ABANDON PROCEEDINGS BYRON SCHOOL OF ART GRADUATE YEARBOOK 2020
ABANDON PROCEEDINGS Welcome to the Byron School of Art Graduate Show and Yearbook of 2020. It is with great pride that we acknowledge our third year students, who have had to navigate an exceptionally difficult year; one of great uncertainty and change. Covid arrived straight off the back of a summer in which bushfires raged across the country. It has been an important time for artists to make work that reflects upon and interprets the societal and environmental challenges that we have been facing. The title of this Grad show, Abandon Proceedings, was chosen by the students and is a play on the title of their 2019 group show: Proceed With Abandon. Abandon Proceedings speaks of old modes of being that have had to be dismantled and adaptations made to adjust to a “new normal”. Abandon Proceedings is a stepping out of old paradigms; a shift into the unknown, with a mindset of freedom and openness. Through this difficult year, our third year students have cemented deep friendships, worked tirelessly and ultimately found ways of engendering a sense of optimism and hope. The images and text in the following pages reflect a deep commitment to practice and a willingness to experiment, play, question and persevere. It has been an extraordinary privilege for our teachers to witness the growth and development of Josephine Ehlers, Di Kelly, Cedar Jeffs, Andrea Portela Moreno, Gabe O’Neill, Belle Raine, Aly Russell, Zen Staff, Julia Stockhausen, Justin Telfer and Meg Walters, who have all studied at BSA for the past three years. We are excited to share this glimpse into their work, ideas and processes. The BSA directors, teachers and staff wish to congratulate our 2020 graduates. We have loved working with you and look forward to seeing how your work continues to develop and expand in the future. Byron School of Art would like to pay our respects to the Arakwal people of the Bundjalung Nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and meet. We honour their elders and their abiding connection to land, waters, place and community.
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2020 BSA YEARBOOK
1 Untitled (denim, jute and gesso) 61 x 75cm 2 Lamina (drop sheet, raw denim, shellac, flyscreen and oil paint on board) 61 x 48cm 3 Lamina II (drop sheet, discarded blanket, muslin, stitch and oil paint on board) 61 x 48cm 4 Mt Cotton Hillclimb (stitched, discarded fabric) 102 x 88cm 5 Under Indooroopilly Bridge 1978 (linen, denims, oil painting and stitch) 122 x 102cm 6 After the Flood 1974 (denims and stitch) 132 x 108cm 7 Mantle (found drop sheet and denim) 132 x 108cm 1
Justin Telfer Justin Telfer works across a range of mediums with a focus on textiles, painting, weaving and found objects. The impact of emotion and memory on the human psyche are predominant themes that Justin explores through a series of creative processes in his studio. Whilst there is an underlying framework of feelings and ideas, the final form of his work is not always predictable.
@justin.telfer
With a preference for using materials that are in abundance in his surroundings, Justin often uses whatever he has at hand or sourced from items that would otherwise go to landfill. Recycled materials include telephone cable, found objects, disused electrical wiring, discarded clothing and paper. Interested in the tactility of these objects, Justin lets the materials guide him in his work – one action leads to another, allowing the work to evolve, and always with the possibility of failure. The themes found in Justin’s work are his personal day-to-day responses to the world around him and are contemplative rather than formulaic. I like to just start… From here I let the materials, and later, the evolving work, guide me towards the final form that it will take. Sometimes I will have an idea in mind as a starting point, or a memory… sometimes it may just be a colour or a material. Where it ends up is not necessarily where I imagined at the beginning. For me, making art is a release from the ‘everyday’, allowing me to get lost in my focus on the task ahead of me. It enables experimentation and the exploration of form and aesthetics, helping to quiet the noisy voices in my head… The works in this exhibition are essentially emotional landscapes. They explore memory and connection to place, but are also selfreflective of psychological states that I can find myself in. I experiment with combinations of textures and materials, considering form and
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aesthetics, working, reworking, structuring and deconstructing, until the work represents the underlying framework of inspirations that are implicitly in my head. Techniques and processes used include tearing or cutting fabrics and failed paintings then reassembling them – sometimes machine stitched, sometimes by hand, and sometimes glued. Found scraps in op shop ragbags, discarded drop sheets, degraded flyscreen, moth eaten blankets and fabric store remnants may be used as they are, or further treated with paint, shellac or bleach. On reflection, I often see whatever it is that intuitively has led me to the place where the work has ended up. This is not necessarily apparent when I start the work, but the process of making the work has guided me. In one way it is straightforward, using unlikely materials from what is around me, transforming them into works that articulate my intuitions and insights that cannot be expressed in another way. I like the idea that the viewer will draw their own conclusions about the work, which may be in personal and unexpected ways.
