FELTnatural ephemeral public art project
Following the success of ephemeral public art project FELTnatural 2013, along the River Torrens, and FELTmaps held in Port Adelaide in April 2014, FELTspace are proud to present FELTnatural 2014, an exhibition across Rymill Park featuring works from over 20 local artists.
The focus of the project is to bring site specific new works by significant contemporary South Australian artists to the public realm, driven by the desire to see high quality contemporary artworks that consider the space of Rymill Park (physically, culturally and socially) and invite the public to experience that space and contemporary art differently.
Open for a whole week the project kicks off on Friday 21 November at 6pm with an opening party complete with a bar, DJ, and food trucks. Lunch time artist talks will feature during the week of the project, and visitors will be treated to a closing family friendly picnic including an embroidered Frisbee workshop by Tasmanian collective Team Textiles and a performance by Adelaide choir, Choral Grief.
What: A FELTspace Rymill Park ephemeral public art project.
Where: Rymill Park, Adelaide.
When: Friday 21 November to Sunday 30 November
Opening night event: Friday 21 November 6-9pm on the Rymill Park Island, food trucks, DJ, bar.
Artist tours: 12:30pm, Tuesday 25 and Thursday 27 November - meet on Rymill Park island.
Closing Picnic: Sunday 30 Nov from 1pm, at BBQ West area, with Embroidered Frisbee workshop by Team Textiles and performance by Choral Grief. BYO drinks and food, bargain sausage sizzle by FELTspace.
Artists: Roy Ananda / Katie Barber / John Blines / Steven Cybulka / James Dodd / Jemimah Dodd / Mae Finlayson / Anna Gore / Ray Harris / Elizabeth Hetzel / Anna Horne / Heidi Kenyon / Sue Kneebone / Sophia Nuske / Jenna Pippett / Kate Power / Derek Sargent / Sandra Uray Kennett / Henry Jock Walker & Jungle Phillips & Steve Langdon / Josephine Were & Meg Wilson
*Performance schedule for 'hold/held' by Josephine Were & Meg Wilson
Friday 21st Nov, 6-8pmSaturday 22nd Nov, 1-3pmSunday Nov 30th 1-3pm
Project curators: Kate Moskwa, Ray Harris, Tara Tahmasebi
Featuring works by
Roy Ananda
Location: various locations throughout Rymill Park
Bnech, 2014, cast aluminum, timber, enamel paint, fixings, approximately 120x180x90cm
My sculptural practice frequently takes its cues from various fictional universes where different physical laws might apply. In the case of Bnech, the re- configuring of the basic components of a standard-issue, Adelaide City Council parkland bench has its roots in the science-fictional trope of teleportation. The work is informed in equal parts by Bart Simpson's misguided attempt to create a boy/fly hybrid via Professor Frink's matter transporter in The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror VIII, the alleged side effects of the covert military operation known as the 'The Philadelphia Experiment' and the potentially fatal ramifications of a poorly judged teleportation attempt by X-men stalwart Nightcrawler.
Roy Ananda is a South Australian artist working in the fields of drawing, sculpture and installation. He has been actively exhibiting since 2001 and has held solo exhibitions at the Anne and Gordon Samstag Museum of Art (Adelaide), Dianne Tanzer Gallery + Projects (Melbourne), West Space (Melbourne), Gippsland Art Gallery (Victoria), Gallery 4a (Sydney), FELTspace (Adelaide), Downtown Art Space (Adelaide), Fontanelle Gallery (Adelaide) and the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia (Adelaide). His work has also appeared in significant survey exhibitions including Primavera at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney) and the Australian Drawing Biennale at the Drill Hall Gallery (Canberra). In 2010, Ananda was the South Australian recipient of the Qantas Foundation Art Award. In addition to his studio practice, Ananda is active as a writer and lecturer. He is currently Head of Sculpture at Adelaide Central School of Art.
