ARTS ZINE July 2017 by Robyn Werkhoven

s t u d i o

L A

arts zine issue 21 july 2017

P R I M I T I V E

O Slave to Love, sandstone - Vince Vozzo. 2010.

http://www.vozzo.com.au/ Issue 21 - July 2017

She came from floods bush detail 3 Screen-print, acrylic, gouache and charcoal on Stonehenge paper H28 x W28 cm Linda Swinfield ÂŠ 2016.

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slp studio la primitive EDITOR Robyn Stanton Werkhoven CONTRIBUTORS Matthew Quick

Brad Evans

Pamela Griffith

Eric Werkhoven

Vince Vozzo

Lorraine Fildes

Strutt Sisters

Maggie Hall

Linda Swinfield

Robyn Werkhoven

Shelagh Lummis

Gallery 139

Art Systems Wickham

Timelesstextiles

Left: Keeping the Homes Fires Burning, 2014 mixed media assemblage W1120 x H1700 x D150mm, Strutt Sisters. Issue 21 - July 2017

INDEX E

Editorial………………………… Robyn Werkhoven

SLP Antics………... …………. E&R Werkhoven

Feature Artist

8 - 31

…………… Matthew Quick

Poetry……………………………Eric Werkhoven

32 - 33

Feature Artist

34 - 49

…………….

Pamela Griffith

Poetry ………………………… Brad Evans

50 - 51

Feature Artist………………… Vince Vozzo

52 - 71

Artist Interview ……………… Strutt Sisters

72 - 85

Singapore Public Art………… Lorraine Fildes

86 - 113

Artist Interview ………………. Linda Swinfield

114 - 129

Art Residency …………………. Linda Swinfield

130 - 143

E&R Werkhoven Interview ……Maggie Hall

144 - 163

Artist Interview………………… Shelagh Lummis

164 - 177

ART NEWS…………………….

178 - 197

N Ceramic Mask.

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EDITORIAL Greetings to all our ARTS ZINE readers for July 2017. This month’s issue features the dynamic art of Matthew Quick, painter Pamela Griffith and sculptor Vince Vozzo. From the Hunter Region NSW, the fabulous Strutt Sisters, Linda Swinfield, Shelagh Lummis. Linda Swinfield writes about her Artists Residency at Hazlehurst Regional Art Gallery. Maggie Hall, artist and photographer presents an intimate interview with yours truly Eric and Robyn Werkhoven. Lorraine Fildes, our resident travel photographer and writer visits Singapore and features their superb Public Art.

Don’t miss reading our new poetry, art news and information on forthcoming art exhibitions. The ARTS ZINE features national and international visual artists, poets and writers, glimpses into their world of art and their creative processes.

Submissions welcomed, we would love to have your words and art works in future editions in 2017.

Deadline for articles - 15th August for September issue 22, 2017.

Email: werkhovenr@bigpond.com

Regards - your editor Robyn Werkhoven

The publisher will not accept responsibility or any liability for the correctness of information or opinions expressed in the publication. Copyright © 2017 Studio La Primitive,. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced , in whole or in part, without the prior

permission of the publisher.

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E & R A N T I C S Collaborative drawings - E & R Werkhoven ÂŠ 2017

www.studiolaprimitive.net Issue 21 - July 2017

MATTHEW QUICK

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MATTHEW QUICK Matthew Quick has been named in Business Review Weekly as one of Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top 50 artists. In the last 5 years he has either won, or been selected as a finalist for, more than 70 major national art awards, including the Sulman Art Prize, the Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize. Based in Melbourne, he has had 14 solo exhibitions. He is represented by Nanda/Hobbs Contemporary in Sydney, Hill Smith Gallery in Adelaide, Metro Gallery in Melbourne and others in London and Singapore.

Page 8: CORONATION, 2014-16, oil on Italian linen, H120 x W100cm Calleen Open Art Prize 2014, Finalist and Highly Commended Kennedy Art Prize 2014, Finalist Right: Matthew Quick in his studio.

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the rules of engagement Oil on Italian linen H120 x W100cm Matthew Quick ÂŠ 2016 Issue 21 - July 2017

Matthew Quick Interview.

When did your artistic passion begin?

“All my life”. Have you always wanted to be an artist? “I always wanted to be an artist, but for a long time allowed myself to be distracted by other things. Because my father grew up in the Depression, he had very cautious approach to career. And as much as I was dismissive of this as a teenager, some of his values stuck. So while I still worked as a creative, it was in the more financially viable areas of the arts: as a graphic designer, illustrator, art director, and University lecturer. As a counter to this pragmatism, I also blew half my 20’s writing novels.

In my mid 30’s I was diagnosed with cancer and given 5 years. With this priorities change. It was an epiphany, albeit one that took a couple of years to crystallise. But as a direct consequence I decided to actually do the thing I always wanted to do which was to be a artist.”

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Describe your work? “I paint conceptual realism. That means the subject looks like the thing I am trying to depict: the perspective works, the shadows are in the right place and so on. But it is an idea based image, rather than just an image for the sake of it. I like to create works that tell

stories. When I was writing, a publisher once said to me: We like the way you write, we like the way you think. It was then I realised that most people don’t really stop and ponder about the world around them. And that pretty much anyone that does is different from the mainstream, hopefully with a unique voice”.

Do you have a set method / routine of working? “I work in layers, basically using Ruben’s technique. Sadly without his huge studio of assistants, it’s very time consuming. So I’m in the studio every day from about 10 till six or seven, usually six days a week

- although last year I did an eight month stint of seven days a week. It was a bit much. But its not quite an obsessive as it sounds: I’m also easily distracted. My studio is in a big complex with other artists and writers who are always dropping by for a chat, and there are a couple of bars just downstairs whose siren song beckons, constantly.”

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Why do you choose this material / medium to work with? “Generally I do oil on linen. All different paints, depending on the colours I want. If there is a tube colour I like I will get it, even if its possible to mix it, just because it is more immediate to use. But these colours are rarely final. The advantage of working in layers is the interaction of underpainting layers with the top finessing layers to make colours and blends that are simply unachievable in a single pass. This is the magic. Lately I have been experimenting with other surfaces, such as copper and aluminium. They allow for a lightness of tone, as the materials define the mid-tone starting point of saturation. And the polished background

enhances the concept I am trying to convey with my new series of works.”

How important is drawing as an element to your artwork? “Drawing is foundation. When I was moving back into fine art, I was doing life drawing twice a week just to

get the hand-eye co-ordination skills back. That said, just to save time I rely heavily on photography - but the drawing skills are always in play as I never use just the naked photo. Its always modified, and the elements have to interact believably. I have also made models and 3D animation to create scenarios and lighting setups that are just too complicated or unachievable by any other means”. Issue 21 - July 2017

Is there a particular reason for your choice of style / genre? “Actually I never intended to be a realist per se. In essence graphic design is the distillation of an idea down to its most basic elements - the simplicity of which demands a type of visual baby talk. And so after 15 years of this, I chose to make realist art simply as a reaction against the

previous work. And its fun to try and capture the essence of a surface, be it skin or stone or cloth etc. This was never supposed to be an end in itself. However having achieved some recognition with

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What inspires you? “Inspiration can come from anywhere. An article in the paper. An anecdote. An overheard conversation. A snippet of a story. History. I take all these jumbled together and reassembled into a new a narrative to encapsulate a theme I have been considering.” “There are numerous trigger points. For example, when the US seized Baghdad, the soldiers celebrated by destroying art. Removing contemporary politics, this destruction illustrates how little has changed psychologically in the 1500 years since the barbarian sack of Rome. With one notable difference: Rome was

destroyed by uneducated warriors. In Baghdad, it was stage-managed for TV. This was my inspiration for Monumental Nobodies. Punctuating an arc through triumph and failure, the monuments that map the rise and fall of Empires seemed somehow more poignant when the event for which they were created has faded into history. With their conscious symbolism, they provided the foundation for a revisionist take on the notions of beauty,

pride, and nationalism. From here I referenced individual freedoms, social control, surveillance and the deceitful behaviour of rulers who intentionally fail to act as they speak. When juxtaposed against these grandiose ideals, the meaning of the contemporary added affectations alters, prompting the viewer to see these objects anew and hold up a

mirror to contemporary values”. Issue 21 - July 2017

Domestic Goddess Oil on Italian Linen H100 x W120cm The Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize 2015, Finalist Matthew Quick ÂŠ 2015. Issue 21 - July 2017

What have been the major influences on your work?

“The Fat Man in History – great book and compellingly bizarre story – introduced me to both the writer

Peter Carey and artist Jeffrey Smart, whose painting Cahill Expressway graced the cover of the edition I first read. The tangential, succinct, informed and provocative writing taught me a new way of thinking. Artistically, Smart resonated. Not just for the urban subject matter and his impeccable sense of design in constructing a

picture, but when he gets it just right, there is an implied narrative in the picture – a suggestion of story that the viewer can’t but want to fill in themselves. Clearly its not just me who feels this: A book of stories, Expressway, was published on the picture Cahill Expressway, with 29 writers such as Malouf, Jolley, Grenville and Corris giving the marooned fat man different identities and motives, from a classics tutor to a demented figure dodging traffic and reality.”

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Status Update Oil on Italian linen, H120 x W100cm The Calleen Art Award 2015, Finalist The Mosman Art Prize 2015, Finalist Matthew Quick ÂŠ 2015

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TEN OF NINE LIVESTEN OF NINE LIVES -

THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES - Oil on Italian Linen, H60 x W50cm

Membership Benefits - Oil on Italian linen, H60 x W50cm

THE CLARITY OF HINDSIGHT - Oil on Italian linen, H60 x W50cm

What are the challenges in becoming an exhibiting artist?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;They evolve over time. In the beginning it was about making a good picture. The very best I could, given

the limitations of my technical skill. Then it was about making a cohesive body of work. Then it was about getting a gallery. Then it was about winning via recognition through prizes the respect of my peers and the gatekeepers of the industry. Next it was about getting a good gallery. And sales. Still while refining my skill set and making work that is true to myself, intellectually challenging to me and my viewers, and interesting to make. Next was making social media happen. Stories and articles in publications across the globe.

Then it was about getting a great gallery. With a team who will help with your promotion. Then international exposure via overseas galleries. The downside of these shifting expectations is that it leads to a constant sense of dissatisfaction, with the next goal always just over the horizon. And as all artists will attest, managing time and money has its own set of complexities.â&#x20AC;?