"I like to just start… From here I let the materials, and later, the evolving work guide me towards the final form that it will take."
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2020 BSA YEARBOOK
1 River Casuarina II (oil on canvas) 41 x 31cm 2 Norfolk (oil on canvas) 50 x 40cm 3 Tempest II (oil on linen) 61 x 92cm
Cedar Jeffs I see my artistic practice as a vehicle for channelling my connection to the world around me. As I create, I communicate my experiences, values and desires. Intrigued by a variety of subjects and influences including artists Michael Borremans, Euan Uglow and Philip Wolfhagen, I have a tendency to shift between the figure and the landscape with a focus on exploring these traditional genres within a contemporary context. Although my choice of media is predominantly oil painting and drawing, I also experiment with collage, photography and video. The application of these media is now an important part of preliminary studies for each new series. @cedar_emily
Living in the Northern Rivers, surrounded by lush rainforests and a stunning coastline, my recent landscape works are a response to engaging with this idyllic region. I regularly spend time observing and being immersed in the places that I will subsequently paint, absorbing as much as I can and later interpreting my impressions in the studio. Drawing is an important part of my process and is often the starting point for a new painting or series. I frequently make sketches from life to take back to the studio and use alongside photographs as reference material. The use of slow-drying oil paint allows me enough time to find the form I am searching for or wanting to portray, adding and subtracting paint until it feels right. I use a limited palette, working tonally with subtle variations of colour, layering warm and cool shades together to create depth and evoke memory. While engrossed in a painting I find that even the most ordinary or familiar subjects become delicate, intricate and complex.
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A recurring theme in my figurative work is the complexity of human behaviour. I’m interested in exploring the hidden layers of the self and the masks we like to wear, to look deeper into what lies beneath the surface of the various roles we play. When working with this subject I consider questions of individual and collective identities, the role of gender and the history of women in society. This current series of figurative paintings is influenced by the concept of ‘fawning’ – a learned trauma response that uses peoplepleasing behaviour to diffuse conflict and earn the approval of others. Fawning is a way of creating safety in our connections with individuals, essentially by mirroring the imagined expectations and desires of those around us and then acting on those imagined desires. This way of coping can develop from a very young age. The sensitivity of this concept has captivated me. I am fascinated by the adaptive quality of human beings and our strong survival instincts. While painting I have imagined the figures in this series fading into their surroundings, conforming to their environment, blending in, and becoming invisible. My art practice is a rewarding process through which I have found a way to make sense of the world around me, express my interests, document my discoveries and process my responses.
“I am fascinated by the adaptive quality of human beings and our strong survival instincts.”
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8 4 Fawning Series IV (oil on board) 60 x 50cm; 5 Fawning Series V (oil on board) 60 x 50cm; 6 Fawning Series II (oil on board) 60 x 50cm; 7 Fawning Series III (oil on board) 60 x 50cm; 8 Fawning Series I (oil on board) 60 x 50cm
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2020 BSA YEARBOOK
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Aly Russell Are we, as humans, separate from the natural world? What is the difference between self and other? Does a place belong to us or do we belong to a place? Is the landscape changed by our perceptions of it? Is consciousness a human-only gift? Where does life stop? I have always been drawn to nature. This is where I find peace and balance. Where I am constantly fascinated and amazed. My work is based on this connection and a deep respect for our environment.
@aly_j_r
My process is varied and broad but ultimately starts with a visit to a favourite place. To sit quietly, to listen, and to absorb. To let patterns and relationships reveal themselves. I then use photography to focus in and capture lines, colours, and textures. Materials also guide me. I like to use found, scavenged, and handmade materials. A collecting, listening, and feeling process follows. Waiting for the items to tell me what they would like.
