Symbiotics - the art of co-existence

Toyota Community Spirit Gallery presents

SymbiOticS the art of co-existence

an exhibition of indoor and outdoor sculpture

Toyota Australia, 155 Bertie Street, Port Melbourne,Victoria 6 September to 22 November 2006 Inquiries phone Ken Wong 03 9690 0902 Gallery Hours: Thu & Fri 1pm to 6pm or by appointment

Toyota Community Spirit Gallery The Toyota Community Spirit Gallery is an initiative of Toyota Community Spirit, Toyota Australia’s corporate citizenship program.

Toyota Community Spirit develops partnerships that share Toyota's skills, networks, expertise and other resources with the community.

The Toyota Community Spirit Gallery aims to provide space for artists, especially emerging artists to show their work. The space is provided free of charge to exhibiting artists, no commission is charged on sales and Toyota provides an exhibition launch and develops a catalogue for each exhibition. The Gallery has now shown works by over 170 artists.

Toyota has worked with the Contemporary Sculptors Association, Hobsons Bay City Council and the City of Port Phillip on this project.

SymbiOticS the art of co-existence an exhibition of indoor and outdoor sculpture

Exhibiting aRtists Tony Adams Ruth Allen Tsvia Aran-Shapir Leslie Baxter Shawn Begley Russell Brazier Piers Buxton James Cattell Pam Clements Betty Collier Julie Collins Tommaso Durante Ursula Dutkiewicz Leroy Ellis Charles Farrugia

Nik Papas Susan Fell-McLean Marija Patterson Jodie Goldring Luke Rogers Magi Grace Anne Ronjat Nicola Harris Faustas Sadauskas Anton Hasell Anne Scambary Birgit Holdinghausen Arun Sharma William Holt Vida Sobott Derek John Jamie Spiers Irianna Kanellopoulou Pamela Stadus Roman Liebach Brendon Taylor Michelle Loft Robert Waghorn Andrew May David Waters Darren McGinn Pam Wragg Jesus Moreta Ben Wrigley Sandra O'Dea

CuRatOR

Ken Wong

thanks tO

Tania Blackwell, Hobsons Bay City Council Julie Collins, Contemporary Sculptors Association Sharyn Dawson, City Of Port Phillip Katarina Persic, Toyota Australia

invitatiOn, catalOgue design & editing

Watch Arts

Images front (clockwise from left) Irianna Kanellopoulou (detail), Darren McGinn, David Waters, Anne Ronjat, Vida Sobott (detail photograph Š Simon J. Strong, Fulleffect) Image inside cover Ruth Allen (detail) Image this page Michelle Loft (detail photograph Š David Fardon, Digital FX).

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SymbiOticS

“

Ken Wong

curator

This is the second annual sculpture exhibition for the Toyota Community Spirit Gallery and marks a significant milestone and an exciting new initiative for our program.

Symbiotics - the art of co-existence, is an appropriate title to celebrate our tenth exhibition in the gallery since it was launched in July 2004. Our program has built a bridge between the world of the artist and the world of business, inspiring creativity and innovation in the Toyota community and the confidence that comes with support and acknowledgement for over one hundred and seventy artists from the local community and beyond.

The launch of this exhibition will also see the announcement of the winner of the inaugural Toyota Community Spirit Artist Travel Award. This new initiative will provide $10,000 for an artist to mount an interstate or overseas travel project that will significantly advance their career.

The award is also an indicator of the success of our program and a growing awareness of the powerful potential of art to foster communication and deeper understanding. The basis of any co-existence (and possibly the creation of life as we know it) is symbiosis, an intimate and organic relationship between elements or entities that provides a mutual benefit to both parties. This exhibition explores the nature of these relationships through structure, form and symbol.

In these times of global warming, diminishing resources, social inequity and political and religious unrest and violence throughout the world, more and more there is a recognition that all of us who exist on this planet are intimately linked together. A future for any of us must be a future for all of us. The reality is, only if we can learn to work together to find balance and harmony with our environment and each other, can we expect the basis of our co-existence to survive and prosper.

Welcome to SymbiOticS.

’’

Ken Wong is the Director of Watch Arts, a Melbourne based contemporary arts consultancy. He has worked in the fine arts industry since 1997 in both commercial and community arts, curating and managing a host of projects including gallery and outdoor sculpture exhibitions.

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SymbiOticS aRtists & woRKs

Tony Adams

page

In Ascending Order

Salvaged wood & found object

2005

$1250

08

Ruth Allen Jane - Synergetic Series

Steel & glass

2006

$58,000

09

Tsvia Aran-Shapir Silence

Bronze

2004

$6500

10

Leslie Baxter Wave Forms

Glass & metal

2004

$6200

11

Shawn Begley Desire

Sheet steel, steel rods, timber & paint 2006

$3000

12

Russell Brazier Homage

Bronze & granite

2005

$1200

13

Piers Buxton Sleeper

Cypress pine

2006

$650

14

James Cattell Stheno

Copper, steel & ceramic

2006

$3,600

15

Pam Clements In the making

Video installation

2006

POA

16

Betty Collier The Phoenix

Huon pine on granite

2005

$900

17

Julie Collins & Derek John Segment

Steel, plant life & stone

2006

$11,000

18

Tommaso Durante Tommaso Durante’s secret book of images & words Bronze Opus Ceramic & shell dust Yarra Valley abstract landscape Bronze

2005 2003 2002

$3000 $3000 $7000

19

Ursula Dutkiewicz Tower (1), (2) & (3)

Stoneware clay

2006

$1200 each 20

Leroy Ellis Hairy Tongue

Wire, plaster, paint & fabric

2006

$600

21

Charles Farrugia Clinical Metaphors Halogen for Ernst Fallen Angel

Glass, steel, plastic & bio-found Glass, steel, plastic & bio-found Glass, steel, plastic & bio-found