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Name your greatest achievement, exhibitions?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;There have been a few. Beating cancer was pretty important. Climbing Everest. Getting married. Writing my first novel at the age of 23 and having it shortlisted for the Vogel literature award. Parachuting. Paragliding. Crashing my paraglider into a forest. Moving to Malaysia to work as a consultant to the PM. Artistically, my first Sydney exhibition was special. New to exhibiting in that city, I had no idea what to

expect. On arrival at the gallery you entered via a tunnel illuminated with flaming torches to emerge into a cobbled courtyard in which smoke machines belched, from where one could see my work projecting three stories high onto the building next door. It culminated with a sell out show. Last year I had a significant show in Sydney, two launches one coupled with a cancer Council fundraising event, the other combined with the launch of a retrospective book of my work, plus the exhibition itself. Linked with that was a major feature in the Financial Review Magazine.â&#x20AC;?

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What are you working on at present? “I have a background in design, and writing, as well as an artist. To date I haven’t really integrated all these aspects into the

one form. This is what I am trying to do for my next show.”

What do you hope viewers of your art works will feel and take with them? “ I’d like my work to be greater than the sum of the parts. You get one impression from the image. Another from the title.

Combine the two and it takes you to a third place. And hopefully this is a trigger that invites the viewer to think, to imagine, to start creating his or her own stories.” Left: OBJECT OF BEAUTY

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Your future aspirations with your art? “For the past few years I have worked with sculptures as my subject, but have tackled it in two dimensions. The next step is to take these types of concepts into three dimensions and actually build and cast some of these sculptures.” Where do you see your art practice in five years time? “Hopefully at a (good) place so

unexpected I cannot yet foresee.”

Forthcoming Exhibitions. “A solo show at -

Nanda Hobbs Contemporary in Sydney in November 2017.”

https://matthewquick.com.au/

Left: REMEDIAL MEASURES Oil on Italian linen, H120 x W100cm, Matthew Quick © 2013 Albany Art Prize 2014, Finalist and Highly Commended Eutick Memorial Still Life Award 2013; Winner, Sponsors Prize Issue 21 - July 2017

MOMENTS. A break in the weather

So thanks a lot, we are happy you are here

Where ever we look there are clouds and sunshine

And take some of the load off our shoulders

A break in a vase

Thank you so much for hearing what we have to say

Where are the flowers, in their pinks and reds and yellows?

And give us a version of advice and some ideas.

A break is all we need to get started. Where is all the work at this present moment?

- Eric Werkhoven ÂŠ 2017

Can you hear the magpies warble? Please inform me and tell me some of the intricate details Is that a cow or horse running across the yard? Or a swarm of insects settling in the Eucalypts? Or peoplesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; voices shrill and excited. Please inform us, we all need to know And gather it about us in our daily repertoire A break in the weather A break to get you through the night

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RITUAL Settling down into some of the oldest poses And becoming an intricate part, drawing inspiration and nourishment from the trembling lips, calling your name.

You the viewer, who is renewing his vows. You the hunter, who loves the thrill of his conquest. For all of you who are emancipated and must abide by the age old ritual of dying. Rushing through the lasts rites, of relativity crunching time itself. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the afterglow, where the shadows dance and stretch towards the moon. Or shrink towards the soles of your feet. In your heart of flickering hopes and aspirations, we are settling down into a permanent sitting position or laying down to sleep.

- Eric Werkhoven ÂŠ 2017

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PAMELA GRIFFITH Issue 21 - July 2017

Pamela Griffith Pamela Griffith is a prominent artist who has a substantial body of art-work in the community. Griffith is represented in regional, state and federal collections. She has been commissioned to produce works of national significance for commemorative occasions. Art, history and science are areas where Griffith has had collaborations to produce useful work.

Above: Pamela Griffith in her studio.

Page 34: Flooded Wetlands and Wedge Tailed Eagles - oil on canvas, H91.5 x W153.0 cm, Pamela Griffith ÂŠ 2015 Issue 21 - July 2017

INTERVIEW – PAMELA GRIFFITH. “I grew up in an artistic family with all members having art ambitions. My mother, Joyce Gittoes became a successful ceramicist and my brother George Gittoes has had a stellar career as an artist and filmmaker.

I was the first person in the family to have a formal art education provided for by an art teacher's scholarship that saw me studying at the National Art School and Sydney Teachers College from 1961 to 64. Another stint of study at the Alexander Mackie College of Art Education gave me the degree necessary to pursue my academic career. I have taught on and off throughout my career to mostly mature age students. I have also indulged another passion, history, by writing the Road Makers and another book called Australia, an artist’s journey through the landscape.”

“I work on canvas using oil or acrylic depending upon the subject matter and the suitability of the medium. I also work in gouache and water colour and drawing is a very important part of my art practice. I am well

known for establishing the Griffith’s Studio and Graphic workshop where many artists have been assisted to produce editions of their work. The National Gallery, Canberra and the National Library are just two places where my work can be viewed as part of their collection. These days I still make prints but have focused mainly on works on canvas and public projects.”

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“As the definition of “what art is” changes all the time and as we have lived in very uncertain times I choose to set my own agenda rather than agonize over fashion. I often get commissions to work on a theme that is agreeable to me and involves research and dedication. I like science/art collaborations. Often I create my own theme and follow it through.”

“For the last two years I have been working towards a one-woman show at the Perc Tucker Gallery in Townsville and the 50 resulting works will go on display from 14 July until August 20, 2017. The title of the exhibition is Teeming With Life and the issue is saving wetlands and the biodiversity within these fertile areas. Wongaloo is a National Park beside the Bruce Highway at Cromarty in Northern Queensland. With

the encouragement of the manager of this wetlands area, I was able to camp on the side of a lake amongst wild pigs, and crocodiles and many different types of birds and other animals. It was exciting to hear the dawn chorus and to see he parade of animals until nightfall when the birdcalls were deafening as they began to roost. The sky was darkened by hundreds of flying foxes as I settled in for the night.”

“Subsequently, in some of my paintings I have attempted to express nature’s grandeur I have always been inspired by the most powerful reflections of this land with its extremes of nature and weather, and it has led me to produce many romantic landscapes. My knowledge of Australia, its coastlines and its remotest places is deep, encyclopedic and unrivalled in informing a body of work.”

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“When something remarkable comes into view I see the image I want to create instantaneously and then I have to translate it onto paper or canvas to capture what was fleeting before my eye and mind. Sometimes this is done on the spot but for large works I use the studio. The sea, light, the sky in all of its weathers, forms in nature and place, animals and plants hopefully show my major devotion to landscape and nature. In the way my paintings reference another kind of reality, I'm hoping they feel both primordial and tranquil. I

hope that my work is a welcome salve for eyes bombarded by images of conflict and inequality and often vulgarity. In wetlands I see a perfect and abundant ecology that is teeming with life and I wish to bring the importance of these wetland areas to the fore. This is consistent with a theme that I has pursued over many decades in places like the Galapagos, Lord Howe Island, Macquarie Marshes, Kakadu, and other remote and wild spots. These places were presented in past exhibitions at various galleries.”

“Whilst researching the history of the Wongaloo wetlands I discovered that the first white man to live in Northern Queensland was James Morrill, a shipwrecked sailor. For seventeen years he enjoyed the hospitality of the aboriginal people and could be described as Australia’s Robinson Crusoe. He came

ashore at Cleveland Bay and his hunting grounds were those of the local people who moved about, gathering food in the wetlands that dotted the coast below the Mt Elliot Ranges. He left behind a valuable account of his experiences and when he returned to life with his own people he became an advocate for kindness and peace and understanding. I have painted four large history pictures of his life with Australia’s first people and these are gifted to the permanent collection of the Perc Tucker Gallery and hopefully will

become a memorial to Morrill and an attraction.” Issue 21 - July 2017

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“In doing these works I was able to show my love for history. Australia is a young country and there are few images of historical events. I guess my respect for the artist S T Gill’s work, and that of the artists who accompanied some of the great voyages of discovery, has led me to fill gaps by creating imagery to illustrate our significant national stories.”

“I enjoy it when my art reaches a broad audience. In 2016 I collaborated with The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) to produce a poster for the Feather Map Project. My Waratah painting is on the NSW State Licence. Recently my work was used to illustrate The Field Guide to the Royal National Park which was produced by Linnean Society

of NSW. Projects like these link me to real happenings and take me from the rarified environment of the studio. I like to think of my art being useful.”

“I am now seventy three years old and hope to be able to continue to exhibit meaningful work. I have no desire to stop painting because it is only now that I feel that I understand art areas where I am strong and what I can do to contribute to Australia’s visual heritage. I aim to hold a mirror to Australia and to see my work continue to be used by ordinary Australians, who often enjoy it in a reproduced form, because I believe that art is for everyone.” - Pamela Griffith © 2017.

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Feather Map Poster - Pamela Griffith. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Pamela Griffith Teeming with life: The Wongaloo Project. July 14 to August 20, 2017. Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Corner of Denham Street and Flinders Street, Townsville, Queensland.

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www.pamelagriffith.com Issue 21 - July 2017

the clementines Dear Kim, Thank you for the clementines I know they were meant for all staff But I couldn't help myself and took 4 (they're all in my bag now as I write this). My act is not entirely a selfish one: There's one for my wife at home with a cold (The vitamin c'll do her good),

Another's for fortune

(Who knows what the gods Have in store for me In the New Year), And the last one's for my cunt of a neighbour But I have to let that one go mouldy first Before I let him have it!

- Brad Evans ÂŠ 2017.

There's one for my mother-in-law She can be quite demanding and has no limit on what she'll eat (Quite a pig, really),

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a crescent moon a crescent moon shines over the community garden tonight as I cycle home after work, but I do not stop to admire the vegetables growing for this winter. the wind is strong it comes from the north a crescent moon shines over the community garden tonight and the wind has scattered the clouds but I do not stop... I cycle on. - Brad Evans ÂŠ 2017. Issue 21 - July 2017

VINCE VOZZO Left: The Last Desire, sandstone. Issue 21 - July 2017

Vince Vozzo In a career spanning three decades, Vozzo has exhibited in 32 solo exhibitions and produced thousands of artworks in different mediums. He has featured in numerous group exhibitions, most notably Sydney’s Sculpture by the Sea, where his magnificent sculpture has loomed large over the coastal horizon more 13 times to date. His work has been included in 36 prize exhibitions and with eight selections in the prestigious Wynne Prize, Vozzo holds the record for a sculptor in that competition. He has been the recipient of numer-

ous awards and commissions most notably the Ligurian Society Art Travel Scholarship to Pietrasanta, Italy and the Norton Sculpture Award. Vozzo’s work is represented in private and public collections in Australia, Europe, USA and Asia. His work has received widespread media coverage, including in McCulloch’s Encyclopaedia of Australian Art, the Australian Mildura Sculpture Triennial and the Australian Art Review. Vince’s work has also been seen on the small screen, including a sand sculpture that he created for Robert Hughes’ The Fatal Shore which aired on SBS and the BBC.