Katie Barber
Some Days Are Harder Than Others, 2014, Tapestry (linen, cotton, wool) and tree, dimensions variable
Why is it that we are rather then not? What can our metaphysical intuitions tell us about the fundamental principles of our individual being and our role in the human project? My practice is concerned with the creative act as an assertion of self in the world and as a platform for theosophical reflection and scientific investigation. Some Days are Harder than Others 2014 is a failed artefact borne of the 'Pure Information Loop' series (this series saw the development of an art- object/device imbued with the intention that it could connect The Self with The Whole). Conceptually and formally this piece echoes the absurdly hopeful despite knowingly futile struggle and accompanying suffering that underpins the human condition. For me this work is a personal feat of romantic conceptualism, beautifully, poetically, this failed artefact embodies the absurdity of its futile creation (birth), its intended function and its existence as a slumped, deflated, failed pure-information-loop in nature.
Katie Barber is a graduate of the South Australian School of Art, a professional curator and experimental musician. Her work is process-based, dealing for the most part with Romantic aspects of phenomenology, teleology and the creative action. An interest in the poetic potential of raw materials has seen Katie's practice move away from abstract painting/ painted objects toward a practice more heavily concerned with the assertion of conceptual ideas, employing any medium that speaks to the ideas being explored. Through this transition Katie's work remains meditative, endurance-based and ever-concerned with intuition (as a tool) and intention (as media).
John Blines
Chaise Sensorial, 2014, cardboard, rope, beeswax, MP3 (QR link), 60 x 180 x 70 cm (variable)
What if all that we know is false?
Any similarities between Chaise Sensorial and a pile of cardboard, bound with rope ready for curb-side collection, are merely coincidental. It is a chaise lounge, with a sumptuous curved form so designed to cradle the human figure. Immersed within the natural environment, the cradled figure bathes in the sensorial stimuli of contemporary civilisation. This work explores the absurdity of our society's consumerist ideology: over consumption, driven by science, technology and market, is arguably compelling humanity along a path of self- destruction. My work utilises societal by-product to challenge the assertions of so-called progress.
John Blines is an emerging multi-discipline artist who graduated with a Bachelor of Visual Art and Design from the Adelaide College of the Arts in 2013. Living and working in Adelaide, he has a studio at The Mill Adelaide in Angas Street. This year, Blines was selected to exhibit in the National Graduate Show, Hatched, at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA) and the Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition in Adelaide. He has also held a solo show and exhibited in three group exhibitions this year. The Spring 2014 edition of Imprint magazine used his work, Don't #1, to illustrate an exhibition review of Postered held at Tooth and Nail earlier this year. Participation in Godwin Bradbeer's Disegno Interno masterclass at the Adelaide Central School of Art was a further highlight of 2014.
Steven Cybulka
Zoetic, 2014, particle board, plywood, acrylic paint, spray paint, dimensions variable.
My work explores the transformation of space and its effect on emotional states. My installations are uniquely site responsive, with the process of making and intuitive reactions to the particular space combining to shape the direction and resolution of the work. Using abstract geometric forms I create immersive compositions that seek to evoke engagement and interaction with the viewer. The focus of my current practice is sculpture, and more specifically in the production of uniquely site responsive installation works. These are developed using abstract geometric artefacts created in the studio which are then transferred to the space of presentation. Their placement is informed and allowed to evolve organically through my intuitive response to the particular space, to produce a resolved composition that is both engaging and emotive. Much of the work develops without a specific, predetermined final outcome or design, with meaning and inspiration being found instead within the act of making and levels of emotional engagement throughout the creative process. I am currently undertaking my Honours year at the South Australian School of Art, Architecture and Design at the University of South Australia as a sculpture/installation major, while also being appointed as the Adelaide Festival Centre/ SALA Artist in Residence at Adelaide Festival Centre for 2014. During this time I have continued to exhibit my work at various galleries and office spaces across Adelaide.
James Dodd
Always secure, 2014, reconstituted cycle parts, lock, tree, dimensions variable. This work extends ongoing explorations into the potential for bicycles to become both a site of creativity and cultural intervention in public space. This particular modified cycle is hinged in its frame, allowing it to wrap around objects, such as a tree. In this case the front and rear wheels are locked as if the owner has left the cycle for a period of time. It becomes a physical musing on the urban practice of locking both wheels of a bike so that they are not stolen and also a play on wrapping or hugging a tree.
James Dodd exhibits regularly across Australia in publicly funded institutions, commercial galleries and artist-run spaces. He works across a range of mediums with particular interests in painting, DIY, adventure and creative outcomes in public space. Dodd is active as a writer and educator at Adelaide Central School of Art.
Represented by Hugo Michell Gallery.
