Emma Fielden 'between stars, between stones'

EMMA FIELDEN ‘between stars, between stones’ 01.11. – 25.11.18

Between any two given points there is a space, in geometry it is called a line. Theoretically, any line is infinitely divisible – any line can be divided into an infinite number of points. To clarify this, think of dividing a line in half, then divide each of those halves in half again, and so on endlessly.

The line segments become infinitely many and their size becomes infinitesimal as they move toward, but never actually reach, zero.

The Greek philosopher Zeno (c. 490 – 430 BC) reflected upon this idea of infinite divisibility in his paradox of The Tortoise and Achilles, in which the great warrior and athlete Achilles can never beat the tortoise in a race. The paradox can be summarised and rephrased as follows. Suppose I wish to travel from point A to point B. First I must cover half the distance between the two points, then I must cover half of the remaining distance, then half of the next remaining distance, and so on endlessly. The consequence is that I can never complete a journey between point A and point B. Similarly, points A and B can never meet.

With these thoughts in mind I ask myself, what actually is the distance between two points? What is the distance between two stars, between two mountains, two stones, two humans? Like two points in space or two points in time, can individuals ever really coexist in a mutual psychological space of true understanding? Can we get inside another person’s head, or are we ultimately separated by an infinitely divisible and uncrossable void?

Conversely, we might see ourselves and everything that surrounds us as simply different manifestations of the same stuff – varied states of matter, unified by our subatomic makeup. But once this matter takes on the complexity of form, and possibly consciousness, how close is this connection really?

Emma Fielden

EDUCATION 2004 – 2006 Advanced Diploma in Jewellery and Object Design, TAFE NSW Sydney Institute Design Centre.

2005 – 2006 Certificate III in Hand Engraving, TAFE NSW Sydney Institute Design Centre.

1995 Associate Diploma in Music (performance), Australian Music Education Board.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2018 between stars, between stones, Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney.

2016 Dark Matter. Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney.

2015 Iota. Gallery Funaki, Melbourne.

2015 Infinity. Courtesy Of The Artist, Sydney.

2013 Draw. Courtesy Of The Artist, Sydney.

2008 Emma Fielden. Studio 20/17, Sydney.

2007 Emma Fielden. Metalab, Sydney.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2018 To Have and To Hold: The Daalder Collection of Contemporary Jewellery, Art Gallery of South Australia.

Condo, Mexico City, represented by Dominik Mersch Gallery at Patricia Conde Galeria.

Aurora Australis, Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h, Montreal, Canada. Curated by Katie Scott, Gallery Funaki.

Summer Group Show, Dominik Mersch Gallery.

2017 NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship, Artspace, Sydney.

Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize.

Paramor Prize, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (winner of the Mayoral Award).

10 - Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, Dominik Mersch Gallery.

PAS17.2, Parramatta Artists Studios, curated by Elizabeth Chang.

2016 Parramatta Artists Studios Ideas Platform exhibition, Artspace. Curated by Alexie Glass-Kantor, Talia Linz, and Sophia Kouyoumdjian.

Drawing Conversations, drawing symposium at National Art School.

The Blake Prize. Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre.

Phenomena. Parramatta Artists Studios / Parramatta Lanes. Curated by Sophia Kouyoumdjian.

Parramatta Artists Studios at The Kings School 37th Annual Art Show. Curated by Sophia Kouyoumdjian.

The F Show. North Contemporary Art Space. Curated by Abdullah M.I. Syed.

2014 - 2015 Sydney Contemporary. Dominik Mersch Gallery.

Drawn To Form: The Matter in Hand. Blacktown Arts Centre. Curated by Merran Esson and Abdullah M.I. Syed.

National Contemporary Jewellery Award. Griffith Regional Art Gallery, COTA, Sturt Australian Contemporary Craft and Design.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS CONTINUED 2005 - 2013 Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes. Studio 20/17, Sydney, 2013.

Breathe Into. Courtesy Of The Artist, Jam Factory, 2013.

