2020
MAYO ARTISTS Jewellers Alice Yeung Anna Leyshon Ari Athans Barbara Heath Bianca Maverick Caroline Kelly Clare Poppi Jacqueline Calvert-Lane Jane Kessler Jill Marsden Ceramicists Anna Markey Fiona Cuthbert OMeara Kerry Holland Kirstin Farr Peter Biddulph Wendy Britton
MAYO Gallery Committee Angela Drysdale Cath Hudson Elizabeth Peat Helen Clifford Sally Quayle
Sculptors Ari Athans Carly Scoufos Deb Mostert Donna Marcus Graham Radcliffe Elizabeth Poole Kaecee Fitzgerald Mela Cooke Rick Everingham Glass Artists Jarred Wright Joanna Bone Fireworks Art Gallery Itamar Freed Ian Waldron Michael Eather Phil Gordon Scott Redford
Hilde Apel Lou Beard Tamara Fahy Lisa Smith
ALICE YEUNG Alice Yeung is a Brisbane-based industrial designer who has worked in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Melbourne and Sydney. Her work combines the influence of the West with the traditional Japanese notion of “Wabi-Sabi�, where characteristics such as imperfection, asymmetry and simplicity are revered. She is known for her designs that contrast hand-picked one-of-a-kind rough gemstones with clean geometric shapes that accentuate the inherent beauty of the raw stones. It also brings her immense joy sifting through vintage components and incorporating them into her limited edition collections. As an industrial designer, Alice finds mechanisms and simple connections between materials particularly inspirational. She tries to eliminate glues and chemicals wherever possible and prefers to design mechanical fixings to complete her designs. In a world where mass production is commonplace, Alice feels it is important to create something unique yet enduring that will be treasured by the wearer for a long time to come.
ANNA LEYSHON
ARI ATHANS
Anna is a practicing architect and jewellery designer. She began silver smithing in 2006 and works mainly with sterling silver, which she mixes with semi-precious gemstones, jade, pearls and other textural natural pieces. Anna designs and hand-makes her own silver pieces from scratch, ensuring each component is unique, and hand crafted. The joyful use of colour is of particular interest to Anna and is used to great effect in many of the pieces.
Ari Athans is a contemporary jeweller and sculptor living and working in Brisbane Australia. From her studio in West End Ari creates bespoke pieces as well as an evolving range of contemporary jewels. The Law of Superposition states that in any sequence of layered rocks, a given layer must be older than any layer on top of it.
Anna has lived and worked in Japan, India, London, Hong Kong, Sydney and Brisbane. She is married and has two daughters. She has a Bachelor of Design Studies and a Bachelor of Architecture from The University of Queensland and balances her jewellery design and manufacture with small architectural projects and family life.
A basic law of geochronology, it is fundamental to the interpretation of Earth’s history and understanding the order of things. For Ari Athans, who studied Geology and worked in the mining and exploration industry before training in jewellery and object design, it has become the foundation on which she forms her art practice. Materiality, experimentation and transformative states are constant threads in Ari’s work. Science informs the process, but so too does intuition and emotion. Using mild steel and enamel, she reimagines geological interactions and events as fantastical new landscapes that represent passages of time and moments of being. Her stacked ceramic forms are a natural progression of this highly sculptural painting style, allowing human interaction in physical space and encouraging contemplation on geologic time and how we relate to it.
BARBARA HEATH Whether being commissioned or in the creation of ©Bh brand jewellery, major public artwork or bespoke architectural detailing, the work of Barbara Heath describes her distinctive approach to creating contemporary objects imbued with histories, narratives, and symbolism. With a national and international exhibiting career spanning over 30 years demonstrating her skills as an artist, jeweller and designer, Heath has practised in Brisbane for more than two decades and is represented in numerous public collections. Barbara describes her studio practice as ‘Jeweller to the Lost’. It is a title that hints at the intimate collaborative nature of making meaningful objects that articulate personal stories at a human scale.
“I work in a medium that is both precious and symbolic; in effect a sign language carried on the body, expressing style, wit, humour and sometimes our deepest emotion.”
