Toyota Community Spirit Gallery -Sculpture 2012 - Brave New World

Toyota Community Spirit Gallery presents

sculpture2012

brave new world the eighth annual exhibition showcasing the diversity & excellence of sculpture practice in Victoria

27 November 2012 to 13 March 2013

Toyota Australia, 155 Bertie St, Port Melbourne, Victoria Gallery Hours Mon - Fri, 9am to 5pm or by appointment Inquiries Ken Wong 0419 570 846

Toyota Community Spirit GALLERY The Toyota Community Spirit Gallery is an initiative of the Toyota Community Foundation, Toyota Australia’s corporate citizenship program. Toyota Community Foundation develops partnerships that share Toyota’s skills, networks, expertise and other resources with the community.

The 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 850 artists. This project is mounted in consultation with Hobsons Bay City Council and the City of Port Phillip.

Sisters by Rowena Hanan, Ceramic, underglaze, oxide & screenprint, 2012

$10,000 Toyota Artist Travel Award All exhibitors in the Toyota Community Spirit Program are eligible to apply for the $10,000 Toyota Artist Travel Award. The Artist Travel Award is an initiative designed to provide artists with an opportunity to advance their career and expand their horizons through travel.

The award invites artists to conceive a project involving travel either interstate or overseas that they believe has the potential to significantly enhance the development of their artistic career.

A $2000 Highly Commended Award will also be presented to one of the finalists.

The Toyota Community Spirit Artist Travel Award project is mounted in consultation with the Australia Business Arts Foundation, Hobsons Bay City Council and the City of Port Phillip.

For further information about the award winners, visit www.watcharts.com.au

2012 finalists & projects Santina Amato

To travel to New York to complete a project I began during my recent artist in residence program at NARS Foundation.

Mimi Dennett

To spend two months in England to undertake a sculpture workshop at St Martins College London, England. To take up opportunities offered by curators at a recent exhibition in Bath, England 2012 and to visit galleries and museums to research British artists who have inspired my work. These activities will develop and consolidate my art practise forming a basis for my next body of work.

Erika Gofton

A residency at Point B Worklodge in New York City. Research and develop new works for exhibition in 2014 and visit Galleries in New York and London. Mentoring sessions with artist Alyssa Monks and participation in Drawing Marathon at The New York Studio School that will form the basis of future drawing workshops at The Substation in Hobson’s Bay in 2013.

Melanie Irwin

Picture Berlin: A 5 week residency in Berlin in July-August 2013, including mentoring from internationally practicing artists and freelance curators, lectures, group critiques, studio visits, German language lessons and two group exhibitions. The residency is a direct-access introduction for participants into the Berlin art scene and would provide me the opportunity to launch my career.

Sabina Maselli

To develop a series of moving image works investigating the projection of images onto natural elements, employing materials found in a particular environment, through residencies in Indonesia, Iceland and Germany. This 12-week project would allow me to explore unique and contrasting landscapes, create international networks and exposure, and develop a significant body of work for exhibiting in Australia.

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brave new world thanks to

Tania Blackwell, Hobsons Bay City Council Louisa Scott, City of Port Phillip Clementine Walker, Australia Business Arts Foundation Toyota Community Spirit Gallery Committee Katarina Persic, Toyota Australia Glenn Campbell, Toyota Australia Steve Blakebrough

catalogue editing

Ken Wong (watcharts.com.au)

pre press & graphic design Sandra Kiriacos (watcharts.com.au)

sales enquiries for any of the works in the

catalogue can be made by contacting the curator Ken Wong on 0419 570 846 or info@watcharts.com.au

TOYOTA COMMUNITY SPIRIT GALLERY MAIL LIST

If you are interested in becoming involved in the gallery program or wish to be added to our mailing list to be kept informed of upcoming events, email info@watcharts.com.au or visit www.watcharts.com.au/toyota.html or phone 03 58214548

IMAGES FRONT COVER The End. The Beginning by Geoffrey Ricardo, painted & patinated copper 2012 THIS SPREAD The Accidental Case of Mrs Reagan by Joanne Linsdell, pit fired earthenware, 2012 The opinions and points of view expressed by participants through the artworks and artists statements in this exhibition and catalogue are those of the individual person or persons and are not intended to reflect the position of Toyota Australia.

ken wong

curator

From many perspectives Sculpture 2012 is a landmark exhibition for the Toyota Community Spirit Gallery, heralding a brave new world in the history of our operation.

It is not only our eighth annual indoor outdoor sculpture exhibition celebrating the diversity and excellence of sculpture practice in Victoria, but also our largest ever exhibition, featuring the works of 73 Victorian sculptors. It is also our 30th show in a continuous program commencing in 2004 that has now offered opportunities to over 850 artists.

Significantly, it is also the first time the gallery is exhibiting as a member of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria (PGAV), a peak body for Victorian public galleries that includes Victorian cultural institutions including National Gallery of Victoria, Heide Museum of Modern Art, McClelland Sculpture Gallery and all of the major Metropolitan and Regional university and municipal galleries. Being accepted as a member is indeed a great honour and a recognition of the significant role and contribution Toyota Community Spirit Gallery has made to Victorian cultural life over the past eight years.

