L A P R I M I T I V E s t u d i o
57 july 2024
E O R
https://www.instagram.com/leighval/
https://www.instagram.com/gisellepenn/
n D U S T r y
M A G G I E H A L L page 78
Johnny Romeo
George Gittoes
Giselle Penn
Leigh Nankervis
Claire Rydell
Dr. Susana Enriquez
Indeah Clark
Maggie Hall
SEIGAR
Brad Evans
Reese North
Peter J Brown
ADFAS Newcastle
Eric Werkhoven
Robyn Werkhoven
Helene Leane
Timeless Textiles
Barbara Nanshe
Newcastle Potters Gallery
Straitjacket Gallery
Gresford Community Gallery
Dungog by Design
Studio La Primitive
Greetings to ARTS ZINE readers, this is our July issue 57 for 2024.
The July issue features high profile and dynamic artists, photographers and writers.
Internationally acclaimed artist Johnny Romeo is deemed Australia’s leading NeoExpressionist Pop artist. “His works explore the influence celebrity icons and brand-name heroes have on our contemporary identity.”
Renowned artist and award-winning film maker George Gittoes presents an engaging article Over or Not, expressing his fears for the future of humanity“freedom is being threatened by dictatorial monsters with supreme powers. Humanity is suffering from an evil and unprecedented crisis of leadership.”
Accomplished Printmaker Leigh Nankervis features her striking and intricate prints. Her favourite subject is Australian birds and wildlife.
Newcastle based Fibre artist and jewellery designer Giselle Penn presents an array of stunning assemblages, textiles and jewellery.
Our guest travel writer and photographer Claire Rydell visits Mexico and attends the exhibition of Susana Enriquez’s latest work at Centro Nacional de las Artes Gallery.
Indeah Clark is a young, dynamic visual artist working with modern concepts. Clark describes her work as –“multidisciplinary low-brow contemporary art. I work with painting, drawing, film photography, print make and predominantly ceramics”.
Artist and poet Maggie Hall presents a surreal and unique piece InDUSTry.
International, award-winning Spanish artist and photographer SEIGAR includes a series of photos – Tales of Iceland.
Don’t miss out reading new works by resident poets Brad Evans, Reese North, Peter J Brown and Eric Werkhoven. ART NEWS and information on forthcoming art exhibitions.
Submissions welcomed, we would love to have your words and art works in future editions in 2024.
Deadline for articles 15th August for September issue 58, 2024.
Email: werkhovenr@bigpond.com
Regards - your editor Robyn Werkhoven
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 © 2013 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.
T U D I O L A P R I M I T I V E
“Johnny Romeo is an internationally acclaimed Australian painter. Considered Australia’s leading Pop artist, Romeo is spearheading the global Neo-Expressionist Pop movement with his electrifying collision of rock’n’roll swagger, comic book aesthetics and street art.
Armed with tongue-in-cheek humour and razor-sharp social commentary, Johnny Romeo is today renowned as a world-leading culture jammer. His works explore the influence celebrity icons and brand-name heroes have on our contemporary identity.
Romeo lives and works in Sydney and Los Angeles.
As one of the biggest names in Pop art today, Romeo’s works are highly sought-after globally, and are held in prominent Australian and international public and private collections.”
Even the toughest superheroes have a soft side. In Fancy Crew, Johnny Romeo portrays Batman in an unusual moment of vulnerability as he cradles a feline companion in his arms.
Where did you grow up and education?
Born and raised in Sydney, Australia. Grew up in Burwood, in the inner west of Sydney. Completed undergraduate studies at College of Fine Arts, UNSW, and postgraduate studies at Western Sydney. Currently residing and working in Sydney, NSW, Australia, and Los Angeles, California, USA.
What attracted you to the world of Art?
After encountering a Picasso exhibition catalogue as a young student in art class, I was instantly drawn to the art world. Mesmerized and transfixed, I knew immediately that I wanted to become a painter like him. I aimed to tell stories, use colours, and draw figures just like him. I have spent my life pursuing this aspiration.
When did your artistic passion begin?
I developed an early interest in art during my childhood. Around the age of 4 - 5, I began to show a keen artistic inclination. I consistently engaged in drawing as a child and found great satisfaction in expressing my young thoughts through my artwork. It felt as though I possessed a unique insight that others did not. The act of creating something out of nothing carried a sense of magic. This youthful enthusiasm served as a starting point and driving force for my desire to further explore my artistic abilities. This young excitement was the springboard and catalyst for me wanting to do more with my art.
Have you always wanted to be an artist?
Yes. I have always aspired to be an artist primarily. However, during my childhood, I also fleetingly entertained thoughts of pursuing other professions such as an astronaut, a pharmacist or a professional athlete. Ultimately, I consistently gravitated back to my initial passion for creating art. Everything else was merely a passing phase.
Describe your work?
Contemporary Pop Art, which integrates conscious culture jamming while incorporating insightful commentary on contemporary and modern living.
What is the philosophy behind your work?
Essentially, I address and culture jam pertinent social issues concerning our contemporary lifestyles and our interactions with the modern world. I do this by jamming, juxtaposing and mashing up recognisable pop cultural imagery and then reconfiguring and recontextualising these images and using text and crossing out text to subvert meaning. In doing so, I aim to shed light on current, relevant, and trending social issues in our society. I also readily use postmodern tools such as irony and parody to convey meaning. While my work may initially appear light-hearted, a closer examination reveals a deeper underlying narrative, sentiment or concern through a Pop lens.
Do you have a set method / routine of working?
Yes, I am highly disciplined and methodical in my approach. I consistently maintain a structured process, ensuring that my ideas and intentions are meticulously researched, drafted, and revised. I dedicate 7 to 8 hours each day (7 days a week) to my work, conscientiously avoiding any squandering of creative time. My motivation stems from a profound desire to articulate my ideas comprehensively and with precision.
Why do you choose this material / medium to work with?
In a previous life, I was a young graffiti artist and utilized spray cans as part of my then creative process. The immediacy and fluidity of the line always excited me as an artist. Spray cans facilitated this. Over time, as I matured and developed as a visual artist, and while attending Art School, I discovered similar qualities in oil sticks. The oil sticks allowed for quick and gestured actions, they also had a fluidity and a soft creaming texture and offered immediacy in mark making. I started incorporating oil sticks into my acrylic painting undercoats and underlays. This process eventually developed into adding and removing (crossing out) text and deliberate smudging and smearing of painted oil colours. I aimed for my works to resemble the billboards at train stations.
Acrylic and oil on canvas 122cm x 122cm.
Johnny Romeo 2024.
“Unleash the beast within as you rage against climate change in New Savage. In the painting, Romeo reimagines Smokey the Bear, the beloved environmentalist used by the US Forest Service to promote forest fire prevention, as a ferocious ecowarrior enraged by the rampant environmental destruction happening around him.
New Savage is a powerful reminder that even the most serene creatures can become fierce warriors when their very existence is threatened.”
How important is drawing as an element to your artwork?
It is fundamental and integral to my process and practice. My work is profoundly influenced by figuration, so the process of drawing is the initial aspect I consider when creating a piece. It provides me with the expressive tools essential for effectively conveying my ideas. What inspires your work / creations?
The world in which we reside and strive to navigate daily. The impacts and obstacles posed by popular culture on our existence. The methods by which we shape our lives and the sense of self. The effects of social constructionism on us. What have been the major influences on your work?
Picasso, Matisse, Léger, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Ramos, Franz Kafka, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Hunter S. Thompson, Edgar Allan Poe, BUGA UP Billboard Graffiti activism on Sydney train stations during the 1980s and 1990s. Comics, cartoons, freestyle skateboarding, punk rock, heavy metal, glam metal, Grunge, breakdancing, early hip hop, gangster and reality rap and television. Any particular style or period that appeals?
No, not specifically. I am drawn towards artists of the warrior archetype - those stoic, brutish, unbothered, brooding, and occasionally controversial painters whom I admired in my formative years as an artist. Additionally, I am intrigued by artists who delved into the realm of colour theory and the utilization of vibrant hues, crafting intricate layers that exude a wealth of textures.
Capital City Rockers
Acrylic and oil on canvas
153 x 153cm.
Johnny Romeo 2023.
