Raw Ink Magazine – August 2012

art | design | music | writing | creative | culture

magazine

In this Issue: Liana caught up with Semi-Permanent speaker Andrew Quilty

brisbane gold coast tweed coast Issue 12, August 2012

www.rawinkmagazine.com

Ruth gives us the lowdown on Cirque du Soleil Jayden Windson talks about Zoe Chantel artwork

THE RAW INK TEAM

Roxy Coppen

Graphic designer and editor. roxy@rawinkmagazine.com www.monkeywingdesigns.com

Ruth Dunn

Journalist. ruth@rawinkmagazine.com

Liana Turner

Journalist and photographer. liana@rawinkmagazine.com www.liana-anitra.tumblr.com THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTERS

Jayden Windsor

jaydenwindsor@hotmail.com

Cover painting by

Rebekah Dunn beskhetti@yahoo.com.au

Hello Readers, This month Liana and I are excited to be attending the Brisbane Semi-Permanent creative conference.

Liana got the chance to talk to one of this years speakers Andrew Quilty so check it out. We hope to see you there.

Also, don’t forget about our tshirt comp which will be ending this month.

Once again, if you know of any creative events happening in your local area, or would like to contribute to the magazine, feel free to send us an email to: roxy@rawinkmagazine.com Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on our Twitter-tweets.

We’ll see you next month.

From,

The Raw Ink Team xx www.rawinkmagazine.com www.facebook.com/rawinkmagazine.com www.twitter.com/rawinkmagazine.om

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contents Andrew Quilty’ 6 ‘Liana Turner

World at Our Feet’ 16 ‘The Ruth Dunn

Art Exhibition‘ 32 ‘Sublime Jayden Windsor

Country’ 38 ‘Desert Ruth Dunn

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SemiPermanent Event Speakers Include...

Toby and Pete / Paul Davies / Beastman Beci Orpin / The Monkeys / Bec Winnel Andrew Quilty + More To Be Confirmed 4

Brisb

bane

30 August 2012

Top creatives come to Brisbane to discuss their work, their lives and their philosophy on creating innovative and inspirational art and design.

Semi-Permanent, Australia’s most inspirational, and affordable, creative festival.

Event Organiser

For more information & to purchase your tickets:

www.semipermanent.com

Sponsored By

Printing Partner

Media Partners

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and rew /////

qui lty liana turner

It’s fair to say Andrew Quilty’s photographic work is the sort which catches your eye at first glance. From the stark moodiness of his stunning street photography to the immortalisation of iconic moments in time, from Cate Blanchett to the teenaged inhabitants of a skate park, Quilty’s work is of the calibre that stands out amongst the humdrum of twenty-first-century “photographer syndrome” – where everyone with a smartphone and a photogenic sandwich is a professional, a seasoned veteran. Quilty’s work is of such a startlingly

beautiful quality that it compels its audience to stop, to take a moment and just soak up the photographic brilliance.

“It’s not a conscious thing, I guess it’s just a style,” says Quilty, “Something I don’t actually think about but that comes through in my pictures subconsciously. It just comes through instinctively. It’s also inspired by other photographers, artists and writers I look up to.” This month, Quilty is a guest speaker at the Brisbane instalment of Semi-Permanent.

A worldwide creative conference with a 7

focus on design, inspiration and innovation, Semi-Permanent will grace the Great Hall of Brisbane’s Convention and Exhibition Centre on Thursday 30th August.

This will be Quilty’s first opportunity to speak at Semi-Permanent, and he does little to hide his excitement – for good reason. Having recently photographed the Sydney SemiPermanent event, he is enthused to have been invited to the upcoming Brisbane event.

“I’d never really been to a Semipermanent before, and I was absolutely riveted for the days it was on in Sydney,” says Quilty, “So if 8

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the guys from Semipermanent think I’m as interesting as everyone I heard in Sydney, I’m pretty flattered.”

While some may be unfamiliar with Quilty’s work, it would be near impossible to be unacquainted with the circumstances during which he first truly stepped into the public eye. His documentation of the 2005 Cronulla riots were undoubtedly a turning point in Quilty’s career, after having been published in TIME magazine. “It’s a bit of a paradox,” says Quilty, “Because I still in a sense felt privileged to have been there; I guess it’s strange because the people who were there still had to allow me to be there and to allow themselves to be photographed, yet I felt very strongly against what it was they were doing.

It’s a strange privilege, and it’s sad that one of the pivotal moments in my career – and in Australia’s recent history – was the Cronulla riots, rather than something a little more joyful.”

Quilty was also present during the devastating Queensland floods in early 2011. This was perhaps simultaneously a challenge and a valuable opportunity for the photographer. “I think that’s something where your personality and your manner and the way you relate to people really comes out,” says Quilty, “The definition of being a good photographer in that situation comes down to being a good, empathetic human being rather than being a good photographer. It just so happens that your drive is to use a camera, at the same time your humanist side comes out. It should be something that comes naturally, but being able to utilise that while doing your job as a photographer is somewhat challenging.”