Profile. Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia NSW. Gaffa Sydney, Percolator Gallery Queensland, 2012/2013.

National Contemporary Jewellery Award. Griffith Regional Art Gallery, Metalab, Sturt Australian Contemporary Craft and Design, 2012.

The Year Was 2006. Studio 20/17, Sydney, 2012.

In Line/In Metal. Aaron Faber Gallery New York, SOFA Chicago, 2011.

11th Ernest Leviny Commemorative Silver Exhibition, Buda Historic Home and Garden Castlemaine, 2011.

Tea Wares. Jam Factory Contemporary Craft and Design, Adelaide, 2010.

Winter Brooches 10. Studio 20/17, Sydney, 2010.

Wrapped. Studio 20/17, Sydney, 2010.

Say Your Piece. Gaffa, Sydney, 2010 10th Ernest Leviny Commemorative Silver Exhibition. Buda Historic Home and Garden Castlemaine, Shepparton Art Gallery, Arts Centre Melbourne, Geelong Art Gallery, Mornington Peninsula Regional Art Gallery, 2009.

Winter Brooches 09. Studio 20/17, Sydney, 2009.

Profile, Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia NSW, 2008.

Graduate Metal XI, Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia, 2008.

Winter Brooches 08, Studio 20/17, Sydney, 2008.

Vessel, Studio 20/17, Sydney, 2008.

Cracker, Metalab, Sydney, 2007.

Contemporary Wearables ’05, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery, Mosman Art Gallery, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, Maroondah Art Gallery, 2005 AWARDS AND GRANTS 2018 Art Omi Australia Committee Fellowship for Art Omi Artists Residency, New York USA. 2017 NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship, Create NSW and Artspace, Sydney. Finalist.

2017 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize. Finalist.

2017 Paramor Prize, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. Winner of the Mayoral Award.

2016 NSW Artists Grant, National Associated of Visual Arts (NAVA).

2016 The Blake Prize. Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. Finalist.

2016 Blacktown City Art Prize. Finalist.

2014 National Contemporary Jewellery Award. Main acquisitive award.

2013 New Work Grant. Visual Arts Board, Australia Council for the Arts.

2012 National Contemporary Jewellery Award. Finalist.

2009 Buda Silver Exhibition. Winner of the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society Award.

2007 Jewellery and Object Design Award and Residency. TAFE NSW Sydney Institute Design Centre.

2006 Craft Australia, Youth@craft.design. Highly commended.

RESIDENCIES 2018 Art Omi Artists Residency, New York USA. 2018 Parramatta Artists Studios, one year residency.

2018 The Lock-Up, Newcastle, artist in residence.

2017 Parramatta Artists Studios, one year residency.

2016 Parramatta Artists Studios, one year residency.

2016 House of Wonder art + science residency. Working with Radio Astronomer Dr Andrew O'Brien of Western Sydney University. Part of the Gravity (and Wonder) exhibition program at Penrith Regional Gallery.

2007 Jewellery and Object Design Award and Residency. TAFE NSW Sydney Institute Design Centre.

ARTIST TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS 2018 Panel discussion with Kynan Tan and Sophia Kouyoumdjian, concurrent with solo exhibition ‘between stars, between stones’ at Dominik Mersch Gallery In Conversation: From The Studio to The Gallery, Art Gallery of New South Wales.

2017 Art + Science CONNECT (Sydney Science Festival), MAAS Powerhouse Museum, artist talk.

2016 House of Wonder panel discussion. Gravity Geeks Art, Science and Ideas Symposium, Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre. A joint venture by Penrith Regional Gallery, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) and Western Sydney University.

Drawing Conversations. Exhibiting artist at National Art School drawing symposium.

Artist talk for Caroline Chisolm College high school teachers. House of Wonder residency, Penrith Regional Gallery.

Artist talk for year 9 and 10 students. House of Wonder residency, Penrith Regional Gallery.

Artist talk for year 5 and 6 students. House of Wonder residency, Penrith Regional Gallery.