In addition, this exhibition marks the first under which funding for the gallery program is auspiced under the new corporate social responsibility body within Toyota Australia, Toyota Community Foundation. Toyota Community Foundation will seek to expand its range of programs and continue to offer significant support to Australia’s diverse community and culture.

The title Brave New World refers to the what is widely regarded as one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century by English writer Aldous

Huxley. His title in turn, was a reference to the famous line by Miranda in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. Written in 1931, Huxley’s novel describes a dystopian future set in the year 2540 where the development of industrial processes and technology have revolutionized society. People are conceived and born in industrial scale hatcheries and genetically and psychologically programmed utilizing mass hypnosis into ruling and servant classes.

The population is controlled, sex is purely for recreation, the masses are kept placated by a state sponsored drug, indigenous people and the natural environment are restricted to “Savage Reservations” and the 20th Century industrialist Henry Ford is revered as a god.

It is interesting now to contemplate aspects of Huxley’s novel in the context of our modern industrial world. So many of the works in this exhibition explore issues around the environment and our exploitation of the natural world, and also the developments in biotechnology and mankind’s relationships with the many other species that inhabit our planet.

The advent of the world wide web and the virtual world of computer technology is something that was not forseen in Huxley’s novel, but for us it is a reality that is yet another aspect of the ever changing and challenging existence we as a mature society must find a way to negotiate, if we are to provide a habitable world for our children and the generations to come.

It is a future that we have every right to view cynically and fearfully, but at the same time one which contains much hope and a myriad of possibilities. Without any choice, it is a future we must all face together. Let us hope we can do that with our eyes open and the humility, creativity and courage we will need to survive.

Welcome to the Brave New World.

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

EXHIBITORS exhibitors 10 George Alamidis 11 Anne Anderson 12 Emma Anna 13 Alan Annells 14 Marynes Avila 15 Mohd Khairi Baharom 16 Rob Ball 17 Don Barrett 18 Drasko Boljevic 19 Carolyn Cardinet 20 Albert Yi-Fu Chen 21 Bruce Cleal 22 Mark Cowie 23 Mimi Dennett 24 Paul Dew 25 Sean Diamond 26 Andrew Dudok 27 Frank Duyker 28 Sai-Wai Foo 29 Sione Francis 30 Avis Gardner 31 Kate Gorman 32 Mandy Gunn 33 Tegan Hamilton 34 Owen Hammond 35 Rowena Hannan 36 Matthew Harding 37 Dana Harris 38 Anton Hasell 39 Brian Helmkamp 40 Liz Henderson 41 Mark Henry 42 Nick Ilton 43 Melanie Irwin 44 Amelia Johannes 45 Cath Johnston 46 Stephanie Karavasilis 47 Andrew Kimpton 48 Jennifer Leggett 49 Sally Lie

50 Joanne Linsdell 51 Georgia MacGuire 52 Katherine Marmaras 53 DAVID MARSHALL 54 Sheena Mathieson 55 Andrew McPherson 56 Samantha Menzies 57 Martin Moore 58 Mutsumi Nozaki 59 John Owe Young 60 Sherry Paddon 61 Norian Paicu 62 Anuradha Patel 63 Kirsten Perry 64 Jackie Ralph 65 Geoffrey Ricardo 66 Robyn Rich 67 Anna Robertson 68 Shoso Shimbo 69 Jeremy Shub 70 Adrian Spurr 71 Jenny Steiner 72 Kerry Strauss 73 Tul Suwannakit 74 Ronak Taher 75 Kim Tarpey 76 Brendon Taylor 77 Christopher Taylor 78 Pimpisa Tinpalit 79 Liz Walker 80 Carmel Wallace 81 Brook Winfield 82 Keren Zamir

Locations

Sculptures are located in four separate areas; Atrium, Gallery, Glasshouse & Outdoors.

Atrium Gallery Bistro Glasshouse Outdoor

to outdoor works to glasshouse works

to gallery works

reception

Extinct (detail) by Martin Moore, ceramic, 2012

George Alamidis

George is a contemporary artist whose practice bridges painting, mixed media, digital technologies and installation. He has participated in a number of solo and curated contemporary exhibitions in Melbourne and overseas. For more information visit alamidis.com or blog, studio.alamidis.com

Specimens (Toys) (detail) Mixed media, dimensions variable, 2011 POA

My recent body of work is a response to the impact of human (over) population on other species. The collection of objects used in this piece are found along the waters edge. The sea gives them shape and my contribution is to collect, assemble and arrange them. These arrangements are usually in the shape of birds, and children’s toys (marionettes). These types of puppets have been used for thousands of years to tell stories. In Burma, marionettes were used to pass on warnings from the people to the King without the fear of a beheading. In 1700’s Europe, children’s games, rhymes and puppets were used to discuss and refer to politically sensitive events, also usually punishable by death. Scientists tell us that we are facing catastrophic events, due to climate change. In Australia and world wide today, the politics of climate change continue to be debated…

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Anne Anderson

The oceans touch all people. They challenge us to understand and protect them. The vast supply of water seemed beyond harm, but we now know this not to be true. We need to step back, assess the damage we have done, and work toward a safer future for our seas and all the creatures who inhabit them.