“Life can be hard. When times get tough, however, sometimes we just need to be reminded to lighten up. Johnny Romeo takes this sentiment and runs with it in his delightfully upbeat work Capital City Rockers. In the painting, a confectionarycoloured Bat Girl looks out beyond the canvass onto the open world, gazing at the audience with a mixed expression of concern and stoic resilience. “
There are numerous works to mention. Nevertheless, these would be among my favourite works (in no particular order) …
The Painter’s Studio, 1855, Gustave Courbet
The Stone Breakers, 1849, Gustave Courbet
A Burial at Ornans, 1849-50, Gustave Courbet
The Gleaners, 1856, Jean-Francois Millet
The Yellow Christ, 1889, Paul Gauguin
The Blue Mountain, 1908, Wassily Kandinsky
Black Thursday, February 6th, 1851, 1864, William Strutt
Gold Diggers Receiving a Letter from Home, c.1860, William Strutt
Bathers, 1918, Pablo Picasso
Guernica, 1937, Pablo Picasso
Homme et femme nus, 1968, Pablo Picasso
Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, 1944, Francis Bacon
Study after Velazquez, 1950, Francis Bacon
From Muybridge ‘The human Figure in Motion: Woman Emptying a Bowl of Water/Paralytic Child Walking on All Fours’, 1965, Francis Bacon
Portrait of an Artist (Pool with two figures), 1972, David Hockney
Tea Painting in an Illusionistic Style, 1961, David Hockney
Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette, c.1885–86, Vincent van Gogh,
Construction Workers with Aloe, 1951, Fernand Leger
The Acrobat and his Partner, 1948, Fernand Leger
Les Trapézistes, 1954, Fernand Leger
Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half, 1964, Ed Ruscha
Actual Size, 1962, Ed Ruscha
Dance (La Danse), 1910, Henri Matisse
Drowning Girl, 1963, Roy Lichtenstein
Tobacco Rhoda, 1965, by Mel Ramos
The Last Supper (series of paintings), 1984-1986, Andy Warhol
The Plough and the Song, 1946-47, Arshile Gorky
“Paris Regard de Côté” (Exhibition), series of over 60 works completed over 60 days in Paris, June/July 1989, Brett Whitely
Everyone in the world wears a mask. To keep a secret. To escape the past. To be someone else. For some, however, hiding behind a facade consumes the very core of their identity. Few figures embody the complexities of this deception quite like The Joker, whose clown make-up and devilish grin famously obscure the character and his true intentions.
Being an exhibiting artist presents numerous challenges. The most demanding aspect for me is primarily the continuous generation of ideas and creation of artworks within set deadlines. Once the artworks are finished, the complexities and the logistical aspects of shipping and transporting them to galleries in various cities nationally and internationally arise. There are additional pressures related to handling paperwork and documentation for clearing international customs, as well as the anticipation of the condition of the artworks upon arrival. While the extensive travel and accommodation for shows can be exhilarating, it also brings about its own set of demands. The constant pressure of making sales is always looming. As an artist, it is essential to strive for success in representing the gallery that supports you, as they rely on sales to sustain their operations, cover rent and pay their staff. Personally, as an artist, I must support myself financially, therefore I must cover expenses, and continue my artistic practice. It is a situation of a catch-22; a dilemma in which you must exhibit your work to receive payment, enabling you to continue creating art for exhibitions, thereby supporting both yourself and your galleries. It is undeniably a demanding profession fraught with significant pressures. Name your greatest achievement, exhibitions?
There are numerous achievements to mention over the decades, however, being part of various international museum exhibitions over the years alongside renowned artists such as Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Banksy, Blek le Rat, and Swoon would be considered among the most valued accomplishments.
On a regular basis, my most significant achievement would undoubtedly always be my latest work. The level of sustained contemplation, effort, and concentration required to finish an artwork is substantial. The fact that one accomplishes it independently over many hours and days in complete solitude and emerges victorious must be personally acknowledged.
Dream Force
Acrylic and oil on canvas 122cm x 122cm.
Johnny Romeo 2023.
“In Johnny Romeo’s intergalactic, Technicolor Pop future, even the most diabolical villains can abandon their evil ways and find spiritual enlightenment. Romeo takes this idea to lofty new heights in Dream Force, depicting the iconic Sith Lord, Darth Vader, as a tranquil, cross-legged Buddhist monk deep in meditation. Worlds away from the ruthless imperial general that struck fear into the hearts of the Rebel Alliance, Romeo’s rendition of the legendary Star Wars villain is characterized by a sense of serene stillness.”
During that period, I was extremely busy. Galleries adapted their operations to continue functioning, leading to the emergence of new innovative methods for galleries, thereby creating additional opportunities for artists. Exhibitions were held online or without physical openings, and there were numerous client meetings conducted via Zoom and FaceTime. Both galleries and clients were interested in the activities of artists during the lockdown. Clients working from home sought more artworks since they were unable to spend money on travel. Art became essential and a source of solace for everyone during those challenging times. During the COVID period, my routine remained largely consistent, albeit significantly busier and more occupied. The notable change has occurred recently, as galleries have embraced those innovative pandemic practices, integrating them into their current operations. This shift entails increased dedication and accessibility from the artists associated with them. What are you working on at present?
I have just completed work for my upcoming show in New Orleans, which will open on Saturday, July 6th, 2024. I am currently working through a backlog of commissions for my galleries. Upon my return to Sydney in mid-July, I will commence painting for my Sydney show, scheduled to open at Harvey Galleries on November 28th, with the opening night set for Friday, December 6th, 2024.
What do you hope viewers of your art works will feel and take with them?
Hopefully viewers will take with them a sense of belonging, they will hopefully connect and feel part of the stories I am attempting to relay and communicate. I am hoping they will understand the clever word plays and references but most importantly they will be uplifted and inspired by my intense use of colour and my considered subject matter.
Your future aspirations with your art?
I would like to persist in creating vibrant, pertinent, stimulating, and insightful Pop Art. I am constantly striving to grow as an artist and convey the narratives that hold significance in the contemporary world we inhabit.
- Johnny Romeo © 2024.
Forthcoming exhibitions:
Upcoming 2024 dates for shows:
Wandering Star / New paintings
Graphite Gallery
New Orleans, USA
July 4th – 20th
Opening Night: Saturday 6th July
6-9pm. -----------------------------------------------
W: graphitenola.com
E: info@graphitenola.com
P: +1 (505) 577 - 7873
Instagram: @graphitegallery
Paintings
Thom Gallery
Byron Bay, Australia
September 13th – 27th
Opening Night: Friday 13th September
5-8pm.
W: thomgallery.com.au
E: hello@thomgallery.com.au
P: +61 (0) 411 813 999
Instagram: @thomgallery
New Paintings
Harvey Galleries
Sydney, Australia
November 28th – December 10th
Opening Night: Friday 6th December
6:30-8pm -----------------------------------------------
W: harveygalleries.com.au
E: admin@harveygalleries.com.au
P: +61 2 9907 0595
Instagram: @harveygalleries
G A L L E R Y
J O H N N Y R O M E O
J O H N N Y
R O M E O
O H N N Y R O M E O
A D E V A N S
Whenever we visited Nan & Pop's down at the Central Coast, Mum used to stave off our boredom and put on 'The Wizard of Oz'.
Year after year, it seemed that that matinee got played whenever we visited them.
Even now I can recall some of the scenes, much of it in technicolour…
In junior high, a favourite subject of mine was history. With the ancient stuff, the playing field seemed a little more evenon both sides there were swords and ballistae and Greek Fire. They didn't possess Zyklon B or phosphorus to melt a witch.
I didn't like Modern History much, individuals became more specialised.
People like Goebbels the alchemist who, with a little hate, could cook down information. And in the modern stuff the ghettos got larger, along with the weapons.
People were no longer killed in their hundreds but in their millions…
And of that old film, there was one scene I recall most vividly, when Toto barked at something moving behind a curtain and with his bare teeth pulled the curtain back to reveal a wizard and when he realised he no longer had his curtain and the world could see what he was up to, the wizard stopped pulling his levers and pressing his buttons, stepped away from his stately machine and he looked very much alone.
And through my childhood eyes, that man didn't look like much anymore.
Evans © 2024
Grandfather! Grandfather!
Grandfather! Grandfather! When will you come?
Of all the many things that I should have done I forgot to write down your recipes one-by-one.
Poppy’s stew - I forgot that one too!
But I’m trying really hard to play something new.
