Artist-in-Residence Program Summer 2017-2018
Image: Anne Richardson, Swifts Creek Artist
Falls Creek Resort Management Board endorsed an Arts Strategy in Mar 2016 and, soon after, established the Arts and Cultural Development Committee (the ACDC), to help realise community aspirations to reposition Falls Creek as Australia’s ‘Arts Mountain’. The ACDC established an Artist-in-Residence program and invited 6 artists to Falls Creek over the summer of 16-17. The program continued over the summer of 17-18 with a further 6 artists/groups in residence, two of whom were returning to finish work they started over the summer of 16-17.
Image: Tracey Johnson, Swifts Creek Artist Group
Six artists/groups were hosted by Falls Creek Resort Management over the summer of 17-18: Rebecca Jones: 8 – 19 Nov 2017 David Rosendale: Nov 2017 Kelly Gardiner: 19 Nov – 19 Dec 2017 Garry Moore: 13 Jan – 4 Feb 2018 Swifts Creek Artist Group: 14-17 Feb 2018 Dr Greg Pritchard: 1-30 Mar 2018 Artists have been posting on social media during their residencies using these hashtags: #fallscreekresort # fallscreekculture #artfallscreek
Top: The View to the Summit, Acrylic on Canvas, 2017, Rebecca Jones Bottom: Nestled in Amongst the Mountains, Acrylic on Canvas, 2017, Rebecca Jones
Tony runs his business as a digital and commercial business but his heart has always been in the artistic side. The project for him gave him a chance to explore what his business might have REBECCA JONES been in an ideal world, where the creative, hand-done side of industrial art was understood and appreciated. He enjoyed the My second residency at Fallshim Creek was used for thevision sole purpose fact that the project allowed to promote that to people of painting. The un-interrupted time away from daily tasks allowed who me stopped and talked to him. to develop painting theories in correlation to the landscape. These painting theories; space, weight, form, depth, and colour, provided the structure in which I worked towards capturing the ever-changing environment and ecology of Falls Creek. The paintings and theoretical outcomes that were created during the residency continue to feed into my current work across all of my disciplines; drawing, painting and digital. It is an ongoing visual exploration of the connection between the environment, ecology and community. The relationships created with the Falls Creek Management Team and the community of Falls Creek are enduring, and the opportunity to meet like minded artist has been inspiring. http://www.rebeccajones.com.au https://www.instagram.com/rebeccajonesart
DAVID ROSENDALE The concepts that brought me to Falls Creek have grown and shaped, from a simple graphic focus, when the landscape is quietened and set back in snow, to a broader affection for the landscape: light and organic symmetry when the landscape is not sitting dormant, a rhythm and pulse as the landscape changes and the weather rolls in. The graphic order and harmony I found in the symbolic man-made objects in the resort are reflected in the mountains themselves. Outcomes • David returned for his final ‘season’, Spring, in November 2017 • David’s study of the four seasons at Falls Creek will be exhibited at Falls Creek in September 2018 and at the Photo Access HUW Davies Gallery, Manuka Arts Centre Canberra, in October 2018 www.davidrosendale.com.au https://www.instagram.com/david_rosendale
Image: Falls Creek, David Rosendale, May 2017
Image: Falls Creek, David Rosendale, May 2017
Kelly Gardiner Left Top &Bottom: High Country Maps and View from Mt Cope Right Top &Bottom: Working style with sticky cards stuck on wall and ‘Scrivener’ software
KELLY GARDINER “It's been my great privilege to spend the last few weeks writing in Falls Creek, high in the mountains of Victoria, as part of the Artist in Residence program. When I'm in an intense writing phase, I often let myself wake up slowly and lie there for a bit thinking about the work. Quite often, this leads to urgently jumping out of bed to scribble down new dialogue or some critical plot point. I have the luxury of day after day of thinking about nothing but the writing, and in those minutes between waking and sleeping can lie moments of creativity or clarity. I walk most mornings. Some days, it's just a relatively short walk around the village, on other days I do a slightly longer hike of 4 to 6 kilometres, with camera and notepad.”