In contrast, I love the tangled, fragile diversity of life. The intimate minute that make you feel huge. My stitched and carved works have allowed me to explore our relationship with nature. The view that humans are the most important elements of existence. That nature is an unlimited commodity. The fact that we are all made up of the same elements and the possibility that we are connected to everything. This year I have thought a lot about these questions. I don’t have the answers, just as I don’t know what my work will look like when I begin. Or even what will end up hanging in the gallery for grad show! It is a slow process of growth and discovery. A quest for adaptation and ultimately evolution. “To see the World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour.” – Fragments from “Auguries of Innocence” William Blake
My oil paintings are on salvaged wood once destined for firewood or the skip. The paintings reflect a different, simplified view of the landscape. My stitched works are on bedsheets and scraps of material found in op-shops. These are then eco-dyed with leaves, flowers and bark or transfer printed with my photos. These pieces reflect intricate details and natural patterns. I love wild, vast, remote places. Space that makes you feel small. My paintings have allowed me to explore the human need for neatness and order. Our innate fear of the ‘wild’ and the need to tame it.
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“My process is varied and broad but ultimately starts with a visit to a favourite place.”
1 Unregarded Abundance (oil on salvaged wood) 18 x 20 x 4cm 2 Colonisation (stitched eco-dyed cotton) 106 x 87cm
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Broken Perfection (found natural elements and salvaged wood) 26 x 29 x 3cm Learning to See (oil on salvaged wood) 18 x 15 x 3cm Adaptation - Seeder (eco-dyed cotton with charcoal pen and stitch) 45 x 45cm Light between Shadow (oil on salvaged wood) 29 x 25 x 2cm Adaptation - Sprouter (eco-dyed cotton with charcoal pen and stitch) 45 x 45cm
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2020 BSA YEARBOOK
1 Form 13 (aluminium) 12 x 33 x 15cm 2 Flux I (oil on board) 50 x 50cm 3 Flux II (oil on board) 50 x 50cm
Gabe O’Neill My work is autobiographical, based on a selfreflective practice. It is a story-telling of the intangibles of life and the insights become clear to me as the works progress. It is the evolving conversation between object, space and self that motivates my art practice.
As a teacher myself, the experience of becoming a student again at BSA has been a wonderful adventure in art-making in a warm supportive learning community, filled with invaluable insights and connections.
Observational drawing of everyday objects is where my art practice begins. From these drawings I distill simple forms, shapes and tones, targeting the essential elements that catch my eye and re-contextualising them on the picture plane.
@gabe.oneill
I like to think of this as a process of applying a ‘view finder’ that draws my focus towards distinct components, like the surface, texture, light and shadow of the object I have drawn. These elements then become the subject matter, rather than the object itself, a fusing of the formal with the abstract. I work across a variety of mediums. When painting in oils I like to use a limited palette to create a sense of visual quiet and simplicity. In drawing I enjoy the simple tonality of graphite. Experimentation is an important part of my practice, and I like to explore different mediums, surfaces and materials. This approach often reveals a path into a developing idea or concept, and allows me to immerse myself in the process. I enjoy creating a sense of depth and dimensionality through simple line and shape. For this series of work I began by folding paper to find interesting forms and shapes that I then translated into paintings. This exploration with paper was the impetus for learning how to work with aluminum and creating a series of sculptural shapes in this medium.
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“Observational drawing of everyday objects is where my art practice begins. From these drawings I distill simple forms, shapes and tones, targeting the essential elements that catch my eye and re-contextualizing them on the picture plane.”
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8 4–7 Proximal (aluminium) 28 x 10 x 10cm 8 Flux III (oil on board) 50 x 50cm
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2020 BSA YEARBOOK
1 House of Cards (photograph) 2 Picket Line (photograph) 3 Velvet Floor (photograph)
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Josepine K. Ehlers I am a multidisciplinary artist based in the Northern Rivers, NSW. My interest is in the urban landscape and the poetic beauty found in lines, shapes and shadows. My work is driven by finding the unusual and unexpected in the everyday. Growing up in Denmark I was very influenced by my father and grandparents’ interest in architecture and design, in particular Arne Jacobsen who designed their houses and furniture. This kick started my passion for architecture and structural design. Attending Byron School of Art has made me realise how these formative years have shaped the way I see the world and how it influences all aspects of my art practice; painting, photography drawing and collage. @_jokokojo
I tend to work with structural elements such as roads, fences and construction as my subject matter. I am particularly interested in liminal spaces, reflections, pops of colour, larger shapes and line work which become integral parts of my compositions. I find interest in the often forgotten and overlooked corners between structures and the repetition found in shadows. I use drawing and collage to explore the visual cues that capture my attention in everyday life. My photography focuses on clean cut compositions and angles, experimenting with different exposure techniques, layering images to create unexpected forms and find new inspiration – obscuring the subject matter to a point of unknown. My process is very instinctive and spontaneous. I like to be ready with a few surfaces at a time so I can go for it, assess later and avoid overworking the one painting. I will generally
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work with one colour on multiple surfaces. Sometimes I’ll add a little touch of something before breakfast or as I’m walking past the studio. I work fast and intuitively – my work is in a constant state of change, and taking risks is a big part of my practice.