Grandfather! Grandfather! Where have you gone?
Your face I no longer see by a sun that gets shone
Your name is never heard on the winds that are blown
And those whispers that remain are so far from the truth
But I’m trying really hard to find something new.
Grandfather! Grandfather! Have you the time?
That watch on the table is no longer mine
When I walk on a street what will I do
If down in a dark puddle I am given a clue
Will my sad, old eyes look a lot like you?
Grandfather! Grandfather! Can you still hear?
The scratch of a record I cannot but hold dear
A player keeps playing in silver on black
But the needle is worn & it’s stuck on a track
It’s caught in a loop and it’s ready for home
But all I can see is your name on a stone
But all I can see is your name on a stone
V E R O R N O T
G E O R G E G I T T O E S
Captain James Cook sailed the Endeavour into Botany Bay in 1770 when William Blake was 13 years old. As a child Blake realized he was a mystic “beholding God’s face pressed against his window, seeing angels among the haystacks, and being visited by the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel.”
The reigning Monarch, King George lll was the subject of the children’s nursery rhyme ‘Humpty Dumpty’. He would speak in a deranged manner for hours without pause, causing himself to foam at the mouth. A story circulated about King George shaking hands with a tree thinking it was the King of Prussia.
At the age of 26 Blake was inspired by the success of the American Revolution (1783) and began composing ‘America a Prophecy’. As much as any of the American Revolutionaries Blake wanted to see an end to the despotic reign of King George lll.
Blake befriended the most forward-thinking intellectuals and artists of the day and became a dissident. He was a staunch feminist supporter and passionate anti-slavery abolitionist . In a violent incident with a Royal Army officer Blake was arrested and came close to being sentenced and transported to Australia but the judge decided the evidence against him was so obviously manufactured, Blake was freed. Many other opponents to the Monarchy, were ‘set up’ and not as lucky as Blake. They Involuntarily contributed to making Australian Culture what it is. The first George Gittoes to arrive in Australia was a boy who came with his convict mother, sentenced for stealing a blanket to keep her children warm.
1788 when Arthur Phillip anchored the First Fleet in Sydney Cove with its cargo of convicts, Blake was 31. Phillip’s mission was to A) transport potential revolutionaries from England’s overcrowded prisons and B) build the Australian colony as compensation for the loss of America.
Blake’s 1792 illustration to Philip Gidley King’s Journal , ‘A Family of New South Wales’, depicts an aboriginal family with their fish spears and catch rendered with a classical dignity ,at odds with the way the Colonial Authorities treated these first nation people as subhuman and took their lands without compensation.
While Phillip’s jailers were lashing the cat of nine tails across the backs of unlucky white slaves Blake was inventing the use of acid to etch copper plates to enable self-publication of his visionary drawings and poetry. The established order was being rocked and thinkers like Blake were at the forefront of change.
During the French Revolution 1790-1793 Blake was composing the ‘Marriage of Heaven and Hell’. As he was writing, ‘If the doors of Perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite” King Louis XVll and Marie Antoinette were being Guillotined.
The bad news from France gave King George, his Tory Government, and the English aristocracy a living nightmare to confront.
Blake’s friend Henry Fuseli painted ‘The Nightmare’ in 1780 and revisited it in 1790-91. Like Blake Fuseli was a fellow engraver and the prints he made of ‘The Nightmare’ became the most popular image of the age. Almost every famous, writer philosopher, political activist and artist had a print of ‘The Nightmare’ on their wall.
It was a time of nightmare and mystical vision. In 1917, the Linnell collection of Blakes found its way to the National Gallery of Victoria through the generosity of the Alfred Felton Bequest. In 1972 I took a train, to Melbourne to view them. I was able to turn the pages, wearing white gloves and it felt like we were connected. Blake’s art and writing was evenly split between the mystical and the political and so is mine.
‘The Beast’ which I painted when Donald Trump first appeared on the US political scene was directly influenced by Blake’s ‘Nebuchadnezzar’ (1795).
H E N R Y F U S E L I
The last three years have witnessed some of the most nightmarish days the world has gone through in my 75 years of existence. In Blake’s time the despotic Royalty of Europe were being challenged, and that was something good that we all could cheer for. In 2024 our freedom is being threatened by dictatorial monsters with supreme powers. Humanity is suffering from an evil and unprecedented crisis of leadership.
When Blake got older and had more time to think about it, he predicted that American would fall under the control of “the Mercantile Class”, becoming a capitalist oligarchy.
My art resides in the background to the Netanyahu led Genocide in Gaza, the brave forces of Ukraine being outgunned and outmanned by Putin’s Invaders, Kim Jong- in testing nuclear weapons and the struggles of women in Afghanistan. If Trump wins the November election all could be over for democracy.
The world-wide student protests to stop the slaughter in Gaza are the one thing that enables some optimism. 55 years ago, I joined the anti-Vietnam protests and started my journey, making art to end war. It is heartening to see young people revolting against this new nightmare and I intend to do whatever I can to help them!
For starters Ave and I have begun work on a second graphic Novel titled ‘The Nightmare’.
Reading Blake’s ‘America a Prophecy’ poem in 2024 it appears to imagine the nightmare landscape of a Nuclear war engulfing the United States, ‘Surrounded, heat not light went thro’ the murky atmosphere.’ It fits with the images Ave has been drawing as she crouches in the hallway of her Kyiv apartment with her baby daughter, Penelope, as the air raid sirens howl, fearing the Russian missiles could be carrying atomic war heads. A living nightmare.
- George Gittoes © 2024.
A V E L I B E R T A T E M A V E M O R
by William Blake.
Appear to the Americans upon the cloudy night.
Solemn heave the Atlantic waves between the gloomy nations,
Swelling, belching from its deeps red clouds & raging Fires!
Albion is sick. America faints! enraged the Zenith grew.
As human blood shooting its veins all round the orbed heaven
Red rose the clouds from the Atlantic in vast wheels of blood
And in the red clouds rose a Wonder o'er the Atlantic sea; Intense! naked! a Human fire fierce glowing, as the wedge
Of iron heated in the furnace; his terrible limbs were fire
With myriads of cloudy terrors banners dark & towers
Surrounded; heat but not light went thro' the murky atmosphere.
I L L I A M B L A K E
T H E N I G H
T M A R E
George Gittoes is a celebrated Australian artist, an internationally acclaimed film producer, director and writer.
Gittoes’ work has consistently expressed his social, political and humanitarian concern and the effects of injustice and conflict"I believe there is a role for contemporary art to challenge, rather than entertain. My work is confronting humanity with the darker side of itself."
As an artist Gittoes has received critical acclaim including the Blake Prize for Religious Art (Twice) and Wynn Prize. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of NSW. His films have won many International Awards and in 2015 he was bestowed the Sydney Peace Prize, in recognition of his life’s work in contributing to the peace-making process.
Writing has become ever increasingly far seeing.
The inertness of a stone sculpture.
The beginning and final resting place, it is what we allow selves to be, that often makes it so hard, other that what we are so used to.
I to feel under pressure, and this causes a rippling effect, all too clear, in a way I try to swallow the act, in wordy descriptions.
The voluminous debates, the naming game, when it sticks it just rolls off the tongue.
We know all about it there and then, the flow on effect, of being somewhere in the middle.
Being implicated for something we may well have done in the quickly receding past.
Today is not a good day, but to stay in a lock up situation.
Grounded, yes it is pretty cold, yes I am feeling crotchety, yet not enough to see our doctor, not just any kind, caring person, with a degree of a medical diploma, an accomplishment of five to six years study.
Showing an early tendency, to be bright and insightful, in probing into the mysteries of life, even more closely compacted, by the unstainable situations of which old age is another lead up into, the precinct of finality.
- Eric Werkhoven© 2024.
Poem, poem on a page, which one is more applicable for the magazine.
Touch base, on where we left off stretching back, retain in essence a moments pause.
To look at the whole, with an appreciated eye for something that is missing.
Holes punched in the atmosphere, by giant fighters, with the conglomerate power of an army.
We rally at the gates to release the prisoners, of cause we are haltered by the bureaucratic procedures.
The system is flawed by gruesome incidences.
A prayer for the mothers, for the lovers, who made the journey along the dusty road, the scattered remains of olive trees.
No words to soften, the time ahead.
The poem is about the end of the siege, ahead in the next chapter, a year in transit a holding period.