Outcomes Kelly had a very productive residency, and finished her book “The Adventures of the Bushranger Captain Lightning And That Other Girl” a fictional story for teenage audience based on nonfictional stories and events of the High Country and Goldfields in the colony of Victoria 1850’s. Kelly blogged outcomes of her residency. https://kellygardiner.com/my-blog/
Image: In the Palm of My Hand, 4, Garry Moore, 2018
GARRY MOORE I have located my art dialogue within the interface and interaction between the human and the natural worlds. Particularly challenging ideas of how we might reconsider and shift long held ideas that have led us to a position of global crisis in the form of climate change. Falls Creek is the ideal location to extend and develop this line of inquiry, due to its ecologically unique position within Australia and its sensitivity to the impact of human generated climate change on its fragile ecosystems. Whilst the work I am seeking to create is not overtly addressing climate change, it will none the less seek to open dialogue around how we relate to and impact upon the material of the natural world. Outcomes Garry’s 3 weeks at Falls Creek were a very productive time. He undertook his final semester of a Master of Fine Arts at RMIT in early 2018, and this residency enabled him to build a substantial body of material that will become his final exhibition.
Image: Icons 2, Garry Moore, 2018
Image: Ash Prints 1 & 2, Garry Moore, 2018
Images: Anne Richardson, Swifts Creek artist, Pretty Valley, Lichen Falls Creek, Night Sky, and journal
SWIFTS CREEK ARTISTS GROUP Five artists with a strong connection to the Great Alpine Gallery in Swifts Creek spent two weeks at the Falls Creek Residency in February 2018. Anne Richardson, Penny Carruthers, Tracey Johnson, Tiffany Forster and Deirdre Jack worked in their various media, immersed in the landscape from morning till evening, using the Windy Corner Nordic Centre as a base and studio space. The range of media included drawing, oil painting, acrylic painting, pastel, printmaking, collage, photography and sound recording. The artists relished the opportunity to explore their responses to the precious and fragile alpine environment, and support each other in their artistic exploration. Outcomes A print-making workshop for the community held at Falls Creek Nordic Centre Meet the Artists - an exhibition of works in progress at the Falls Creek Nordic Centre Fresh off the Mountain Exhibition: 8 Jun – 8 Jul 2018, Great Alpine Gallery, Swifts Creek
Top: Deirdre Jack, now resides Bairnsdale, Pretty Valley Track, oil on canvas Bottom: Tiffany Forster, Ensay Artist, Pretty Valley Snow Gums, pastel on paper
Image: Tracey Johnson, Tambo Crossing artist, Regenerate, ink and collage
Image: Penny Carruthers, now resides Cowarr, Pond Life Pretty Valley, acrylic on canvas
Images: Top L, Artists’ Talk; Top R Artists’ Workshop; Bottom, Exhibition Invitation
DR GREG PRITCHARD “I would like to make a virtual reality presentation of the alpine environments using two 360 degree cameras, with sound equipment to record high definition sound to accompany the footage, to convey what it is like sensorially to stand in a Mountain Ash forest or an alpine meadow.” The work extends current collaborations with Natimuk artist Dave Jones using the VR system Oculus Rift and NSW couple The Ronalds live streaming the work of regional artists into the centre of Sydney. Greg’s PhD is in ecocriticism, looking at literature through the lens of environmental philosophy and current themes for his practice include environmental and social justice issues and investigating the way contemporary technologies can be used to provoke discussion. Outcomes Greg completed several off grid projections at places including Mt McKay and Mt Cope, in Snow Gums and Ash forests. “I am still saddened that they can not stop the logging in the hills. If more people came up here and saw the devastation I don't think it would be an issue. Read Greg’s blog of his Falls Creek residency here. Previous page: Greg Pritchard, Mt McKay Projection
Report prepared by LINDY ALLEN Chair: Falls Creek Arts & Culture Development Committee Falls Creek Resort Management Board September 2018
Previous page: Greg Pritchard, Mt McKay Projection