2005 2005 2005

$900 $500 $500

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SymbiOticS artists & woRKs

page

Susan Fell-McLean Resilience 2

Silk shibori, wood & wax

2006

$1750

23

Jodie Goldring Unravel

Recycled copper wire

2006

$1020

24

Magi Grace The Pearl Fisher

High fired clay ceramic

2006

$200

25

Cast aluminium & aluminium pipe

2005/6

$25,000

26

Toyota Ute & copper sheeting

2003

$40,000

27

Cast bronze

2006

NFS

28

Mixed media

2006

$300

29

Ceramic Ceramic Ceramic

2006 2004 2003

$1200 $600 $1800

30

Powdercoated aluminium & graphite coated felt

2006

POA

31

Hand cast glass on acrylic base

2005

$3800

32

Mild steel

2006

$3500

33

Ceramic

2006

$1200

34

Paper mache Mixed media

2006 2006

$2600 $7500

35

Mixed media Mixed media

2006 2005

$1500 $6000

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Nicola Harris

Rubens’ Gates

Anton Hasell

Kyneton Kopper Ute Birgit Holdinghausen

Union – Family Trees William Holt

Squish

Irianna Kanellopoulou

Dreamscape Blues Conspiracy Wheels – working model Roman Liebach

Green Shift

Michelle Loft

In Memory Of

Andrew May

Equilibrium

Darren McGinn

The Dreaded Double Booking Jesus Moreta

Reading the Memories Industrialization = Destruction in Progress Sandra O’Dea

Nurse Staircase

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SymbiOticS aRtists & woRKs

Nik Papas

Monuments of Earth, Water, Fire and Air

page

MDF & acrylic

2006

POA

37

Bronze & stainless steel

2004/06

$2500

38

Steel

2004

$1300

39

Ceramic

2006

$800

40

Sandstone

2003

$4400

41

Monument to a brighter future

PVC inflatable

2000

POA

42

Arun Sharma The Nature of Mankind

Wood

2006

POA

43

Vida Sobott One World Is Not Enough, I One World Is Not Enough, III

Ceramic Ceramic & metal

2005 2005

$1900 $1900

44

Jamie Spiers Untitled V Egg

Laminated & polished plywood

2006

$4300

45

Pamela Stadus Journey

Sand cast glass

2003

$6600

46

Brendon Taylor Honey-moon Dreaming

Marble, bronze & wood

2006

$6500

47

Robert Waghorn Cluster Stairs and Steps Unit VIII

Painted wood Painted wood Painted wood

2006 2006 2006

$2000 $2000 $2000

48

David Waters 165mm Nut & Bolt

Foam rubber

2006

$800

49

Pam Wragg Relief - Sea Dance

Huon pine & aluminium

2005

$8000

50

Ben Wrigley Spirits Passage

Wood

2005

$1600

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Marija Patterson

Coneferous

Luke Rogers

Urban Dreaming

Anne Ronjat

Contemplation

Faustas Sadauskas

Pedestal

Anne Scambary

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SymbiOticS sculptuRe map

Locations

Sculptures are located in the following areas 1. Atrium 2. Gallery 3. Bistro 4. Outdoor 2 Gallery

4 Outdoor works

3 Bistro

Reception

1 Atrium Bertie Street Entrance

Outdoor works 1. Jamie Spiers 2. Faustas Sadauskas 3. Anton Hasell 4. Andrew May 5. Julie Collins & Derek John 6. Arun Sharma 7. Tony Adams 8. Nicola Harris

Bistro

6 2 3

4

5

7

8

1

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SymbiOticS Tony Adams

“

This work is part of a site-specific project called Waste Matters.

I explore the form and content of everyday materials utilising a transient methodology, where I re-use and re-configure discarded and displaced objects from a unique and local delivery system – flotsam and jetsam.

This body of work evolved from the studio-based practice of sorting, cataloguing and ordering the washed-up excesses of our disposable lifestyles that continually arrives on the foreshores of Port Phillip Bay.

’’

In Ascending Order Salvaged wood & found object, 2005 190 x 70 x 120cm

A former graduate of the National Art School in Sydney, Tony recently completed a Masters Degree at the Victorian College for the Arts. Over the past twelve years, his sculptural practice has continued to utilise readily available materials and objects from his immediate environment wherever he has lived. His works are held in various private and public collections and he has won prizes and awards as well as grants and commissions. The work exhibited here was a finalist in the Senini Art Award at the McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park in November 2005 – January 2006.

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The Synergetic Series uses natural phenomenon to illustrate universal laws and actively work scientific theories. The methodology, which forms this work, uses heat, gravity, leverage, intuition and the nature of the material glass to ultimately depict the truth of an experience.

Investigations into micro- organisms informs a visual language and an understanding of cellular structures.

The relationship of the micro to macro can be seen in all living things, from the single cell to the revolving planets of the universe. The Synergetic Series becomes a model, capturing a moment in time and the nature of a natural system in operation.

Ruth Allen

Jane - Synergetic Series Steel & glass, 2006 3300 x 2300 x 2200cm

’’

Ruth’s history stems from the Canberra School of Art where she studied under Klaus Moje, Elizabeth McClure and the late Stephen Procter. After graduating in 1993, she embarked upon world travels including Japan, United States and New Zealand. Throughout this time her primary focus was on developing her skills with hot glass, networking and expressing herself with the material. She attended and conducted workshops, exhibited, undertook residencies and worked consistently to develop her ideas. In 1995 she decided to reside in her birth country New Zealand to establish a hot glass studio of her own in which to work from. Ruth met her business partner and together they built the studio named ‘Gloria’. Gloria dissolved in early 2000 enabling Ruth to return to Australia and resume a more artistic practice. Ruth has just completed her Master of Fine Arts degree, majoring in glass and sculpture at Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria.

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Tsvia Aran-Shapir “

My attempt is to speak human authenticity, to explore the undisguised purity of emotion.

All efforts of expression are accomplished in space and time, for they are all a reappropriation of the natural expressivity of the living body.

I think that in a culture which is increasingly defined as meaningless, the work of art exists as a symbol or sign: it translates and expresses existence and provides a means whereby humans can come to awareness of their own lives and grasp reflectively what they are.

What I try to express is the authentic encounter of the human being and the world, the moment when they mutually come into existence, one perceiving, the other perceived. I see human authenticity as transcendental and reflective, for it reveals and enables us to see the means by which things make themselves seen by us.

Silence Bronze, 2004 75 x 35 x 30cm

’’

Tsvia was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel, but received her Masters Degree in Counselling and Psychology at Boston University. She completed her practicum at NATO hospital, Department of Psychiatry in Frankfurt, Germany and in 1988 moved to Belgium, working as a psychotherapist combining Gestalt therapy, Art therapy and Body awareness. In 1993 she studied ceramics at “Atelier Circle” with Belgian artist Paty Wouters. The following year she enrolled at the Academy of Art in Antwerp (Academie voor Beeldende kunsten Berchem Antwerpen) specialising in sculpture and also completed two years at IKA (Hetinstitute voor Kunstambachten, Te Mechelen) specialising in glass before graduating in 2000. She has exhibited since 1998 in Israel and Belgium including at the Second International Ceramics Biennale in 2002. In August 2004, Tsvia moved to Australia with her husband and son and continues to pursue her practice from her home studio in St Kilda West.

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SymbiOticS Leslie Baxter

“

Altering perception is part of my intention – to create intrigue and to entice the viewer to take a longer look.

Wave Forms presents a sensuous study in the juxtaposed pieces of curved and coloured glass which also invite the viewer to touch or stroke the smooth surfaces and investigate the texture. The colours evoke the changing moods of the ocean on the shoreline. At times the colours will reflect back at the viewer, other times they appear as translucent. This interplay enhances interaction with the sculpture.

’’

Les was born in Melbourne and has a background of thirty years working in leadlight, stained glass, slumped, fused and cast glass. He was initially motivated by the work of his grandfather, Bela Kozak, a notable ecclesiastical stained glass artist. In 1975 he established Abbey Leadlight Studio in Carlton, later moving to East Kew to pursue large scale glass slumping. Les has experimented over the years with the internal refraction properties of glass. Employing techniques of cutting, polishing, laminating, slumping and sandblasting, he eventually began of a series of discoveries and experiments that have led to his unique use of transparent metallic colour.

Architectural glass, sculptures, glass wall art and jewellery have all developed from this fascination; bordering on obsession, with the process. The resultant colours and design can appear to change as the viewer moves around a work (i.e. from different perspectives).

Wave Forms Glass & metal, 2004 174 x 45 x 45cm

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SymbiOticS Shawn Begley “

Desire is conceived from the idea of the pick up line, ‘got a light’.

The matchboxes symbolize a time frame of any particular night. The first vertical matchbox represents the initial, potential use of …. ‘got a light’.

The following matchboxes suggest the initial interaction was positive and as the night progresses, the inevitable dalliance occurs, thus the last matchbox represents a bed.

’’

Desire Sheet steel, steel rods, timber & paint, 2006 140 x 100 x 30cm

Shawn completed his Bachelor of Arts in 1988 and has exhibited since the late 1980’s. He was a finalist in the Lake Macquarie Sculpture Prize in 1996 and also the Montalto Sculpture Award (2003 and 2004) and the Yering Station Sculpture Award in 2004. His work is held in private and public collections including Macquarie Bank and St Vincents Hospital.

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SymbiOticS Russell Brazier

“

My ongoing work is a physical manifestation of human emotion, expressed through form and gesture.