While the opportunity to hear Quilty speak may seem sublime to anyone with functioning eyes, be prepared for it to get technical – it’s not just about delightful landscapes and rainbows, after all. The procedures through which his work is created with be a key point throughout Quilty’s talk.“I think I’ll probably talk more about the process behind my work than the actual work itself. Usually when I do 10

these sort of things it’s more about specific pieces of work rather than what I do as a whole. So I’m actually looking forward to that, being able to give people a little bit more of an insight into the way I work and little bits and pieces off the side of the bigger things I do – things I find interesting that I don’t usually have an excuse to talk about.”

“I get the feeling that the Semipermanent audiences are pretty accomplished creatives themselves, so I think the practical side is something that might be of more interest than preaching to them about how I take my photos.”

Quilty’s presentation begins at 4:40pm 30th August in the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. For more information or to book tickets, head to www.semipermanent.com

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Artwork by Loretta Lizzio www.lorettalizzio.tumblr.com

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Title : Costumes Picture credit : OSA Images Costume credit : Liz Vandal Š 2009 Cirque du Soleil

The World at Our Feet

Ruth Dunn

A bee hums past, struggling to fly gracefully with a generous helping of pollen clinging to its legs. Down below a spider navigates the carefully constructed threads of its web, in wait of some fast food. On the ground two bull ants are locked in a battle of life and death. We are constantly surrounded by these creatures on their busy little missions, but how often do we notice, or even think about the tiny world of life surrounding us? Cirque du Soleil has noticed this world of life, and launched themselves headlong into its colourful ecosystem with their show Ovo.

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Arriving in Brisbane on 14 July, Ovo tells the story of an energetic and bright world of insects, awestruck by the mysterious appearance of an egg. The audience is plunged into this secret world that is so often surpassed in life. It’s a world of chaos, play, peace, tenderness, and even love, as a quirky insect and a ladybug fall in love.

The show follows a vibrant lifecycle, epitomised by the name Ovo, which is Portuguese for egg. It is sure to get your heart pumping as acrobats fly as high as fourteen metres on a trapeze, and run, jump and leap up and across an eight metre vertical wall. Other acts include a combination of dance, acrobatics, athleticism and agility to form graceful human sculptural forms, a unicyclist navigating a slack wire upside down, and a high speed diabolo act where a firefly juggles four spinning spools with perfect coordination.

As well as a jaw dropping performance, the costumes will also impress. Costume designer Liz Vandal not only has a good eye for design, she also has a special eye for insects. “I’ve always had passion for them,” says Liz. When I was just a kid I put rocks down around the yard near the fruit trees and I lifted them regularly to watch the insects who had taken up residence underneath them. I petted caterpillars and let butterflies into the house. So when I learned that OVO was inspired by insects, I immediately knew that I was in a perfect position to pay tribute to this

Title : Slack Wire Picture credit : Benoit Fontaine © 2009 Cirque du Soleil Inc. Costume credit : Liz Vandal © 2009 Cirque du Soleil

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Title : Costumes Picture credit : OSA Images Costume credit : Liz Vandal © 2009 Cirque du Soleil

Title : Spiders Picture credit : OSA Images Costume credit : Liz Vandal © 2009 Cirque du Soleil

majestic world with my costumes.

Liz combined her interest in insects with her ‘futuristic superhero’ style, to design costumes that evoke insects without simply copying their anatomy. The result is a collection of aesthetically amazing costumes, which are able to be worn while performers pull off incredible feats of agility and athleticism.

Ovo not only brings the insect world to the audience, it also brings the audience into the insect world with stunning performances and an intricately designed, organic set. The insect world is no longer an inferior world at our feet; it is a captivating world that leaves the audience in awe.

Ovo is showing until 2 September. For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to http://www. cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/ovo/tickets/brisbane. aspx.

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www.analoguedigital.com.au

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Rachael Michelle Photography www.facebook.com/pages/Rachael-Michelle-Photography/201399603225019 29

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HIDE ‘N ‘SEEK PROJECT Hide ‘n’ Seek Project is a one year writing project that will include articles about Brisbane street and graffiti art, as well as interviews with some of Brisbane’s best street and graffiti artists. New material will be published each month exploring the Brisbane street scene and the artists that work within it.

If you’ve spied some street/graffiti art in Brisbane and want to publish some photos or let me know where it’s at email me! ruth@rawinkmagazine.com

Hide’n’Seek will be returning in

September!

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Earlier this month I had the pleasure of attending the opening night of the Sublime Art Exhibition at the Discount Art Warehouse in Fortitude Valley. The artists exhibiting their work included Zoe Chantal, Rasta Lyall, Matt Lockwood, and Chloe Jade Mantell.

Sublime Art was Zoe’s first exhibition in which she had the opportunity to display a large number of her artworks. Zoe had previously displayed a few of her drawings and plywood paintings in other exhibitions including one I organised earlier this year. It was good to see that since then Zoe has been working hard to expand her collection of artworks.