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Vince Vozzo with two large marble sculptures. Issue 21 - July 2017

VINCE VOZZO - INTERVIEW Tell me about yourself Vince, where did you grow up? “My name is Vince Vozzo my parents were Italian, I grew up in the western suburbs alien to the arts. I was hopeless at school, the only thing I loved was drawing, I wasn’t meant to be an artist, my father got me a job as an apprentice hairdresser, I completed my 6 year apprenticeship. Then went and stayed on Bondi beach for years on the dole, one day there I got bored and just started to make a sand sculpture, I loved it so I proceeded to make a sand sculpture every day at Bondi. That was my beginning to learning, I decided to go to art school, attending the old Alexander Mackie art school.” What attracted you to the world of Art? “As I said I wasn’t meant to be an artist, I remember the first time at Tech when the teacher placed a block of sandstone on every ones bench and said here are the tools now carve something, all the students were

banging at the stone and nothing was happening including myself, I was so frustrated I decided to stay over lunch while all the other students went to lunch, I focused on an Easter Inland head and as I started to see a nose a mouth eyes I stood back and was amazed that I had given birth! From that moment I became the sculptor.”

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Picassoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dove, Carrara marble. Vince Vozzo.

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When did your artistic passion begin? “Bondi Beach in the 70’s.” Have you always wanted to be an artist?

“I wanted to be Elvis on stage so all the girls scream for you?” Describe your work? “I am the chicken out of Brancusi’s egg?” Do you have a set method / routine of working? “I work seven days a week, I just take a break and go up for coffee at Newtown and read books on philosophy.”

Why do you choose this material / medium to work with? “I actually work in all materials but I’m known more for my stone works, I find the physical battle with stone the type of meditation I need to remain stable.”

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Self Portrait Becoming the Buddha, Mix media. Vince Vozzo.

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How important is drawing as an element to your artwork? “Drawing is the most important thing for artist, I find all those sculptors that weld metal a bit odd that the don’t draw?”

Is there a particular reason for your choice of style / genre? “I’ve searched for my own voice, originality!”

What inspires you? “Reading books of all the great artists of history.”

What have been the major influences on your work?

“Of course Brancusi, but I find I need to compare myself with Picasso.”

What are the challenges in becoming an exhibiting artist? “In Australia its been politics, groups of artist that act more like politicians?” Issue 21 - July 2017

Princes Floating Above the Taj Mahal. Carrara Marble. - Vince Vozzo. Issue 21 - July 2017

Philosopher, Artist, Poet, Carrara Marble. - Vince Vozzo. Issue 21 - July 2017

New Man Awakening, Carrara marble, - Vince Vozzo.

Trust in the Other, sandstone, - Vince Vozzo ÂŠ 2011. Issue 21 - July 2017

Woman Waiting, sandstone, 89 x 19 x 28 cm, Vince Vozzo ÂŠ 2005.

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Masturbating Buddha , Sandstone. Vince Vozzo.

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Name your greatest achievement, exhibitions? “Publishing my own book is one.”

What are you working on at present? “I’ve got a solo show coming up in August so I’m working on a whole lot of things.”

What do you hope viewers of your art works will feel and take with them?

“A smile on their face and feelings of beauty.”

Your future aspirations with your art? “Any form of originality in Australia is stuffed! I’m looking to open a door in China.”

Where do you see your art practice in five years time? “In the world stage I hope.”

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When Worlds Collide, acrylic on canvas and 3D sculpture, Vince Vozzo. Issue 21 - July 2017

Duchampâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Readymade

Time Machine or the Wheel of Fortune. Bicycle wheel , metal chair , mix media. - Vince Vozzo.

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Australian Landscape Head Three large drawings Charcoal, pastel, and acrylic on paper. -Vince Vozzo.

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Mama Murders Dada with a Chess Piece as She Descends the Staircase, Sandstone. -Vince Vozzo.

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Other interests? “Schopenhauer said “Art makes life bearable” I like movement, dancing and I love the guitar, I also play it.” Forthcoming Exhibitions?

“Three group shows and a solo show at Maunsell Wickes gallery 1st of August”.

‘Over the past 35 years I have had an obsession with the search for perfection.

My studio is my sanctuary where I turn inanimate objects into objects full of life. Here I stare at the night sky like Galileo did before me and dream.’ – VINCE VOZZO.

http://www.vozzo.com.au/

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THE STRUTT SISTERS Catherine & Jennifer Strutt. Artists, musicians, jewellery designers, synaesthetes: The Strutts are as eclectic as their art. The Strutt

Sisters are identical twins Catherine and Jennifer, who are artists based in Newcastle. They are well-known for their mixed media assemblages. Their works consist of

bricolage â&#x20AC;&#x201C; tiny stages made of wood and tin,

on which a cavalcade of characters snipped from old magazines, medical textbooks and postcards frolic. These works at times resemble nothing so much as the bric-a-brac shelf in a country town op-shop. The Strutts revel in the discarded and surreal, the whimsical and the absurd. Their works have been described as Joseph Cornellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s boxes turned inside out. The collaborative nature of their work allows for cross-pollination of ideas, each twin bringing her own inspiration and making her own mark.

Since 2006, the twins have concentrated on a unique line of jewellery which lends its look from their art practice and materials. Their lightweight funky jewellery line is stocked in boutiques and galleries around Australia. Their newest path is into the interior design world with their unique hand made panelling for commercial and residential interiors.

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STRUTT SISTER’S INTERVIEW

Where did you grow up? “We were born in Newcastle NSW and have lived and worked in Newcastle ever since. We grew up in Cardiff with our

parents who were/are musicians and who played in their bush dance band up and down the Hunter Valley. We had a great childhood of being outdoors and bounced around in the back of our parents old Land Rover as we explored the bush, digging up old bottles and relics from the past and travelling to our holiday shack at Lightning Ridge. Both our parents were/ are creative so it seemed natural to also take a creative path. After leaving Year 12 studies at Cardiff High, we were accepted into Hunter TAFE where we completed an Associate Diploma in Fine Art and then went onto the University of Newcastle where we completed a Bachelor of Arts Visual Arts and Post Grad studies. We finished studying in 1995.”

When did your artistic passion begin? “When we were kids colour was a big part of our lives. Having the unique condition Synaesthesia, where we saw colours for numbers and letters, everyday really made our lives vibrant and magical. As young as 6 or 7, telling a story through a drawing made complete sense and we would include as many details and colours as we could. The picture had to make sense with perspective and there was thought put into which colour needed to go first so as not to end up with a brown mess! Having musical and non-professional but competent artistic parents really helped as they not so much encouraged us to be creative but rather accepted our pursuits as the norm.” Issue 21 - July 2017

The Strutt Sisters beside their Fred Kahlo assemblage.

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Catherine working in the studio on Frida, mixed media assemblage.

The Strutt Sisters in their studio at the former Newcastle Art Space.

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Have you always wanted to be an artist? “We never really reached that decision as we always believed we already were artists! It was only when we reached the end of high school we thought there was only one path to take and that was to go to Art School to try and make us professional artists”.

How do you describe your work? “We work collaboratively, which in our case, means we use the best ideas from both of our heads and combine them to make one strong work. Our ideas are pretty much the same and we both have the same vision for the finished piece. After working together for so long now our creative process is like a well-oiled machine steaming away in the studio! Our works are mixed media assemblages and we combine aluminium, paint, timber, paper and fabric together to tell a story which is usually humorous. However, we are also colourists and love placement of colour, texture and pattern and these elements are what we strive to get right rather than the story. Like in a song, the melody is more important than the words to us.”

Do you have a set method / routine of working? “We come together to nut out a theme for a show or work and spend some time trawling through our extensive collection of vintage book and magazine collection for imagery that speaks to our theme. We do the same with other materials and textures and then lay it all in front of us. After this, magic happens and the work comes together as it moves from one of us to the other until the work is finished. We know it is finished when it’s Synaesthetically right and the colour and composition are friends. Our strengths differ. Catherine is the builder and Jennifer is the painter/decorator but we are both the

designers.” Issue 21 - July 2017

Why do you choose this material / medium to work with? “We have collaborated on painting and the process was too flat and quick. We also majored in print making at University while we were studying a BAVA but we were too filthy and couldn’t keep the paper spotless and clean, unlike everyone else! So we moved to printing on painted plywood and considered 2d work. We were both working individually on assemblages but were helping each other with our different weaknesses. The assemblage process is slower and allows for more together

chat over the work as a whole.”

What inspires you both? “Humour, music, Scandinavian ideals and traditional design, and vintage imagery from the 1920s to the late 1950s before the design and printing process changed taking away the flat simple colour palette and patterns of early printing processes. Most importantly, we are inspired by colour and working with colour. Having an opinion or voice about current issues of the world (the expected norm for most visual artists) and telling that story is not something we’re interested in as artists. We are far more interested in the visual”.

What have been the major influences on your work? “Prominent visual artists both internationally and nationally, including Joseph Cornell and Rosalie Gascoigne and visual artist friends, particularly the incredible Newcastle sculptor, John Turier, in our early years as visual artists. Also our lives as performing musicians, the stories from places we’ve played, gigs we’ve seen and played for and festivals with all of the excitement and visual richness that can only be discovered at a festival”. Issue 21 - July 2017

Jazz Club a Bespoke Surface Design panel sample, mixed media assemblage. W450 x H450 x D60mm. -Strutt Sisters. Issue 21 - July 2017

What are the challenges in becoming an exhibiting artist? “Earning money from sales and getting paid by the gallery. A gallery takes 40% which leaves us with 60%. However, because we collaborate we each get 30% which means the gallery is getting MORE than us as individuals. There is ALWAYS a very long wait to be paid and on top of that, after working hard on a show for 6 months, there is NO guarantee any work will sell! We are more and more jaded with the exhibiting scene unfortunately and only show on rare and special occasions. As artists, we still need to make money and treat what we do as any other business would and if there is

an aspect of the business that is not performing as well as it should be, it’s time to consider not doing it anymore.” Right: Bowie, 2016, mixed media assemblage W830 x H1200 x D70mm. - Strutt Sisters

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Jennifer working in the studio on Frida, mixed media assemblage.

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The cafe counter by The Strutt Sisters at Goodness Me Organics Adamstown, 2013,

mixed media assemblage, W3000 x H1200 x D1000mm. Issue 21 - July 2017

The Strutt Sisters as musicians performing with Scottish fiddler, Chris Duncan at the National Folk Festival, Easter Canberra, 2016

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Yellow Tulip, mixed media assemblage, 300 x 250 x 55mm. - Strutt Sisters.

Strutt Sisters Pearls Necklace. Issue 21 - July 2017

What is your greatest achievement, exhibitions? “Our work, “Who Killed Cock Robin?” was hung as a finalist in the Sulman Art Prize in 2003 and in 2011 won the Muswellbrook Art Prize. Our work resides in the collections of some pretty amazing people such as Elizabeth Anne Macgregor, curator of the MCA Sydney and comedian Mikey Robins. Our other achievement includes creating a popular and successful line of handmade jewellery, of which some have been used as in various television programmes”.