Oversee Undersea Raku-fired clay 23x88x34cm, 2012 $1850

Anne has developed her interest in various forms of sculpture over the past ten years, partaking in many short courses and workshops in between running a theatrical agency, bringing up two children and working as a vocalist and singing teacher. She has travelled extensively through Europe and Asia and always attempted to see the world through the eyes of an artist. She lived in Queensland for sixteen years, returning to Melbourne two years ago. Her preferred mediums are clay and bronze, but she also works in timber and steel. She has a studio in Brooklyn and after two years away from creating and exhibiting, she now feels incredibly motivated to immerse herself in art, with a focus on addressing environmental and social issues.

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EMMA ANNA

Mad in China (Dirty Dishes) Collage on ceramic dinnerware, timber dishrack & rubber gloves 42x42x36cm, 2012 $850

This series of six collaged dinnerplates seeks to capture a sense of the surreal and speak about the absurdity of consumption via a collection of strange collages depicting environmental chaos and organisational folly. The imagery depicts a world revolving on a misplaced axis. Comic allusions to our own, global environmental predicament are used to highlight issues that are, in fact, deadly serious. The individual plates are titled as chapters in an absurd narrative: Candy God, Business end of business, On your Marx, Sweet smell of excess, The gift soaps that took over the universe and E_scape.

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Born Sydney in 1975, Emma is a visual artist, creative producer and writer whose practice draws upon a diverse range of professional and personal experience.

She has worked as a senior designer and communications specialist within the design and architecture industries.

This experience, combined with her tertiary qualifications in communications, graphic design and public art, has enabled her to establish a career as a professional artist, working both nationally and internationally across a range of media. Emma completed a Masters of Art (Art in Public Space) at RMIT University in late 2009. Her work is held in a number of international public and private collections in the USA, South America, Europe and Australasia. She currently divides her time between Melbourne and Barranquilla, Colombia, where she is undertaking sculpture studio studies and lecturing in public art at the Universidad del Atlantico.

ALAN Annells

This sculpture has evolved from a series of works inspired by a visit to the Kimberleys. Back in my studio, I reflected on the landscape which made me profoundly revaluate the way I see and create my work.

The sculptures are part of the journey and symbolize how looking at our environment can make one reflect and look forward.

Reflection of self #2 Bronze & stainless steel, 42x34x4cm, 2012 $2500

Alan graduated from Maidstone College of Art (UK) with Honours in Graphic Design in 1970. His career as an art director saw him work in England and Australia. In 1986 he established Response Design, a multi disciplined design consultancy. He was creative director shaping the visual direction of many national and international brands. In 2004 he followed a lifetime passion with the visual arts and started to paint full time. More recently he has begun to work in sculpture.

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MARYNES AVILA

Marynes completed a Bachelor of Education in Buenos Aires, Argentina and migrated to Australia in 1988.

She has pursued her interest in visual arts for many years through education and exhibition, including a Masters of Arts – Art in Public Space with distinction from RMIT University. She has participated in 45 group shows including Agora Gallery in SOHO, New York and McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park and has held 7 solo shows in Melbourne and at the Embassy of Argentina, Canberra. She is the recipient of many art awards and has completed twenty-one public art projects including a collaborative work for the foyer of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and works for the Frankston City Council; City of Greater Dandenong and Shaanxi University of Art and Textiles in China.

Ancestry Bronze, steel, glass & sand Dimensions variable, 2012 $10,000

From human cells to mass production, my work investigates the public narratives of multiples as a reflection of the personal and the universal, informed by Carl Jung’s concept of the Collective Unconscious, Depth Psychology and my own experience of life growing up in Argentina. This piece investigates the tension between the natural world and the artificial. The 10 units emulate a series of Wollemi Pine cuttings disconnected from their original environment and immortalized in bronze.

It makes reference to the duality of the species being both a living fossil and a commercialized domestic product (reducing the threat to the wild population from illegal collectors), exploring a narrative where the complexities of globalization, consumption, mass production, cloning, manipulation and preservation co-exist.

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Mohd Khairi Baharom

Mohd graduated with a Masters Degree of Art and Design, majoring in ceramics, from Wolverhampton University, United Kingdom in 2003.

He is a Senior Lecturer at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malaysia, but is currently on study leave, pursuing his PhD in Fine Art at Monash University, Melbourne. His works have been exhibited internationally and locally.

Retrospection & Prodigy # 1 Porcelain, 16.5x5.5x35.5cm, 2012 $3500

Childhood memory is an experience that gives us the variety of informal knowledge in our life. Life experience in a rural area with a lack of facilities has encouraged children to use the substances of their surroundings and places to experiment and explore. This activity has helped develop children into becoming a creative and innovative person with the ability to solve their own life problems. This concept has been employed as subject matter for this work. The self-made childhood toy; a flute made of coconut leaves, represents children’s creativity and their future development.