Jemimah Dodd
Agave Attenuata Artificial, 2014, Tupperware containers, silicone nozzles, acrylic paint, 2 x domes (50 x 50 x 25 cm) & (25 x 25 x 20cm)
Agave Attenuata Artificial continues Jemimah's investigations into how we might imitate or subtly reference spectacle in nature with everyday materials. This concept of working stems from her ongoing interest in the potential for the extraordinary in the ordinary. The work created for FELTnatural blends ideas of the natural and artificial, organic and manufactured. Referencing one of the most popular and highly ornamental succulents, Jemimah has created a playful version of this commonly sought after plant. Extending on the idea of the artificial ornateness, Jemimah has created plant like forms out of numerous silicone nozzles, plastic domes, glitter and paint. The Agave Attenuata is extremely drought tolerant, survives in poor soils and can tolerate a range of climates. Agave Attenuata Artificial' is similarly robust, requiring no watering or soil. It is the perfect plant for those who enjoy the natural world but, like Jemimah, are not natural green thumbs!
Jemimah Dodd completed a Bachelor of Visual Art with Honors at Adelaide Central School of Art in 2011. Upon graduating from ACSA, Jemimah was selected to exhibit in the 2012 Helpmann Graduate Exhibition. During the 2013 SALA festival Jemimah presented her first solo exhibition, 'Fluorescence' at the Urban Cow Studio and was named as a SALA Award finalist for the Advertiser Business S.A. Contemporary Art Prize. Whilst pursuing her arts practice, Jemimah regularly participates in South Australian schools as an Artist in Residence. In 2013, Jemimah was selected as a Carclew Foyer Curator and also became a Co- Director for Adelaide based artists run initiative FELTspace. Jemimah is the Artist Assistant and Project Coordinator for 'Pom Pom' - a Carclew children's workshop program for 4-12 year olds in the Northern Suburbs of Adelaide and is a gallery attendant and installation assistant for the Anne and Gordon Samstag Museum of Art. In 2014, Jemimah has exhibited at Constance ARI in Hobart, Anita Traverso Gallery in Melbourne and will present a new body of work for the CACSA Project Space (SA) in December.
Mae Finlayson
Holographic Hand Towels, 2014, toweling, paint, plastic, thread, collection of 15 @ approx. H45cm x W35cm.
I work with familiar and used social objects. The collection and re-working of domestic do-it-yourself matter, particularly that which is unfinished or poorly completed is an exercise into re-evaluating human frustration and disillusionment as a possible pathway to contentment and satisfaction. Unwanted art/craft articles, where the making has been started, and then stopped, and left incomplete are reactivated by a second maker (myself) with the intention of creating dialogue between past and present; to develop a kind of open ended anonymous collaboration - my own and others' 'unfinished projects'. The materials I have used for FELTnatural, bath towels, paint, and kitsch holographic placemats have been assembled in ways as to mimic celebratory and mundane physical tokens of achievement. Most recognizably badges, banners and framed certificates. These tokens can be described as visual stand ins for some of life's achievements. As static indicators of human action and a tangible record of one's continued pursuit of betterment.
Mae Finlayson is a practicing artist living in Launceston, Tasmania. Her individual work explores the handmade and familiar, while her collaborative work with Team Textiles creates audience-activated artworks. She trained at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and Royal College of Art, London. She is currently a PhD candidate and lecturer of visual art at the University of Tasmania.
Anna Gore
Rockyroad, 2014, mixed media, dimensions variable.
Anna Gore is an abstract painter and installation artist. Her practice negotiates the material nature of paint and the act of painting. These concerns are often explored through papier-mâché, ceramics, ephemeral painting and light installations. Gore's practice explores the value of abstraction in communicating or evoking personal and collective experience.
Anna graduated from Adelaide Central School of Art in 2012 with a Bachelor of Visual Art (Honours). She was curated into PICA Hatched 2013 and recent exhibitions include Emerging Artists at GAG Projects, Rendezvoodoo and Whoever you are at Fontanelle Gallery and Colour Camp at CACSA Project Space.