"My interest is in the urban landscape and the poetic beauty found in the lines, shapes and shadows. My work is driven by finding the unusual and unexpected in the everyday."
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Horizontal (acrylic and oil on linen) 120 x 150cm Portrait (acrylic and oil on canvas) 76 x 61cm Towering in my Heels (acrylic and oil on board) 105 x 122cm The Red One (mixed media on board) 92 x 104cm The Blue One (mixed media on board) 92 x 104cm
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2020 BSA YEARBOOK
1–3 Improv with Green Tape (found wood and masking tape, print on paper, 10s video loop) photos 20 x 20cm
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Julia Stockhausen I am a Berlin-born artist, based in the Northern Rivers and have been living in Australia since 2010. My approach has been mainly process driven this year. I like to begin from an experimental and intuitive place so that the work can gradually reveal itself to me. Accidental happenings are an intrinsic part of it. Photography, collage, painting and assemblage are all components of my process and work.
@junglejuleeaa
This year I have been compelled to play and experiment with everyday industrial and domestic materials that, when taken out of context were allowed to reveal another meaning or existence. It is kind of humorous to turn something that’s so ordinary and unvalued into something that asks the viewer to see it with a new set of eyes. This shifting of perspective and playing with materiality interests me. It brings up questions and causes me to consider how much importance is placed on materialistic values and how notions of 'success' are so closely aligned to this. Choosing to work with these materials also evokes feelings and memories of where I grew up; a place of improvisation and freedom, which is not always pretty, yet beautiful and incredibly real. I like playing around with shapes and angles in order to achieve satisfying abstract compositions – a bit of chaos brought back into order – compositional order and impossible disorder. “Maybe I don’t think enough about beauty in my work because I’m so curious about other qualities, abstract qualities of time, weight, balance, rhythm; collapse and fatigue versus the more upright dynamic notions of maybe posture … the state that something might be in. Is it growing or shrinking, is it going up or down, is it folding or unfolding?” – Phyllida Barlow, The Guardian 2016
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“It is kind of humorous to turn something that’s so ordinary and unvalued into something that asks the viewer to see it with a new set of eyes.”
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4–7 Make it Great Again (various tapes, cardboard and acrylic) various sizes from 25 x 25cm to 13 x 10cm 8–11 Dream State (acrylic and oil on board) 21.5 x 25cm each
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2020 BSA YEARBOOK
Meg Walters As an emerging artist, my practice has primarily been focused on the exploration of paint and how I respond to it. Over the past three years I’ve investigated how colours, textures, subject and medium have the ability to elicit specific emotions in a painting. Having grown up in Bermuda and Canada, I’m interested in the relationship between memory and identity. Now residing in Australia, I’ve developed a hybrid perspective towards the world and my place in it. This outlook encompasses psychological narratives, a natural connection to place and the elusive space between dreams.