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ROB BALL

Set Top Drop Box Digital print, Edition 2/5, 84.1 x 59.4cm, 2012, $1100

This relational artwork explores the phenomenology of technology. During an artist residency in Tokyo, I engaged Japanese residents in sculptural mould making to cast locally produced outmoded electronic technology in materials important to manufacturing production and trade. I then assembled and photographed the cast objects in public spaces throughout Akihabara, a Tokyobased retail hub renowned for sales of electronic goods.

The relationship between the object (an abstracted replica of a Sony television) and social environment (a dedicated WiFi hotspot for Nintendo DS users) is propositional; I aim to generate a spatial and cultural intrusion that prompts inquiry into the divergent relationships of the familiar and the unexplained, the desired and the abandoned, the passive and the charged, and the nostalgic and nihilistic.

The artwork also challenges notions of sculpture by presenting a photograph of an action-based relational event, rather than a 3D object.

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Rob is a Melbourne-based community arts producer, filmmaker and visual artist working in video, sound, sculpture and installation.

He has won multiple awards for his film and community engagement work involving national Australian institutions and organisations in collaborations with youth, indigenous, refugee, migrant and disability groups. He is currently a Community Cultural Development Officer at Banyule City Council, producing community arts projects in public housing and urban renewal sites.

DON BARRETT

Gumnuts Wood, 110x120x70cm, 2011 $2750

Don lives in West Gippsland where he has his studio. He works mainly in wood but the last few years he has also been working in concrete, using different coloured oxides to capture the psyche of the Australian outback. He has been involved in group and one-man exhibitions and has competed in many sculpture competitions.

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DRASKO Boljevic

Possible Worlds Collage & liquid chalk, 100x100cm, 2012, POA

A current Masters of Fine Arts student at VCA, Drasko began his career in Zagreb, Croatia, at the Academy of Fine Art. He arrived in Australia in the early 90’s and completed his BA at VCA majoring in Sculpture in 1997 and a Postgrad Diploma in painting in 2011.

He has exhibited in more than thirty shows internationally, including two solo shows in Melbourne (2008, 2011).

In 2009 he was finalist of the prestigious Sulman Prize, awarded by the Gallery of New South Wales. He has also been selected for the Off the Wall show at the Melbourne Art Fair 2010 and received the Mayor’s Award in the Art Town competition 2012 for Stonnington Council. www.draskoboljevic.com

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My current work of 3D street art is composed of paper cut outs glued on to floor and wall surfaces. “Working with the notion of ‘possible worlds’ I relate my work to that of an archaeologist, in the sense that I ‘look for’ images of collected objects, iconic figures, my own artworks and a diversity of people. These items are then arranged in a new chaotic way, people become small beings, lost or dazzled by the environment around them. In the fashion of an archaeologist, I reconstruct imagined puzzles by means of intuition and self-belief.”

Carolyn Cardinet

Carolyn is an Australia based visual artist who was born in France.
 Her work is inspired by daily encounters with nature, exploring the beauty that lies within the mundane.
 She is currently undertaking her Masters Degree at RMIT University. This year she exhibited a solo show at First Site Gallery and a group show at Chapman & Bailey.

Family Acrylic on cardboard 120x60x10cm, 2012 $495

As an urban archaeologist I am interested in working with the parameters or the physical limitations of salvaged matter. My intention is for the viewer to notice the banal and unnoticed discarded objects that proliferate in our urban environment.

These disregarded objects created for single use packaging are arranged with simple means. I construct, transform and reinterpret them with minimum intervention into configured assemblages. The objects attributes and patina convey an emotional response (empathy, nostalgia) and provoke associations of time through the visual poetic displayed. The response can be amusing and charming as well as challenging and inquiring into our own perception of art. sculpture2012

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Albert Yi-Fu CHEN

Since early childhood Albert has had a strong interest in art and natural skills in art making. He studied sculpture as an apprentice in well-known sculptors’ studios and learned many new fabrication skills.

He now feels he has achieved technical maturity, having reached the level of Ph.D. in Fine Art (Sculpture). His thesis Art and Social Dislocation was awarded the Mollie Holman Doctoral Medal for the best doctoral thesis in Faculty of Art and Design at Monash University, 2004. His artistic passion has carried him on to the present and continues to grow strongly, pursuing his current concerns exploring the meaning of existence.

Extended Pixelation Resin fibreglass, 55x17x13cm, 2012 $25,000

My current sculpture making is based on personal realisations of life experiences.

For my particular mind-set, art is about presenting the human condition and our perception of the world artistically and metaphysically. In the context of my art, theory does not come after the creation because theory is art, and the substance of art is theory. Recent theoretical frameworks centre around three major ideas.

They are impermanence, duality and dimensionality. The first two concern a worldly condition and the third is about the technical aspect of sculpture making.

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BRUCE CLEAL

The term ‘The Tempest’ came from a newspaper cutting describing Cyclone Yasi’s effect on hitting on the Queensland coast (keeping in mind all the natural disasters that have occurred in the last three years). The female I used as my model is my daughter.