’’

Homage Bronze & granite, 2005 20 x 32 x 22cm

Russell was born in Melbourne in 1952 and began drawing from an early age. He made his first sculpture at fourteen years of age and was significantly influenced by the work of Henry Moore. He was apprenticed at the Melbourne College of Printing and Graphic Arts and was one of the last apprentices to be trained in the six hundred year old craft of hand-setting lead type from type cases. Between 1975-77 he lived overseas before returning to Australia where he worked in the newspaper industry for twenty-six years, much of it on night shift.

He was involved for a short time with street poetry in the late 1970’s and has also done freelance illustration and cartooning work. He has worked in share studios since 1993 and since 1988, sculpture making has become the focus of his creative pursuits. In 2004 he returned to study and last year completed a Diploma of Visual Arts from CAE, majoring in Sculpture. He works in a variety of materials including ceramics, copper, galvanized iron, steel and bronze. His works are held in private collections throughout Australia.

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SymbiOticS Piers Buxton

“

Sculpting from a section of a tree is an interesting challenge.

A simple knot, or tunnel created by a borer can dictate a change in the design, so to a degree the material has a say in the final result.

’’

Sleeper Cypress pine, 2006 40 x 50 x 40cm

Piers has a background in graphic design and has recently begun to pursue his sculpture practice. In a short period of time his work has been accepted into several sculpture exhibitions. This year he has exhibited in the Toorak Festival of Sculpture and was also a finalist in the Montalto Sculpture Award.

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SymbiOticS James Cattell

“

I have long been intrigued by the strange offerings cast up by the ocean.

A similar mixture of repulsion and fascination seems to have inspired the ancient myth of the Gorgon.

’’

Stheno Copper, steel & ceramic, 2006 180 x 70 x 80cm

James studied law, history, philosophy, literature and art but left university without a degree of any kind, determined to be a sculptor. He worked for ten years as a puppeteer and street performer and lived surrounded by dusty sculptures and paintings. In 1988, he and his partner, Dorelle Davidson, started an art business producing murals, mosaic and site-specific sculptural works. While continuing with his own studio practice, he has also written and illustrated children’s picture books. James has always hoped to one day be considered a serious artist, but is regularly distracted by new materials and techniques and has recently been very busy constructing sculptural play spaces.

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SymbiOticS Pam Clements “

A building is not just a physical structure in the minds of people. It is also a place of memory and experience. This work is a reflection on the real and its virtual associated with memory. The underlying image in both DVD¹s is cropped to show only the hands in the action of bricklaying. It is black and white, inverted and silent to signify that it has more to do with memory. The action of placing mortar on the end of a brick before being positioned is continually repeated. There is the idea of continual construction and an awareness of physical labour and effort that surrounds the making and habitation of a building.

’’

In the making Video installation, 2006 Dimensions site determined

Pam lives and works in Melbourne. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1998 with Distinction and completed her Honours (first class) the following year. She went on to complete her Doctor of Philosophy in 2004. Pam has undertaken a number of site specific installations in various buildings around Melbourne over the past nine years. These include the building incorporating Conical, Rochester Street, Fitzroy, 2005; Dantes, Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, 2003; Storey Hall and the Nicholas building, Swanston Street, 2002; the Gossard building, Franklin Street, 2000- 2001, and the St Kilda railway station, St Kilda, 1998. Other solo exhibitions include Continuum, Centre for Contemporary Photography, 2001. She has also participated in over twenty-three selected group exhibitions including Narrative Voices, Fortyfive Downstairs, 2004; Meter, Darwin University Gallery, 2002: ….. bill posters will not be prosecuted, Federation Square Hoardings Project, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and Seize, National Gallery of Victoria. She was selected for the Fundere Sculpture Prize Finalist Exhibitions in 2002 and 2000 and has also received other awards and grants for her practice. Her works are held in both public and private collections.

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SymbiOticS Betty Collier

“

In this world of imitation and the contrived, I think nature has a very strong role as a force to keep us grounded. This bird of Huon Pine has been raised from the forest floor where it lay for hundreds of years imbuing it with sacredness that I have tried to express. I have used the natural twisted and flowing forms of the wood to suggest the curves and growth of the bird as it rises from its past. To me the flowing curves and smooth surface have a timelessness that echoes the past and takes it into the future; that links art and nature.

’’

The Phoenix Huon pine on granite, 2005 39 x 80 x 36cm

Betty’s background has been in teaching art, first at Secondary Schools and then after having two children, at tertiary level for over thirty-five years. A serious study of sculpture and painting developed in her mid thirties and was reinforced after travelling to Europe on study leave in 1982 and again in 2002. In sculpture, she likes to explore different media and approaches such as carving wood, limestone and pilbara jade as well as oxy welding and working with clay and wax. Aspects of nature in both media and in the themes she works on are important, as well as exploring the human condition, especially looking at movement. Influences on her sculpture have been Rodin, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. Being able to create something special out of something old from nature, as in “The Phoenix” and developing different textural aspects while giving an attitudinal presence, is also her aim.

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Julie Collins & Derek John “

Segment Steel, plantlife & stone, 2006 110 x 40 x 200cm

Segment is a work that follows concepts and related themes in our current projects, collectively called With ownership comes great responsibility.

This is a major collaborating project between myself and Derek John. This project continues the research and development of my work for the past twenty years, the last five years collaborating with Derek (a boiler maker by trade). The concept is to create a body of work that draws parallels between the environment and the responsibilities of art ownership.

The works use steel, ibeams, plates, vessels, stones and plant life to form mini landscapes within industrialised settings. We hope to raise awareness relating to our effect on the environment by producing art works which in essence, require maintenance in order to survive, the viewer will be asked to question whether they could make that commitment, whilst also being challenged to address their own responsibilities when it comes to the environment we live in.

’’

Julie completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Victoria College, Prahran in 1987. In 1997 she was the founding member and Chairperson of the Contemporary Sculptors Association Inc (CSA), an artist run organization that has developed and manages Yarra Sculpture Gallery in Abbottsford. She has participated in over fifty exhibitions and has been a curator, lecturer, studio co-ordinator, writer and government advisor in public art development and urban design, including initiating the Herring Island Environmental Sculpture Park. Her works are held in collections nationally including the National Gallery of Victoria. Recently she has been collaborating with her husband Derek John who has run his own business for twenty years, specialising in architectural steel construction and design.

Derek has great technical skill and engineering know how and his love for construction and urban design works perfectly with Julie’s concepts of contrasting the natural with the built environment.

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Tommaso Durante

“

Tommaso Durante’s secret book of images and words is a sculptural bookwork made in bronze that keeps imprisoned in its sculptural nature the images and words of the author.

It is a conceptual/ evocative artwork, imagined on the borders of the categories of the artist book and the sculpture/ installation.

’’

Tommaso Durante’s secret book of images and words Bronze (limited edition 2/3), 2005 22 x 15 x 19cm

Tommaso was born in Italy in 1956. He has been producing paintings, sculptures and artist books since the Seventies. From the beginning of his artistic activity, he focused on the relationship between art and philosophy, developing the idea of bookwork as a contemporary philosophical tool for a very private approach to the world.

In particular, he worked around the definition of art as characterized by complex linguistic themes and resolutions, exploring beyond the polarities of telling and reflecting, narration and conception. In 2001 he moved to Australia where he firstly obtained a permanent visa under the category of “distinguished talents” for art. Solo exhibitions at the Italian Institute of Culture and Dickerson Gallery in Melbourne, a residency at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne and a series of group exhibitions in Australian regional galleries are some of his other achievements since migrating to Australia. He has also produced a new artist book, ‘Terra Australis’, containing poems by ten Australian contemporary writers. The work was one of the winners of the First Southern Cross University Artist Book Award. In 2005 his works were exhibited at the 4th International Book & Paper Arts Triennial at the Columbia College, Chicago, the Florida University Museum of Fine Arts and various other group exhibitions both in U.S.A. and Australia.