Other interests? “We are also musicians and have a strong interest in the traditional music of Scotland and Scandinavia. We are suckers for

great vintage clothing, fabric and pretty 1950’s frocks and style. We love the process of wearing and choosing clothes to wear, arranging layers of colours and stripes. We treat ourselves like one of our artworks and take time to “get our colours right” before we each walk out of our doors!” - Catherine & Jeniffer Strutt © 2017. All rights reserved on article and photographs - Strutt Sisters © 2017.

www.thestruttsistersbespoke.com www.thestruttsisters.com

Issue 21 - July 2017

L O R R A I N E F I L D E S

PUBLIC ART IN SINGAPORE

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Above: Close-up of portraits etched into copper panels and displayed on raised platforms on the Art Connector.

Page 86: Singapore Soul - Jaume Plensa. Issue 21 - July 2017

Public Art in Singapore - Lorraine Fildes Singapore is filled with public art. Just wander around and you’ll spot many statues and sculptures - outside museums, metro stations, corporate buildings and in parks, gardens, and on street roundabouts. Some objects are figurative in their design, whilst others are abstract. Some of the sculptures have meanings and messages, whereas others relate to Singapore’s past and present. There is a great variety of subject matter - people, animals, plants and semi and total abstracted sculptures. There is great diversity in the material used by each artist, including stone, bronze, copper, brass, painted steel, painted bronze, stainless steel metal and enamel panels. Public art has evolved to become an important part of the Singapore tourist

drawcard. I have selected thirteen sculptures viewed in and around the business centre of Singapore. Next to each sculpture I have given a short resume about the artist and the message or story conveyed by the sculpture. I have also included a covered walkway – The Art Connector (290 metres long), which was opened in 2015

and links the City Hall MRT metro to the Coleman Street entrance of the National Art Gallery. 1. Fernando Botero

6. Jaume Plensa

10. Richard Macdonald

2. Aw Tee Hong

7. Sir Anish Kapoor

11. Han Sai Por

3. David Gerstein

8. Auguste Rodin

12. Anthony Cragg

4. Baet Yeok Kuan

13. The Art Connector

Kumari Nahappan

5. Salvador Dali Issue 21 - July 2017

Bird - Bronze â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1990 by Fernando Botero The bird is traditionally associated with peace and serenity. This three -dimensional Bird signifies the joy of living and the power of optimism

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Aw Tee Hong - using modern concepts and materials. Aw Tee Hong 's artistic career has spanned six decades and transcends a bewildering host of disciplines â&#x20AC;&#x201C; oil and acrylic, water colour, Chinese ink, calligraphy, seal carving and opera mask painting. Aw was born in China but migrated to Singapore in

1950. Aw received his artistic education in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore and Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing during the 1950s. In the 1970s with the proliferation of industrial materi-

als, Aw experimented with these alternative materials. His contribution to Singapore's art and cultural scene lies in his inventiveness and resourcefulness to produce works of art that have helped redefine conventional art forms and techniques. Issue 21 - July 2017

Pioneering Spirit - copper, brass and iron â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1988 by Aw Tee Hong Raffles Place, Singapore. The sculpture, which is made of copper, brass and iron, depicts a ship. It represents Singapore's growth from a humble fishing village to a thriving metropolis. The deliberate patches on the sculpture honour, the people and events that have helped shape both the ship and Singapore itself.

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David Gerstein - decorative art with a message David Gerstein was born in Jerusalem, Israel. He is best known for his Pop-Art pieces which combine bold colours with striking multi-layered metal cut-out pieces. Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s art-

work is diverse, depicting anything from butterflies, jazz players, bicycle riders and active human figures. Vibrant and bright colours have been called "decorative" and "commercial" but, David says he aimed to create art that would speak to the art world while remaining accessible to the man in the street. David maintains that "not everything needs to be heavy" in art, and that "there can be art for pleasure's sake", and the deeper message can be hidden in the art work.

To the right is one of Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brightly coloured metal figures this figure holds the plaque that describes the sculpture Momentum. The sculpture stands in Finlayson Green, a busy intersection in the business section of Singapore. On the next page are two photos (from different angles) showing the huge number of figures that make up Momentum. Issue 21 - July 2017

Momentum by David Gerstein Medium: Painted Steel This sculpture’s layers of figures spiralling upwards represent the population’s high energy and continuous cycle of progress. This work pays tribute to Singapore’s present and past generations. Without their toil, strength and ingenuity, Singapore would not have become the dynamic metropolis it is today. The sculpture shows the vision and continual commitment by everyone to help make Singapore a vibrant global city. Issue 21 - July 2017

Baet Yeok Kuan audio sculpture

installation

Baet Yeok Kuan was born in Singapore and graduated with a Diploma in Fine Art (Painting) from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1987 and received his MA in Fine Art from the University of Central England, Birmingham in 1992. In 1995, Baet was conferred the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council Singapore. Baet has done many local public art projects and recently completed a site-specific installation â&#x20AC;&#x153;24 Hours in Singaporeâ&#x20AC;? on the Asian Civilisations Museum lawn. Issue 21 - July 2017

24 Hours In Singapore 2015 - Baet Yeok Kuan (Singapore)

Stainless Steel - Dimensions Variable

24 Hours in Singapore is an interactive audio sculpture installation that acts as an audio time capsule capturing soundscapes of Singapore. Over time, this sculpture will serve as a remembrance of the rich heritage of our daily lives in Singapore circa 2015. The installationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s audio recordings feature familiar sounds of everyday people, places and scenes, from the sounds of traffic in suburban heartlands and MRT trains to the daily chatter in markets and coffee shops. Issue 21 - July 2017

Salvador Dali - surrealist master Homage to Newton is to be found in the UOB Plaza in Singapore. I have enlarged the plaque below the sculpture as it gives a detailed description of how Dali went about creating this sculpture.

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Jaume Plensa renowned for sculptures in public spaces Jaume was born in Barcelona, Spain and held his first exhibition there in 1980. He has since lived and worked in Berlin, Brussels, England, France and the United States. He has been a teacher at the École nationale supérieure des BeauxArts in Paris and is often a guest professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2011, a large selection of Plensa’s sculptures, both interior – shown in the exhibition rooms – and outdoor large works – installed in the gardens – were exhibited at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in West Bretton, England. Thanks to this exhibition, the site received national recognition as Most Magnificent Attraction in 2011.

Singapore Soul by Jaume Plensa. Painted stainless Steel "Singapore soul" statue at Raffles Place is made up of words and ideograms in the four national languages. Issue 21 - July 2017

Sir Anish Kapoor â&#x20AC;&#x201C; stainless steel works which reflect and distort their surroundings

Anish Kapoor was born in Mumbai, India, to a Hindu father and a Jewish

mother. Kapoor has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s when he moved to study art, first at the Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design. Since 1995, he has worked with the highly reflective surface of polished stainless steel. These works are mirror-like, reflecting and distorting the viewer and surroundings. Adjacent is his sculpture Tall Tree In The Eye. It consists of twenty-nine polished, stainless steel spheres which float skyward. This sculpture is 8m-tall and weighs 6-tonnes. Each of the metrewide spheres reflect one another and the buildings and the viewers, resulting in distortion of the surrounds to the viewer. Kapoor received a knighthood in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services

to visual arts.

Left Tall Tree In The Eye by Sir Anish Kapoor Site: Ocean Financial Centre at Raffles Place.

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Tall Tree In The Eye and its surrounding architectural setting at Ocean Financial Centre in Raffles Place.

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Auguste Rodin - considered the progenitor of modern sculpture Auguste Rodin (1840 -1917) French sculptor. The Thinker, when conceived in 1880 as the crowning

element of The Gates of Hell was only about 70 cm high. In this monument he represented Dante, author of the Divine Comedy which had inspired The Gates of Hell, leaning forward to observe the circles of Hell, while meditating on his work. The Thinker was therefore initially both a being with a tortured body, almost a damned soul, and a freethinking man, determined to transcend his suffering through poetry. The original size and the later monumental size

(189 cm high) versions were both created by Rodin, and the most valuable versions are those created under his supervision. One of his original bronze versions is on display at the OUE Bayfront building near Marina Bay in Singapore. It is mounted on a tall black marble pedestal. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Two views of The Thinker - Auguste Rodin. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Kumari Nahappan – creating an impact with everyday things

Malaysian born Singapore artist Kumari Nahappan is one of Southeast Asia’s leading sculptors in the bronze. Monumental reproductions of chillies and other plant life have become Kumari’s most recognisable body of work. Trained in interior design in Willesden College of Technology in London UK in the mid-1970s, Kumari pursued a successful interior design career before studying fine art at the

Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore, later securing a Master of Fine Art degree from the RMIT University, Melbourne. Kumari produces works capturing the imagination. Her sculptures of gigantic chillis and saga seeds embrace the spice of life. Using simple compositions, and layers of vibrant hues, her abstract work is full of philosophical ideas that reflect "life and energy". Section of ‘Pembungaan’ flows into and decorates the entrance lobby of the OUE building. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Pembungaan Bronze mural 2011 By Kumari Nahappan. ‘Pembungaan’ means “blossoming” in Malay. The monumental wall relief is an ode to the lushness of nature and its timeless rhythms. It was Inspired by the interior of the chilli pepper and the maze on the nutmeg. The mural wraps itself around the façade of the OUE Bayfront into the building’s main lobby.

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Richard MacDonald - advocating neo-realism and figurative art Both of these sculptures are to be found in the foyer of the OUE (Overseas Union Enterprises, Ltd) Bayfront, Singapore. The foyer is mainly glass so the sculptures can be easily observed from outside the building, but during the week you can enter the foyer itself. Richard MacDonald (born 1946) is a California-based contemporary

figurative

artist

known

for

his

bronze

sculptures. Richard works with models throughout the process of creating a sculpture. He draws and sculpts his subjects over and over, until he is totally satisfied with the work. A mould is used to create editions in bronze through the "lost wax" technique. Richard creates the patina that is to be used on the bronze. This patina is then duplicated by the patina artists on his staff for the remainder of the bronzes produced for that edition. He also selects and designs the base to which the sculpture will be attached. Blind Faith Heroic 2007 - Richard Macdonald

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Leap of Faith Heroic 2008 Richard Macdonald Issue 21 - July 2017

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Han Sai Por

(born 1943) is recognised as one of Singaporeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foremost sculptors. With a foundation degree from the

Nanyang Academy of Fine Art, Singapore, Han later studied at East Ham College of Art (London), Wolverhampton College of Art in the UK and Lincoln University (Landscape Architecture) in New Zealand. Han is most famous for her works in stone. Her sculptures are characterised by organic forms and she displays an intuitive understanding of the material with which she is working. Han has been awarded the Grand Prize at the TriennaleIndia 2005 and Outstanding Sculpture Award, China in 2006. Issue 21 - July 2017

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On this corner in Singapore there are six solid granite blocks which weigh over 55 tons. There are three wave-like blocks. Two of these blocks can be seen in the above photograph â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the third one is hidden by the large flowing block at the front of the photograph. These wave-like blocks are positioned for people to enjoy as resting places and seats as you can see in the photograph above. These massive granite blocks have been made by Han to curve and flow with rhythmic grace. The other three blocks can be seen in the photo on the next page. There are voids and gaps between the blocks which allow people to walk through, around and in-between the artwork â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is a spatial play that encourages viewers to join in and

participate. This sculpture invites interaction, exploration and discovery. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Anthony Cragg â&#x20AC;&#x201C; has a sculpture park featuring his works in Germany Tony Cragg was born in Liverpool, England in 1949. He started work as a lab technician at the National Rubber Producers' Research Association. During the slack periods he made drawings to help him visualise the biochemical processes; in 1968 he left to pursue his interest in art, studying at Wimbledon School of Art and then the Royal College in London. Tony became known for his exploration of unconventional materials. With his use of plastic, fiberglass, bronze and other materials, his sculptures embody a dynamism and seem to be halted midmovement, resulting in swirling abstractions.