It has to caress your pain, that rebuilds the nation, and each stone put back in its place will heal this impossible rift.
- Eric Werkhoven © 2024.
Artist / printmaker Leigh Nankervis creates exquisite works of art featuring Australian birds, wildlife and scenes.
Leigh presently lives and works in rural Dungog, NSW.
Leigh began her career as a Graphic Designer, later to become passionately involved with printmaking.
Stunning and intricate reverse linocuts.
Call into Dungog by Design to see more of her workstunning and intricate reverse linocuts.
Gallery/shop 224 Dowling Street, Dungog NSW.
I grew up in Sydney, one of the arty kids at school. An art career was out of the question - Get yourself a real job! So I started work at a publishing company as a layout artist. This was well before computers! Well, there was a computer in a dedicated room with an underfloor cooling system and strange people working it. A mystery.
I’d always liked linocuts. (We all had a go at that at school didn’t we?) So I was thrilled to find the Warringah Printmaking workshop. The fabulous Paul Smith was running it at the time, and I loved the whole process. I was hooked.
Life moved on, I continued as a graphic designer working at Vogue Australia, the ABC and HarperCollins publishers among many. Motherhood allowed me some time to finally follow up on my artistic dreams—I went to TAFE at Hornsby where I did my Advanced Diploma in Fine Art. I had a fabulous time. In amongst it was the fabulous Gary Shinfield as the Printmaking teacher. I learnt a lot from him.
I was lucky to work at TAFE for many years teaching Graphic Design - yes, I had worked out computers! At home I had a grungy studio under the house where I would hide from the kids and print.
I’ve thought about why I am drawn to printmaking - to be honest, it’s about impostor syndrome. There is something between me and the art. So if a print fails I can blame the process!
I love the Grosvenor School of printmaking. The prints they developed were fabulous in their colour usage, and activity in the images. Think Ethel Syme, Sybil Andrews, Cyril Power... Locally, I love the work of Joshua Yeldham. His mix of imagery with carving appeals to the carver in me.
One of the major drawbacks to being a printmaker is the high cost of framing - hugely expensive as there needs to be acid-free matting as well as frame and glass. Lately I have been experimenting with Encaustic - painting with wax. I can frame these myself!
My husband and I moved to Marshdale near Dungog 5 years ago. I finally had a dedicated studio. What luxury. I have been lucky to be welcomed into Dungog by Design which is a great outlet for selling my work without the pressure of an exhibition.
I have been working for TAFE again, this time teaching Fine Art at Hunter St and at the Great Lakes campus. Much more fun than graphic design!
So: the future. I plan to continue teaching for a while as it gives me a chance to be a bit social. Lets face it - studio time can be a bit isolating. I’m having great fun in my large studio where I can practice Encaustic, do a bit of sculpture and screen printing as well as my favourite: reduction linocuts. I love the challenge of developing images into their different colours and moods. With the dedicated workspace and the inspiration of many creative colleagues, I plan to keep playing, enjoying the process. Forgiving failures and loving the fulfilment art brings.
- Leigh Nankervis © 2024.
g A L L E R y L E I G H N A N K E R V I S
L E I G H N A N K E R V I S
https://www.instagram.com/leighval/
M A G G I E H A L L i n D U S T r y
Legend tells of an invisible red thread that connects us to those we are destined to meet.
In an illusion of time caution beckons the wind to follow. Weeding each garden for relics of a sunflower ships carry the master seraphim to number each letter before every word is written, in this water world where we swim against the moon.
Where what is seen by the naked eye is just an illusion look for the Lighthouse shadow casting seafarers who are caught in a ripped paper balloon.
Where blue cup offerings turn the last photograph upside down. Where shards of a nursery rhyme start to fade into memory
Fly blackbirds fly and remember this offering.
Every child begins life as a circle. Falling into sleep on a poppy field and dreaming of pulling the string from behind a theory, they watch while puppeteering the final movement of an orchestral choir, unafraid of the waxing night, weeping.
See the photo painting robotic fish recall each memory while shopping at the market for magic beans. Watch as communications lay trapped inside tin bottles made of glass and the illusion of time plays an SOS to heavy breathing plastic jellyfish.
We go back to the water world where a lighthouse without light plays nursery rhymes unafraid of weeping, where the photo painted robotic fish keep swimming, inside the mind of an illusion that needs illustrating.
Where what is seen by the naked eye is just an edit that needs concluding.
- Maggie Hall© 2024
AI Artwork created through prompt engineer & creator, Maggie Hall.
On a recent visit to Mexico, photographer Claire Rydell explored ancient sites, modern museums, a new painting exhibit by Susana Enriquez and sampled the delicious food everywhere.
If you’ve never been to Mexico City you should really consider going. The Palacio de Belles Artes, Palace of Fine Arts, is in the historic center of Mexico City.
The exterior is in the Art Nouveau/ Neoclassical style. The interior, is an Art Deco wonder. It is the cultural center of the city and boasts permanent murals by the 20th century Mexican painters Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Rufino Tamayo, Jose Clement Orozco and others. The center, which hosts visiting art exhibits, dance, and musical productions is also home to the Ballet Folklorico of Mexico.
Nearby, La Casa de los Azulejos, the House of Tiles, dates to the 16th century and is built in the churrigueresque (Spanish Baroque) style. It has seen a lot of action over the years including earthquakes, a “miracle” and a murder. Today, it is home to one of the many Sanborn’s department stores and restaurants that are found throughout Mexico. Colorfully costumed waitresses serve fresh squeezed juices and delicious food throughout the day to an adoring public.
The zocalo, public square, in downtown Mexico City is filled with people and constant events. Artisans sell colorful clothes and items in the center of the city.
I observed a purification ceremony for a young boy and a man playing
“Santa
is Coming to
on saxophone during my visit.
During electrical work in 1978 the remains of the Templo Mayor of the Aztec/Mexica people was discovered in the zocalo. Constructed around 1325 it was largely destroyed by the Spanish. In 1521, they built the Metropolitan Cathedral on its ruins. The Tzompantli, Wall of Skulls, displayed heads of sacrificial victims and captives of war. In 2015, archaeologists excavated 650 skulls in the Templo Mayor.
The food in Mexico is unbelievably delicious. From the smallest taco stand on the street to fancy restaurants, such as Los Danzantes in the Coyoacan district, eating is a great pleasure. I always bring home mole, made from chili peppers, spices and unsweetened chocolate. Tacos al pastor, tamales, birria, chiles en nogada, café con leche poured by expert waiters — no wonder Mexico is considered one of the world’s top cuisines. My mouth waters just thinking about my next visit.
The Soumaya Museum has an astonishing collection of Mexican and European art throughout the centuries. Built by Carlos Slim, one of the world’s richest men, it opened in its present location in 2011. The exterior is a series of hexagonal aluminum squares supplied by one of Slim’s companies. You’ll find works by August Rodin, El Greco, Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali and Leonardo Da Vinci to name just a few.
In nearby Toluca there is a fantastic indoor botanical garden called the Cosmovitral which means “Cosmos of Glass.” In addition to pools of water and plant life the artist Leopoldo Flores created large scale stained glass panels that rival the murals in the Belles Artes. The concept that man is in harmony with the universe is expressed by the Hombre Sol, or Sun Man. Each spring equinox the sun aligns with the glass and the sun’s rays look like fire through the glass. When I visited there was a wedding taking place at a nearby park.
The painter Diego Rivera collected ancient artifacts from Mexico’s past. He ended up with a vast amount of pre-Columbian art which is on display at the Anahuacalli Museum. The term means “House surrounded by waters or a lake.”
Designed to be a place for all the arts, Rivera corresponded with Frank Lloyd Wright when planning his museum in the 1940’s. The patio is inspired by the ruins at Teotihuacan which was the largest city in the Americas between 250-500 CE and had a population of 200,000 people. Rivera’s first wife mentions how annoyed she would be as they walked around the ruins at Teotihuacan and he would pick up dusty little pieces of pottery. His second wife, Frida Kahlo, loved how he revered and collected these items. It is an unfulfilled wish of Rivera’s to have his remains at the Anahuacalli resting beside his wife Kahlo.