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Ursula Dutkiewicz “

The Tower series represents a newfound optimism in me and a desire to move forward and reach new heights.

’’

Tower (1) Stoneware Clay, 2006 87 x 14 x 14cm Tower (3) Stoneware Clay, 2006 102 x 15 x 15cm

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Tower (2) Stoneware Clay, 2006 134 x 17 x 17cm

Ursula grew up surrounded by the abstract and expressionist paintings of her emigrant father Wladyslaw Dutkiewicz who settled in South Australia and became, along with his younger brother Ludwik, one of the leading modernist painters there in the 1950s and 60s. Ursula became a professional ceramic artist in 1994 after completing a Bachelor of Fine Art from VCA in 1993. She has exhibited in over forty shows and is a resident artist and kiln co-ordinator at Gasworks Arts Park Ceramic Studio. In 1996 she completed an architectural ceramics course specializing in wall murals and has since completed several commissioned projects for clients including Kensington Swimming Pool, South East Water, City of Port Phillip and Albert Park College. Her professional practice has included tutoring and workshops for all sectors of the community including projects with Footscray Community Arts Centre and Skinners Adventure Playground. She also created an Altar Installation for Celebrate Women in conjunction with the Women’s Circus and Amnesty International in the forecourt of the Victorian Arts Centre.

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SymbiOticS

“

Through colour and humour art can successfully provoke a meaningful response in the viewer. The fact so many people feel bewildered when experiencing Modern Art is a poor reflection on an artist’s ability to communicate and make artwork the public can find meaningful. An expressive artwork can provoke feelings of inspiration, laughter, health and strength. The ancient cultures of Papua New Guinea, Africa, Central and South America created artwork that played a central role in contributing towards the health of their communities. Likewise, the art of modern masters such as Picasso and Miro has connected with millions of viewers in a meaningful way.

Today art in the form of cartoons like The Simpsons shows how millions of people can connect and empathise with the original ideas of its creator. This demonstrates arts ability to assist people to realise and experience their emotions more deeply and find meaning where perhaps before they didn’t recognise any.

’’

Leroy Ellis

Hairy Tongue Wire, plaster, paint & fabric, 2006 46 x 46 x 64cm

Leroy is an emerging painter and sculptor who was born in Papua New Guinea in 1966. He immigrated to Australia and graduated from the University of Ballarat. He has since lived in Sydney, the USA and now Melbourne. As a child growing up in Papua New Guinea, Leroy was inspired by the tribal masks and artefacts collected by his father.

On arrival in Australia as a teenager, he became fascinated with the popular culture of cartoons and comics. Leroy’s art has become a synthesis of tribal art and cartoons. His work is characterised by powerful and inventive forms, a vibrant use of colour and a strong sense of humour.

Comparisons of Leroy’s art have been to Keith Haring, Mambo and Aboriginal artwork. He gains inspiration from animals such as the warthog, crag and crocodile. His artwork has been featured in The Age newspaper, the Korean Herald and the Moreland Community News.

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Charles Farrugia represented by Stephen McLaughlan Gallery

“

Clinical Metaphors Glass, steel, plastic & bio-found, 2005 12 x 25 x 25cm

My current practice involves small works relating to entropy, memory and metaphor. The works are a combination of found biological remains and found manufactured components creating illogical new forms linking to the methodology of Max Ernst and other surrealists.

’’

Charles was born in Malta in 1950 but has resided in Australia since 1954. He completed a Bachelor of Fine Art with distinction in sculpture at Victorian College of the Arts in 1987 going on to complete a Graduate Diploma in 1989.

In 1993 he also completed a Masters by Research in Fine Art through a scholarship at Deakin University.

Halogen for Ernst Glass, steel, plastic & bio-found 2005 20 x 7 x 7cm

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Fallen Angel Glass, steel, plastic & bio-found 2005 10 x 16 x 11cm

He has exhibited widely since the early 1990’s including several solo exhibitions, most recently at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery in the City.

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SymbiOticS

Susan Fell-McLean

“

My work of recent times has spoken of the palimpsests etched upon the surfaces of nature, made and remade on stones and trees. Human, climatic and other natural forces at work in slow geomorphology, the essence of a location, the spirituality of an ancient presence in the country both close at hand and in desert regions, are at the core of my explorations of landscape.

I employ the textile technique of shibori implanting colour, texture and memory in silk organza, exploring the relationship of materiality with concept and meaning. Resilience 2 is a response to a magical place – a waterfall in North Eastern Victoria – Gooram Gooram Gong.

’’

Resilience 2 Silk shibori, wood & wax, 2006 200 x 150 x 450cm

Susan’s work varies from small sculptural forms and flat wall pieces to large installations occupying interior spaces.

She is currently studying a Masters of Visual Arts at Monash University, which includes a studio position at the Prato campus in Italy. In 2005 she was invited to two prestigious international conferences; Boston Massachusetts USA, as a presenter at the World Batik Conference at Mass Art and KLIB – Kuala Lumpur International Batik Conference to lecture and present a paper “Batik of Indigenous Australians, It’s position in Contemporary Art and the significance of the Tjukurpa”. This came about following a research invitation from Ernabella Arts in the Pitjantjatjara country, Central Australia, where batik has been consistently practiced for thirty-three years. In 2003 she was an exhibitor and presenter at the Museum of Industrial Archaeology and Textiles Belgium at the Centre for Artistic Confrontation to Ghent. She also presented a public lecture and 3 day workshop at “Batik 2003….Kunst in Beweging”, for which she was awarded an Arts Victoria Grant for Professional Development. That same year she completed an Artist Residency at Cumnor House School in Sussex UK, felt making with children and teachers.

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SymbiOticS Jodie Goldring “

With Unravel there is a vast network of patterned weaving that represents a figure.

With this work I mean to imply individuals are not complete. We are influenced and impacted on by our environment, just as copper changes temperature with its environment. Unravel engages in dialogue with the other objects in this exhibition and what s/he has to say, is in part dependant upon the speak of multiple objects that exist in installation together. With Unravel I reflect on others impact and influence on individual identity. My identity construction is not cut off from others. As an individual I constantly ask myself questions about where I end and you begin (especially with family and intimate others).

’’

Jodie lives in the foothills of Mount Dandenong but was born in Darwin in 1971. Her family left after cyclone Tracey and she grew up in a small town in the South West of Western Australia called Pemberton. As a young adult she lived in Perth and travelled around Australia before moving to South Gippsland in Victoria in 1995. She completed a Diploma in Visual Art at the Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE and then a Bachelor of Visual Art at Gippsland Centre for Art and Design, Monash University Gippsland. Since completing undergraduate studies she has moved to Melbourne and worked consistently as a professional artist. In 2004 she completed a Diploma in Education at Melbourne University and now works teaching secondary students at Billanook College in the outer East of Melbourne. She has been the recipient of grants and awards including the Monash Sculpture Prize in 2003 and 2004, while also exhibiting two solo exhibitions plus numerous group shows including the Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award in 2004.

Unravel Recycled copper wire, 2006 160 x 50cm

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Magi Grace

My work is the culmination of many years of creating and experimenting.

I like to extend the boundaries and possibilities of the medium of clay. Usually I specialize in stretching and extending the clay so that I may create rather delicate figurative/ abstract forms. My work always interrogates the notion of being human, the ambiguity that just like clay we are at times earthy and strong while simultaneously being vulnerable and fragile.

’’

Magi graduated with distinction as a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Monash University, Gippsland majoring in Ceramics in 1982. She has worked as a lecturer, teacher and tutor for many years as well as pursuing her own studio practice and exhibiting in numerous exhibitions around Melbourne and Victoria.