2015 Panel discussion about the relationship between drawing and ceramics. Blacktown Arts Centre.

Artist talk for solo exhibition ‘Iota’. Gallery Funaki, Melbourne.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS 2017 Art is exercise for the brain - Art + Neurobiology, Art Guide Australia, Dr Barbara Doran, February 2017, Error!

Hyperlink reference not valid.

2016 Invisible Forces, exhibition review, ArtAsiaPacific, ChloÊ Wolifson, July 2016, www.artasiapacific.com/Blog/INVISIBLEFORCES Gravity and Wonder in the Art Gallery, radio interview, Booksand Arts with Michael Cathcart, ABC Radio National, 4 October 2016, www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/booksandarts/gravity-(and-wonder)/7899862 Design Courses Hammered, article regarding the defunding of TAFE design courses, Sydney Morning Herald, Amy McNeilage, 4 November 2013, www.smh.com.au/national/tertiary-education/design-courses-hammered-201311032wuor.html Draw, exhibition review, Alt Media, Vanessa Powell, www.altmedia.net.au/draw-emma-fielden-84759 2012 National Contemporary Jewellery Award at Metalab, exhibition review, Object – Australian Design Centre, Sophie Harrington, www.object.com.au/news-reviews/object-eye/entry/national_contemporary_jewellery_award_at_metalab/ 2011 500 Silver Jewelry Designs, Lark Books.

Linear Celebrations, exhibition review, Art Jewelry Forum, www.artjewelryforum.org/ajf-blog/linear-celebration 2009 Studio 2017, Australian Art Review, Patricia Anderson, issue 21.

COLLECTIONS Art Gallery of South Australia, Daadler Contemporary Jewellery Collection.

Griffith Regional Art Gallery, National Contemporary Jewellery Award collection.

Private collections in Australia, New Zealand and abroad.

‘An Infinite Line (1km)’, 2017, 1 kilometre of hand cut linen thread, dimensions variable.

‘Two Mountains I’, 2018, household acrylic on Saunders Waterford 425gsm paper, 56 x 76 cm

‘Cleave’, 2018, single channel high definition video, 0:29 min, installation in two parts and action for one person.

Developed and performed at Art Omi Artists Residency. Performer: Emma Fielden. Filmed by Orkhan Huseynov.

‘Two Mountains II’, 2018, household acrylic on Saunders Waterford 425gsm paper, 56 x 76 cm

‘Void Studies III’, 2018, hand crushed ferrite magnets, iron oxide pigment, rare earth magnets, linen thread.

‘We are two molecules floating together in space and our distance is infinite… then the sound of birds’, 2018, single channel high definition video, 5:26 min, installation in two parts and action for two people. Developed and performed at Art Omi Artists Residency.

Performers: Emma Fielden and Hanae Utamura. Filmed by Orkhan Huseynov.

‘States of Matter’, 2018, sitespecific thread installation in two parts and action for one person

‘States of Matter’, 2018, single channel high definition video, 05:27 mins, performed at Dominik Mersch Gallery on 11.11.18

‘Void Studies I’, 2017, ink on Arches 300gsm paper, 74 x 49 x 11 cm, unframed

‘Binary I’, 2018, ink on Arches 300gsm paper, 44 x 59 cm

‘Void Studies II’, 2017, ink on Arches 300gsm paper, 40 x 29 x 8 cm, unframed

‘Binary II’, 2018, ink on Arches 300gsm paper, 44 x 59 cm

‘An Act For One String’, 2018, single channel high definition video, 15:15 mins, edition of 3 + 2AP

‘Cleave’, 2018, diptych, household acrylic on Saunders Waterford 425gsm paper, each 56 x 76cm

‘Orb’, 2017, hand crushed ferrite magnets, iron oxide pigment, rare earth magnets, linen thread.

‘One note from One bird is better than a million words’, 2018, 20 unframed miniature works on paper

www.dominikmerschgallery.com Images by Document Photography, Docqment and Dominik Mersch Gallery