BIANCA MAVRICK
CAROLINE KELLY
Bianca Mavrick Jewellery is a self-titled jewellery label whose playful forms, eclectic motifs and exuberant colours have been kindling imaginations since 2013. Approaching kitsch, irony and distortion of scale with aplomb, Bianca’s designs are dynamic, site-specific sculptures that explore the link between individual expression and shared visual language. With bold forms and clever colours, Bianca’s jewellery askew typical jewellery design archetypes to create work that is original and unseen. Bianca is a trained contemporary jeweller and holds a Bachelors degree in Fine Art (jewellery and small objects).
c.k.d. is independent bespoke jewellery maker Caroline Kelly, who specialises in handmade silver pieces. Her work has attracted a following by those wanting meaningful objects telling personal stories. There’s a strong architectural element to the work coming out of her Brisbane studio. She shows assured confidence in creating handcrafted pieces, merging ancient elements of silver smithing with clean, modern design. Jewellery is personal, yet it publicly reveals something about the private. She works mostly on commission, incorporating her creativity, imagination, and self-expression of clients.
Maintaining an active sculpture and contemporary jewellery practice, her wearable designs can be viewed as an aesthetic extension of her art. With a background in industrial design, Bianca is known for pushing the boundaries of production beyond the precepts of traditional jewellery making. From her studio she pits artisanal processes against industrial fabrication, resolving the two through handmade techniques that combine the precision of fine craftsmanship with a distinct maker’s mark. Vivid colours are her calling card, expressed through her signature contrasting materials of colour-coated metals, and precious metals, stones and plastics. Bianca believes that a piece of jewellery can become a bold signature for its wearer – a confident, discerning statement of identity.
Her work is all about minimalist functionality and beauty of form, whether oxidised and texturised sterling silver, found pebbles, resin, crystals or semi-precious stones. From her strong cube rings to silver and river stone pendants, c.k.d. proves luxury can be found in the simplicity. It reveals itself in thoughtfully designed and beautifully made pieces (or the whimsy and pop of colour of her resin rings, favoured by Annabel Crabb on ABC’s Kitchen Cabinet).
An accomplished jeweller and sculptor Bianca’s work has been both exhibited and stocked internationally. All jewellery is made at her studio in Queensland, Australia.
CLARE POPPI Clare Poppi is an artist who lives and works in South-East Queensland, Australia. Her primary practice is in jewellery and small object making, with a focus on sustainable design and wearables. She uses a combination of recyclable and biodegradable materials, adopting a cradle-tocradle mentality in her exhibition and production work.
JACQUELINE CALVERT-LANE
Clare has recently completed a Master of Visual Art at Griffith University, where she undertook research into collaborations between jewellers and wearers, with the aim of fostering meaningful relationships between the wearer and their jewellery collections. Her work critiques the fast fashion model and seeks to examine and improve the sustainability of jewellery production.
Jacquie was born in London, England, studying a one year Foundation Course at the Hornsey School of Art; however, a change in course saw her moving to Graphic Design at the Norwich School of Art. She has worked as a designer and had a variety of careers, but drawing and a love of jewellery and shoes have been constant interests. A workshop with Meghan O’Rourke sparked that love of jewels and metals to a fire and led her to study at the Goldsmith school.
Clare is a founding member of Bench studio, a collective working space for Brisbane-based jewellers that aims to foster an environment of creativity, support and collaborative practice among members. Bench contributes towards the vibrancy of Brisbane’s creative arts scene and aims to promote contemporary jewellery within the broader community.
She uses mostly sterling silver, and often recycled silver, but a combination alloy of Palladium/ silver has become a favourite. Her pieces vary, combining gypsy set gems, resin and gold leaf. Pieces are made by hand with influences of nature, in particular the ocean and green water lily ponds reminiscent of old English gardens. Having come to jewellery making later in life means experimentation is important. Combining different media such as resin and stones have encouraged her ongoing voyage of discovery. Her pieces are elegant and bold, sometimes a bit eccentric, a little whimsical, just like the part of her that will always be English.
JANE KESSLER Jane’s work is handcrafted in her inner Brisbane studio. She explores texture with natural forms; the hammered surfaces can complement with a polished finish and touches of colour bring out the excitement and beauty in each piece of jewellery she creates. Jane uses gemstones that she has carefully selected from locations across the globe, adding to the creativity and individualism, combined with the recycled precious metals sourced here in Australia. Every effort is made to support small artisanal miners when sourcing colourful gemstones, and from there, wonderful friendships have developed over the years. Since graduating in early 2012 as a gemmologist with the British Gemmological Association and with GIA as a pearl graduate, Jane manages to work in both areas within the jewellery industry. Focusing on growing her bespoke jewellery label and managing her gemstone business, Jane also has a passion to share her knowledge in gemmology and this has led to her teaching jewellery students through an introduction to gemmology.
