Artists

MADELEINE JOY DAWES

Artist Statement

Utilising a system whereby the ruled grid becomes the vessel for handdrawn symbols, my work employs iterative mark making to record measured and psychological time. This emphasis upon time and repetition allows me to mediate rather than mirror the world; an attempt to coordinate thought and stabilisve the disorder of the everyday. This series of drawings examines the phenomenon of pareidolia, as experienced on my walks through the city during Victorian lockdowns. In the absence of encountering other people, faces materialised to me elsewhere. As I perceived them, they too reciprocated my gaze; a shared and ominous sense of surveillance.

Image credit: Madeleine Joy Dawes fake empire (sad zoo) [detail], 2021 Fibre tipped pen on cotton rag, 120 x 120 cm Photography: Colour Factory

JUSTIN GARNSWORTHY

Artist Statement

Justin Garnsworthy’s art practice uses technology to decompose then recompose imagery of mundane materials in a process akin to alchemical transformation. In this exhibition, he has used digital frottage to create a large format composition of compressed BluTack printed on aluminium fabric. Blurring distinctions between process and product, analogue and digital, Garnsworthy confounds viewers’ certainties about optical perception..

Artist Biography

Dr Justin Garnsworthy is a practicing artist who works mainly in digital and analogue mixing described as ‘electronic alchemy’. Career highlights have included presenting at Drawing Symposiums addressing new perspectives on drawing at both art galleries and university institutions, and an award of Excellence from the Society of Newspaper Design in New York for artwork. Justin’s professional career includes: creative media, events, and Publishing Director for First Peoples Land Council in Western Sydney, lecturing in visual art and design programs such as drawing, digital illustration, computer visualisation and image creation. Justin has also worked as an art director and senior designer for major media groups such as, The Age newspaper and The Australian newspaper.

Image credit: Justin Garnsworthy Disintegration, 2021 Digital print on Aluminium, 152 x 258 cm Image courtesy of the artist

MILES HALL

Artist Statement

These works question the distinction between drawing and painting aiming to blur the boundaries habitually made between the two techniques.

I mix graphite pigment with an oil binder to produce a medium that is simultaneously linked to both the traditions of drawing and painting. This medium is used to create a gestural, graphic form on one side of the paper, while on the other side I apply a flat monochromatic layer of oil paint. Long associated with the history of drawing, the paper support is then torn into two separate pieces allowing me to recombine both sides into a new unforeseen image. This process allows me to create a physical encounter between colour and gesture where drawing and painting function as one.

Artist Biography

Montpellier based, Miles Hall, has held solo exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Paris and Krakow. He has a Doctor of Philosophy from the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University (2010), a Diplôme National Supérieur d’Expression Plastique (DNSEP) Ecole Supérieure des BeauxArts, Montpellier, France (2005), a Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting Major) from the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University (1997) and a Diploma of Fine Art (Painting and Drawing) from the Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney (1995) where he was the recipient of the John Olsen Scholarship. He is currently a lecturer in Painting at l’Ecole Supérieure des Beaux Arts, Montpellier Contemporain MO.CO. ESBA. His work is in the collections of Artbank; Shakespeare and Company, Paris, France; Polish Art Foundation, Poland; Shandong University, China; Ecole Supérieur des Beaux-Arts, Montpellier, France; the Australian Catholic University, and several regional and tertiary collections in Queensland and New South Wales.

Image credit: Miles Hall DISSEVER // YELLOW NICKEL, 2021 Graphite pigment & oil paint on Canson paper, 56 x 42 cm Image courtesy of the artist

DREW CONNOR HOLLAND

Artist Statement

Drew Connor Holland’s practice shrinks the history of mass-information into insular moments of reflection. Using a blend of contemporary, analogue, and naive tools of communication, Holland creates works which reflect on the feelings of joy, anxiety, or loneliness that they feel today. Instagram screenshots, video game archives, Shutterstock photos, selfies, and virtual image dumps, are collaged and transformed through transformative processes: handmade paper holding personal archives create personal archaeologies; monotypes with polypropylene and watercolour pencils create uncanny fan-art; sublimation prints make corrupted images into tiny, watermarked paintings.

Every work is rendered as fragile; each differing surface absorbs or rejects elements of the image depending on their material qualities. Instead of slick and new their finish is battered and old — like a crumbling fresco or tapestry. In this state they force a gentle hand and ask for care.

Artist Biography Drew Connor Holland (b. 1994) works on Gadigal, Gayemagal and Awabakal land. Holland received an Master of Fine Art (2018) and Bachelor of Fine Art (2016) from the National Art School, Sydney. Recent solo exhibitions have been held at ALASKA projects, NSW (2017, 2018), Jan Murphy Gallery, Qld (2019), and Tributary Projects, ACT (2019). Holland has been published in Vault Magazine (issue 26); Artist Profile (issue 46); Art Collector (issue 94); and APATHETIC (issue 3). Work has been featured in group shows at Canberra Grammar School, ACT (2019); Sister Gallery, SA (2017); MetroArts, QLD (2017); Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (2017). Holland’s work is held in the Maitland Regional Art Gallery collection.