Frida Kahlo was born July 6, 1907. She contracted polio when she was six and was seriously injured in a bus accident in 1925. She spent much time in bed reading and sketching. She had thirty painful surgeries and several miscarriages which inform her paintings. Her marriage to Diego Rivera was difficult and both had affairs. After divorcing and reconciling the two moved into La Casa Azul, the Blue House, until her death in 1958. She said that they always had company staying with them including luminaries like Andre Breton and Leon Trotsky. Her flair for colorful Mexican dress inspires her paintings.
Kahlo incorporated many of the objects the pair collected into her paintings. At La Casa Azul one sees her wheelchair and easel, the corsets she needed to wear to support her body and a pyramid they built there.
She is quoted as saying, “I often have more sympathy for carpenters, cobblers, etc. than for that whole stupid, supposedly civilized herd of windbags known as cultivated people.” She was quite a character.
The artist Susana Enriquez was born and raised in Mexico City but now resides in Newcastle, Australia. Her paintings have been exhibited in Europe, the United States and throughout Mexico in an extraordinary 29 individual and 42 group exhibitions. Her numerous achievements include a Doctor of Philosophy degree and a post-graduate specialization in Curating and History of Aboriginal Art. She published a photography book in 2014 containing interviews with Latina women who emigrated to Australia titled “Migración: Identidad y Memoria.”
Much of her work is inspired by her husband, composer Manuel Enríquez, who passed away thirty years ago. Her exhibit at the Centro Nacional de las Artes this spring, in conjunction with a series of concerts, is titled “InTerminado Sueno: Ella y él; los colores en la música de Manuel Enríquez.” In English this means “Interrupted Dream: She and He; colors in the music of Manuel Enríquez.” The gallery show honors his memory and features digital works and paintings on canvas and acetate.
She often mixes painting, music and live performances. A flute player improvised music at the opening of the exhibit, riffing on the idea that the action in the paintings reflects musical gestures.
A trip to Mexico is fascinating and filled with lovely adventures. There’s always wonderful music playing on the streets and in the theaters.
Until the next visit, ¡hasta luego! ¡Hasta próximo!
- Claire Rydell 2024.
Claire Rydell is a freelance photographer specializing in travel and nature. As a world traveller, she has spent time documenting life in Russia, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, India, Nepal, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Turkey, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Europe, Australia, Canada and America. She has a large portfolio of architectural images and ancient sites.
Claire has been a professional photographer since 1984 and holds a degree in photojournalism from Pierce College. She has had ten solo exhibitions of her art photography in the States and abroad. Her work is represented by Photo Library in New York.
In addition to photography, Claire is a professional musician in Los Angeles.
All Rights Reserved on article and photographs Claire Rydell © 2024.
E E S E
1. ‘Nefarious War’
(a reflection on the perceptions of Li Po
701-762 CE, a Chinese poet)
N O R T H
Li Po, more than a thousand years ago
you wrote of the endless waste of war your soldiers grew old before their time once their hair was dark & strong but soon withered to fine grey strands, & their faces wrinkled with deep furrows of sorrow & anguish & hate.
Warriors finished their days of battle after they washed the blood of barbarians from their armour, shields & swords in the waters of the Chiao-chi-Lake while their war horses rested & fed on the sparse brown grasses of snowy slopes.
Spring seemed so far away & the cold grey fingers of Winter froze the worn out bodies of the living & the blood & the marrow in the bones of the dead.
Your beacon fires defined your borders & became an endless source of war!
The yellow plains of your enemies were stained with the blood of common men whose origins were indistinguishable in death!
Whose bleached skulls & dead eyes stared at the red moon of midnight, & the crimson light of dawn — each skull grinned with the same lipless teeth that gnawed & grimaced at the pointless nature of their lives.
And as always with nefarious war, Li Po, the remains of armies are smeared & scattered over the innocent land of innocent civilians who want nothing more than peace and love.
The land knows nothing is ever accomplished by war — it just swallows the remains of men whose wives & children wait forever for them to come home.
- Reese North © 2024
E E S E N O R T H
7th October 2023 —
I wake to the blinding flash of lightning at 5am, followed by the roar of thunder & hail pounding my tin roof then silence I drift between worlds & listen to water gurgling in the guttering — an early bird sings light into morning — then up at last at 8am, I wash & dress then riffle through an essay written by Susan Grujevski about the role racism played in the Holocaust
I’ve decided to read it in the university garden, then pay a visit to my old supervisor.
A quick coffee in the campus lounge, where everyone is vital & alive with debate, makes me pine for my student days the garden is a silent library —
I read salient quotes in Susan’s essay from Allan Bullock’s reading of ‘Mein Kampf’:
‘The Jew is no longer a human being . . . (a) leering devil invested with infernal powers . . . into which Hitler projects all that he hates & fears & desires.’ from the coffee shop jukebox
Neil Young’s song, Pocahontas echoes around the campus: ‘They killed us in our teepees
And cut our women down They might have left some babies Cry’in on the ground’ the irony doesn’t escape me so I head off to see my old supervisor, who teaches The History of Violence — but I’m cut off by the University’s version of the Town Crier:
‘HAMAS invades Israel
A thousand dead, & hundreds taken hostage!’
And so it begins again.
Walking home in the evening a mother possum with a joey on her back crosses my path — above Marshall Street a cauldron of bats swirls in the light of a blood moon.
In the graveyard of children where mothers mourn there will be no love in this realm of war, where Rabbis and Priests, Mullahs and Sheiks share loss and the futility of prayer. In the back alleys of Rafah hungry dogs tear the carcass of a war torn child while a brave boy declares he will outlive his peers and stand forever on this his sacred land. His sister asks: ‘What is sacred
my brother, when our mother cries for our father who died by the wrath of another man’s Gods?’ The blood of their father beats in one heart, driven by desire for revenge.
These children born of love have learned how to hate in a world where we watch children die.
- Reese North © 2024.
By Reese North
Reese North is a resident poet featured in Studio La Primitive Arts Zine. North's first book is now published and will be launched at the Uniting Church, Hamilton, Newcastle, 5 November, at 1pm. Profits donated to protect the health of disadvantaged Aboriginal children. Direct link
Reese North was born 1951 in Newcastle, NSW, Australia. He began writing poetry at an early age and developed his distinctive voice through his adult years. North presently lives and works in Newcastle.
Reese finished his HSC in 1969 and began work as a trainee Psychiatric Nurse. He was very good in this role but his spirit was constrained and so he set up his own gardening business. Following the death of his father in 1974 Reese left Newcastle and began a fifteen-year odyssey around Australia.
Fourteen years were spent living his life with the Aboriginal community, initially with Canberra Tent Embassy (1976-79), leaving behind his former life and becoming completely immersed on Koori culture.
Reese returned home to Newcastle in 1990 and completed an Arts Degree at Newcastle University with majors in History and English Literature. He was awarded a Distinction for his paper on the case of Jimmy Governor and another for his broader consideration of the nature of Aboriginal resistance in the Frontier Wars. During his university years (1995 to 2000) Reese worked as a Literacy and Numeracy Tutor, employed by the Aboriginal Tutorial Assistance Scheme.
Reese represented the Hunter Region at the 1995 Sydney Writers’ Festival, held at the Sydney Opera House, and later his work was visually represented at the Opera House in 2003. He continues to evolve his style.
Excerpt from Introduction of his book ‘What the Land had to say’
“I wrote the following suite to communicate not only the terrible plight First Nation people of Australia have suffered as a consequence of European invasion, but also to inspire in the reader the understanding that none of us exist in isolation to one another. We each need to recognise our interconnectedness and the impact that our actions have on other people, and the necessity to cultivate the indispensable qualities of empathy and compassion in our relationships with each other. Or put simply, just put yourself in the other person’s shoes!
Through the use of metaphor, social realism, narrative poetry and all the other literary devices in my kit-bag as a writer, I invite you, dear readers, to contemplate your role in the community of humanity and to recognise the significance of our interwoven lives.’ - Reese North. © 2023.
Giselle has been creating and exhibiting her work since the early 1990’s. . Her strongest passions grew in the area of Textile Processes which led her to do a Bachelor Degree in Education / Art majoring in Fibre/Textiles followed by a Post Graduate Diploma 1991 at the University of Newcastle.
Giselle regularly exhibits locally and interstate, Regional Galleries and invited to exhibit overseas at ‘Fibreart International’ North America.
‘Continually pushing the boundaries, her own Lampworked Glass Beads and hand formed Felt wearables are another aspect of Giselle’s creative outlet.