JILL MARSDEN Jill Marsden is a multi-talented creative professional who designs luxurious, bespoke jewellery for people who want to make a bold statement and express their individual style. A hairdresser for 39 years and mother of two sons, she has spent the past 16 years honing her skills in silversmithing and jewellery design. Jill Marsden pieces are made from a mixture of sterling silver, gold, precious and semi-precious gemstones, and unusual beads gathered from around the world. Every piece is cut and finished all by hand in the Jill Marsden studio (by Jill) in Brisbane, Australia, and signature looks include gold leaf in the tradition of the famed artisans of Italy. Gold pieces are all hand coated with 24ct gold leaf to create a beautiful timeless aesthetic. Based on gold-filled metal, brass or copper. Sterling silver is mainly 999 fine silver to create a nice white silver tone. Stud posts are all sterling silver 925.
KERRY HOLLAND
ANNA MARKEY Anna Markey’s enduring passion for ceramics emerged early in life, with her returning to her craft in early 2016 under the expert tutoring of Ray Cavill. Anna’s work is focused on the need to create a sense of togetherness and reduce isolation in the today’s fast-paced world. Anna explores various clay bodies, sensing their purpose, depending on structure, to establish whether wheel-based, slab throwing or slip work, will be the best technique to bring the idea of place to the object. Her current body of work endeavours to tell the story of Anna’s travels into the Simpson Desert. Her experiences shape her work and reflect the harsh, raw Australian landscape. The form, colours and textures replicate the raw oxide shades of the varied western Queensland deserts, salt pans and creeks. A recent focus on combining clay bodies and glazes together in a softer and more tactile manner has seen Anna bring together materials that have come from the earth to ground us.
“As we grow up we imbibe the culture of our parents. When we develop our own patterns through life experience, we modify the culture we inherited. These works explore the modification of traditional ceramic forms through the filter of my own slow, painterly way of working. It is respectful but marks the passing of time and variation. Coil building is a tender, contemplative and immensely satisfying process resulting in pieces that are uniquely nuanced and comforting to hold. I enjoy a freedom of expression and lightness in the making, drawing on experience, spirituality and the surrounding environment for inspiration.” Perth born, and a UWA science graduate, Kerry Holland studied portraiture in Oxford in 1981 with Basil Hennesy before returning to Australia in 1983 and studying Fine Arts at Claremont School of Art, WA. Later moving to Brisbane in 1993, Kerry studied with Madonna Staunton, Glenn Henderson, Peter Biddolph and Dianne Peach at the Brisbane Institute of Art. She teaches art in a recovering soldier’s program. A mid-career artist, Kerry has exhibited around Australia including in the Bake Prize and Porta Geach Award exhibitions and the National Portrait Gallery. Winner of the Nona Metcalfe Prize in 2012, Kerry’s ceramic works were described as appealing for their ‘rawness and vulnerability’ by judges Sally Cox and Kaal de Waal. She is commissioned to do portrait work and her ceramics are shown in the Makers Gallery, Brisbane.
PETER BIDDULPH
WENDY BRITTON
Since obtaining an Advanced Diploma of Ceramics in 2005, Peter has been the recipient of awards in Australia, one from the Design Institute of Australia in 2006 for an installation entitled, ‘vol_Luminous’, which was exhibited in Design Excellence in Queensland at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane. A feature article on this work was published in the UK Journal of Ceramics, Ceramic Review in May 2008.
Wendy Britton is a local Sunshine Coast practising ceramic artist. Living at Cooroibah on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, she started her clay journey in 2002 and went on to complete her Diploma in Fine Arts/Ceramics at TAFE in 2009. The natural surroundings of bush land and an abundance of wildlife is the inspiration for her enthusiasm and creativity for her art.