@megwaltersworld www.megwalters.com
It was at Chelsea College of Art and Design in London where I had my first foray into a contemporary art practice. With landscape gradually becoming a more integral part of my creative process, I followed the allure of the wild to Australia where I completed my Bachelor of Art at Newcastle University. Work commitments took me to Sydney where I spent eight years in the music industry, helping shape the careers of many artists. When an opportunity came up to move to Northern NSW four years ago, I jumped at the chance. An enrolment to the Byron School of Art quickly followed the move and set me back on my own creative path. In the past three years, I’ve had multiple overseas exhibitions in Berlin and Bermuda as well as solo and group shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle and Byron Bay. My wistful landscape paintings occasionally include fragments of figures. These figures often reference my isolated and displaced sense of self in the world. Washes of oil paint are applied expressively and with purpose, layering memories and stories to invoke a lyrical atmosphere. The first layer is laid down from memory, eliciting a loose quality of feeling while subsequent layers are built up transparently. My
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images are built up from photographs and sketches gathered from a specific location. I’m interested in the abstraction that occurs when unifying multiple images and shapes in a single painting. Colours are chosen not for their accuracy, but for their emotive qualities. The series I’ve been working on for most of this year explores the dichotomy between our adult selves and our inner child. I’ve used the reflective qualities of still water, shadows and other dualities as a metaphor for the mirror we must inevitably all hold up to ourselves. The contrast of both intensely joyful, albeit challenging times, spent at home with my two year old daughter during lockdown this year became the catalyst for this concept. The ever changing and spiraling emotions of a toddler made me revisit my own upbringing and childhood in a new light. Drawing on inspiration close to home, I set off to explore the forgotten rivers, icy swimming holes and solitary waterfalls of my hinterland home in Northern NSW. A lush area resplendent with colourful parrots, textural palm trees and the deep quiet of dense rainforest can often become the backdrop for my paintings. Exploring the motif of dualism, I attempt to capture two landscape paintings in one. My paintings encompass both the towering sight of trees draping over still water, as well as the abstracted image of water itself. The result is a cornucopia of colours, patterns and movement; a painting that is separate, yet whole. I’d like to asks the viewer to embark on a journey into the unknown with me, to discard logic in favour of intuition and lean into each of my paintings, entering an imagined world.
1 Meg in her studio 2 A Silent Forest (oil on canvas) 60 x 60cm
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3 The World Turned Slowly (oil on canvas) 60 x 60cm 4 Invincible Summer (oil on canvas) 60 x 60cm 5 Nightfall (oil on canvas) 60 x 60cm
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2020 BSA YEARBOOK
Zen Staff Integrating my experience in the construction industry and my interest in astronomy, geology and psychology, I make work that explores my perception of the universe. Using materials that I have become comfortable with during my 13 years of experience as a builder, my work attempts to recreate the textures of the natural world, both on the macro and the micro.
@zenstaff
My inspiration comes from satellite imagery of the earth, Mars and the other planets in our solar systems, the textures of the natural world and their interaction with the built environment. My practice is mostly process based, building and prepping the frames following a precise and controlled plan. Once everything is prepped I allow the elements of chance and experimentation to take over, both in the markmaking and the material choice, using materials such as plaster, silicone, fibreglass tape, oil and acrylic paint, polyurethanes and spray paints. Within this I attempt to recreate the natural patterns that appear from a great distance right down to the microscopic. Through my experimentation I hope to better understand the natural processes that form the textures of the world and how those textures shape our perception of the world. I also draw inspiration from artists such as Tom Friedman, Sterling Ruby and Anselm Kiefer. I have always been fascinated by space, nature and satellite imagery of the earth and when I was a child my mother told me she was abducted by aliens when she was pregnant with me. So I guess that had an impact. Looking back at that impressionable time in my life that event helps me understand why I’ve found myself more at home looking back at the earth from space through satellite imagery and much more comfortable with the general feelings of alienation that comes with the territory.
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As we progress technologically as a species we're gaining a more indepth understanding of our environment, but this also leads us to encroach further into the world we’re attempting to understand – in the way we’re looking further and further into space the amount of space trash we’re accumulating around the earth is skewing our unassisted view of the stars. Without intervention it could be that one day the only way we’re able to see the stars will be through a screen.
“I make work that explores my perception of the universe.”
1–2 Pre-fab Experience (detail)(acrylic, fibreglass and polyurethane) 3 Section 10 (acrylic, fibreglass, correction pen and polyurethane)120 x 120 x 7cm 4 Pre-fab Experience (detail) (acrylic, fibreglass and polyurethane)120 x 120 x 7cm 5 Innocuous (acrylic and polyurethane) 120 x 120 x 7cm 6 Instability (plaster, acrylic, cellulose, acetate and steel) 70 x 70 x 7cm
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7 Saw Horse (found object) 30 x 35 x 7cm 8 Laminar (acrylic and plaster) 70 x 70 x 7cm 9 Zen installing work
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2020 BSA YEARBOOK
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Di Kelly I am always on the lookout for subject matter. I usually don’t have to go far. Inspiration is everywhere. During Covid lockdown I would walk each day up and down the back lanes behind my unit. Each day I would find something interesting and different to photograph, such as shadows on a wall, a floppy mop slung over a fence, an intriguing reflection in a puddle or bright orange fungus on a fallen limb. Rather than observe a whole tree or a whole landscape or ocean view for example I have tended recently to look more to the minutiae of life and to the everyday. The possibilities are endless. The ordinary (I feel) can be extraordinary.