Major prizes such as the Turner Prize and the Praemium Imperiale of Japan have been won by Tony. A sculpture park dedicated to his works has been established in Wuppertal, Germany. He has lived and worked in Wuppertal, Germany since 1977.

Left: Points of View series, bronze, Anthony Cragg, 2001. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Points of View series Bronze Anthony Cragg, 2001. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Walkway – a community arts project A permanent aesthetic sheltered walkway now links City Hall MRT (metro station) to the entrance of the National Singapore Art Gallery. The Art Connector is a unique and lasting tribute to the diversity of Singaporean people. Between November 2014 and June 2015, Singaporeans from all walks of life submitted their portraits to be used in the walkway project. Each individual self-sketched portrait received was scanned and digitised to form a larger collective pattern which was then etched into copper panels and displayed on raised platforms on the Art Connector. In addition, invited artists were commissioned to artistically interpret the sentiments contained in the National Pledge: “regardless of race, language or religion”. The colourful, vibrant renderings of the artists were composed on enamel panels

and placed on raised platforms on the Art Connector. Another iconic feature of the Art Connector is the roof. The unique undulating stainless steel roof relates to the environment through its reflective surfaces and cloud-like canopy, mirroring the surrounding landscape and the copper and enamel panels under it. The section of the Art Connector along North Bridge Road (NBR) near City Hall MRT station also features a changing display system. Different artists and designers can be invited on a regular basis to change the graphics within the Art Connector, taking inspiration from art works on display in the National Gallery. The design for the Art Connector was created by FARM Architects in collaboration with Young Artist Award 2013 recipient,

Grace Tan. Issue 21 - July 2017

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A permanent covered walkway (290 metres long) links the City Hall MRT to the Coleman Street entrance of the National Art Gallery. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Vibrant work done by artists on an enamel panel that was then placed on raised platform on the Art Connector. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Close-up of the colourful, vibrant work done by artists on an enamel panel that was then placed on a raised platform on the Art Connector.

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LINDA SWINFIELD Issue 21 - July 2017

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LINDA SWINFIELD Linda Swinfield is an Australian, contemporary artist, whose artmaking is an inquisitive examination of place (site), family and memory- attached to both personal and collective

histories. Swinfield incorporates personal, traditional and collective histories to construct narratives. The works cross printmaking, photographic traditions and digital media and currently sits at the intersection between figuration and abstraction. Her art practice commenced in the 1980s within the academic traditions of drawing, painting and photography. Swinfield completed a Masters of Fine Art from the University of Newcastle, NSW in 2010. Swinfield is now an independent arts practitioner, educator and curator, with studio history as an artist spanning over thirty years. Swinfield has included in Arts Zine an article on her Artist in residence at the Hazlehurst Regional Art Gallery in 2017. Page 114: Double Bridge, charcoal on Stonehenge paper, H38 x W55cm, Linda Swinfield ÂŠ 2015. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Figure I Lithography on Stonehenge paper. H50 xW34cm Linda Swinfield ÂŠ 1987.

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When did your artistic passion begin? “My art making journey has resulted in me walking onto and off the path of art at different stages in my life, yet it has also been a constant companion. It is not simple for me to pin point when, where or why I was attracted to the world of art because for me it was a series of events, people and destinations in my life that seemed to be placed on my path. I was lucky enough to have several good teachers and friends at every level of High School, TAFE and at University right through to the completion of my Master’s degree at The University of Newcastle in 2010. As an archetypal young girl I loved to draw; it would take me to another place where I would draw for hours, I would find a place in my home that was relatively quiet and everything else dropped away. In this place my imagination had permission to wander. My mother’s support was a contributing factor when I was young. Her insight into her youngest child is now very

clear to me. She would always find a piece of paper ready for me to draw on. Because I was the youngest child of four children art making enabled for me to find my own private island. Initially I copied pictures of animals, then progressed to drawing people’s faces and eventually progressed to the human figure. I can also remember scribbling patterns into the columns of my school books and developing them into imaginary and abstract landscapes. Art was the only subject at school that I was keen about, the decision to leave school after year 10 to study art full time seemed very natural at the time. I didn’t want to waste my time with all the other subjects…. Like many young people I was in a hurry! I didn’t feel comfortable about doing the HSC and a bit like I didn’t fit into the education system. All I wanted to do was hang out in the art rooms.”

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Burial, pastel and charcoal on Stonehenge paper, H50 x W50 cm. Linda Swinfield ÂŠ 1997.

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Describe your work? “Looking back now I can see that my childhood upbringing has been an integral component of my work for much longer than I have realised. History is now the central spine of my art practice, as is research of oral histories, historic sites and social histories. Recently I have begun to focus own family history. There is no set method or routine when I commence a new project. Nevertheless I may spend several months researching images and the historic facts surrounding a story before I commence making the actual work. My father John William Swinfield was a ”self-taught” historian and collector of historic objects including British issue colonial

and 18th century firearms. Our childhood home was filled with a complex mix of historic paraphernalia that included recycled, vintage and antique objects. Often on weekends we visited auction houses, antique shows and went to social gatherings at the homes of Dads extended tribe of collector friends. As a result of this upbringing I have developed an ongoing fascination with objects of historic significance, their place in history and the social histories attached to them. This pull has slowly crept into my art making processes and recently become its focus. I like to call my working process the construction of visual narratives based on oral histories and the documents and photographs that I have gathered. Akin to a writer who is creating a “story” I create visual stories that enable the viewer to connect with and perhaps to

connect with a little part of their own history as a result.” Issue 21 - July 2017

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Dwelling series: henrys house, photo silkscreen on galvanized sheet metal using oil based inks, 15 x 15 x 15 cm, Linda Swinfield ÂŠ 2009.

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Family series 1-38, photo silkscreen on vintage linoleum squares using oil based inks, 23 x 23cm each tile, Linda Swinfield ÂŠ 2005.

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Persephone, Lithography on Stonehenge paper, W48 x H36 cm, Linda Swinfield ÂŠ 2003. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Do you have a set method / routine of working? “Nowadays my artmaking is very research driven, responsive to sites that I have personally visited and the related historic material. However that being said I also have a passion for the materiality of my practices and the nature of the medium used within my processes. They are integral to the development of the work, often resulting in very abstract tangents to my practice that are sometimes visceral and attached to and emotional response to sites and the histories that they are connected with.”

Why do you choose this material / medium to work with?

“I have multiple tangents to my work that can at times be distinct and can often cross over and into each other’s traditional territories. The photographic and the drawn processes will at times venture into each other where I require a more physical and direct response through the drawn mark”.

How important is drawing as an element to your artwork? “Drawing is integral to my art practice and so much so now that I have often taken it for granted. I have always drawn and still utilize its multiple forms in several ways. I use drawing as a form of note taking during research and often this will develop into a layer of my work through photo silkscreen or photo lithography. Sometimes drawing will surface through direct mark making as an emotive response to an individual story or a sites memory.” Issue 21 - July 2017

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What inspires you? “I am inspired and driven by art and history. The artists who particularly inspire me in my personal artmaking are individuals who have initiated an emotional response within their work questioning historic iconography and social constructs. Looking back on my past in hindsight this is quite ironic mix of reactions considering my

background as a teacher and that I am now also an art coach. I still believe very much in the need for solid foundations in art school education systems and community access to the necessary support for younger artists. It is also a curious past for me now as consider myself an arts educator.”

What have been the major influences on your work? “Inspiration in its literal sense comes from so many different places for me. An object will trigger a memory, a shape, a texture within a rock pool whilst walking along a beach. Watching my son walk through the bush, a landscape, a building shape and art history itself can inspire me. At different time in my art practice I have been inspired by very different artists. And when I taught art history at Newcastle TAFE I found it difficult at times to underline a list of favourites - I still do.

Nevertheless I have always been inspired by all the women artists who have stoically kept working and despite their life situations have managed to continue their art practice. The list is too long to include them all and consist of a diversity of names, styles and eras stretching back to the Renaissance including: Artemisia Gentileschi, Mary Cassatt, Kathe Kollwitz, Lee Krasner and of her contemporaries who struggled for identity beside their husbands, Georgia O’Keeffe, Eva Hesse, Kiki Smith, Grace Crowley, Australian photographer Sue Ford and Frida Kahlo. The list here is much longer. Also there have been many male artists as well and recently I have been driven by the work of Christian Boltanski, Yinka Shonibare , Robert Motherwell, George Woodman, Max Ernst and Man Ray. Art history itself is an ongoing source of inspiration and reinvention.”

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Henrys horse series, photo silkscreen on galvanized sheet metal using oil based inks, 32 x32 cm 1,5 cm depth, Linda Swinfield ÂŠ2004. Issue 21 - July 2017

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What do you hope viewers of your art works will feel and take with them? “When people view my work I hope that they will connect via their own history , reflect upon a little part of themselves, their own familial histories and respond based on their own experiences. I also wish that this process of connection enables individuals a way to reflect on their own genetic and personal past to support the preservation of our collective social histories.”

Forthcoming exhibitions? “I will be exhibiting at Carriage works within Paper Contemporary as a component of Sydney Contemporary Art Fair (September 7th -10th with 5 other Hunter based Artists.).” Dierdre Brollo Anne-Maree Hunter Alison Smith Linda Swinfield Patricia Wilson-Adams Vale Zakarauska

https://sydneycontemporary.com.au/galleries-2017/hunter-prints-newcastle/ Issue 21 - July 2017

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Top: Birrarung Ponds series II: flux with text 2 Monoprint and photo lithography on paper attached to laser cut forms 26 cm each series of 12 Linda Swinfield ÂŠ 2013-14

Bottom: Ghost house series -Birrarung 2

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Seeking family series 1: Georgian selfie, Archival ink jet print on archival paper, W1135 x H62 cm, Linda Swinfield ÂŠ 2015.

https://lindaswinfield.wordpress.com/ Issue 21 - July 2017

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WALKING WITH

GHOSTS Hazelhurst Regional Art Gallery AIR (Artist in Residency)

LINDA SWINFIELD

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WALKING WITH GHOSTS Hazelhurst Regional Art Gallery AIR (Artist in Residency)

LINDA SWINFIELD

‘Australian history is almost always picturesque… It does not read like history, but like the most beautiful lies. It is full of surprises, and adventures, and incongruities, and contradictions, and incredibilities; but they are all true, they all happened.’ - Mark Twain.