In 2011 Peter received a grant from Arts Queensland to enable him to accept an invitation to exhibit in the London Design Festival. In the same year he was invited to exhibit in the 10th International Biennial of Ceramics in Manises, Spain, and his Tripod Guinomi (sake cups) received an award in the 9th International Competition of Ceramics Mino, Japan, and were also mentioned in the US journal, Ceramics Monthly. A sake set of a different design received the ‘Best of Show’ award in the Rotary Arts Spectacular, Brisbane, in 2013. To coincide with a national conference on ceramics in education in the USA, as an artist who utilises 3D technology and rapid prototyping, Peter was invited to exhibit in the 44th Annual UWW Ceramics Exhibition: Contemporary Artists Mixing Old and New Technologies at The University of WisconsinWhitewater in February 2014. A selection of his sculptural work was published in the US and UK in 2014 in a book entitled Porcelain by Vivienne Foley. In May 2019 a pair of double walled vessels won the 3D category in the Moreton Bay Regional Art Awards. In addition to conventional ceramic processes, Peter also utilises 3D modelling software and various rapid prototyping techniques to create forms not possible by other means.
In 2008 she received a Highly Commended in the QLD TAFE Aspects Awards, where her work was selected to be part of the Queensland Government Corporate Gift Catalogue. This result made way for the opportunity to have her work featured in several galleries. Wendy has had several solo exhibitions and been part of annual group exhibitions at Noosa Arts and Crafts. Over the past 10 years she has developed a successful range of giftware that is sold in homewares shops throughout the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and Melbourne. Wendy loves to create work that makes people smile, drawing inspiration from her home studio environment. She has a broad body of work from the quirky sculptures, giftware to unique tableware. She is always experimenting with new creations and decorating techniques and loves nothing more than a challenge to create unique art.
DEB MOSTERT Deb’s contemporary art practice is 25 years young and involves drawing, painting, sculpture and public art. Deb’s work has been built around the search for collected personal objects, natural history and curated public museum collections which can become quirky and crisp conversations around memory, collection, migration, curation and value. Public art becomes the public conversation of some of these conceptual concerns and the interaction and collaboration of local communities feeds the work. Deb has worked alongside many community groups, schools and stakeholders to produce works that represent the conversations important to community. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from Queensland College of Art and has had 16 solo shows and been involved in more than 60 group shows in both regional and commercial galleries. She has won several awards and been a finalist in many national art prizes including the Bale Painting Prize, the Salon de Refuses, Jacaranda Drawing Prize and Marie Ellis Prize for Drawing. Deb has over 15 years teaching experience with workshops and artist in residencies. Deb recently had her sketches projected onto the William Jolly Bridge by the Brisbane City Council.
DONNA MARCUS Donna Marcus is an Australian artist best known for her use of vast collections of discarded aluminium kitchenware. Constructed from discarded kitchen utensils – plastic and aluminium teapots, lids, jelly molds, steamers, colanders, egg poachers and bottle-tops – her sculptures draw viewers into a world of kitchens both remembered and imagined. Marcus is engaged by the stories evoked by these objects, and by the familiarity they engender in many viewers. Their original uses in post-war kitchens are recalled and extended by the process of assemblage, as they are combined into the repetitive forms of modernist grids and spheres. The materials themselves generate another layer of reference, and further extend the modernist impulse to regularity, repetition and dream. Marcus’ work has been exhibited extensively in Australia and included in many national sculpture surveys (Helen Lempriere Award, The McClelland Survey +Award and the National Sculpture Award at the National Gallery of Australia). In 2007 she was included in ‘Smart works: Design and the Handmade’ at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; and in 2008 the ‘Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary’, the inaugural show at the Museum of Art and Design, New York. In 2010 her work Redroom was chosen to represent Queensland in the Australian Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo. Recent large-scale permanent public art commissions include Steam, 2006, Brisbane Square, Brisbane, Delphinus, 2009, KAUST, Saudi Arabia and Trickle, 2009, 400 George Street, Brisbane. In 2010 her temporary installation Re-entry was installed in Federation Square, Melbourne.