@dianemarionkelly
In my latest series of paintings my goal has been to transform such everyday objects and scenes into contemporary compositions. The eight paintings in this series are based on creative photos I have taken of these subjects. Sometimes I juxtapose photographs together or use the Layout App on my iPhone to help create interesting configurations. Artistic licence is then employed to further enhance composition and colour combinations in the subsequent artworks. I also like the concept of negative space. I have allowed big areas of ‘grey space’ in a few of these paintings to give the subject matter and colours room to ‘breathe’. To add another dimension to six of the paintings I have glued on assemblages made from small blocks of wood that are mostly salvaged from skip bins. These give a sculptural three dimensional effect to the works. Studying contemporary art for the last three years with the Byron School of Art has been an absolute highlight.
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“During Covid lockdown I would walk each day up and down the back lanes behind my unit. Each day I would find something interesting and different to photograph, such as shadows on a wall, a floppy mop slung over a fence, an intriguing reflection in a puddle or bright orange fungus on a fallen limb.”
1 Carpark (detail) 2 Carpark (acrylic on board) 60 x 60cm
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3 Mullumbimby Pigeons (acrylic on board) 4 Vintage Truck (acrylic on board) 5 Work Zone (acrylic on board) all works 60 x 60cm
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2020 BSA YEARBOOK
1 Moncada (oil on linen) 30 x 30cm 2 Flee (oil on linen) 76 x 60cm
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Belle Raine Everything is a little bit slippery. People, places, events and images begin to leave us from the moment that we hold them as time exerts itself. It is at work in the background of our lives, often beyond our awareness. How do we hold something that is slipping and what does it leave behind? Whilst depicting themes of absence and loss, my work considers these ideas and the distillation of an image or an event as it’s impacted by time and reproduction processes.
@belleraineartist
Before I begin a painting I sift through many historical photos, watch film footage and look through books including those depicting war, terror and political unrest. I’m looking to see a potency there that I resonate with. It may only be an element of the original image or something I think I can pull out and make my own through painting. It is the image that I’m drawn to first and it is often not until later that I research the event from which it originated and become more emotionally invested in its political relevance. This practice began first, due to being introduced to a book called Englehab Street – A Revolution In Books by Hannah Darabi, which is a collection of journalistic photos around conflict in Iran. The images I found in this book provided a new avenue for expressing personal things but with a global relevance. Somehow suddenly my voice within the paintings seemed louder. The influence of photography and film is not only evident in the subject matter but sometimes in how I crop or frame an image, the inclusion of photographic mistakes or technological mishaps such as overexposures, tears and colour bleeds. The colour palette I use also makes reference to photography, tending to rest on black and white or sepia tones, not just for this purpose but also because of their relationship to the past, memory and the function of reducing visual noise. Can a
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work be quiet and loud at the same time? That is what I am looking for, this tension between opposites. Being conscious about creating tension is a shift that has just appeared in my work this year after reading the book Is It Safe by Gerrit Vermeiren. The book contains interviews with Luc Tuymans who discusses ideas around this within his own work. For example when I use linen it is for its emotional timbre and also to create tension. Linen is tender, feminine and nurturing whilst the subject matter may be underpinned by violence or aggression.
“Whilst depicting themes of absence and loss, my work considers these ideas and the distillation of an image or an event as it’s impacted by time and reproduction processes.”
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Insurgent (oil on linen) 76 x 60cm Missing (oil on linen) 76 x 60cm SOS (oil on linen) 76 x 60cm Authority (oil on linen) 76 x 60cm Blown (oil on board) 76 x 60cm
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2020 BSA YEARBOOK
Andrea Portela Moreno I am a Byron based emerging artist currently studying third year at Byron School of Art. My practice includes an interest in collage, drawing and watercolour but for Abandon Proceedings I focused on acrylic painting and video. Attracted to the clean, calm and methodical simplicity of hard-edge abstraction my work brings to mind architectural sketches and abstract geometrical landscapes. Some works are vast and mysterious while others are immersions in intimate interior spaces. I love experimenting with perspective, depth and three-dimensionality.
