Mesh exhibition catalogue

Left to right: Sue Ryan, Lynnette Griffiths and Marion Gaemers at Cairns Indigenous Art Fair 2012

Thank you to Umbrella Studio for presenting Mesh. The work of Umbrella continues to enrich the north Queensland region like the effect of rippling waves.

Above left: Octopus headress by Marion Gaemers, right: Yabby Trapper by Lynnette Griffiths Below left: Picun by Sue Ryan, right: Spirit Bitch by Sue Ryan

Mesh

19 April - 26 May 2013 Umbrella Studio contemporary arts

Mesh

umbrella studio contemporary arts

Umbrella Studio contemporary arts | 482 Flinders Street, Townsville (07) 4772 7109 | www.umbrella.org.au | Open Mon-Fri 9-5pm & Sun 9-1pm Umbrella Studio acknowledges the financial support of: The Queensland Government, through Arts Queensland, the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments.

Marion Gaemers

Lynnette Griffiths

Sue Ryan

Well EnMeshed Mesh sees three seasoned artists from the north-eastern tropics team up to present a fresh take on woven sculpture.

Marion Gaemers, Lynnette Griffiths and Sue Ryan have been mobile in Cape York Peninsula and the Torres Strait through their varied roles as workshop leaders, educators, craft-artists, designers, cultural advocates and studio artists.

A longstanding friendship between Gaemers and Griffiths intersected with Ryan’s cultural development ventures spanning the Gulf of Carpentaria, Torres Strait and Cairns, and the spirit of collaboration drew this energetic trio into a deeper connection over recent years.

Well named for defining a common intent, Mesh connotes the interweaving of three individuals’ work in a unified presentation.

Arising from the synergies the artists see in each others’ creative approaches, this exhibition makes a statement about artistic expression renewing itself in unexpected ways and validates the creative potential abounding in tropical regions of Australia.

In the visual arts, genuine collaboration is rarer than in music or theatre, since signature styles are often hard won for solo artists toiling alone in their studios. But for those who enjoy the gregarious context of making new work among like-minded souls, sharing ideas and techniques becomes a liberating reward.

Certainly for Gaemers, Griffiths and Ryan, working among Indigenous Art Centres forged

common ground. Together they share a deep respect for the makers’ circle. Here, ancient techniques interact with introduced materials such as the found ghost net and flotsam of the Gulf and island coasts, to excite imaginative new directions.

In 2008 when Sue Ryan began researching a new movement, which saw drift nets being repurposed as weaving material, her visual acumen naturally aligned with the environment protection origins of the GhostNet project. Ryan majored in printmaking at Qld College of Art, and was a founding member of KickArts in Cairns twenty years ago. She regularly exhibited paintings and prints and also spent several years managing the Lockhart River Art Centre.

But the mission to support and advance the development of GhostNets Australia brought a freedom to expand Ryan’s own artistic repertoire.

Between 1995 and 1997, Flying Arts tutoring roles brought Gaemers and Griffiths together, covering vast regional distances and strengthening bonds as teachers and artists.

Griffiths had established a first-year certificate course at the Thursday Island TAFE College in 1992, nurturing the talents of Alick Tipoti, Fred Biara and Cerferino Sabatino among others, in advance of gaining a Graduate Diploma in ceramics from Monash University.

She is also a graduate of the Qld College of Art and QUT and has worked as a graphic designer and Education Qld art teacher but

her commitment to furthering the professional profile of Erub Erwer Meta, the art centre on Darnley Island in the Torres Strait, has remained steadfast over many years. Imparting foundation skills to adults in drawing, design, ceramics and sculpture keeps Griffiths’ own skills tuned while her extensive knowledge and respect for traditional culture continues to expand.

Primarily as a fibre artist, Gaemers has been contributing to the cultural life of Townsville since 1988. As a basket maker working with women’s craft groups, she upholds traditional techniques using plant fibre collected from Townsville gardens but also introduces manufactured waste materials in creating sculptural forms. Exhibiting in local and national exhibitions and conducting professional workshops alongside her practice, Gaemers’ knowledge and experience are integral to Mesh.

Viewers familiar with GhostNet objects made

by Indigenous artists have a reference point for Mesh insofar as the same key material is used. Yet as acquainted as Gaemers, Griffiths and Ryan are with Indigenous practice, they forged their own premise for this exhibition.

Having spent time together at significant national events such as Floating Land in Noosa (2011) and Sculpture by the Sea in (2012), which place front and centre the alliance of northern Indigenous communities’ use of abandoned fishing nets, the intent of Mesh was always to push this pliable material into

new directions to reflect personal subjects.

Canines of character, codfish, buoys, crab pots from the beach, salt-eaten thongs, mackerel and puffer fish – all are inspirational and interpreted or transformed in some way.

The subliminal guidance of the goddess of weaving is a hinted presence in Mesh while the unsettling female ghost-dog spirit waits in hiding. The archetypal pull of sea, fishnet and salt are here, side-by-side with the artists’ opposition to marine degradation and the unnecessary carnage wrecked by drag nets, which is the conservation message at the heart of GhostNets.

Between their community work spanning 25 years, this exhibition demonstrates the creative value provided by these artists in regional Queensland through their refined level of inventiveness. Simultaneously, the artists’ own creative achievements should not be bypassed or written out of history. All three love making things, are driven by this love and in coming together for Mesh, Gaemers, Griffiths and Ryan shared the gift of mentoring each other as peers. While their passions can be reduced to the three strong elements of nontraditional basketry as sculpture, the ageless inspiration of the sea, and the mysterious allure of the canine, this venture has deeper symbolic underpinnings; women getting together stitching and talking and doing clever things with their hands is collectively and personally transformative.

Ingrid Hoffmann, Director KickArts Contemporary Arts

Above left: detail of Mackerel by Lynnette Griffiths, right: Alpha Dog by Sue Ryan Below left: Godess by Lynnette Griffiths, right: Fish dance costumes by Marion Gaemers