She was pregnant at the time and I liked the idea of rebirth in nature, so I included that. The tentacles represent man and his continuing dominance over every inch of space. She is flanked by two gargoyles as her mythical protectors who are slowly devouring the tentacles. I think she is winning the battle!

The Tempest Javanese Palimanan stone, 120x120x120cm, 2011 POA

This is Bruce’s first exhibit of a major work. He found at High School he had a passion for art but never had the opportunities to pursue a career. He completed one trade at Prahran Tech, but studied life drawing and portraiture in his own time. He always thought he would like to teach art but went off on a tangent, completing a second trade at age twenty-three. He has always tried to spend as much time as possible drawing and making art. After starting his own business and raising a family, he started sculpting bas reliefs in 1995 and slowly progressed to three dimensional art. While in Java he discovered the medium that he would become interested in working with – Javanese White Palim, and imported two large three ton blocks to work on. Surrealism and mythology influence his work but he is also exploring how they relate to what is happening in the natural world at the moment.

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Mark Cowie

Cloud Trees Bisque-fired terracotta & Adelaide granite 23x70x25cm, 2011 $800

In recent times my creative endeavours have leant towards developing abstract pieces that essentially represent the dynamic organic intuitive structures of nature. Living on the ridge of the Great Australian Divide I am witness to numerous metrological events. This work interprets the occasions where low-lying clouds nestle over the top of the forest abutting my property, where the trees and clouds meld and seem organically connected.

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Mark’s sculptures have been exhibited in over one hundred solo, joint and group exhibitions including the Moreland Sculpture Show, Toorak Festival of Sculpture and the Tesselaar Sculpture Prize. In 2008 he was awarded the Mt Buller Art Prize for sculpture. He has completed a range of commissions and his work is represented in private, public and corporate collections across Australia.

Mimi Dennett

This work has the themes of concern for the landscape and a yearning for its restoration. It is a coastal banksia reclaimed after a storm with a cardigan knitted for it out of Australian angora wool.

Knitting a cardigan for a dead tree is to nurture this tree and to symbolically bring it back to life.

Displacement from Iraq as a child and the sense of belonging which Australia has given me, has led me to explore a series of works which are about nurturing and mending, reconstituting and reconfiguring. The reinvention of the self which occurs when moving from country to country is something I work with by placing objects into unfamiliar environments.

Why are some objects treasured and others thrown out? If we put a cardigan onto a tree is it less likely to be destroyed?

Saint Tree-Banksia Integrifolia Banksia integrifolia, Australian angora wool & buttons 250x140x140cm, 2011/12 $3000

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Paul Dew

This work is a negotiation of time expended and lost though obligations dividing life, drawing on my own manufacturing production experiences of economic and competitive pressure, contrasted with personal life activities and aims. It reflects on priorities askew, tensions, overloads and fractured time in both contemporary life and the workplace. Industrial materials of steel and wood are used to form structure and silhouette, describing balance, counterbalance and implied movement.

Work load 1pm Mixed media, 268x190x150cm, 2011 $2050

Paul is a recent graduate of the MFA program at RMIT and lives and works in Melbourne. Originally relocating from New Zealand in the late 1980’s, Paul has worked various job roles ranging though display production art to silk screen printing and computer based design, then to product development for manufacture, and eventually on to the production management of a ceramic tile plant.

He is now exploring his personal work and life balance experiences through sculptural assemblages of an industrial nature. His art practice swings from figurative and silhouette based assemblages, to abstracted welded and bolted steel constructions.

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Sean Diamond

represented by Without Pier Gallery, Sponsored by Norstar Steel Recyclers

Solar System Recycled industrial steel, approx 25 metres, 2012 POA

These freehand, internally welded steel structures are comprised of almost no material; more empty space than sculpture, yet with presence. The sphere represents my aspirations as a sculptor and a human, to give this form back from a pile of scrap.

Utilising discarded and wasted materials, Sean sculpts new form from amorphous detritis. Drawing from personal experiences and the global ether, a single piece can inspire an entire series of works...

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Andy Dudok

Inspirational Survivor Metal, 70x70x70cm, 2012, NFS

I have been walking past this plant, in our office for the last couple years and I couldn’t help admiring its resilience, it receives virtually no natural light, long periods without water and yet it produces this most curiously prehistoric looking stems with this surprisingly elegant and orderly leaf formation. I fell in love with it so I tried to capture that mix of strength and independence with elegance and beauty using metal.

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Andy is an employee of Toyota from the factory floor at Altona. He first became interested in sculpture as a high school student and won second prize for a wood carving at the 1975 Royal Melbourne Show. He has been creating steel sculptures since 2003, drawing heavily on his obviously excellent technical trade skills. His art practice is self-taught and inspired by his love of working with steel.

Frank Duyker

Babbage Keyboard parts on wood, 120x184x6cm, 2012 $2100

This work depicts the face of Charles Babbage, the undisputed father of the computer. It is a large mosaic consisting of over 6000 computer keyboard parts. In the 1850’s Babbage designed a mechanical machine upon which the principles for the design of all modern computers are based.