@andrea_portela_moreno
My paintings and videos recall the geometry of shapes, lines and colours that have been imprinted in my memory from growing up in Madrid, Spain, a bustling city full of noise and colour. I remember always looking up and feeling small against the hugeness of my environment. I am a dedicated observer of the world, always seeking traces of humanity in handmade objects. I have always been attracted to architecture and photography, especially modern architecture, admiring the works of SwissFrench architect and designer Le Corbusier and Hungarian Lucien Herve, an architectural photographer. I’m particularly interested in how Le Corbusier uses elemental geometric forms and structures in a very clear and simple way. Herve’s characteristic style informs my use of cropped frames, playing with angle and perspective. Researching his work has helped me to develop a sharp eye for echoing forms. Each composition is painted in a meditative state. The laborious process of taping and applying dense layers of paint with the satisfactory moment of revealing the perfect straight
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lines under the tape is an important part of my practice. It is an exercise in patience and calmness. In my video work I explore otherworldly qualities of objects located in our domestic environment. By focusing my lens on commonplace subjects (blinds, stairwells, fences) and making slow sweeping movements with the camera, I emphasise the tensions between light and shadow, texture and form, colour and opacity. These representations are swiftly abstracted through a series of postproduction editing techniques where synthesised sound is added for additional emotive currency.
Memory, vast and mysterious I paint to record my memory. I paint to re-experience the past in the present . When I paint I retell a story and it becomes synthesised in a different way. A new memory. Memory allows us to prepare for the future. Memory, vast and mysterious – Andrea Portela Moreno
1 Cuatro Caminos (acrylic on board) 60 x 237cm 2 Tetuan (acrylic on board) 70 x 60cm 3 Legazpi (acrylic on board 70 x 60cm
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4 Chopera I (acrylic on board) 40 x 30cm 5 Chopera II (acrylic on board) 40 x 30cm 6 Ciudad Lineal I (acrylic on board) 40 x 30cm 7 Ciudad Lineal II (acrylic on board) 40 x 30cm
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Byron School of Art gratefully acknowledges all of our sponsors and student prize partners for their generous support of the BSA Graduate Program, including this yearbook. YEARBOOK and GRAD SHOW SPONSORS Langridge Artist Colours, Punch & Daisy, Baker & Daughters, Still @ the Centre, Rock of Ages, The Bucha of Byron, Brookie’s Gin, Three Blue Ducks, The Bread Social, Harley Graham Architects, Creative Road, Haven Botanical, Pack Gallery, James Hardware, Tinker Tailor Dancer Trader and Blue Boy Studio. STUDENT PRIZE PARTNERS Langridge Artist Colours for the BSA Student Prize for Painting Northern Rivers Community Gallery for the Byron School of Art Graduate Award Byron Arts Magazine for the BAM Award Lismore Regional Gallery for the LRG/BSA Prize Byron School of Art also thanks Diana Miller for designing this publication, Michelle Eabry for photographing the students’ work, Emma Walker and Jo Petrou for coordinating the publication and sponsorship and Emma Walker for photographing the students. BSA DIRECTORS AND TEACHERS Christine Willcocks Michael Cusack Emma Walker James Guppy Sarah Harvey
Travis Paterson Teacher and BSA Project Space Coordinator Joanna Petrou Admin Michelle Eabry Admin Assistant TEACHERS AND GUEST LECTURERS OF VISUAL ARTS RESEARCH AND PORTFOLIO (3RD YEAR)
Emma Walker Michael Cusack Travis Paterson Christine Willcocks Chris Bennie Murray Paterson Sharne Wolff Guest Lecturer Susi Muddiman OAM Guest Lecturer Karla Dickens Guest Lecturer Bridie Lunney Guest Lecturer and BSA Ralph Woodford Residency Recipient Gali Weiss Guest Lecturer and BSA Ralph Woodford Residency Recipient
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1/3 Ray O’Neill Crescent - 0466 430 813
Byron School of Art would like to thank these Supporting Sponsors
pack gallery
ISBN 978-0-646-82825-1