Image credit: Drew Connor Holland I practice saying malicious things // the same dream repeats again // a fitting posture for a ballad about the divine nature of love [detail], 2017-2019 Solvent transfer of video game screenshot to handmade paper: shredded documents, folios, leopard print blouse, sweet wrappers, performance detritus, magazines, drawings, tape, wigs, string, human hair, white denim, my Grandfather’s quilt covers, six pack cartons, White Dwarf, letters, books, junk mail, rice glue, kozo paper, things I cared about, things I didn’t, 121 x 89cm Photography: Robin Hearfield

JESS JOHNSON

Artist Statement

Jess Johnson was born in Tauranga, New Zealand in 1979. She lives and works between New York and New Zealand.

The concept of world-building lies at the centre of Jess Johnson’s work, which reflects her interests in science fiction, language, technology, and theories of consciousness. Over several years, her drawings have documented an increasingly complex fictional world; they are meshworks of cultural symbology, humanoid clones, messianic figures, and alien runes placed in architectural settings. Her drawing practice feeds into installations and collaborations in animation, music, fashion, virtual reality, and textile art. These additional mediums bring the world of her drawings into physical and virtual spaces, providing an immersive experience for audiences.

Jess Johnson is represented by Jack Hanley Gallery, New York; Darren Knight Gallery, Australia; Ivan Anthony Gallery, New Zealand; and Nanzuka Gallery, Tokyo.

Image credit: Jess Johnson Dumuzor, 2021 Pen, fibre tipped markers, acrylic paint and gouache on paper, 43.8 x 33.7 cm Image courtesy of the artist

JUMAADI

Artist Statement

This work was made in Sydney during the first lockdown in the middle of 2020, when Covid was rampant everywhere. The image was inspired by my daily bus trip from home to the studio, in the northern part of Sydney. I, who usually works in Indonesia at this time of year, felt displaced, afraid, and anxious like most other people. This drawing shows a group of people in a boat with such expressive faces. Some are lost for words, some are angry, some have lost faith in others, some are lonely, sad, cheerful, hard, some have my own face.

Image credit: Jumaadi Twenty Twenty [detail], 2020 Wax pencil on handmade Nepalese Paper, 70 x 100 cm Image courtesy of the artist

CLAUDINE MARZIK

Artist Statement

The impact, effect, and consequence of COVID-19 has influenced my art making considerably. I have continuously worked on the series The Cross Probes Everything since March 2020. There was never enough time between news cycles to deal with the relentless stream of information as it was affecting all my senses.

I started the process to map this surge of impressions on canvas. Every single work has helped to stay balanced, to process emotions, at the time when insecurity, loss of economic certainty, restrictions to movement influenced the daily routine.

The creating of these works on canvas can be compared to writing a diary, an inventory of dates, figures, numbers, and the pinning down of facts and statistics became a cathartic experience.

Image credit: Claudine Marzik The Cross Probes Everything [detail], 2021 Acrylic on canvas, 70 x 66 cm Photography: Michael Marzik

HELENA PAPAGIORGIOU

Artist Statement

A fictional sci-fi novel cover of a barren land alludes to remnants of life that once was. Any inference of life now is only reflected by the stars and space above. One brief moment of atmospheric change transforms the surface for a moment of sentient transience. A melting moon as the catalyst for the ephemeral planetary life cycle phenomenon. This piece also includes an interactive Augmented Reality component allowing you to see the reshaping of this work. Scan the QR code and access the EyeJack app for this experience.

Image credit: Helena Papagiorgiou Sentient Space, 2021 Digital Art, 59.4 x 84.1 cm Image courtesy of the artist

PHOEBE PARADISE

Artist Statement

Growth Mindset. An expectation to be creating value, maximising output and product over mindful practice. An artist is a brand, a business & ‘content creator’. In 2021, commodification of ones’ practice is an ubiquitous expectation of the artistic experience. The artist reaches for the brush with one hand, whilst signing up for Squarespace with another. The painted jacket, not dissimilar in aesthetic to the American ‘Senior Cords’, is a functional piece of illustrative work that is in a state of constant flux. A test-piece, a visual journal, a handmade sketchbook full of imperfect, unstrategic mark-making & impasto paintings. Vandalism of a once clean, sellable, marketable denim jacket. Not destined for a fashion retailer or runway, this jacket is the antithesis to Paradise’s otherwise immensely commodified career.

Image credit: Phoebe Paradise Growth Mindset, 2020 Original design denim jacket - mixed media, paint, ink, metallic studs & eyelets, pen & embroidery, 100 x 100 cm Image courtesy of the artist

GRANT STEWART

Artist Statement

These works are a continuation into my investigation of machine drawing methods. While previous works have been entirely executed by machines, these pieces are a blend of machine and handmade marks, bringing a warmth and nuance to the works that might otherwise be coldly digital. The design process begins with algorithmic experimentations, which are refined in CAD software and sent to a self-designed and built ‘drawing robot’, finally colour is added through meticulous hand painting. The works are at once an exploration of the potential of rapid digital fabrication and the meditative solitude of traditional art making methods.

Image credit: Grant Stewart Untitled (Suspensions) [detail], 2021 Pigmented biro ink and acrylic on paper, 87 x 87 cm Image courtesy of the artist