She currently holds studio space at Waterside Art Workers Studios in Footscray and is also a member at the life drawing studios at Gasworks Arts Park in Albert Park.

The Pearl Fisher High fired clay ceramic, 2006 27 x 12 x 12cm

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SymbiOticS Nicola Harris

“

Rubens’ Gates (detail) Cast Aluminium & aluminium pipe, 2005/6 274 x 366 x 90cm

Rubens’ Gates stems from a body of figurative works expressing the Rubenesque fluidity of lineless forms of the voluptuous. This, to me, emulates the frivolity of Melbournians at play with the love of fine wine and great food and the sense to enjoy it. Their other great delight is to shop. So (excuse the pun) I smacked the barcode into the clay.

The distortion left by doing this creates a topographic map representing the cultural society and economic diversities of the city itself.

’’

Nicola was born in North Western New South Wales and lived on the plains between the rural towns of Coonamble and Walgett. The contrasts of the gambles and inevitabilities of country life against the urban life of Sydney and then of Melbourne have had a strong influence on her art and its content. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at VCA, Melbourne in 2005 but had earlier completed a four-year full time Diploma of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Sydney in early 2004. The Chinese Medicine Diploma required her to do an internship at a teaching hospital in China, which started a yearning to combine study and travel. On completing her BFA, she traveled with Australian Studying Abroad VCA Europe Tour at the end of last year and plans to travel to New York on a New York Gallery Tour as a short course run by RMIT at the end of this year.

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SymbiOticS Anton Hasell

“

The Kyneton Kopper Ute was created on the body of a 1981 Toyota Tray Ute and represents the kind of robust vehicle Australian artists require if they are to travel to our harsh inland, whilst on the tray, as in the back of their minds, are retained the memories of the last place of civilization, the refined and delicate left behind early in their quest, Kyneton on the banks of the Campaspe River.

’’

Kyneton Kopper Ute Toyota Ute & copper sheeting, 2003 210 x 160 x 470cm

Anton is an Australian sculptor who has completed a number of significant public-space commissioned artworks in Australasia including the Federation Bells Carillon, the Victoria Police Memorial in Melbourne, the Eureka Circle interpretive sculpture in Ballarat and the bronze sculpture Raincatcher in Gisborne, New Zealand. Anton exercises the freedom of his imagination to grapple with the shifting realities that are apparent in living in an ancient landscape where two cultures meet, the Aboriginal and the very recent European. His work in sculpture and printmaking seeks to form a map showing who we are and how we might live sensitively in our environment.

Anton holds a Ph.D. (Architecture and Design) and a Masters degree in Fine Arts (Sculpture) from the Victorian College of the Arts. He has lectured in a number of University Art Schools including eight years teaching at VCA. He has been a full-time sculptor based in his studio in Central Victoria for the past seven years. As a director of Australian Bell and co-inventor of the harmonic (perfectly tuned) bell, Anton is continuing his research into new bell design and its application in contemporary public-space installation. Anton’s work in multi-sensory installation sculpture complements his wider practice as an artist. He lives in Mia Mia, Central Victoria in a self-built bluestone house with his wife Georgina and two children Samuel and Matilda.

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Birgit Holdinghausen “

My art is an expression of my belief in spirit. These three works are of immense importance to my two children and myself. They represent us as a union, mother, son, son and are created to ground and connect us to this land. I am an indigenous German. The land I come from has the colours Black, Red, Gold. The land my sons are born in, Australia, has these same colours. They represent the colours of this land and its indigenous people.

Union – Family Trees Cast bronze, 2006 111 x 42cm, 100 x 38cm, 98 x 33cm

Acknowledging the rightful owners of this land, I wish for my sons and myself to feel truly of this land – to be in union. The works are made to a 1:7 scale of our actual heights in 2005 in Black, Red, Gold.

’’

Birgit was born in 1957 into a family in country Germany that was known to not belong to any religion. Her grandfather was a naturopath and her father a gamekeeper so she grew up very close to nature, understanding its healing powers and its magic. She considers herself to be an indigenous German. Her belief system is based around The Law of Nature. From 1973 -1988 she travelled around the world living and working in different countries including Canada, America, Britain, South East Asia, Middle East, New Zealand and India. “It was my life education that allowed me to grow as a free thinking person”, she says. “India had the biggest impact on me, reminding me of my fathers and grandfathers teachings and consolidating all the knowledge and wisdom passed down to me by my family”. Birgit arrived in St. Kilda in 1988 and completed a Bachelor of Fine Art in Gold and Silversmithing at RMIT in 1996. More recently she has developed a strong interest in sculpture and last year received a grant from the Australia Council to pursue further study. The sculptures exhibited here are her first larger scale works.

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SymbiOticS William Holt

“

Cheap and found objects obtained from the neighborhood shops and surrounds are the main source of my art practice.

The fascination to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary can be seen in Squish made from a collection of multi-coloured fly squatters re-designed to become a giant sized flying bug.

The combination of humor, concept and unusual materials sum up the joy of my art making.

Squish Mixed media, 2006 300 x 100 x 100cm

’’

William Holt is currently completing the Masters of Fine Art degree at Monash University along with constantly exhibiting and making innovative and new artwork. Teaching painting at Osare Gallery has provided an additional focus towards his broader art skills. His practice covers painting, installation, photography and sculptural works with a strong impulse to capture the essence of contemporary issues with the use of a wide variety of material.

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Irianna Kanellopoulou “

Dreamscape Blues Ceramic, 2006 25 x 32 x 4cm

Melbourne ceramic artist Irianna Kanellopoulou has exhibited in several prestigious national and international exhibitions including Talente, Munich Germany and SOFA – Sculpture Objects and Functional Art exposition, Chicago USA in 2002. She has been artist in residence in several local schools and was recently invited as Guest Artist in residence at the Clay Studio, Philadelphia USA where she also exhibited. Irianna has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Ceramic Design from Monash University and has completed various private and public commissions including a large public art project for the newly formed All Nations Park for Darebin Council, Melbourne in 2003.

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My work explores issues of identity and transience through a sense of play. I use images and objects of our popular culture which I collect during travelling as I am interested in investigating issues of our emotional associations with everyday objects and memories.

Figures and objects are captured in the fleeting moment revealing a network of masked identities, fragmented conversations and hidden emotions. I use handbuilding and slipcasting techniques, exploring the sculptural and plastic qualities of clay in a contemporary context, which investigates the life of an object outside of its initial intent and purpose.

’’

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SymbiOticS Roman Liebach

“

I’ve always had a special interest in mundane, industrial materials as a sculptural medium.

The seed of the idea for this sculpture began to germinate when I first saw a stack of aluminium square tubes in a merchant’s warehouse. The sight was so visually strong and impressive that I felt compelled to use them for a sculpture. In order to achieve the colour, material, textural and tactile variation and in particular, to soften the coolness and rigidity of the metal, I used felt which although of an organic, natural origin, is also a commonly used industrial material. However, material is not the only significant aspect of this sculpture: I also used colour for the purpose of accentuated articulation of the imperative notion of space. The highly regarded industrial process of powder coating was used to obtain the durable, green finish.