Between the 8th and the 25th of April I was “gifted” a short stay by Hazelhurst Regional Art Gallery as Artist in Residence at the Broadhurst Cottage to research a new body of works investigating a convict and a ships steward from my family history. As with Mark Twain’s quote above Australian history is a series of beautiful lies and truths and my work attempts to map and document these. This new tangent of work has opened many doors and asked multiple questions, as well as helping me to make sense of some of my own history. Concerned with the dead, my artmaking process is increasingly becoming a form of familial portraiture with history as its backdrop.

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The Cottage, Hazelhurst Regional Art Gallery. This residency time was quite dissimilar to many residences I have been to as its aim was purely for research. Thankfully the time granted by the gallery set no expected community events for me to participate in, which was a relief. Additionally due to its length and the extended goals that I set for myself I was thankful to not conduct a formal community event which many residencies require as an extension of a stay. Issue 21 - July 2017

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All art residencies are quite different from each other; and this one in particular was paradoxically a very public place and yet it was a peaceful and private venue. Within the grounds, in front of the residence there is an excellent cafĂŠ and the regional gallery. The cafĂŠ is opposite the house and open from 8am creating a few comic situations for me to encounter people during my stay. Nestled within the grounds of Hazlehurst Regional Art Gallery the residency cottage history is very interesting and has a family element that intrigued me during my stay. Ben and Hazel Broadhurst secured the land that became Hazelhurst in 1945.

Situated in Gymea. the Gweagal name for the beautiful native lily that populates the area, the land was a natural bushland setting with Dent's Creek running through it. The Broadhursts' two-storey cottage, designed with the help of local architect Harry Smith, is now Hazlehurstâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s artist-in-residence and digital media studio. The building that was their home now has several purposes, including a well-stocked art library, a venue for artist The Artists in Residence studio, upstairs at the cottage.

talks and events as well as the meeting place for The Friends of Hazelhurst Gallery.

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View of the Salt Pan Creek Reserve, photographed by the artist during her site visits in 2017. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Two views of Salt Pan Creek reserve, photographed by the artist during her site visits in 2017.

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In the lead up to the eighteen day stay I pre-organised and booked a packed program of site visits within the Sydney metropolitan area. This generous gift of time was granted to me after commencing research into a new tangent of my family history tentatively begun in the Bankstown area in 2016. At the time I realised that I needed and extended stay to intensively study a family of early settlers whose several land grants were within this area and on the river near Rhodes in the early years of the colony. The subject for my newest body of work and the residency research was our first fleet family member Frederick Meredith who arrived, at the age of 23 on the Scarborough as a ships steward to Captain John Marshall in January 1788 and his wife Sarah (nee Mason) transported at sixteen years of age on the Bellona in 1793 for fourteen years of servitude after being caught in possession of stolen goods. Very little is still known about her, her life prior to arrival and activities after arriving in the New South Wales before marrying Frederick in 1811. Frederick’s story has numerous tangents; there are complex twists at every corner within each tale and many as yet unanswered questions. In 1810 he was enlisted as one of the voluntary police militia sent to end the uprising of convicts at the so called Australian Australian “Vinegar Hill” led by William Balmain. Additionally Fredrick was recorded as one of the crew to travel aboard the Sirius on its ill-fated voyage to Norfolk Island where it was sunk. However it seems that this didn’t happen, instead he was employed to tend and plant a garden with other Sirius crew members on what is now Garden Island where his initials are carved into the rock for posterity. He was also busy during his time in Australia fathering 3

children with other convict women Mary Kirk, Mary Allen and Ann Case. All of them connected to his second voyage on the Bellona where he may have met Sarah Mason. Sarah Mason gave birth to 6 children and they married in 1811. The youngest born Eleanor daughter is my great, great, great grandmother. Her Daughter Ellen Sophia who married John William Swinfield, one of two brothers who travelled out to Australia from Warwickshire during colonisation. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Detail of Passage series 1, 2016. Silk screen on laser cut forms.

The Fredrick Meredith Graffiti, his initials and date carved into the rock on Garden Island.

Eleanorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life is also a singularly fascinating for me as an almost feminist story of defiance. This side story has gripped my imagination with its clandestine journey through the Hunter Valley into Queensland where she is buried in Ipswich. After her first marriage at 14 to a much older man, she eloped with another in the 19th century. Her story, as a womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personal struggle may become the focus of my work in years to come. Issue 21 - July 2017

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The lead up to the residency enabled me to contact many relevant organisations that could assist me with my research. Short field trips were organised within the week including walks and visits with my son to sites of significance. It was exciting for him to visit many venues because he is currently studying the first fleet at school. Organisations visited during our stay included multiple trips to Liverpool where Fredrick and his sons became police constables. These visits included Liverpool Museum and Library, The pioneer cemetery in Liverpool, Liverpool Weir and

Casula Powerhouse Art Centre.

Walks along Salt Pan Creek and tracts of the Georges River enabled me to get an idea of what the landscape would have looked like when Fredrick and Sarah lived there.

In the Bankstown area I also visited the Library and the family history section where I became curious about finding more information about the location of the Meredith’s land grant “Gunsborough Farm”. I undertook several walks along Salt Pan Creek, through tracts of bush reserve and where the creek is being reclaimed at the mouth of the Georges River near Panania. My son and I undertook a day trip to Garden Island where he assisted me with drawing materials to do a rubbing of Frederick’s graffiti that is carved into the rock alongside his Sirius crew mates on the hill overlooking Sydney Harbour. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Whist I did not make any hand pulled prints during my stay at Hazelhurst I took with me my trusty, 50+ year old Pentax fully manual camera to shoot film and construct images within a layering process of multiple exposure. And it was through this process, using stories that I had researched I constructed visual narratives. One of the many stories of Fredrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life that I wished to re-dress was whilst claiming a land grant for a neighbour. History has recorded that he was speared in his ear narrowly missing his head by Tedbury the son of the indigenous freedom fighter Pemulwuy. My discomfort with this story has triggered a series of portraits that are layered with images of indigenous figures, most of whom are close friends and I have paired them with significant landscape sites related to my personal history and social history of Sydney. Including the site of Captain Cooks landing in the 18th century at Kamay Botany Bay National Park, Salt Pan Creek at Beauty Point, the

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Not expecting any quick and streamlined results during our stay at Hazlehurst or directly after. I did however make several

rubbings,

commenced some drawings and shot seven rolls of film.

I have also come home with a

thumb drive filled with

photographs, maps,

early documents related to the Meredith

history and hope to use these images in a series of hand printed works over the next year.

Left:

Remembering places series II, Alf and Cooks

landing site 1, 2017. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Some working drawings including site rubbings and drawings of boats- studio process from the residency stay. Charcoal, pastel and pencil on rice paper and architects tracing paper.

During my residency I became conscious of the presence and role of the Georges River as a means of transport during the 19th century. As a fledgling colonial outpost Liverpool would have relied on the river to transport goods and people. As a result of this I began to draw boats of all shapes and sizes both in an abstract form and figuratively. Where this will all lead me when I start work in my studio I do not knowâ&#x20AC;Ś many Meredith questions remain unsolved. Issue 21 - July 2017

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The work that I do is intrinsically tied up with history and its related memory, its anecdotes and layered complexities. The art historian Joan Gibbons has written that However, memory is never just a straightforward process of recording lest we forget and, even in the best equipped minds, it can be a slippery mechanism. It can be both elusive and intrusive and we can rarely be completely sure of its fidelity to the events or facts that it recalls. Within this fragile framework I construct imagery, gather text, layer, research and erase images to make a visual

construction of the facts and as stated by Mark Twain himself. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Never let the truths get in the way of a good story.â&#x20AC;?

Remembering place series II: Meredith grave and Georges River I, 2017. Analog photography digitally enhanced. They will be printed onto printmaking papers.

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I would like to thank a multitude of individuals that guided me before I left home and at many of the venues visited during my stay including all the staff at Hazlehurst Regional Art Gallery. This includes Carrie Kibbler who I discovered had a spooky connection to the story of the Meredith family as an honorary member after curating an exhibition at the Liverpool Museum in 2003. We didn’t know this until I arrived. The wonderful staff that assisted me during my stay all deserves a mention including Caryn Schwartz, Sophia Egarchos, Vilma Hodgson and Anastajia Atic. Also would like to thank Vesna Ristevski from Casula Powerhouse Art Gallery who assisted me with finding information on the Liverpool Weir and on the final day gifted me a much coveted copy The Meredith’s catalogue from the exhibition curated by Carrie Kibbler in 2003.

Angela Agostino over several days assisted me at the Liverpool Library and the Liverpool Museum as did Anna Grega,

Coordinator of Museum and Heritage Services prior to my visit and during. I would also like to thank Peter Allen from Liverpool Family History Research center who I met and as it turned out is also a Meredith descendent. Also on this list is Bankstown Community History Librarian Kirsten Cox who gave me an enormous insight into the possible location of the Meredith farm and the many evolutions of Salt Pan Creek. I cannot also forget the time, input, research and support of the Meredith clan, most importantly June Mackie and Verna Lumby as well as Nan Bosler and Joan Jones from the friends of the Fredrick Meredith descendants group. Also I would like to acknowledge Kim Blunt from Maitland Regional Gallery for supporting my crazy residency idea.

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L A

I I T

I V

E ERIC & ROBYN WERKHOVEN Issue 21 - July 2017

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Eric & Robyn Werkhoven . A Dynasty of Design - Maggie Hall

Eric and Robyn Werkhoven have been involved with Fine Arts for many years – from Performance Event art, painting, sculpture, textile, jewellery design and management of art galleries. The past thirty years they have lived and worked as professional artists in the Hunter Valley, NSW.

Participating in over 90 exhibitions, exhibiting nationally and internationally, their work has been represented in major art prizes. Together they exhibit under the title of Studio La Primitive. Their works a celebration of everyday life, exploring the world of human impulse and feeling, with sheer delight and a touch of irony. Robyn’s passion

for portraiture and the moving figure, Eric’s stylised mythological and human bodies, both, a shared attraction to bold colour & fluidity in design. Their styles come together in their collaboration, complementing and exciting each other’s clear passion of form and movement married with a brilliance of clarity & colour.

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Robyn - posed to dance - 5 years old 1957.