Zoe enjoys working in portraiture; in particular, she includes feminine figures in her artworks through which she expresses 33

ideas of femininity. Zoe incorporates themes of make-up and costume drawn from popular culture tropes with playful feminine characters dressed in bunny, mini-mouse, and cat woman like costumes. Zoe’s continues the theme of make-up and costume by hinting at the behind the scenes elements that go into the costume through her artworks that convey the application of make-up.

Zoe chooses to work on both paper and plywood. Zoe’s choice to paint on plywood has some challenges that are a result of the paint easily being soaked up by the plywood.

When speaking with Zoe she expressed this as a difficulty of working on plywood; “sometimes I would spend a lot of time painting and then walk away and come back and the paint had completely soaked in (to the plywood) and there was only an outline 34

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left and I would have to build it up again�.

Other challenges that arise from working on plywood is that if not enough paint is applied to combat the plywood working as a sponge to absorb the paint, whereby it is difficult to achieve sharp lines and there is the potential for the image to appear flat. Despite the difficulties that plywood poses, Zoe enjoys the challenge of working with the grain of the wood and seems to handle it quite well.

Zoe also like how plywood is rather forgiving because you can always use sandpaper to sand back areas and rework them.

I also had an opportunity to meet Rasta Lyall at the exhibition and talk with him about his sculptural art. Rasta is a metal sculptor who is inspired by science fiction themes including robots, ray-guns and UFOs. Rasta also produces sculptures of the female form and plants. Rasta uses recycled metal off cuts that he has collected and welded together to construct his artworks. When talking with him, Rasta was happy to point out the mix of recycled parts that he used and the different places he collected them from; as well as how he had suffered for his art showing me the burns on his hands from welding his artworks.

What I liked about Rasta artworks were the small details that he incorporates that at first glance go unnoticed. Rasta pointed out an

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intricately welded insect sitting on the leaf of his flower sculpture that I had otherwise overlooked.

To see more photographs of Zoe Chantel’s artworks please visit www.zoechantel.wordpress.com

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Desert Country Ruth Dunn

Covering over a million square kilometres of land, deserts are the largest landform covering Australia. As a coastal creature, the only desert I have experienced is at low tide in summer, trudging across an expanse of sand, slowly making my way down to the waves with towel and sunscreen in hand. The vast expanses, richly coloured sand and mysterious landforms of Australian deserts have always been unfamiliar and out of reach for me. My grasp of this far off land was transformed the other day, as I walked through the Desert Country exhibition at the University of Queensland Art Museum.

Desert Country is a travelling exhibition from the Art Gallery of South Australia, made up of 57 works from 56 Aboriginal artists. The first thing that struck me about the exhibition was the colour and vitality of the artworks. Artists have used bright yellows, oranges, reds, pinks, and rich earthy greens and browns to tell the story of their land.

In Ngura Walytja – This is my place (2009), Milatjari Pumani uses blue and white dots and lines to create an eye catching and vibrant depiction of her country. The patterns, as well as the contrast between the white and blue, give the artwork a pulse and energy.

Ngura Walytja – This is my place is a painting of the land as Milatjari sees it. Milatjari has extensive knowledge of this land and a strong connection to it. This knowledge is important both spiritually and for finding food and water sources. She said ‘I could be dropped off somewhere out bush and I could find my way home by looking at the land, it tells many stories.’

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Ngura walytja - This is my place, 2009 Artist: Milatjari PUMANI Synthetic polymer paint on linen 180.5 x 181.5 cm South Australian Government Grant 2009 Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide Š Milatjari Pumani, Courtesy of Mimili Maku Arts

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Throughout Desert Country artworks tell spiritual stories of ancestral beings, stories of food gathering and knowledge of the land, recounts of events, and artists’ personal experiences of walking through their country and their deep connection to this land. This unbreakable and personal connection is played out in the intricate dotting technique, careful line, and carefully chosen colours of the artworks, lacking nothing in their complete compositions.

Dr Campbell Gray, Director of the University of Queensland Art Museum, said “Desert Country provides a rare opportunity not only to celebrate the diversity of desert art, but also to study the relationships between Aboriginal artists working in the desert regions of South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.”

The diversity of Desert Country ranges from the early paintings of Papunya Tula artists, to the latest works emerging from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in far northwest South Australia. One of the first artworks I saw in the exhibition was the early Papunya Tula paintings on board. Though art is a traditional part of Aboriginal culture, it was the Papunya Tula movement that was the first group of Aboriginal artists to bring Aboriginal art to the world’s attention in 1972.

It was an incredible experience to see such a big part of Australian art history first hand.

Nici Cumpston, curator of Desert Country, says ‘working with this exhibition made me realise how populated the desert is.’ After seeing this exhibition, the Australian desert no longer conjures up images of an empty land in my mind. Instead I have a deeper understanding of this desert as a land rich with life, a land with many stories to tell.

Desert Country is at The University of Queensland Art Museum from 4 August – 21 October. For more information go to www.artmuseum.uq.edu.au 40

Ngayuku ngura - My country, 2010 Artist: Tjungkara KEN Synthetic polymer paint on linen 152.5 x 101.5 cm d’Auvergne Boxall Bequest Fund 2010 Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide © Tjungkara Ken, Courtesy of Tjala Arts

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