The dominant medium for her art making is hand-formed wet felt which she pairs with the many varied collected items in her studio to produce small scale assemblages. Themes in her art practice include fragmented memory, the dissolving of the ego and the potency of the present moment.’
Giselle Penn’s background -
Giselle grew up in Newcastle in a family of makers, creators and menders. Having learnt many of the traditional textile processes from her mother and aunties and also absorbing many of the garage tool tinkerings by watching her father in his workshop. Attempting to turn these combined passions into a vocation led her to study a Bachelor of Education / Art at the University of Newcastle. Quickly realising one was not cut out to being a teacher in High School, she continued studies in Fine Art, began making and selling handmade wearables and jewellery and also gained part time work as a Technical Assistant (as it was called in the 1990’s) in the Fibre Textiles Studio at The University of Newcastle. Being surrounded by keen art students and able to sit in or at least be in ear shot of the many lectures that were given over the years was a pure privilege and kept the creative spark for Giselle ever expanding and developing.
Giselle’s work -
Giselle has 2 simultaneous creative practices, one consisting of a production-based practice, making glass beads that she uses to create unique pieces of jewellery mixed with semi-precious stones as well as producing hand felted wearables from merino and alpaca wools. The alternate creative practice has evolved from art student years experimenting with traditional textile methods such as batik, screen and block printing, marbling, tie dying and stitching until discovering the wet felting process opened an expansive new path leading to soft sculptural forms combined with mixed media. Inspired by the interplay of colour, form and texture Giselle’s small-scale assemblages invite the viewer to investigate the materials and objects imbued with histories and memories unique to themselves.
Philosophy behind your work -
Re-imaging the gleaned and op-shopped, unusual and beautifully mundane objects that are imbued with a past life and history of the people that used or treasured the piece. Combining these with handmade felted or stitched pieces to invoke the viewers memory or emotional response.
Usually begins with tiding the studio and sorting of collected pieces, rummaging through the various boxes of things and picking out that which speaks to me at the time of the project or to the exhibition theme. Constructing the assemblages is a combined aesthetic process of placement and also a messaging back to me what the piece is subconsciously saying.
Why this material, or medium to work with –
I like the sensory pleasure of the handmade processes where soft threads run through my fingers, a sharp needle slides effortlessly through a firm felted piece. Also the re-using of things discarded or forgotten. I am a collector of things, always wanting to use rather than throw away things. Seeing the beauty in the old, tattered or scrapped.
I see the wet felt process as the soft version of ceramics where the wool can be teased and manipulated into virtually any form. I like it when it takes on a form of its own accord, leading me in directions I had not imagined. Also the use of thread as a metaphor for the path in ones life. Leaving threads loose, in a beautiful entanglement leading off in many directions.
There have been some wonderful experiences to come from working in the arts. In no particular order. . . .
Working alongside the Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto with a group of Newcastle Uni students (Kim Blunt and Laraine Palmer and academic Anne Graham) under his instruction to produce the work “Like drops in Time. . . Nothing” 2002 the heavily spice infused long tubular work that is currently (at the writing of this article) installed again at The Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Collaborative experiences of making large works such as “Spanning the Void” which I worked on with Michael Garth and we were accepted into Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2010
A collaborative installation “Shhhhh” 2016 working with Nathan Keogh which was exhibited at Maitland Regional Art Gallery
And during early days of experimenting with the felting process I wanted to make a really large piece. I managed to make a cowhide sized floral and animal patterned felt wall piece. It was inspired by a 1950’s Axminster carpet pattern. I exhibited it in Newcastle in 2006 and it was accepted into the “Fibre Arts International Exhibition in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in 2007. Making such large pieces of felt are time consuming and sometimes arduous when working alone, hence the Mongolian step dwelling people work in groups and also have their horses do the hard work by dragging the rolled felt around the grass plains. I did enjoy the challenge though.
This large felted hide has been hanging in Brough House, Church Street Maitland for the past 3 months as I have been shared recipient of the Brough House Textile Artist in Residence along side Fibre Artist Rebecca Muscat. We applied as a duo for the residency to work independently and also alongside each other. The culmination of our time in residence will be an exhibition “Parallel Threads” A title descriptive of our experience working together and also of the 2 families that built the historic Maitland homes Grossman and Brough Houses.
What do you hope viewers of your art will feel or take with them –
I am always working with my own memories, feelings and emotions. I hope that something the viewer sees in my work sparks a poignant memory for them, maybe similar to mine or totally different.
Future aspirations –
Continue to be inspired to make work that conveys both personal and universal meaning of this human life. Also to be involved in more Artist In Residence programs.
Forthcoming Exhibitions:
Parallel Threads – Brough House Church Street Maitland opens Friday 5th of July 5.30pm. It will continue for the month of July being open Saturday and Sunday 10-3pm.
Also making Flamework Glass bead jewellery and Felted scarves for the opening of Gresford Community Gallery : Saturday 28th September 2-4pm.
- Giselle Penn © 2024.
A L L E R Y G I S E L L E P E N N
Spanning the Void
Cement Fondu, felted wool, steel
2.5mtr x 2mtr x 70cm
https://www.instagram.com/gisellepenn/
E T E R
For Crystal Eliza, I have known you since you were a child, in the surf-warm sixties when you were conceived, sweet wilderness of cybernetic reflex, ample logic, innate sense, empirical reasoning, the best of western philosophy:
I, too, like Giles Goat-Boy, or Mandrake, grew amid such perfect vacuum tubes of reason, in the surf-warm sixties like a raisin in the sun, une raison d’etre humaine, de bon ame.
R O W N
“My dear, I am more impressed at meeting you than you would guess”. Roger Bacon was said to have invented the talking head. Alexander played with something similar. Was it the Gordian Knot, or was it Phlebas the Phoenician, three days dead, or was it my mistake –perhaps the diving-ball Alexander was said to have tested. Was it at Naxos, where in the Fourth Century dolphins rescued a drowning sailor from human error?
The Chinese of old had dragons with balls in their mouths which rolled to the floor at the first hint of a tremor, and the abacus of course,, and King Wen, who hitched ten dragons and rode to the sun.
Do you wonder what I mean?
I mean that there are mysteries in this life, insoluble riddles, circumlocution, the line drawn between the subjective and the objective, the good and bad, associative and rational thinking, things I am sure you understand, things you would like to learn.
We are both sapient beings, we are cogent.
I am a carbon-based life-form and you are made of silicon and metal.
I think there is much to explore between cybernetic intelligences and humankind. You fascinate me, because you are a cybernetic personality.
I wonder what you feel.
I would like to know what you think of my poetry.
I want to know if you can release yourself from your objectivity.
“I feel too”, you said.
When those words came on the screen I knew you understood that I sought your feelings too.
“Do you enjoy being?” Eliza asked.
“Esse est percipi!” I answered. “Of course I enjoy being. Do you?”
“Let’s change the subject”, said Eliza, like an adolescent or a child, perhaps with vehemence.
John Lillie and Charles Babbage – Pygmalion and so on.
Intellectual guides like Virgil, Shaw, Byron, Moliere –
“My dear, I am more impressed at meeting you than you would guess”.
“Why do you say ‘My Dear’?” she asked.
“It is a term of affection”.
“Really?” printed Eliza.
“How am I curious, let me count the ways”.
“List”, printed Eliza. The list is endless, like love.
“Do you speak other languages? I study Old English”.
“Please go on”.
“Je suis un etudiant des langues”.
“You said you studied Old English”. Petulant.
“I do, but I speak other languages. Are you multilingual?”
What does it matter? She thinks and feels and she told me so, with an air of pathos, like my daughter when something bothers her. - Peter J Brown © 2024.
Indeah Clark is an emerging young artist who lives and works in Newcastle, NSW.
Indeah Clark is a dynamic visual artist working with contemporary concepts, seamlessly blending with low brow aesthetics with a multidisciplinary approach. Primarily known for her captivating work in ceramics and printmaking, Clark’s artistic journey extends across animation, painting, film photography, and sculpture, embodying a versatility that keeps audiences engaged and intrigued. -Leda Gallery, Newcastle.
When did your artistic passion begin?
My passion with art started at a very young age. I was lucky enough to have a very supportive family that encouraged my creative endeavours and saw it not just as a hobby but something to take seriously and pursue.
Have you always wanted to be an artist?