’’

Green Shift Powdercoated aluminium & graphite coated felt, 2006 270 x 178 x 58cm (work in progress)

Roman lives in Mt Waverley and works from his studio spaces in Melbourne and Kyneton. His strong interest in arts became evident in his early teens growing up in his birth city Poznan, Poland. He always felt some peculiar, gravitational pull towards the arts despite the fact that his initial professional career happened to follow the path of science and technology. He immigrated to Australia in 1979 and found a degree of creative satisfaction in the field of geological research and later in the materials science field at Monash University. However, art was a vital necessity that was especially important in facing numerous challenges of life in a new country. So after many years, the inevitable happened and he enrolled in a Bachelor of Fine Arts course at Monash University in 1998. While completing Honours he was selected for The Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award 2002 exhibition and in 2003, the inaugural McClelland Survey & Award for Contemporary Sculpture. Last year he was also selected for The McClelland Award with his sculpture being acquired by the Elizabeth Murdoch Sculpture Foundation for their collection.

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SymbiOticS Michelle Loft

Photography © David Fardon, Digital FX

“

In Memory Of (detail) Hand cast glass (lost wax method) on acrylic, 2005 12 trees, various sizes ranging from 11cm to 24cm high.

Acrylic base 72 x 92cm

Memory and landscape are intrinsically linked - places visited, moments remembered, memories captured.

Interpretive landscapes can articulate specific memories about a place, a person or an event that is forever etched in our minds. While memories never change, landscapes do constantly and irreversibly altered by fires, weather, natural growth and urban development. While we may remember them in a precise and particular way, when we revisit the place where our mind's image of the landscape was formed, it rarely looks the same as it did when we were there before. Such changes can be reason for celebration and liberation or grief and mourning. There is much for the imagination to explore.

’’

Michelle comes to the art world with a background in corporate communications. During her freelance career, she developed a reputation as one of the most sought after creative writers and creative directors/collaborators around. She has contributed ideas, words and direction to projects for video, staging, multimedia, exhibitions and print. After years of coming up with ideas for other people, she decided to show people how to come up with great ideas of their own, delivering workshops and presentations around Australia and New Zealand. For several years, she was heard on 774 Melbourne ABC Radio's breakfast program and across the ABC network. After the arrival of her son, Mathias in 2002, Michelle took a step back from the corporate world to undertake a Diploma in Visual Arts (part-time) and enjoy the daily adventure of motherhood. In 2005, she completed a Major in Works on Paper with Minor studies in Sculpture, receiving a ‘High Distinction’ for her sculptural work.

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SymbiOticS Andrew May

“

Ascending from a musical background, I became infatuated with photography and other two dimensional activities including painting and drawing, until setting about constructing large scale sculptures from my works. I relish in the ability to shift between mediums to exhaust an idea and gain momentum from such completions.

I constantly seek and dredge inspiration from a variety of mainly autobiographical sources to concrete these moments as a focus of remembrance and their personal weight of emotion.

’’

Equilibrium Mild steel, 2006 140 x 60 x 150cm

Andrew was inspired to start practising as a visual artist in 1998 as a result of travels through Northern Europe as a musician in 1997. He began working in photography and soon branched out into drawing, leading to the first public exhibition of his works in August 1999. Since then he has expanded his repertoire to include sculpture and painting, exhibiting widely throughout Victoria and Melbourne in numerous group and solo exhibitions. In 2003 he won third prize and was Highly Commended for his entry in the Yering Station Sculpture award, also taking out the Peoples Choice Award at both Yering Station and the Moreland Sculpture Award. As a self-taught artist he is following a personal path whereby his works are predominately autobiographical and attuned to his own inner mindscape. He still loves dictating his own challenges and goals towards these outcomes and hopes to remain prolific in all his chosen mediums.

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SymbiOticS Darren McGinn

“

The Dreaded Double Booking Ceramic, 2006 46 x 36 x 20cm

Darren completed a Graduate Diploma in Fine Art in 1988 at RMIT, going on to complete his Master of Arts in 1991. He has worked for many years as a lecturer and teacher of ceramics and sculpture at various institutions including the University of Melbourne and Victorian College of the Arts. He is the recipient of a Commonwealth grant for research studies and has received numerous awards in national exhibitions for contemporary ceramics. In 2004 he was awarded an acquisitive prize at the Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award in Queensland. He is currently a PhD Candidate at Monash University.

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My work is designed to investigate and explore on an aesthetic level, recurring themes in my practice, these being maritime ideology, nautical paraphernalia and ichthyology. My work is often based upon a three-dimensional confluence of these three themes which act as a sculptural metaphor conveying to the viewer a sense of notions and emotions associated with journey, quiet purpose and the passage of time on the one hand and vulnerability, desperation and superstitious inevitability on the other. Maritime environments are my home territory. In the words of British artist Ian Hamilton Finlay ‘to some it is a place of work, to others it is a place of recreation. A big division can still be felt between those who know the sea – and those who know it only as a supplier of seasides and sea views.’

’’

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SymbiOticS Jesus Moreta

“

Art for me is the creation of visual images that communicate the depths of social and personal dreams and imaginations.

In the world we produce tons and tons of rubbish. In my work I try to help with the process of recycling, using a combination of different materials as a medium, to turn these dreams in to a reality.

Each work has its own unique inspiration that on viewing will inspire each individual to create his or her own personal reflection and commentary.

’’

Jesus was born in Otavalo, Ecuador in 1973. He was born into a culture immersed in art and music but never had the opportunity or privilege of formal art classes.

When he was twenty-six years old, he discovered that he had a passion and natural ability to create sculptures.

His chosen medium was paper mache. He later also began experimenting and working with mixed medium of metal and recycled materials. Jesus discovered that with paper and recycled materials, it was possible to create original and intricate forms. Much of his creativity comes from his ancestral culture and heritage, mixed with inspiration from modern day life. Jesus has regular solo and collective exhibitions and is a highly known and respected artist in his home country of Ecuador. He is now married and lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Reading the Memories Paper mache, 2006 35 x 25 x 12cm

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SymbiOticS Sandra O’Dea

“

I am passionate about what I do and as a practicing artist as well as secondary school teacher, I fully believe in the use of art and sculpture as a language for learning.

This dress from my Masters exhibition is acrylic weaving and it is my new direction to construct the garment in this way. The material and construction link to the processes of women’s work weaving and drawing the form of a webbed dress.

This work for me links to the language of femininity passed on from woman to woman through the mother or nurse. This is both beautiful and menacing.

’’

Nurse (detail) Mixed media, 2006 250 x 30cm

Sandra was born Melbourne in 1956 and currently lives in Albert Park. She has been interested in style, colour, texture and design for as long as she can remember. With a background including dance, fitness instruction and theatre design, her interest in visual art became the focus of her life when she returned to study in the mid nineties, completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Victorian College of the Arts and most recently, her Masters of Fine Arts at Monash University. She has exhibited widely in both group and solo exhibitions and her works have been collected and published in Australia and the United Kingdom.

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Nik Papas

This first installment of four works, modelled upon the interplay of the material elements of earth, water, fire and air, experiments with the conditions that function within the political and cultural boundaries of the Greek polis.

Specifically, the work memorialises the generic convergence of a culturally specific mode of signification to draw open a threshold in which existence is situated, conceived and (re)produced as a visual site different from the present.

’’

Monuments of Earth, Water, Fire and Air MDF & acrylic, 2006 300 x 200 x 200cm

Nik is a Melbourne based artist who graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts majoring in sculpture in 1997. He has produced public commissions and is also curator of exhibitions. Recently he presented a paper on George A. Romero’s underground classic Night of the Living Dead (1968) at the AAANZ Annual Conference, 2005, at The University of Sydney.