Ray Harris
Fantastic Escapes: Mound series, 2014, mixed media, dimensions variable The Fantastic Escapes construct mental spaces; psychological states, moods, memories, fantasies and delusions as a place or physical environment. Enterable by the viewer, these have taken the form of small dioramas entered through the imagination or larger room-sized versions both with plain storage-like exteriors. The Fantastic Escapes mound series created specifically for the site of Rymill Park embrace and mimic the profound impact of nature and the symbiotic relationship between our surroundings and our internal states.
Ray Harris is not a middle aged man but an emerging Adelaide artist exploring the psychological complexities and struggles of the self. Her focus is on the compulsion of everyday delusional or fantasy states, as a means to direct the uncontainable hunger of the void, fill what is missing or repair the unrepairable, and manage repressed desires, anxieties, and emotional wounds. She explores these issues through subjective interpretations of universal conditions, creating installations and self-performed videos. The associated bodies of work represent the two often oppositional but fundamental aspects of a person's mental functioning and identity, their inner thought and outer behaviour. Ray has a Masters of Visual Arts from the University of South Australia and has exhibited at the AEAF, SASA Gallery, CACSA and Hugo Michell Gallery. As well as Casula Powerhouse and Brenda May Gallery (Sydney) Sawtooth(Launceston), Boxcopy (Brisbane), InFlight (Hobart) Next Wave (Melbourne) Supermarket Art Fair (Sweden)Gil and Moti Homegallery, (Netherlands) and Pirimid Sanat (Turkey). Her work is held in The Borusan Collection and Project 4L- Elgiz Museum Collection, Turkey and private collections in Australia.
Liz Hetzel
Unearthments, 2014, plaster, sand, dimensions variable
These forms record a search, satisfying scooping, a mind let off its leash, daydreaming, play. The shapes are lumps of the past, moments of presence and absence, made solid, the activity now still. The shapes spread over the slope, perhaps as relics, monuments or humble guardians of the play space.
Liz Hetzel is an Adelaide based artist working across sculpture, photography, painting and video. Her practice explores a sense of connection to 'place'- with all its complexities- using a process of creative 'collaboration' with the physical environment. She completed a Masters by Research degree (Visual Arts) in 2013 where her research explored an experience of connection to physical spaces of instability, movement and change such as the beach, a quarry, roads, rivers and bridges.
Anna Horne
Weigh Down, 2014, rope, concrete, dimensions variable
Anna Horne is a South Australian artist working in the field of sculpture. Her practice focuses on process and materiality while referencing the domestic and the architectural space. Within her work she uses commonplace materials and industrial home construction products such as vinyl, tiles and wood. For FELTnatural 2014 Anna is presenting a series of sculptural works that are attached to various tree branches within Rymill Park. Two characteristics of the park that drew her attention were the undulating slumped branches and the negative space between the branches and the ground. Focusing on these elements of the space Anna has created 'weights' that hang from woven rope baskets. Anna uses the negative space with the backdrop of the sky to frame her sculptures. These objects are made with materials such as rope and cast cement; two products that contradict each other in physicality. The works hang from the end of the branches appearing like the heavy object at the bottom is weighing them down and gravity is generating tension. Visually it may suggest this sculptural intervention has affected the shapes of these tree offshoots. Anna graduated from Adelaide Central School of Art in 2008. Since being selected for the PICA National Graduate Exhibition in 2009 Anna has exhibited frequently across Adelaide and interstate. She has exhibited at FELTspace, CACSA and Fontanelle. Her interstate shows include Kings ARI (VIC), Firstdraft (NSW) and Constance (TAS). In 2011 Anna's work was published in FELT GOLD: A Survey of Emerging Contemporary Art Practice in South Australia. In 2012 Anna was awarded by the Helpmann Academy a three-month residency at Artspace in Sydney. In 2014 Anna was a finalist in the Viscopy John Fries Award exhibition held at the UNSW Galleries. Anna currently lives in Adelaide and works from Fontanelle Studios.
Heidi Kenyon
She Awoke with Mirrors, 2014, Pinus radiata (fallen limbs), mirrors, glass and mixed media, dimensions variable
I am Adelaide-based contemporary sculpture and installation artist. My practice is motivated by the curious complexity of found objects and common materials: both natural and human-made. I believe found objects have the capacity to open up dialogues, and reveal something of the relationships between artist, artefact, and viewer. Whilst often motivated by intuitive investigation and autobiographical narrative I intend for my work to be subjective and open to the viewer's interpretation, and also able to voice broader social concerns. The kaleidoscopic works in She Awoke with Mirrors extend my interest in the merging of optical techniques with natural and found materials. Through these works I contemplate alternative ways of seeing, and explore wisdom, mythology and memories embedded within trees.