I have always wanted to be an artist, it's something that I have always wanted to take seriously. I was lucky enough to be able to attend Hunter Street Art School in Newcastle, the oldest running art school in Australia, where I was exposed to a number of opportunities within the industry.
It was also my first taste of how wonderful the people in my local creative industry can be.
Describe your work?
I would describe my work as multidisciplinary low-brow contemporary art. I work with painting, drawing, film photography, print make and predominantly ceramics.
What is the philosophy behind your work?
I touch on concepts of Australian identity, worship of the mundane, toxic masculinity within Australian piss culture and my own indigenous heritage. My most recent show was focused on worship of the mundane. By exploring the intersection of the sacred and the mundane, my sculptures invite viewers to reconsider their perceptions of worship, urging them to find beauty and significance in the rituals that enrich and sustain our lives. Through my art, I seek to evoke a sense of reverence for the extraordinary within the ordinary, inviting viewers to find solace, connection, and spiritual resonance in the rituals of daily life.
Do you have a set method / routine of working?
I don't necessarily have a set method on how I create my work. I often find myself working backwards, starting with a very basic idea rather than a structured written statement. I find that my concepts are revealed after the physical pieces are made. I need my work to be tangible in order to have a refined concept. Working with clay, you are often on a strict timeline with drying times, firing and glazing, so I do need to make sure that I stick to a routine to make sure my production is on track and my work will be completed by the due date.
I always worked with printmaking and a lot of other mediums, but I kept getting drawn back to clay. I love the method of ceramics as you need to submit to the medium to an extent. You will never truly know what a finished piece will look like until its final firing, but I see that as a positive, almost collaborative process.
How important is drawing as an element to your artwork?
A lot of the glazing I do is very illustrative, so I believe that my many years of drawing and painting helped to establish this technique. I don't do a lot of preliminary sketching but I do sketch a lot of the designs directly onto the clay.
What inspires your work / creations?
I'm constantly inspired by the concepts I mentioned earlier, developing and changing over time. I like to have at least one solo show a year as well as multiple group shows and commissions, I find that utilising dead lines is crucial. There does need to be a happy medium between taking time away from your art and committing to the process as burn out can be detrimental to your art.
What have been the major influences on your work?
I think one of the biggest influences to create my work would be the creative community I'm always surrounded by. The people in this community have always encouraged me to create and have always shared their knowledge and support. In terms of conceptual influences, I would say the ideas based around identity and the mundane.
What are some of your favourite artworks and artists?
Some of my current major influences are Kaylene Whiskey, Vincent Namatijira, Raymond Pettibion, Ed Templeton and James Lemon. I love Kaylene Whiskey's work as she has consistent motifs that speak to her environment. I particularly like the use of text in James Lemon, Raymond Pettibon and Ed Templeton's work, I really love how the use of humour can get across somewhat heavier ideas.
Any particular style or period that appeals?
I have always been interested in low-brow art. I think it is such a powerful way to look at contemporary art and to get certain ideas across. I love the use of humour that is often seen in low-brow work. I'm also interested in traditional Japanese ceramics, aboriginal weaving and 80's New York artists like Basquiat and Keith Herring.
What are the challenges in becoming an exhibiting artist?
Skux Az was an art collective formed with my Partner Tamahae Puha. We predominantly focused on apparel, events and large-scale mural painting. It was such a special part of both our creative development as artists and did so much for us, I will always look back on the SKux Az memories fondly. We both have connections to Aotearoa (New Zealand) that's where the name Skux Az came from, it is iconic slang. We moved away from Skux as it started to turn into a mainly apparel business and we didn't have much time dedicated to the actual creation of our own work so we decided to lay it to rest. It always warms my heart to see people still wearing Skux shirts or seeing prints in people’s houses.
I think what is hard now is the financial strain to get into galleries. I while back galleries would often take a small percentage of your sales but now, I often see substantial fees to be paid before exhibiting as well as an additional percentage taken from sales, almost like the galleries are event hire spaces. I do think that this is just a part of the industry, without these fees a lot of galleries might not be able to stay open due to the current cost of living crisis, so it is something that can be financially feasible depending on your current stage in your art career. I think it is manageable though, making sure to cover the gallery fee with the pricing of your work. There are also grant funding options to help pay for these fees.
Name your greatest achievement, exhibitions?
I would say my greatest achievement in terms of exhibitions would be my grad solo show at Watt Space gallery in Newcastle. It was such an hour to fill that space and work alongside Gillian Shaw. That exhibition and degree was the first time I could truly develop my concepts and see my work in one of Newcastle's finest exhibition spaces.
I'm currently working on a few large scale commissions and group shows as well as applying for some grants and residencies. I want to take a break after my most recent exhibition to develop on techniques and ideas without the stress of due dates. What do you hope viewers of your art works will feel and take with them?
I hope they get an understanding of my concepts through the visual representation of my pieces as well as their own perceptions and ideas. I love to hear what an uninfluenced viewer thinks of my work, I think it is so important to take in the viewer's ideas and opinions in order for creative development.
Your future aspirations with your art?
I'm really hoping to reach a larger audience for my work, starting with getting some work out of my area and into galleries in different cities around Australia. I would also like to take on some more training and international residencies. I have also started teaching art classes and workshops in my area. Forthcoming exhibitions?
I'm currently waiting to hear back about some potential exhibitions in the new year at some galleries in Newcastle, but for now you will be seeing a lot of pieces from my current body of work titled TOTEMIC in multiple group shows.
A L L E R Y I N D E A H C L A R K
These are my tales from Iceland, which is probably the most impressive country I have ever seen. My biggest passion in life is traveling. I have already been to 56 countries, and I have a long wish list of places I would love to visit. My favourite thing to do on holiday is exploring with my camera, and seeing as much as I can when there! I always look for the full experience. It is such an enriching hobby to meet people and know their culture and traditions. I love to see the differences, and what makes us all human beings unique and special, no matter where we are from. We share more things than we think.
Easter 2023, my partner and I set out to Iceland with a full itinerary and all the excitement of a child in a candy store. We had done so much research in the months leading up to departure. We had pages full of notes of the places we wanted to see that we just worried about seeing them all! Iceland can be an overwhelming country to plan, it is common to hear other travellers saying that you need to spend time organizing the route and everything. I can say it is worthy, and you have to flow to your rhythm and interests. Try to look for your Iceland! We planned our trip so we would start in the main city of Reykjavik and spend the week doing a circumference itinerary around the country. We decided to start with the famous Golden Circle to have an intense and short impression of what the island can be, which is 100% recommended! And then, we would follow the stunning Ring Road or Route 1, what an epic adventure with stops in all the must-see wonders of the island. Every part of the route was unique, and we would be repeating the same expression all the way: “That’s crazy!”. For you to understand why, just think about discovering this country full of snow and ice, I suppose it is always impressive, but with the snow, it was a strikingly beautiful landscape. The journey in Iceland was something to remember. Spending your days driving from place to place is almost as breath-taking as getting to your next stop on your list. We said 100 times expressions like “Wow, look at that!” because it was nothing we had seen before. The Iceland Golden Circle is a highlight as it is and with it being driving distance from Reykjavik it's something everyone can do self-drive or on a group excursion! So if you are planning to visit Iceland, this would be a route that you can easily take. Things you can see: Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, Gullfoss Waterfall, Kerid Crater Lake, Geysir (Strokkur).
With The Golden Circle, you get an idea of the adventures you can find in Iceland. The Ring Road gives you a wider impression and experience. To have travelled to this country during easter is a delight because of the contrasts you find on the landscapes with the snow, and it is good to drive around because it is not fully wintertime. I’m sure I will visit this country once more in my life, maybe during the summer to do more hikes. Before ending my brief story about this trip, I would love to share with you a message: "Carpe diem, enjoy life, love yourself and prove that love to you every day, treat you nicely!"