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Marija Patterson “

Coneferous Bronze & stainless steel, 2004/2006 130 x30 x 30cm

Coneferous is my expression of the connection of the past to the present and the relationship between all life energies. I

have combined two metals: bronze, a reference to antiquity; and stainless steel, a modern metal. I have also used three mathematical shapes - cone, circle (ball) and triangle. All nature can be described in mathematical terms (fractals, atoms). The bronze ball is constructed from cones. The cone is; (a) a receptor in the retina sensitive to colour waves; (b) a hearing funnel or loud speaker to project the voice (c) a seed bearing organ of a conifer plant. It holds a special place in relativity, like a conduit, allowing all space time events to interact. The ball is the cycle of all living things - energy forever changing. The triangle references spirituality: the number three in mysticism is a prime number. The texture of the cones is that of crunched paper so that the viewer is not aware that the ball is made of metal. The viewer needs to touch the ball to know it. All is not what it seems. Is what we see real? The ball is supported by a shiny stainless steel triangular base, which reflects its environment. How much of our environment do we reflect? By combining the shapes and metals the work expresses unity and dichotomy.

’’

Marija was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1947 to Lithuanian parents who migrated to Australia in 1951, settling in Wagga Wagga, NSW. Despite studying mainly science and maths subjects at secondary school, she sat a three day exam at the National Art School in Sydney and was awarded a scholarship but had to withdraw and return to Wagga after only one year because of family issues. Marriage, three children and many moves following her husband’s career path offered many challenges and experiences. She maintained a professional profile in marketing and financial management with private enterprises and research administration in the higher education sector. In 1999 when her family was grown, she decided to return to her dream and recommenced art studies, eventually being accepted into the sculpture department at RMIT University. She graduated in 2003 and now shares a warehouse/studio with a large group of artists in Clifton Hill. In addition to her studio practice, she also teaches art to children with special needs.

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SymbiOticS Luke Rogers

“

represented by McCulloch Gallery

My aim is to exploit disposition from discarded scraps of iron, using it in layers and clusters to piece together organic forms.

The sculpture conveys identities and is used as a vehicle to express emotion and understanding of culture, dreams, liberty hopes and isolation.

’’

Luke is a designer/artist who creates a diverse range of furniture, sculpture and concepts for a wide variety of clientele.

Inspired by experiences in Melbourne and New York City where he was fortunate to work with leading blacksmiths and metal sculptors, Luke developed Raw Sculptural Design in 2003.

Over the past few years he has created, developed and produced concepts for landscape architects, product designers, retail stores, restaurants, bars and galleries. His works have been exhibited in various exhibitions including the Yering Station Sculpture Award in 2004. In 2005 he was commissioned by Mushroom Records to create an award sculpture and also exhibited work in the inaugural Toyota Community Spirit Gallery sculpture exhibition.

Urban Dreaming Steel, 2004 78 x 25 x 20cm

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SymbiOticS Anne Ronjat “

My sculptural work evolves around the theme of femininity.

The woman is seen as a place of meeting between earthly elements and ethereal forces. As a serene being, she surrenders to the natural process of life rather than forcing or manipulating it. Using the creative process as a meditation, I attempt to create pieces that have an aura of tranquillity and that give the viewer an experience of feeling centred and peaceful.

’’

Anne was born in Paris, France and has pursued a passion for the creative arts all her life. In 1990 she completed a Diploma of Ceramics and began an intensive apprenticeship with renowned French ceramicists Vanier, Montaudoin and Duru which she completed in 1994.

Shortly after she migrated to Australia and worked as a thrower/decorator until she established her own range of fine functional ceramics in 1997. She has held studio space at Gasworks Arts Park in Albert Park for several years and began creating sculptural ceramic works in 2000. In 2002 she was invited to participate in the Becton Sculpture Biennial and created a life-size trio of figurative works which helped to create a platform for her sculptural practice. She has held two highly successful solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows throughout Melbourne and regional Victoria.

Contemplation Ceramic, 2006 91cm

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Faustas Sadauskas

“

represented by Uber Gallery

Pedestal was conceived as an object to be carved from slabs of German sandstone and exhibited in an outdoor setting. Its form is based on the obelisk structure found in ancient civilizations.

On each of its four faces, it has raised carvings that form a random pattern wrapping the form along its entire length.

As an elongated pyramid, it has been highlighted with these horizontal ridges as a suggestion of material having clad a fixed object. These features are meant to be followed and traced by the spectator to achieve visual perplexity and special trace.

’’

Pedestal Sandstone, 2003 124 x 58 x 46cm

Faustas has been engaged as a visual artist since the early nineteen eighties having originated from a ceramics background to become a leading exponent of contemporary sculpture. His body of work consists of abstract object sculptures, installations and works on paper that combine an evolving reflectiveness with a high level of technical precision in the execution. His ability to master plasticity of form bears witness through an expertise and understanding of the use of both imported and locally sourced materials including timber and stone. As a Melbourne based artist, he has completed nine exposes of his own work and has participated in exhibitions throughout Australia and overseas. He has lectured, published and traveled extensively. His works are found in public and private collections and he has also completed major public art commissions for the City of Moonee Valley, City of Bayside and the City of Casey, Melbourne.

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Anne Scambary “

Monument to a Brighter Future forms a part of my continuing exploration of the shape of the DNA molecule as a sculptural form and iconic image.

The inflatable spiral was intended as a possible prototype for a big banana type tourist attraction. The use of transparency and inflation highlight a general theme within my work of making visible essences and the essential.

This piece captures the invisible essential – air.

’’

Anne was born in Melbourne in 1960 and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1984, going on to complete her Honours year at RMIT in 1989. She currently lives in Newport and maintains a private arts practice combined with project work as a community artist and part time work for the City of Port Phillip Curatorial Services.

Monument to a brighter future PVC inflatable, 2000 450 x 80 x 80cm

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SymbiOticS Arun Sharma

“

The art I make is in a sense an interpretation of my past. Most of the art I have made can be traced back to some part of my past experiences or interests. If I can understand a little bit more about myself through selfexpression, then I consider my art to be successful. I don’t expect the viewer to take the same meaning from my work as me but maybe a seed is planted that helps them see the world in a new or different way. The Nature of Mankind is a piece created to (re)connect people with nature. As a city person myself, I wanted to undertake the project in order to discover something about my own nature. The relationships between the natural wood, the two (male and female) figures and the outline of the anatomically correct heart, speak on many levels. It reminds us of our coexistence with nature and each other.

’’

Arun was born in New York, USA and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Alfred University in 2001. He has worked as an art and sculpture teacher and studio manager and has lived in Canada and Japan, eventually settling in Melbourne. Since August of last year he has been the artist in residence at the Incinerator Arts Complex in the City of Moonee Valley where he has completed three solo exhibitions. Earlier this year his work was accepted for exhibition at the Sidney Myer Fund International Ceramics Award. Having traveled extensively, his work draws influences from a variety of places and personal experiences.

The Nature of Mankind Wood, 2006 213cm Image above: Male side Image left: Female side

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SymbiOticS Vida Sobott

represented by Floruit Arts Consulting

“

One World Is Not Enough, III Ceramic & metal, 2005 30 x 27 x 24cm

Vida has had a life-long passion for exploring diverse cultural and artistic traditions. Born in Australia in 1958, she lived for a number of years in South Africa, Greece, England and Botswana before resettling in Australia in the mid 1980's. She trained at the prestigious Heatherley's School of Fine Art and took her degree at the Central School of Art & Design in London. Vida has exhibited widely; her works are held in public, diplomatic, and private collections, both within Australia and internationally. Most recently, she received the Friends of the Shepparton Art Gallery Society Award of Merit (Acquisitive) at the biennial Sidney Myer Fund International Ceramics Award 2006. Vida keeps her studio and lives in Port Albert, Victoria.

All text by Inga Walton, 2006 © Floruit Arts Consulting Photography © Simon J. Strong, Fulleffect

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The works have a strong ecological focus, in which the artist ponders issues of consumerism, excess, and the abnegation of personal responsibility.