Frank is a sculptor, designer, engineer and educator. As a sculptor he originally worked exclusively with traditional materials such as wood, stone and metal. His exposure to Oceanic cultures and to modern technology has widened his outlook to produce mixed media sculptures that consist of painted wood, discarded computer parts, beer caps and other every day objects. In 2010 his work Tech Men at the Top was purchased for the Smorgon family collection. In 2012 he has had two solo exhibitions at the Blue Door CafĂŠ Kew and also been exhibited at the Toorak Village Sculpture Exhibition. His work is held in many collections around Australia.

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Sai-Wai Foo

It’s loud and tasteless and I’ve heard it before Mixed Media, 30x78x51cm, 2012 $890

Don’t forget I know secrets about you Mixed Media, 59x90x48cm, 2012 $1000

A dedicated follower of fashion Mixed Media, 23x23x15cm, 2012 $520

We like dancing and we look divine Mixed media, 39x39x41cm, 2012 $780

Sai -Wai is an emerging artist who has made the move from fashion design to establishing an art practice. She trained in fashion design disciplines and has worked as a commercial design, stylist and illustrator over a number of years. Her fashion background influences and informs the finish, construction, materials, themes and approach of her current practice.

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A motley crew of well coiffed beasts; these pieces act as sculptural portraits exploring the ideas of fashionably, identity and personality, anthropomorphizing the animal and assigning status and social hierarchy. Referencing costume, makeup, folklore and popular culture, this work is a combination of concepts that create a modern day totem or animal deity, drawing from a mix of references from fashion, makeup, adornment and mythological themes.

Markings, coiffeur and self-adornment act as fantastical shields or as a mask. The utilisation of these disguises emphasizes how we present ourselves to the outside world; it is more often about what we choose to reveal in relation to our own individual identity.

Sione Francis

Yesterday and Today Mixed media, 40x30x14cm, 2012 $600

This work is from my latest exhibition called island. Islands have associations of isolation; surrounded by water they represent the unattainable or imagined. An escape and transition from one place to another where all things are possible; creating a duality of opposites, known and unknown.

Through the use of layered profiles in plywood housed in a hardwood base, repetition is used to convey duality and the re-examination of ideas.

Sione’s sculpture practice endeavours to examine themes through juxtaposing archetypal ideas and motifs, contrasting isolation, identity, politics and the everyday.

These concepts are based on research, personal histories and popular media, the aim of which is to distort perceptions. The materials and processes used vary from rustic timber through to laminated plastics.

The selection of materials and processes are based on improvised sketches and research in historical design and construction. Her ultimate aim is to draw out universal truths from the ordinary and misunderstood, to remind us of the rarefied nature of urban life in the hope we may be able to make sense of our own complex histories.

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Avis Gardner Each and every one of us experiences personal journeys of learning while also being part of a greater picture. With the concept of Traveller, I am attempting to illustrate this complexity.

Our lives are made up of myriads of pathways with endless choices to be made and we often seek direction or reassurance from the intangible.

Avis is a visual artist and a designer/ maker specialising in silver and ceramics who primarily works in three areas, jewellery, sculpture and funerary art. Her practice is the physical expression of her ideas and experimentations with the dynamic chemistry between media and techniques. These are driven emotionally by the interplay of human relationships between each other and the natural world. The symbolism woven into her work is driven more by what she knows and believes than what she sees, reflecting on our survival and inner minds.

Traveller Porcelain & silver, 45x15x15cm, 2012 $795

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Kate Gorman

Interior Growth Study Plasterboard, Dimensions variable (approx 35x35x35cm), 2011 $220

Imagine a world where our interpretation of nature became inaccessible, either through environmental change of geographic dislocation. How would nature or the aesthetic essence of nature be accessed in this world? Carved from laminated interior plasterboard (gyprock) and presented as studies or material specimens, this work offers a conceptual resolve to this question. The intent of each study/specimen is to present possible material growth applications that have the potential to ‘grow’ and transform an interior room.

Kate recently completed Honours at the University of Ballarat.

Her emerging practice is predominantly focused on preserving and recapturing elements that are at risk, fragile, or perceived as inaccessible. In recent works she has explored the inaccessibility of nature.

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Mandy Gunn

Patterns of Speech (The Bible in Samoan) Collaged book pages on cardboard in perspex, woven shredded book pages & ribbon, 70x200x35cm, 2011 $7000

This work is one of a series in which well known texts have been cut and reconstituted into sculptural wall pieces with woven scrolls. In this work the Bible in Samoan is represented in its entirety, part of it having been collaged onto cardboard which has then been hand cut and built up in layers, with repetitive units then pieced together, displaying patterns similar to the sound waves of speech. The remainder of the book has then been hand shredded and woven to create a long textile like scroll. As the text is only partly visible the viewer is forced to ‘read’ the work in its entirety from a distance before looking more closely at details.

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Mandy has a long history of working with recycled materials, often printed paper, which she collages and reconstructs into sculptural repeating patterns as well as shredding and weaving into cloth like lengths. These installation works investigate links between text and textiles.

Her work has been exhibited widely around Australia and she is represented in many collections.