I am currently completing a Masters by Research (Major Studio Project) at the University of South Australia, supported by the MF & MH Joyner Scholarship in Fine Arts. In 2007 I graduated with First Class Honours (Bachelor of Visual Arts) from the South Australian School of Art. I have received a number of commendations for my work, including the Qantas Foundation Encouragement of Australian Contemporary Art Award (2012), the Ruth Tuck Scholarship (2010), and the Constance Gordon-Johnson Sculpture and Installation Prize (2008). I have exhibited my work locally, interstate and internationally, and have participated in residencies, workshops and mentorships within Australia, Italy, America, and the UK.
Sue Kneebone
The Last Resort, 2014, prayer stool, leisure lake, 8h x 60d x 50w cm
Like an ornamental garden folly, the appearance of a prayer stool floating on water arrests our vision to take our thoughts elsewhere. In the absence of human presence, the stool becomes a symbol for the veneration of nature in a time of unfathomable change due to human folly. In rising tides, it hovers as a last resort. Sue Kneebone explores perplexing social histories such as colonialism and environmental change through mixed media assemblage and photomontage. She has a PhD in visual arts from the South Australian School of Art, an MFA from Victorian College of the Arts and is currently a lecturer at Adelaide Central School of Art. Sue has been the recipient of grants from the Australia Council, Arts SA and the Qantas Foundation.
Sophia Nuske
To Kill Two Birds With One Scone, 2014, wood, paint, metal fixture, 17 x 30 x 11 cm
Sophia Nuske is an artist based in Adelaide. Nuske invites the viewer to refocus their attention on common, overlooked objects. By playing with the inherent language of these things, the chains of associated ideas are stretched, creating humorous juxtapositions guided by wordplay. Her subtly altered objects are then installed amongst items of the everyday to mimic their original context. This creates a game with the viewer in which one tries to determine what is real or a copy, reinforcing the playful quality underpinning Nuske's practice.
Nuske co-curated the Graduate Exhibition as part of the Australian Ceramics Triennial in 2012, and presented on the student panel discussing tertiary arts education. Completing Honours in 2013 at the University of South Australia gave Nuske the opportunity to develop her ceramic work in a sculpture/installation context. In 2014 she was awarded the Adelaide City Council Acquisitive Prize, and travelled to Jingdezhen in China as part of the Helpmann Academy residency program.
Jenna Pippett
Memoriam, 2014, wood, perspex, flowers, dimensions variable.
My practice manifests itself in looking into a personal past using family memorabilia, specifically on my mother's side. Responding to items, the work created offers visual links to engaging with a personal history. Altering and playing with memories, has led me to create new and interchangeable ways of viewing these past events. Memoriam, examines a simple memory I have from when I was 9 years old, whilst travelling overseas visiting my great- grandmother's town and gravesite. Growing up, I've learnt a great deal about this woman, whom my grandmother held in the highest regard. The work recalls my young memory of this time, whilst memorialising a memorial. I see myself as the last person to document and discover stories linking back to a past life. The work aims to evoke the memory of a past era by playing out an act of visual remembering.
Since graduating in 2012 with a Bachelor of Visual Art (Honours), Jenna Pippett has had work selected for the Hatched: National Graduate Exhibition at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art. She also participated in the 2013 Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition, in which she received the City of Adelaide Award. Exhibiting in a solo capacity at Adelaide City Councils: Art Pod in 2013 and at FELTspace and Constance ARI in 2014. She has also exhibited in a number of group shows, at Greenaway Gallery, Adelaide Central Gallery, Abbostford Convent, AEAF:Odradek. Along with two other colleges, she founded and runs Mint Artist Studios located in the Adelaide CBD, which focuses on supporting local emerging artists like themselves.