Childhood Memories II, graphite pencil & oil pastel, H42 x W30cm Robyn Werkhoven ÂŠ 2017. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Robyn what are the fondest memories of your youth? “There are many memories from my youth, the earliest times were filled with ‘make believe’, dressing up in all sorts of costumes, especially ballet and dancing, to an audience of a myriad of toys – dolls, teddy bears and gollywogs. I attended ballet classes till 12 years old and actually danced on stage, I was the magician in Petrushka by Stravinsky. I became quite obsessed with the world of Ballet, and desired to be a dancer when older. By the time I was 11years old, I realised this would not happen. Drawing and painting were high on my entertainment list. My High School art teacher Mrs Holmes was very supportive, nurturing my talent. I often skipped sport and French lessons whenever possible to spend my time in the art room. My sister, Lorraine gave me a lovely gift of oil paints and brushes and said, ‘perhaps you could be an artist’, that was the beginning of my lifelong passion for the Arts. “Reading was another keen interest from young. My book list for a twelve year old began with Voltaire’s Candide, Dostoyevsky’s Crime & Punishment, Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. The great writers ignited and fed my imagination. And now in later life the Avant guard writers – Jean Genet and Yukio Mishima are still fuelling my drawing and paintings. At present, Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception has inspired my latest series of drawings, these will be part of our next exhibition ‘Comedy & Tragedy’ in November 2017 at Art Systems Wickham Gallery in Newcastle. “I have always enjoyed writing stories and Haiku Poetry to capture the atmosphere and my emotions each day, similar to a diary. In recent times I have started to write a book, it is a mystery with nuances of Sci-fi and adventure, naturally set in the art world.”

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Robyn where do you come from? “I come from the Stanton farming dynasty at Penrith, NSW, I have always loved the rural landscape and the serenity of the bush. My parents moved to Wollongong, where I attended school, till I was 16 years old. I really wanted to study painting at Art college, but my parents considered being a painter not really a career so my option was to enter the world of advertising, hence I

set off to Sydney Graphic Design at Randwick

College. At this stage I adored Sydney city life and the wild bohemia of the art world, eagerly experiencing all it had to offer. After my study years I entered the world of textile design and fashion. Silk screening unique designs on clothing, this led to opening retail fashion shops in Wollongong and

Sydney. I

greatly admired Australian fashion designer icon Jenny Kee. In recent years, I was thrilled to paint her portrait, which became a Finalist in the Portia Geach Memorial Portrait Prize and in 2014 was selected for the Portrait Painters Australian exhibition at the Australian Embassy in Washington, USA”.

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Robyn Werkhoven in her studio working on portrait of Sherrel Oakey, 2017.

Robyn Werkhoven with portrait of Jenny Kee 2011. Portrait Painters Australia Exhibition, Parliament House, Sydney. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Where has Eric lived? Eric’s life and works of art are equally as colourful. Eric was born in Java, Indonesia, his heritage is Dutch Indonesian. His family moved to Holland after Sukarno came into power and later to Tanzania, Africa. Here he spent a happy and spirited boyhood on a sugar cane plantation, surrounded by the exotic beauty and dangers of wild Africa. “I would swim in the river with other boys, not far from the Hippos and I had a pet snake.”

His teenage years were lived in Holland, there his interest in the Arts developed, attending Art College in Den Haag. The yearning for open space and adventure led Eric to Australia in 1972. “Travel has been an integral part of my life, journeying to Israel, New Zealand and New Guinea, revisiting Indonesia. Absorbing the ethos of different lifestyles has been an important factor for my artistic development.”

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Left: African Woman, Middle: Bearing the Cross, Right: The Goddess, - Media: autoclaved aerated cement / cement, - Eric Werkhoven.

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Left - Eric playing the flute 1978 , Wollongong.

Right - Robyn 1978 in Sydney. Issue 21 - July 2017

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How did the two of you meet? “It was quite a romantic beginning – I was with friends in a crowded café, he came to the door with another chap. But Eric waited outside for him, holding his dog. You could call it love on first sight (for me), anyway I asked around who he was, someone said that’s Eric, I said oh very nice. Accidentally, a few weeks later we met on the doorstep of a house we both were visiting – no one home, so I offered him a lift, as he was not driving.

Our friendship grew and the extraordinary

journey began, now 40 years later we are still together.

Eric, what do you most like to do & what are your personal influences? “The influence of my Indonesian roots and African upbringing, plays an integral part in the subjects of my sculptures and

drawings, of cavorting, dancing, mythical beasts and human creatures. My recent sculptures are borrowed from antiquity, and stolen from the future, to create a heady mix of what the present entails. Sculpture for me entertains these positions of thought, piety and flight in solid form. These days I live in the rural Hunter Valley, where I enjoy singing, playing various instruments, writing and drawing, part of my everyday life-ritual. We have a huge rambling garden, a bamboo jungle teeming with birds and insects, a never ending source of inspiration for my work and a place to feel at peace, to practice my form of Yoga and meditation. I am interested in all primitive cultures especially South American and tribal music. Creative free form dancing has been a keen interest, including the Japanese style of dancing called ‘Butoh’ founded in 1959, the contorting movements and very theatrical nature it requires. Unfortunately, at present I have stopped producing the sculptures due to a medical problem with my arm and started concentrating on other mediums, going back to printmaking and drawing. It is good to broaden out my artistic creativity.” Issue 21 - July 2017

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Asia, Africa and Europe.

Your work together is like a dance . . . does your love of dance move through into your love of art? “Yes, we both have always loved to express ourselves through creative and modern dance and this definitely is reflected in our art work. Eric and I attended modern dance classes together in Wollongong. We have been asked ‘How can two artists collaborate on what is so utterly a personal process?’

“Well for us it is alike two musicians playing a piece of music or two writers pencilling a novella, dancers forming a story, together”.

We have a with aniare often our work intrinsic to ‘animals entwined in life’. We have dogs, but mystery ness of ago we aviary, but was better flying free, aviary be-

great affinity mals, they featured in as they are our lives and man are the cycle of

had pet prefer the and aloofcats. Years built a huge decided it to see them so the came a garIssue 21 - July 2017

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How long have the two of you been creating for and what inspires you, both together, and apart? “In the early 80’s we established STUDIO LA PRIMITIVE. We collaborated on a series of painted wooden Art brooches for Rox Jewellery, in the Strand Arcade Sydney and have often collaborated on drawings over the years. The Wollongong hospital staff were highly amused when not long before our daughter was born in 1981 we drew the event, while Eric sat on my bed. It was not till 2005 that we earnestly created a series of work and have continued ever since to explore the world of human caprice – ‘Imagination can take you anywhere!’ “Our greatest influences are artists, writers, music and philosophy. Inspiration is discovered in poetry, theatre and the world of

dance. Pablo Picasso’s later works, the Surrealist movement and Expressionism. We are avid readers, some of our favourite writers are: Gene Genet, Dostoyevsky, Ben Okri and Yukio Mishima, to mention only a few.

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We are interested in pre-historic art, mythology and philosophy, from Asia, Africa and Europe. Colour plays a big part in our works. - soul food for the senses. We have a great affinity with animals, they are often featured in our work as they are intrinsic to our lives - ‘animals and man are entwined in the cycle of life’. We have had pet dogs, but prefer the mystery and aloofness of cats. Years ago we built a huge aviary, but decided it was better to see the birds flying free, so the aviary became a garden, to keep the rabbits and birds out. Our present home

has a swimming pool , now transformed into a splendid large pond, creating its own ecosystem full of fish, frogs, insects and plants. Jean Paul Sartre – Existentialism and Friedrich Nietzsche have played a part in our life. Exploration of the mysteries and absurdities of human behaviour and existence are very important to our writing and art works. Dramatic themes of religion, ritual, and the follies of humanity – war, greed, jealousy, lust are our regularly favoured subjects but we also portray ‘the balance’

Entanglement with a Dog, Collaborative drawing, graphite & oil pastel,

with love and peace.

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What motivated your art magazine, STUDIO LA PRIMITIVE ? “I have always enjoyed books and magazines, a love of fashion and architecture and having a background in Graphic Design led me to considering producing my own magazine, and the age of technology has made it possible. In September 2013, one morning, in bed reading Francis Bacon – Anatomy of An Enigma by Michael Peppiatt, the chapter on Bacon’s early days in Paris in the late 1920s and the many great art and literary periodicals being produced by

artists and writers inspired me to make the decision I would take on the challenge to create an online Art and Literary magazine. The first edition went online in October 2013. What started as a small publication of 50 pages has developed to nearly 200 pages, with a fast-growing audience, nationally and internationally. The Zine is free, with no advertising from sponsors. It is just something we want to do for the Arts, which has been our lifelong passion. Already we have received a splendid response with many artists, writers and philosophers happy

Above: Cover of first issue of Studio La Primitive Arts Zine , October 2013. Painting: THE BATTLE, graphite & oil on board H60 x W 90cm - E&R Werkhoven

to contribute articles and exhibition news”. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Blake Prize - Directors Cut 2010

Drink Till You’re Blue, graphite & oil pastel, H70 x W50cm

Maitland Regional Art Gallery Collection. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Panel 3: The Vulnerable, graphite & oil pastel, H42 x W30cm, E&R Werkhoven

T-SHIRT CULT Exhibition, Switzerland. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Left: Family Gathering, Right: Difficult Children, collaborative drawings , aqua graphite & oil pastels on paper , H42 x W30cm, E&R Werkhoven ÂŠ 2012 Issue 21 - July 2017

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Left: Woman & Yellow Horse, Right: The Killing, collaborative drawings , aqua graphite & oil pastels on paper H42 x W 30cm, E&R Werkhoven ÂŠ 2012.

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Family seems to be very important to you and the collaborators that come together in your family unit? “My sister Lorraine Fildes has always been a great support and mentor for my art career and now is part of the Arts Zine team with her regular art and travel feature. Eric and I have a daughter Monique and son Tayo, who have grown up surrounded by art, where the smell of oil paint, fresh canvas and sculpture dust was part of their normal life. Both children are involved in the art world as artists and collectors. Family life has become one of our favoured subjects to portray. The important thing is the emotional support you give to each other and the stability that comes from your partnership.” “Our works celebrate everyday life ‘exploring the world of human caprice, with sheer delight and a touch of irony’. Pain, Love, Memory, Colour - an integral part of existence”.

Future aspirations with your work? “Similar to actors who are typecast, our concern is that we are typecast in our artistic works. People expect to see a certain style, we work together but also like to work apart and in different mediums. It is hard being pigeonholed, it effects your way of thinking and can have negative effects on your art work and creative thinking. It’s very difficult financially to show and sell works overseas as the costs are great. We would like to have our works exhibited in Germany in near future. Ours is a niche market, our style contemporary figurative has been described as satirical, playfully poetic, quirky and erotic”. - Interview with E&R Werkhoven - Maggie Hall © 2017 Issue 21 - July 2017

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Rights Reserved on article and photographs - Eric & Robyn Werkhoven

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SHELAGH LUMMIS Issue 21 - July 2017

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Shelagh Lummis - Interview Shelagh Lummis was born in Malaya (now Malaysia), emigrating with her family to New Zealand when she was five years old.