Tegan Hamilton represented by Gallery 577

The hand is how we can enact our will with the world and how anatomists communicated their discoveries. Enactment is a depiction of how functioning hands are significant to our lives. Without their hands, artists and scientists would have been unable to dissect or illustrate the anatomical discoveries which have shaped medicine and art today. The implication of veins alludes to the internal body but because of the fleshiness of the hand there is an amalgamation of the visible and invisible. The viewer is invited to examine the piece and to have a physical awareness of their own flesh.

The squared form refers to the contemporary vessels of today’s anatomy museum.

Enactment Hot sculpted glass, 27x12x12cm, 2011 $2490

Tegan is a glass artist currently working in Melbourne. She has been working with glass since 2004 and creates contemporary hot formed objects. Tegan completed her Masters of Fine Arts, majoring in glass in 2011 with a thesis exploring the figure through science, history and art. She is an active member of the Australian and international glass arena and has worked with internationally recognised glass artists in Australia and abroad.

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Owen Hammond represented by Scott Livesey Galleries

The places in which people live and the stories they have to tell are endlessly fascinating to me. I am curious about the relationship a person has with their house and the wider context of that house in the world around it.

I observe and reflect the continual tension between the need for individual identity and personal expression and the need to belong.

Tower Wood, 180x120x120cm, 2012 POA

Owen is the son of an architect father and artist mother. His father designed and built the family home when he was in primary school and he and his siblings all made a contribution to it. They cleaned bricks, held the surveying pole and helped out where they could. The building site was a place of exploration and play; a learning experience that continued as his father’s business grew, to include large hi-rise apartment buildings in Melbourne and concrete houses for the re-building of suburbia in Darwin, after cyclone Tracy in 1974. Owen studied Fine Art at RMIT and became a printmaker while also working in the building industry. In 1984 he became a weaver at the Australian Tapestry Workshop, working on significant Australian tapestries including the Arthur Boyd Tapestry for Parliament House and the John Olsen Tapestry for the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra. Later on the constant business of making things resulted in his ideas being made into objects, not pictures, the theme of the house continuing through it all, from childhood to the present.

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Rowena Hannan

Sisters Ceramic, underglaze, oxide & screenprint, 43x67x28cm, 2012 $6600

This work references Christian and Pagan story telling, where the female is frequently depicted as the victim, the seductress, demon or the martyr caught up as the protagonist in a patriarchal melodrama. Their narrative context is a prophecy of their fate. The young twin sisters, Helen and Klytaimnestra, stand back to back in a Greek fishing boat grasping its edge for support. Staring out at the viewer, they are figures of innocence juxtaposed with knowing; of free will versus fate. Their ill-fitting school uniforms are a metaphor of their destiny, covered with fragmented screen printed Greek text, referencing each sibling in the Trojan story. Helen (left) “Un happy Troy! Thy thousands thou hast lost for one woman’s sake and her accursed wooing.”

Kltyaimnestra (right) “For me gushing fountains of my tears have dried completely up, and left no drop within”. For these are the children of Leda, the twins of monotreme birth whose opposing destinies are forever entwined in the story of the Trojan wars.

Rowena has been a ceramic artist and teacher for over twenty years.

Focusing largely on figurative sculpture, she has exhibited in both solo and group shows and some public sculpture commissions which has allowed her to explore a range of other materials beyond clay, such as concrete, bronze and steel.

Her work is constantly drawn to narrative and her love of personal history and story telling. sculpture2012

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Matthew Harding

Trade Winds Stainless steel, 90x80x50cm, 2012 POA

Matthew is an innovative Australian artist/designer engaged in a diverse practice of sculpture, public art and design. Trained in the visual arts, construction industries and various craft traditions, he pushes the boundaries of materials and process producing sculptural forms and design pieces in stone, wood, metal, glass and ephemeral media. Whether carving delicate fine art pieces, prototyping designs or working on large-scale public sculpture, his aim is to create objects that feed the spirit.

During the previous decade, he has exhibited his signature steel forms consistently in national sculpture awards across Australia, including the prestigious McClelland National Sculpture Survey and Award, National Sculpture Prize, Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award and Sculpture by the Sea where he was awarded the 2010 Helen Lempriere Scholarship.

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Dana Harris

grove (detail) Thread spools x 23 parts, cotton embroidery thread, plinth with steel legs, 2012 $11,000

This is the second work from a long-term project known as spoolwork. This project focuses on research into colour and its ability to evoke memory, associations and sensations. I was interested in distilling and reconstructing the memory of a silver birch tree forest I saw whilst traveling in Germany. The silvers, greys, pale greens and browns of the embroidery cottons, which I have bound on large industrial spools of thread recall the beauty experienced in the strong silent sentinels of the birch. In my work, I strive to utilize a particularly constrained variety of material combined with different processes to explore the material, its contexts and concepts in an elegant, refined way.

Dana was born in Sydney, where she studied at the National Art School before being offered a scholarship at the University of Auckland at Elam School of Fine Arts. She then moved to Tokyo and studied Ikebana at the Sogetsu School, a highly regarded avantgarde school which focuses on utilizing a wide variety of materials.