Kate Power
Ode to Orifice, 2014, paper mache, wire, packing paper, plaster, enamel paint, 2 x 1.5 m approx
Ode to Orifice takes inspiration from the 'orifices' or 'tree holes' found in a particular group of trees on the northern side of Rymill Park. Holes in trees are a physiological result of natural stress after the breakage of a limb, and expose the 'heartwood' of a tree. The holes are used by surrounding fauna as shelter, particularly the birds who are very protective of them. I was drawn to the holes because of their interesting and inviting shapes and have enlarged one to draw attention to the mysterious feature. The holes have a performative quality in that they appear capable of doing something or perhaps communicating with the rest of the park. An orifice has been magnified in hope of stimulating new ways of conceiving things familiar.
Kate Power is a current Honours student at the School of Art, Architecture and Design UniSA. She works with sculpture, installation and film to investigate coexistence and enforced social constructions that can complicate relations between people, with a focus on humorous outcomes. Power has exhibited at Felt Space (SA); Light Square Gallery (SA); Tooth and Nail (SA); Format (SA); Sydney Contemporary Art fair (NSW); and Seedling Art Space (SA). Her first solo exhibition will be at CACSA Project Space in 2015. She is a cofounder of Axe House Studios and is a co-director of FELTspace artist run initiative.
Derek Sargent
Cottage Queens, 2014, digital print on banner, 550cm x 250cm
Taking inspiration from the British slag term for anonymous sex in public toilets 'cottaging' and the segregation of gender in public toilets. Cottage Queens explores the development of identity and sexuality that exists in public spaces. Focusing on when sexuality was transformed in the public arena from an act to an identity.
Derek Sargent is a sculpture and installation artist based in Adelaide. His multimedia practice which includes moving image, sculpture forms, installation and photography excavates themes of young adolescent sexuality and identity. Sargent is a recent graduate with first class honours from the South Australia School of Art, he has three times been awarded the Chancellor's Letters of Commendation from the University of South Australia and is also a winner of the Constance Gordon-Johnson Sculpture and Installation Prize. His work has been exhibited nationally including the national graduate exhibition at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Helpmann Academy Graduate exhibition, Fontanelle and Firstdraft gallery. He is a former Co-Director of the Adelaide ARI FELTspace and is currently an education officer at the South Australia School of Art gallery.
Sandra Uray-Kennett
Cutting the sky open to find three day old rice pudding hidden inside my name, 2014, installation of found objects- antique brass bed-heads, metal springs, fishing wire, book-binding tape, dimensions variable.
"Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying', she said, 'one can't believe impossible things.' 'I daresay you haven't had much practice', said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." As Alice in Wonderland is informed by the Queen that she can perform six impossible things before breakfast, I am reminded of things (im) possible. The impossibilities of language, of difference, of dreams. And the possibility of all things being possible. This work was titled by my son before it had even begun. The impossibility of naming something that had not yet come into existence was, through the imagination of another, both possible and probable. I deconstruct this phrase against the work being place near a statue of Alice and what this might mean... I wondered that cutting the sky open (something impossible) worked as a metaphor for freedom ( possible) ,three day old rice pudding (time as a construct, the past, present and future move beyond the mechanical) and things (worlds) hidden inside a name (signs and signifiers, concealed meanings, multiple points of entry). As with much of my work, in conjunction with the title, the materiality of the artworks acts as a key to understanding, nevertheless all things remain ambiguous and the viewer may determine their own understanding of this piece, however improbable it may appear, everything is possible. Bed heads can be read as signifiers of sleep, of rest, of love, of dreams, nightmares...springs reminders of squeaks, jumping on beds, the mechanics of a clock, an object which takes a physical force and allows it to transfer that force, like a sound wave, recoiling and always returning to its original shape (of course the word itself reminds us of the season, and eternal return)...bookbinding tape alludes quite literally back to Lewis Carroll's book (possible), however it also infers to language in general, the written word, hours reading under the cover of a blanket, with a torch (possible), subversion, or perhaps remind us of streamers thrown from great cruise ships, back to shore, the hopes of those carried at sea seeking freedom (cutting open the sky). This becomes the impossibility of someone seeking refuge) or bondage/bandages or the language of lies (more possible). So then, as in fairytales, what is (im) possible? "Impossible is Nothing," it said. "Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing." (Elna Baker)