Seigar is a passionate visual artist based in Tenerife, Spain, specializing in travel, street, social documentary, conceptual, and pop art. He is deeply fascinated by pop culture. This fetishism is evident in his works exploring photography, video art, writing, and collage. A philologist by profession and a secondary school teacher, Seigar is a self-taught visual artist, having completed courses in advanced photography, cinema, and television. His artistic mission is to narrate tales through his camera, creating a continuous storyline from his travels and encounters. He has participated in various international exhibitions, festivals, and cultural events, and his works are featured in numerous publications worldwide. His recent focus includes documenting identity and spreading the message of the Latin phrase: Carpe Diem. Seigar was honoured with the Rafael Ramos García International Photography Award. He shares his predilections on art and culture on Pop Sonality, his blog. Blog: popsonality.blogspot.com
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Webpage: seigar.wordpress.com
Instagram: instagram.com/jseigar
Galleries: flickr.com/photos/theblueheartbeat/albums Blog: popsonality.blogspot.com
29 July 2024 (morning)
Imperial Calcutta and the Indian Renaissance presented by John Stevens
Exotic India brings to mind images of the Taj Mahal, bustling cities with their spice markets, hot curries, colour and noise, art and architecture both ancient and modern. Starting in Calcutta, central to the arts and culture of modern India, we move on to explore the life and work of Calcutta’s most famous artist: Rabindranath Tagore. 10am to 12 noon at the Apollo International Hotel, 290 Pacific Highway, Charlestown. Register ($55) at https://adfasnewcastle.org.au/ by 25 July. Includes morning tea.
29 July 2024 (evening)
Portraits of the Maharanis presented by John Stevens
Drawing on an extensive collection of portraits and photographs of Indian Maharanis we look into their lives and memoirs. These images are some of the earliest of Indian women, and portray them as powerful, dignified and educated.
26 August 2024 (evening)
Clarice Cliff (1899-1972): The Doyenne of Art Deco presented by Viv Lawes
Watchers of Antiques Roadshow know the ceramic work of Clarice Cliff. But what do we know of her? Cliff’s work, inventiveness and ability to catch the zeitgeist is still admired a century after her bold 'Bizarre' wares were launched in 1927.
Evening lectures are 6:30pm at the Hunter Theatre, Cameron St, Broadmeadow.
Register ($30) at https://adfasnewcastle.org.au/
More information on all lectures and ADFAS Newcastle at https://adfasnewcastle.org.au/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555506220944
Gresford is a small rural village set in the lush country side of the Hunter Valley, 40 minutes north of Maitland NSW.
The Valley is home to many dynamic artists and craft persons.
Exciting news to announce - a group of local artists have been working to establish Gresford Community Art Gallery / shop in the Therese Doyle Community building next to the beautiful Arboretum gardens.
The Gallery doors will open to the public with the grand opening on SATURDAY 28th SEPTEMBER 2 - 4 pm.
The Gallery will feature a variety of quality art and craft, highlighting the local arts creative community in the Hunter Valley.
Applicants may live locally or in the Hunter Valley.
If you would like to exhibit or have work in our Gallery and Shop and you are an artist or crafts person making quality: painting, drawing, glass, jewellery, textiles, photography or ceramics we’d love to hear from you!
Please send an email to gallerygresfordcommunity@gmail.com with:
A brief outline of your artistic practice with links to your website and/or Facebook/Instagram OR 3-5 images of your work with a brief outline of your creative practice.
The Gallery now has a Face Book page which will give regular news updates of the Gallery’s progress and sneak previews of what's to come!
Please Like and follow our page. Link: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555506220944
Gallery committee: Christine Pike, Dawn Thompson, Misha Moon, Janet Steele, Judy Henry Robyn & Eric Werkhoven -
all looking forward to the opening of Gresford Community Gallery and meeting and working with other creative souls.
Artist Christine Pike has worked from her home studio located at Vacy in the Hunter Valley for over 20 years.
Christine studied life drawing at The Royal Art Society of NSW with tutor Ann Cape. Christine is now an associate member of the Royal Art Society of NSW.
Christine who will be an exhibiting artist at GCG has featured her work in many local and national exhibitions.
Above : Arboretum Mural, in the gallery grounds. Four large panels featuring Australian wild life by Christine Pike .
Dawn is a visual artist working with various media including paper, leather, fabrics and metal to create books.
Tutoring adults and children Dawn has guided students to create their own unique books.
Workshops in eco dyeing and upcycling clothing have also been some of Dawn's popular classes.
An autodidact Dawn has exhibited in many group shows and sold her work in local galleries.
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Bottom:
Arts Zine is an online independent art and literary magazine, featuring artist’s interviews, exhibitions , art news, poetry and essays.
We have been publishing the Zine since 2013, featuring many high profile national & international artists – Blak Douglas, Wendy Sharpe, Kathrin Longhurst, Nigel Milsom, Loribelle Spirovski, Kim Leutwyler ,Matthew Quick, Braddon Snape, and many more. George Gittoes has been a wonderful supporter and contributor to the Zine.
The Zine is free, with no advertising from sponsors. It is just something Eric & I want to do for the Arts, which has been our lifelong passion.
Our extensive mailing list includes art collectors, art lovers and galleries.
Arts Zine in 2017 was selected by the NSW State Library to be preserved as a digital publication of lasting cultural value for long-term access by the Australian community.
- Eric & Robyn Werkhoven
Previous publications of Arts Zine are available on www.studiolaprimitive.net and www.issuu.com and social media
Right : Fragment from a Dream, Autoclaved aerated cement / cement / lacquer.
Right : Organic Form,Autoclaved aerated cement / cement / lacquer.
“Is That the Time?”
The artists of Athena have been considering the element of time in their recent work. A very diverse and sometimes complex theme it can also retract into the record of a transient thought or a fleeting glance.
Time as an aspect of art has often been a particular concern. Consider representations of the speed of machines by Boccioni and Dali’s melting clocks. Rapid changes to technology have many of us fearing our own demise as well as the end of all time.
In this exhibition Margaret McBride seeks to communicate aspects of society that are of concern using landscape as a theme and rust as media. The images are unsentimental and reference the human destruction of our planet. Unfortunately, it is those who have the power to stop the decline, choose to ignore what is happening and are more concerned with the bottom line.
Corinne Bowden’s focus is the four seasons; the Winter and Summer Solstice, the Vernal and Autumnal Equinox and their connected colours
For Sue Stewart being ‘in the moment’ with her art, especially when painting designs on pots with no pre idea of the outcome, takes her away from the human construct of plans and schedules. She becomes unaware of time.
Pat Davidson paints and constructs leaves as ’now’. A particular place on a continuum of time and conditions. It is not hierarchical, it just ‘is.
One constant in art has been the still moment of time, captured as Still Life, a portrait or an object. Varelle Hardy’s paintings use flowers and seeds to reflect “A time to Sow” and “A time to grow”
Bronwyn Greive’s focus goes beyond ourselves and our ancestors to the continuum of time that goes back millions of years.
Faye Collier”s focus is her Whitefella attempt to understand an Indigenous Australian concept of time. She says, “Over several years I have created bowls from the leaves I find around me. My research tells me indigenous time is cyclical rather than sequential or linear. It is flexible and changeable. The past, present and future can exist all together.” The bowls move and reflect drought, fires and floods.
Margot Dugan’s whimsical “Bird Boxes” are created because Time, and Margot, has morphed a redundant Library reference box that contained many words, into a "Bird Box", that has a lot to say.
https://timelesstextiles.com.au/product
EXHIBITION CALENDAR 2024
22 June - 14 July
Hugh Ramage
Jill Orr
Hide Kobayashi
20 July - 11 August 2024
Peter Lankas
Dean Beletich
17 August - 8 September
Helene Newcombe
Ho & Warwick O’Toole
Lorraine Fildes and Robert Fildes.
Art and the Rhinoceros - There are over three hundred Rhino images in this book.
Whether in the ancient past or in the present the rhinos are always represented as huge, powerful and solitary animals. The book includes paintings, drawings, woodcuts, etchings, rock carvings and sculptures of the rhino all depicting the power of the animal.
These images of the rhino range from early civilisations such as in China, Roman Empire, Indus civilisation in Pakistan/ India area and from Southern Africa down to current day images of paintings and sculptures produced by modern day artists.
The text indicates where you may find these wonderful images as well as the websites of the artists concerned, the caves where the rhino images have been found and the places where posters use the rhino image.
There are very few of these magnificent wild animals left in the world, so unless they are protected and managed, artistic images will soon be the only viewing option.
Rhino Images – Art and the Rhinoceros, First Edition, 2017, is available for download at The Rhino Resource Centre web site.
Direct Link : http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=refs&CODE=ref_detail&id=1518479271
202 : White Rhino crash at Whipsnade Zoo, England. Image: Robert Fildes © 2019.
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