She moved to Australia in the seventies and has lived in Newcastle since 1986.

Shelagh has been an exhibiting artist since 2007, choosing to pursue a formal art education at TAFE and

University since leaving full time employment at the University of Newcastle in 2005. Shelagh is a regular exhibitor at local galleries in Newcastle including Back to Back Galleries, Art Systems Wickham, Curve and Gallery 139. Although known for her atmospheric landscape paintings, recent work has included the figure.

When did your artistic passion begin, and have you always wanted to be an artist? “Becoming an artist was never my life’s dream. I have always loved original art and the handmade, but never saw myself as an artist. I guess any creative leanings were put to good use with problem solving during my clerical/administrative career. In 2005 an opportunity arose to attend some local art classes with a friend. I soon realized that I craved painting and drawing and consequently sought extra tuition, leading to enrolment in an Advanced Diploma of Fine Art at Newcastle Art School (Hunter Street TAFE) in 2007. I spent the next five years immersed in painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and sculpture, a program which was solidly backed by theoretical and professional practice.

In 2012 I enrolled at the

University of Newcastle, majoring in painting, and graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours).” Saturation 1 and 2, oil on canvas, H90 x W60cm each, Shelagh Lummis © 2017 Issue 21 - July 2017

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Describe your work â&#x20AC;&#x153;From the beginning the landscape has been my muse. I believe that my interest in the landscape and our

environment grew from my upbringing in New Zealand where Sunday drives through the countryside with my parents were regular and enjoyable outings. Migration to Australia in the seventies and regular crossTasman excursions in ensuing years have served to highlight the differences in the landscapes of the two countries and it was these differences I explored more fully during my Honours year. Choosing a multi-panel support for that work allowed development of realist work which was also unreal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; familiar, yet unfamiliar - and it is this sense of disquiet, or of hidden narrative, which I seek to find in my current work. Whether I use a multi-panel support or not, the intention is the same. Lately, the climate change debate has caused me to deliberate on what our landscapes may look like in the future, and this has led to an emphasis on themes of weather, movement and water. The inclusion of

figurative elements in recent work reflects my concerns regarding humans as both unwitting proponents of climate alteration and its beneficiaries, in whatever form that may take.â&#x20AC;?

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What have been the major influences on your work? “I would position myself with realist artists who paint in an expressively impressionist style. As a student at

art school I was encouraged to look at a lot of artists from different periods, so its fair to say that I am indebted to the Impressionists and Post-impressionists, and more recently to American painters such as Alex Kanevsky and Kim Frohsin, and photographer Abbas Kiarostami whose book Vent et Pluie (Wind and Rain) influenced many of my latest works. Key artists supporting my Honours work were New Zealanders Colin McCahon (1919-1987) and Euan Macleod (who was kind enough to visit the exhibition at the University Gallery), and Australian Imants Tillers from whom I borrowed the canvasboard system. Colin McCahon’s paintings explore his ideas of New

Zealand as a ‘promised land’ and, influenced by

Maori mythology, of man’s spiritual connection with the land. Euan Macleod, like myself, is a New Zealand-

er now resident in Australia. His engagement with the landscape is obvious through the physicality of his paintings, but it is the presence of his titanic figures that signify what I interpret to be a spiritual connection with the environment.”

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What are you working on at present? “I am to be part of a group show, Big Bad Land, at Gallery 139, Newcastle, in July. For now my interest in painting weather will continue to guide new work. I’m fascinated by what happens to the landscape when viewed through a wet window – again the sense of the familiar made unfamiliar. Technically it’s a matter of combining a large brush approach with a more delicate one – raindrops definitely have an anatomy of their own. Perhaps I will experiment with a multi-panel approach and see what happens.”

What do you hope that audiences will take away from visiting your work?

“When I started making art, primary concerns dealt with the ‘how to’. However, once at art school I realized that when the practical lessons are done, another essential ingredient must be added to the mix, and this involves an audience. Contemplation with an artwork can be like a conversation. While not all art works need to have profound messages, generally speaking most will have something to offer whether it is about colour, energy, technical skill, politics or meditations on points of view. Recent work has played with a reimagined landscape affected by changing weather patterns. Paintings of flooded weddings, for example, bring these changes to a point where they impact with the everyday lives of humans. Far be it for me to push my own agenda on to an unsuspecting public but, whatever it is that I may have to say, I hope that an audience will be able to connect with the work on at least one of the abovementioned levels.” Issue 21 - July 2017

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Celebration in a Landscape 2 Oil on linen, H140 x W113 cm Shelagh Lummis ÂŠ 2017.

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Your future aspirations with your art “Thus far, I’ve been content to work towards

exhibitions, both solo and group, and consider myself fortunate to be supported by galleries here in my hometown of Newcastle. I sometimes have fanciful thoughts about art prizes and perhaps gallery representation elsewhere, but it may well be a case of waiting for the art fairies to find me than the other way around.”

Shelagh Lummis in her studio. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Gaye Shield and Julie Hosking | Fertile Ground

A R T

29 Jul 17 - 22 Oct 17 Maitland Regional Art Gallery. 230 High Street, Maitland NSW.

N E W S Swimming with the Fish, mixed media on Aristico Fabriano, 76x56cm, Gaye Shield ÂŠ 2017. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Maitland Regional Art Gallery. 29 Jul 17 > 22 Oct 17 Hunter based artists Gaye Shield and

Julie Hosking were unaware of their close family connections; recently they discovered that their great grandfathers were brothers. Inspired by their joint and individual family histories Gaye and Julie

have joined creative forces to present an exhibition of new art work which seeks to acknowledge and imaginatively celebrate a shared family past. This new body of work will feature images of the landscape

which

this

families

respective

journey across NSW, finding disparate family members settling in the Hunter today Gaye Shield and Julie Hosking, Fertile Ground, 2016, mixed

media, 80 x 65cm Issue 21 - July 2017

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FILAMENTS EXHIBITION: July 20th - August 13th Official Opening: 2 pm 22nd July

Helene Leane monotypes Michael Kolbe Steel sculptures Donna Cavanough ink drawings

Gloucester Gallery, 25 Denison Street, Gloucester NSW 2422

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ARTSYSTEMSWICKHAM

MATCHBOX HORSE JOHN TURIER 7 - 23 JULY Opening: 7 July 6pm 0nwards

40 ANNIE ST. WICKHAM, NEWCASTLE NSW. Phone: 0431 853 600

www.art-systems-wickham.com/ Issue 21 - July 2017

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'Afterlife' 5th to 17th September 2017 painted sculpture and etchings by Ian Kingsford-Smith. Aro Gallery, 51 William Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney.

www.iankingsfordsmith.com Issue 21 - July 2017

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40 Fosterton Road, Dungog NSW. 0457063702 for enquiries. Issue 21 - July 2017

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57 Bull Street Cooks Hill NSW Hours: Fri Sat Sun 11am - 5pm www.newcastlepotters.org.au Issue 21 - July 2017

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June 16 – July 2 “The Country Kitchen” Artists: Newcastle Studio Potters Inc July 7 – July 23 “Terra Obscura” Artists: Clare Tilyard, Lisa Battye and Jane Richens July 28 – August 13 “Vervasity” Artists: Sharon Taylor, Sandra Burgess & Painters Inc August 18 – September 3 “Tracks” Artists: Members of Printmakers September 8 - 24 “Five” Artists: N Purcell, L Treadwell, T Bertrum, S Shaw & J Davies

57 Bull Street Cooks Hill NSW Hours: Fri Sat Sun 11am - 5pm www.newcastlepotters.org.au

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THE MAP PROJECT: Where I Live An assortment of artists from the region, the nation and the world explore what ‘home’ means in an ex-

traordinary new exhibition opening at Newcastle’s Timeless Textiles Gallery in July. “We all have a connection to a place, a story or memory,” Gallery owner Anne Kempton said. “The Map Project: Where I live is a collaboration by textile artists on the meaning of the place they call home: the geography, culture, history and perceptions of being there.” Multiple groups and individuals created 1.5 x 1.5 metre maps

using textiles to represent their widely differing im-

www.timelesstextiles.com.au 90 Hunter St Newcastle East Hrs: Wed - Saturday 10am - 4pm

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Threadbare Jane Theau 14 June - 9 July 2017 The Map: Where I Live. 3 - 16 July.

Stitched Up: contemporary fibre artists: The Lockup 23 June - 16 July Handstand: Sylvia Watt 19 July - 13 August

EXHIBITION CALENDAR Nature’s Exuberance: Lois Parish Evans. 13 September - 8 October.

www.timelesstextiles.com.au 90 Hunter St Newcastle East Hrs: Wed - Saturday 10am - 4pm

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studio la primitive Eric & Robyn Werkhoven Contemporary artists

Click on cover to view the previous issues.

E: werkhovenr@bigpond.com

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STUDIO LA PRIMITIVE ARTS ZINE Click on cover to view the previous issues. Issue 21 - July 2017

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Click on cover to view the previous issues.

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studio la primitive jewellery Dungog By Design - 224 Dowling St, Dungog NSW Hrs: Mon & Wed 10 - 3 Thurs & Fri 10 - 4

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GALLERY 139 EXHIBITION CALENDAR 2017 The PRINT Tomorrow THURS 29 JUN - SUN 16 JUL 2017 Exhibiting artists: Jane Collins, Maddyson Haddon, Anne McLaughlin, Anne-Maree Hunter, Terri Brander, Gina McDonald.

BIG BAD LAND THURS 20 JUL - SUN 6 AUG 2017 Exhibiting artists: Sally Reynolds, Belinda Street, Libby Cusick, Catherine Grieve, Laura Wilson, Malcolm Sands, Shelagh Lummis, Gwendoline Lewis.

PARSONAGE - Oliver Parsonage THURS 9 AUG - SUN 27 AUG 2017

SANCTUARY THURS 31 AUG - SUN 17 SEP 2017 Exhibiting artists: Giselle Penn, Gwynne Jones, Lisa Pollard, Dominic Kavanagh, Judy Henry, Andrew Dennis, Kerri Smith.

Gallery 139 Beaumont St. Hamilton, NSW

www.gallery139.com.au Issue 21 - July 2017

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PARSONAGE THURS 9 AUG - SUN 27 AUG 2017 Official opening: Saturday 12 August, 2-4pm Introducing Olivia Parsonage as our newest Gallery

Artist. Parsonage is

Newcastle

well-known to

audiences for her quirky, off-beat and

often dark fabric based illustrations and soft sculptures.

www.gallery139.com.au

Issue 21 - July 2017

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