Jeanette Winterson.


This exhibition takes lighthouse keeping as a metaphor to explore the interrelationship between landscape and human experience in the spaces of light and dark. 

The lighthouse stands in the middle of darkness, and of danger, a beacon that emits flashes of illumination, moments of clarity. There are parallels between lighthouse keeping and art making: moments of focus, of recognition, fresh insight, new meanings, tending the light, work and resilience. Artworks as light flashes…

Bringing together emerging and established artists with national and international perspectives, lighthousekeeping creates a space to reflect on landscapes of darkness and light, and of the body and emotion, through painting, print media, video and film. 

Olga Sankey draws on her experience as a young child of a lighthouse keeper in her layered, print media works of light, darkness and shifting perspective. Rebecca Birch’s film ‘Great Northern’, made during her mid-winter residency in the Arctic Circle is a social and geological investigation of the experience of darkness. In contrast, Sally Arnold’s painterly works explore transience, solidity and light in the shifting terrain between emotional and geographical landscape. Mary Good’s 4 video works present a tender, abstract portrayal of human experience, and, transformation, through the repetitive crumpling of paper. And Elizabeth Hetzel’s video work explores the idea of resilience in interaction with the weather. Finally, Lisa Harms’ catalogue essay is a creative response to the exhibition premise and artworks.
 

This exhibition is supported by NAVA and the FELTspace philanthropic donation. Thank you. 

The Australian Artists’ Grant is a NAVA initiative, made possible through the generous sponsorship of Mrs Janet Holmes à Court and the support of the Visual Arts Board, Australia Council for the Arts.

https://lighthousekeepingexhibition.wordpress.com/

Image: Elizabeth Hetzel, Untitled, 2015