Dr. Sandra Uray-Kennett's object-based works have developed out of a painting practice originally inspired by the 19th Century photographic iconography documenting female hysteria. She was awarded the John Christie Wright Memorial Prize for Painting for this body of work. Her doctoral work was informed by her personal observations of schizophrenia and its language(s). The premise and intention of this research was to articulate the boundaries and unpredictable territories surrounding this solitary and internal experience. "I am interested in a world that is inaccessible. By its very nature, this investigation was a confrontation with a relentless and unpredictable barrier... Observing an ambiguity that often appears adrift and anchorless; my approach has always remained speculative in nature." As such, the resulting body of artwork was encouraged to be viewed as an empathic tool which offered an alternate, oblique approach to arguably the most challenging aspect of the human patho- psychological experience. Sandra was selected to exhibit at Hatched '09, the National Graduate Exhibition at Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts. She has presented her research and artworks at conferences on Madness at Oxford University, UK in 2009 and 2011, being only one of two international artists to be selected. Her 2009 paper, 'music from another room' was consequently published by interdisciplinary-net, Oxford, in a book entitled, 'Madness in Con- text: Historical, Poetic and Artistic Narratives.' Sandra has exhibited at PICA, FELTspace, Seedling Art Space, SALA Festival, Liverpool Street Gallery, Light Square Gallery, SASA Gallery, CACSA Project Space and odradekaeaf projectspace 24/7 at the Australian Experimental Art Foundation. Her work has also been included in 'handle with care', curated by Adele Sliuzas for ArtsSA in 2012-13. Sandra's most recent solo exhibition 'a knight's tour through a rent in the wall' was held at the CACSA Project Space. Her PhD exhibition 'coloured glass falling from fig trees' was exhibited at Liverpool Street Gallery and she most recently participated in John Baldessari's 'Your Name in Lights' in Paris, September 2014. Since completion of her Doctorate, Sandra has taught Painting and Drawing at the South Australian School of Art, Architecture and Design and currently works as a Research Education Office at the SASA Gallery.
Henry Jock Walker & Jungle Phillips & Steve Langdon
SASHIMI, 2014, acrylic paint and everything, approx 5m long - 2m wide- 1.5m high
Jungle, Henry and Langdon's painting practices have many common threads, some include colour, energy, performance and productivity. For their new team work, Sashimi, these humans are going to join forces to create a sculptural structure made from many discarded studio works and wonders. This outcome will then become a platform to continue a joint performative team painting process.
Henry Walker's intuitive performances of abstract painting and making in an art space, studio, public or surfing context are commonly documented and displayed by hijacking methods of presentation from surf culture. The crossover of surfing action and action painting morphs his practice onto a unique platform for exploration between the surfing and art community. Stephen Langdon looks to create art that expresses his own spirituality and faith and evoke a response from the onlooker. Steve is both a painter and a sculptor. His unique, lively use of colour, form and shape take us from whimsical to the abstract and is primarily expressive. His work endeavours to take us on a journey into our soul and the many pictures, events, emotions and thoughts recorded there in our life time. From sculptures using timber, sandstone and other unloved treasures, to paintings on traditional canvas and board, anything can and has been used to transform and create the next work. Jungle's house is one big studio, with floor to ceiling pictures - inside and outside. He loves to talk about and share his paintings with visitors. His art is his life and his life, both inner and outer, is expressed in his art. He is a colourful character and is a celebrity in Adelaide.
Josephine Were & Meg Wilson
Hold/Held, 2014, performance, rope lighting
This work was inspired by a desire to explore our devotion to technology. A neon sign provokes a mobile communicate of participates' text messaging. This may result in an intimate one to one encounter. Between the trees, on benches, within the park; you are invited to hide in plain sight.
Josephine and Meg first collaborated together in 2014 when they discovered their joint love for the lure of the found performance site. Josephine is a performance maker. Meg is a designer and visual artist. Josephine has made work for Crack theatre festival, Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe festivals and worked as a performer/maker with Vitalstatistix Theatre Company amongst other collaborators. She holds an MA in Performance Making from Goldsmith's College, London. Meg has designed set and costume for Restless Dance Theatre and Vitalstatistix Theatre Company. She finished with Honours in Visual Arts at UniSA and went on to study Interior Design. The artist has recently exhibited at Tarpspace during the inaugural Grid Festival, Constance ARI (TAS), and has forthcoming an exhibition with BLINDSIDE (VIC). Meg is currently co- director of FELTspace, for whom she curated the ephemeral public art event, FELTmaps.