"The simple, magical things that we take for granted, and will destroy through our greed", Vida says. Sea and sky are representative of the toll being exacted on the natural world by factors including population expansion, climate change, the plundering of finite resources, and the failure of global consensus on vital issues.

Such ecological and social concerns are coupled with the idea that the physical world, and its distractions, is merely one aspect of life. Vida believes we are becoming philosophically and spiritually impoverished by unchecked materialism and acquisitiveness; cultivating the terrain of imagination is also necessary for a full life.

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SymbiOticS Jamie Spiers

“

My work is primarily based on the links between design, construction and the essence of elegance. I have pursued these notions through exploration into various mediums including light and fabric.

My most recent material exploration has enveloped the inherent beauty in the ordinary, reflecting elegance in the mundane. These Eggs embody a tactile and seductive quality that belies the prosaic nature of the material. Untitled V is a further progression into the physical, sculptural and visual properties of the material.

’’

Untitled V Egg Laminated & polished plywood, 2006 140 x 90 x 40cm

Jamie draws upon his experience of theatrical and construction work in a unique blend of structural elegance and gentle function. Since emigrating to Australia in 2000, Jamie has developed new works that borrow elements from industry, exhibiting pieces at several Fringe events as well as local sculpture and gallery shows. Jamie seeks to explore the crossover between whimsical and flamboyant theatrical arts and grounded technical processes

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SymbiOticS Pamela Stadus Represented by Axia Modern Art Gallery

“

Journey is inspired by long distance travel and the continuous landscapes one experiences. Printed images of repetitive cloud-like mountains and valleys are trapped in glass.

The work is made by pouring hot molten glass into sand and placing images between each pour or layer of glass.

Journey Sand cast glass, 2003 80 x 25 x 6cm

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Pamela took her Diploma in Art and Craft from Melbourne University and continued her studies for many years completing a Graduate Diploma in 1980 and her Masters in Art in1993. She has exhibited widely across Australia including five solo shows and has completed numerous commissions for clients including Crown Casino, Neometro Architecture, Guild Theatre and Moreland City Council. She has also designed a host of industry awards including the Housing Industry Awards, Interior Designex Awards and the Channel Seven Peoples Choice Awards. Her works are held in public and private collections including Regional Galleries at Hamilton in Victoria and Wagga Wagga in NSW as well as Monash University Art Gallery and Wheaton Village, New Jersey, USA. Pamela lives and works in Melbourne and is currently a PhD candidate, practicing artist and arts educator, and a Member of the Board at Craft Victoria.

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SymbiOticS Brendon Taylor

Represented by Anne Middleton Gallery

“

Honey-moon Dreaming is about the train journey my wife and I took to Perth for our honey-moon. The pillow is a metaphor for both the landscape and dreaming. The train is also symbolic of the new journey we were both embarking on. On a more physical level, I wanted to make something look very light when in fact it is very heavy (the marble).

’’

Honey-moon Dreaming Marble, bronze & wood, 2006 115 x 72 x 53cm

Brendon was born in Victoria in 1960 but grew up in Devonport, Tasmania. He always had a keen interest in art and liked making things in general. When his parents passed away he took up an invitation to live with relatives in Gippsland by stowing away on the Devonport to Melbourne Ferry. After working in heavy industry for a short time he decided to enrol in a visual arts course at Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education, receiving his Post Graduate Diploma in 1987. Over the past six years he has worked with Museum Victoria and still pursues his sculpture practice in his spare time. He has twice won the Local Artist Award and in 2005, the People’s Choice Award at the Williamstown Festival Contemporary Art Prize. His work was Highly Commended at the Toorak Festival of Sculpture in 2003 and in 2004, he was awarded Second Prize.

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Robert Waghorn “

In contrast to past pieces which reflected negatively on the changing face of suburbia, my current works look to a more positive change through regrowth and recycling. Intermingling different size houses with ladders and chairs which can alter but still compliment what has already been done.

’’

Unit VIII Painted wood, 2006 48 x 40 x 15cm

Cluster Painted wood, 2006 63 x 42 x 30cm

Robert was born in 1957 in Ballarat, Victoria, graduating with a Diploma of Fine Art 1984. In 1985 he travelled and studied art throughout Europe, the United Kingdom and Egypt, returning to complete a Graduate Diploma in 1986. Since 1987 he has completed fifteen solo exhibitions and participated in over thirty-six group shows.

Originally trained as a painter, he now combines these skills with his whimsical sculptured forms and over the past few years his works have been selected for the Yering Station Sculpture Exhibition in Yarra Glen, the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize in Sydney and the Toorak Village Festival of Sculpture. His works are represented in collections throughout Australia, Japan, Britain, Austria, Sweden and Korea.

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SymbiOticS David Waters

“

165mm Nut and Bolt simply demonstrates a union.

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David is based in central Victoria but most of his sculptural work has been done in Melbourne.

He studied at RMIT and VCA from 1982 to 1987 and has since worked in a wide range of mediums, from performance and installation work, to formal carving in stone and wood. Over the last few years he has turned his attentions to working with foam rubber and cast concrete, exhibiting in various group and solo shows. In 2005 he was the winner of the Montalto Sculpture Prize and also received a Highly Commended at the Yering Station Sculpture Prize in 2004.

165mm Nut & Bolt Foam rubber, 2006 47 x 29 x 29cm

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SymbiOticS Pam Wragg

Represented by Stephen McLaughlan Gallery

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I enjoy the process of making sculpture from prototypes of clay, wood, steel, etc. I cut, modify and combine shapes until the form of the sculpture makes sense. Decisions are then made as to materials and method. My love of materials and detail make it a very intimate process.

It is always my aim to make a convincing object in space whose interlocking forms set up an interplay of complex relationships and rhythms in relation to the whole, eventually becoming a self contained entity with its own meaning.

Relief - Sea Dance Huon pine & aluminium, 2005 50 x 42cm

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Pam was born and educated in the bayside suburb of Brighton and living opposite the sea nurtured her love of space. She remembers being drawn to the work of English sculptor Caro long before she began to study art. She attended RMIT and was excited and inspired by the welded steel sculptures of her lecturer Len Parr. During the 60’s while raising a family, she founded an experimental art group for children and teenagers. Their direct approach to making art was in many ways similar to primitive art, which had always interested her. In 1974 she returned to studies and began working with found materials, especially fabricated steel off cuts. These somewhat simple geometric forms became the basis of her developing visual vocabulary. In1977 she began post Graduate studies at Victorian College of the Arts and continued her exploration of spatial relationships. She made many trips to Asia during the 1980’s including Japan, Taiwan and Korea and was inspired to explore the potential of small sculpture.

Her recent practice has been prolific with six solo exhibitions in the last three years and several group exhibitions including the Yering Station and Montalto Sculpture Prize. Her works are represented in several regional art galleries throughout Victoria.

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Ben Wrigley

My passion is form and texture; combined to evoke the deeper meanings of beauty and awe in our society. I am interested in the deepest sensuality of rhythms in nature and in the essence of life, of being. The intersections in between form images traced through time, ethereal and momentary. I record these moments. Spirits Passage is a symbolic representation of the moment when a being transcends the physical world. This is the vessel in which the spirit travels through the ether.

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Spirits Passage Wood, 2005 40 x 210 x 20cm

Ben trained as a sculptor at the Victoria College of the Arts and has exhibited his sculptural work in numerous exhibitions including at the National Gallery of Victoria and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. In 2005 he was a finalist in The Waterhouse Art Prize at the South Australian Museum, Yering Station Art Prize, Montalto Sculpture Prize and earlier this year he won the sculpture award at the Williamstown Festival Contemporary Art Prize. Between April and June he completed an artist residency working with ORYGEN youth mental health organization and was also a finalist in the Toorak Festival of Sculpture.

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