CARLY SCOUFOS Carly Scoufos is an Australian visual artist working across a range of mediums. Her current studio practice predominately focuses on sculpture and installation; however, her earliest qualifications were in drawing and painting. She studied at the Santa Rosa Junior College in California, before completing a Bachelor of Fine Art with First Class Honours from the Queensland College of Art - Griffith University. After graduating Carly was awarded the Queensland Art Gallery’s 2008 Melville Haysom Memorial Art Scholarship and exhibited in QAG’s Watermall Café as part of the Starter Space program. In 2009, following the receipt of the Siganto Travel Scholarship, Carly undertook a studio residency at Youkobo Art Space in Tokyo, where she presented her first solo exhibition, Seam. Since then she has exhibited regularly, been awarded numerous grants and awards and completed a large number of public commissions in both Australia and overseas. Her recent commissions include a large-scale sculptural installation for the foyer of 1 William Street, Brisbane, a 30 m suspended sculpture at the Domestic Terminal of Perth Airport and a collaboration with Urban Art Projects Shanghai to deliver her largest work to date for a residential and commercial development in Shenzhen, China. This year will see Carly continue to work with Urban Art Projects Shanghai to deliver two suspended sculptures for the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Centre. She is currently designing and fabricating two sculptures for the new Crown Resort in Sydney, due to be installed at the end of the year.
GRAHAM RADCLIFFE Born in Brisbane, Queensland, 1934, Graham trained as Fitter and Turner before living and working in Papua New Guinea for five years, where he commenced painting in oils. He won landscape awards Rabaul Art Prize 1964-65 and then completed his first sculptures in sandstone in 1968. One of the original members of the Society of Sculptors Queensland, Graham is also a current member of The Sculptors Society of NSW. Graham has been commisioned to create sculptures in media such as marble and bronze for The Southport School, Whitehorse City Council, Caboolture Shire Council and the Hervey Bay Hospital. His philosophy upon Sculpture: Sculpture must be made of Love…….. from Love…….. with Love. Sculpture must be the essence of Love. It must have empathy with some spiritual vibration from within one’s being. It will be a reflection of our inner selves……. our souls…… no matter how we try to disguise it. It is inseparable from our fingerprints…….. yours will be yours……… mine will be mine. If it is made from the heart it may be sculpture……… it may live. If it is made from the mind, it will be an ornament……… an intellectual exercise. If it is made of Love it will endure forever……… it will attract like souls.
ELIZABETH POOLE Elizabeth Poole plays at the intersections of culture’s language and nature’s spirit. She has exhibited frequently, often using paper, wire, twigs and sticks to move between whimsy (such as her “cow grass” of tall wires with grass ears for cow heads) and the harder lessons of collective memory. Her black stick family became an iconic logo for the Sunshine Coast’s Floating Land festival. Her works relate directly to the environment around us, drawing upon the wallum of Sunshine Coast’s coastal heathland and its lakes and river systems. After her move to Toogoolawah, she has become increasingly attracted to the sparser bony inland. She also moves from the seen to the unseen aspects of our landscapes, drawn to the spirit of a place as well as to the spirit of the humans and non-humans who inhabit it over past, present and future. She portrays environmental emotion more than just the physical scenery. Rather than simply creating objects, she portrays the lives and languages of the materials she uses. She is interested in the moot Taoist concept of the ten thousand things, rather than merely the things themselves.
JARRED WRIGHT Jarred is a sculptor who works in the fascinating area of glass blowing. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts and from 2009 until currently, he achieved his British Scientific Glass Blowing Society Certificate of Competence, he is currently working at the school of Chemistry and Microbiology at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, crafting specialised equipment for use in the laboratories. Jarred has had solo and collaborative exhibitions at Form Gallery in NZ, Artisan in Brisbane and was shortlisted for the Tom Malone National Glass Art Prize this year.
MELA COOKE “I now work almost entirely in bronze as I find the initial process of sculpting in clay enables me to get great definition and subtlety. I have a great admiration for the medium of bronze because of its intrinsic beauty and its timelessness. I worked as a physiotherapist for many years and that gave me a great appreciation of the human body and a love of working in three dimensions. My sculptures aim to encourage the viewer to reflect on the historical perspective of both objects and sentient beings, to give thought to human emotions and disposition, and to appreciate that there is great beauty in the world. I have recently worked on a series of ‘women in action’ depicting a variety of sportswomen. The challenge for me is always to imbue my sculptures with the character and soul of my subjects. My work ranges between smaller, usually indoor sculptures, or larger outdoor bronzes. Between 2015 and 2020 I created a series of seventeen predominantly outdoor works for the cities of Maryborough and Hervey Bay, which have been installed in the streets of Maryborough as part of their Story Trail, depicting the history of the city.”
FIONA CUTHBERT OMEARA “I am a practicing ceramic and visual artist who works from my own purpose-built studio in Doonan on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. In my ceramic practice, that which comes naturally to me, emulates the natural world. My work captures a stillness within me, allowing creativity to flow, along with thoughts, feelings, insights and resolution. The innate connection that I feel with my local surroundings cannot help but influence the sculptural direction of my work. Forever fascinated with the balance between the domestic and the wild, my work on the potter’s wheel shows an interplay between what we expect from the world, and what it expects from us. What occurs as natural phenomenon and that which is contrived. Strong links to the natural world are always evident as I immerse myself in the stories which speak through my work. These forms are the records of not only my own stories, but of universal themes of self-knowledge and interconnectedness. “
RICK EVERINGHAM “I have a very simple philosophy. Our society seems intent on expressing ever-increasing numbers of disturbing images. I do not wish to add to them. I have no need to make political statements, nor be on the cutting edge of artistic expression. We tend to forget that it is possible to view life in a way that makes it positive and full of joy. I believe the world is a truly magical place where all things are somehow connected. I like to create works that remind me that simple beauty is still in existence, wherever I choose to find it, and view the whole process of life as a journey, with our direction depending on where we focus. When my children were young, their activities were once central to my work. As they have grown, that has changed. Now my wife and I love to travel. We seek out interesting places in the world. We have been exploring Italy for almost 30 years. I find the overall patina of Italy irresistible. With its wonderful zest for life and immense cultural heritage, it has qualities for me that I can only explain as a soul connection. We established a home and studio in Italy so that I could immerse myself in this experience. The process is simple. Wherever I go I find certain images, or certain situations, or subtleties, or colours that strongly appeal to me. I see wonderful connections between these things, and they seem to have a resonance with something inside me. That produces a special feeling, and I find great satisfaction in trying to express it in my work. “
KAECEE FITZGERALD Taking a concept from a sketch to a physical object is one of the most gratifying processes you can be a part of. Even though this process isn’t for everyone, it doesn’t mean that you have to be excluded from the journey. As a product designer I enjoy the eclectic project spectrum I am constantly exposed to through my work. I have been involved in projects that range from fashion to medical device design, and it is this kind of variety in my working life that I thrive on. I especially have a passion for medical design and incorporating current social values into my practice. An element I consistently layer into all of my projects is a focus on human centred design and an abstraction from the mundane. I work very well in teams, but I also thoroughly enjoy freelancing as a CAD or product designer, so I am always open to new opportunities from parties open to collaboration.
KIRSTIN FARR
JOANNA BONE
Kirstin Farr is a Brisbane based potter/clay artist. She uses mixed, recycled clay for her sculptures, keeping them natural and varied.
Joanna Bone is an English born Artist. She has a 1st Class Honors Degree in glass design and has a Masters Degree from the Royal College of Art in London.
She loves the random and tactile markings made from the natural elements that occur during the Raku smoking process, when firing the work with sawdust. Her birds are her signature pieces giving out hope and tranquillity to many a friendly home.
She immigrated in 2002 with her husband David to Brisbane to be nearer the environments that most inspire her work. Since living in Australia Joanna has won major national awards and her work can be found in many collections around the world and particularly the Asia Pacific Region as she has for the past 9 years been making special awards for the coveted Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Random yet repetitive, complex and subtle make up our natural environment. From the vibrant skins of insects to the rich textures under the seas and the rhythm’s of the landscape, pattern pulsates through our everyday.
“I like the relationship between the complexities of the techniques that are employed in each piece and how it is expressed in the intricacy of the surface patterns. The end result draws one into the piece losing oneself in the multi layers of colour”.
ITAMAR FREED Born in 1987 in Manhatten, New York, Itamar is an artist with a global reach who lives and works in Australia, the USA, Great Britain and Israel. His artworks are in private and public collections worldwide, including the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, The Clore Duffield collection, The Estee Lauder art collection, Lauren and Mitchell Presser collection and the USA State Department (Art in Embassies). Mostly working with photography and mixed media, Itamar Freed crafts hyper realistic representations of portraits and landscapes. His ongoing body of work features habitats from across the globe, questioning the distinctions between the natural and artificial, real and manufactured. The encounter between the three territories – the wild, the cultured and the staged – creates intriguing scenarios and instigates questions around aesthetics, politics, culture, boundaries, and reality.
ALICK SWEET Alick Sweet is a Brisbane based artist who has won several major awards for painting, sculpture and drawing whose works are included in private and public collections in Australia and overseas. Alick works in a variety of materials but maintains a fascination with wood and paint. Timber, stone, steel, bronze and paint are used to create free standing objects, wall reliefs and installations. With the installation process the compositions grow and become site specific where the realms of sculpture, drawing, painting, design and carpentry cohabit and converge. This method of working allows the artist’s keen interest in construction and composition to develop. Colour adds a dramatic element to the work and helps amplify the dynamics of the form. Colour sometimes occurs incidentally, through the addition of component parts, or by the application of paint.
IAN WALDRON
MICHAEL EATHER
Ian worked in various industries before studying Visual Arts at the Northern Territory University in the mid 1990s. Throughout his art practice he pays tribute to the story of the Kurtjar people in his homeland of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Ian has worked prolifically in his studio in Far North Queensland over the last years and developed a number of series, focusing on paintings and installations.
Michael Eather - an artist and consultant curator - has shown his own painting and sculpture since 1986 whilst maintaining a strong interest in collaborative artworks (Michael Eather + Friends) for galleries, museums and public spaces.
Recurring subject matter in his works comprises characters, sites and memories, which are important to the artist, such as Bloodwood Totem and Black Cockatoo. The Black Cockatoo is the artists’ totem. Ian was the winner of the 2010 Glover Prize, Tasmania, and has been selected as a finalist three times in The Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW. His works are held in numerous private and public collections nationally.
In 1988, Eather co-founded Campfire group, a collective of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists working on contemporary art projects and commissions, coming to prominence when selected for the 1992 Sydney Biennale. Eather has worked on major collaborative public art commissions featuring painting, installation, video and literature with various artists including Michael Nelson Jagamara, Laurie Nilsen, Richard Bell and Joanne Currie as well as a number of other prominent Aboriginal artists now deceased including: Lin Onus, Paddy Carroll Tjungurrayi and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. Eather is Director of Fireworks Gallery in Brisbane; established in 1993, Fireworks has evolved to be one of Australia’s leading galleries in promoting the contemporary edges of Aboriginal Art.
SCOTT REDFORD PHIL GORDON Phil Gordon graduated from the University of Tasmania in 1983 with a BFA with Teaching majoring in sculpture and ceramics. In 1984 became a member of Chameleon Artist co-operative in Hobart. Phil exhibited with the Tasmanian Craft Council as well as Chameleon’s Gallery, he is represented by Fireworks Gallery Brisbane and Handmark Gallery Hobart. Phil is currently working on bronze and stainless steel sculptures largely with animal themes, and divides his time between the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and Hobart in Tasmania. “Evolution speaks directly to questions of genealogy. We are intrigues as to who we are and what is our biological relationship with other creatures. Through a process of animism I embody the relationship I have evolved with Tasmanian creatures to reveal a soul within the inanimate sculptures. Secondly by way of stylisation, form and patina, in a minimal way I attempt to capture strong, peaceful and stoic nature of these creatures.”
Scott Redford is a Gold Coast-based artist renowned for his ironic interpretations of his hometown. His practice simultaneously subverts and champions mainstream popular culture. Born in 1962, Redford inherited the pop art of Andy Warhol and the regionalism crisis of Australian modernism, resulting in a localised yet universal approach to the vernacular. Redford’s work is represented in major Australian collections including the National Gallery of Victoria and the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art. He has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally in Europe and South-East Asia. The Gold Coast is drenched in an urban mix of pop culture and decadence. My Beautiful Polar Bear series of high-gloss, ceramic polar bear sculptures, captures the artifice and excessiveness of the city. The polar bear is a star attraction at one of the theme parks that litter the city. Its unnatural existence in a spurious and even absurd setting mirrors the plastic culture that the Gold Coast is famous for. My Beautiful Polar Bear, an aesthetically pleasing yet frivolous object, throws an ironic glance at one of Australia’s most infamous tourist towns.