She relocated to Melbourne twelve years ago and has continued to pursue her studio practice which recently has been focused on spaces and places she has spent time in. sculpture2012

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Anton Hasell

This piece has been an ongoing development project in my studio for a number of years, and is part of my practice toward building unusual playable musical instruments as sculpture. It is a work that investigates sound sculpture that is accessible and engaging as a contemporary art object. It invites the viewer to consider the sonic possibilities of everyday objects found in their lives

Anton has completed a number of significant public-space artworks including the Federation Bells Carillon, the Victoria Police Memorial in Melbourne, The HMS Beagle Ship Bell Chime in Darwin and the Eureka Circle sculpture in Ballarat. His work in sculpture, sound-sculpture, printmaking and painting combine digital technology with traditional craft processes. The purpose of his work is to seek insights into the mysteries of our living together on this ancient continent.

Bronze Goblet Chime Bronze & stainless steel 170x40x40cm, 2008/12 $8800

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Brian Helmkamp

In my sculpture practice I balance traditional elements of positive and negative space, line and form with various materials of contrasting qualities. Steel, aluminium, stainless steel and hardwood interact with a variety of finishes and textures.

These sculptures have implied and actual movement, they look as if they have a mechanical function yet rarely do more than function for the aesthetic. My practice has evolved with my travels and career as a metal fabricator. Rudders, wings and sails continue to be a common theme in my sculpture while I draw inspiration from a variety of things such as architecture, sculpture, painting, drawing, and tattooing.

Brian was born in America growing up mainly in Appalachia before moving to Melbourne in 2003.

His mother and brother are both sculptors so he grew up in a very creative household which provided a place of encouragement to explore and make things. He received a BFA in sculpture from West Virginia University and one of his first jobs out of school was making animatronic dinosaurs for Walking With The Dinosaurs the live Experience. This greatly influenced his skills as a maker and has led down a path of fabricating in the arts for a living. He continues to make things on a daily basis for himself and others and gets great satisfaction out of it.

Rudder 33 Steel, stainless steel, aluminium, brass, copper & oak 200x25x40cm, 2012 POA sculpture2012

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Liz Henderson

Knowing (detail) Stainless steel, Dimensions variable, 2012, POA

We are living in a time of rapid technological development where perceptions of our bodies are now mediated through technology. As dating website eHarmony states “we are becoming more connected without connecting.” We are not only becoming increasingly alienated from each other but also from our more intimate senses of touch, taste and olfaction. Olfaction does not have its own lexicon, it relies on the appellations of other senses; Immanuel Kant noted that the sense of smell is so dark that very little probably in fact nothing at all can be revealed by the light of language. It could be argued that language reveals an inadequacy in appreciating the arts regardless of the senses evoked, however it is olfaction, which suffers the most from this inadequacy. The rational reasoning mind struggles to describe scent, having to rely on metaphor and simile, the referent dictates the description: “it smells like….” Knowing will highlight this gap between our experience of a scent and our attempt to articulate that experience.

Liz completed her MA at VCA in 2003 and began her PhD candidature at Monash University in 2009.

Her current practice is object-based installation, concentrating on scent as a ‘medium’.

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Mark Henry

Severence Bronze, 51x120x46cm on a stone base 90x60x33cm, 1993 $35,000

This sculpture attempts to embody notions around loss and separation while continuing along it’s trajectory toward better things.

Mark had wanted to be a gold and silver smith, but once he discovered sculpture in 1975, it became his passion. He purchased a small furnace in 1987 and began casting his own work. He has done his own moulding and casting ever since.

He runs sculpture classes in his foundry and provides a mould making and casting service for artists, while continuing to pursue his own practice as a sculptor.

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Nick Ilton

Nick is a Melbourne artist who makes things out of stuff and puts them places.

These places can be art galleries, street signs, parks, brick walls, youtube and newspapers. Nick has exhibited at the Montalto Sculpture Prize, Sweet Streets Festival, the Big West Festival and the MoreArt public art show. His work has appeared numerous times in The Age and The Herald Sun, and he also runs art-vend, the art gallery in a vending machine.

Nick has one outstanding threat of violence against him for his street art. More of Nick’s works can viewed at art-vend.blogspot.com or www.fredbloggs.net.

Hope and optimism Ply, steel & paint, 240x120x80cm each, 2012 $2220

This work is an observation of our need for concise and catchy messaging in almost everything we do, and also that depending on the individual, the same message can say a completely different thing. It ponders the usefulness or otherwise of slogans, mantras and catchphrases, in a neat sentence that would look awesome on a t-shirt or bumper sticker.

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Melanie Irwin My work addresses the complexities of relations between bodies and urban utilitarian structures, materialising the potential for mediation and reconnection.

I salvage discarded objects that have provided support for other bodies, including food containers, bicycle frames, walking frames, chairs and other domestic utensils. Through physical engagement with these materials, I visualise myself as connected to and negotiating relationships with both unseen bodies and their unwanted goods. I assemble this urban detritus into provisional tectonic forms that I then integrate with elastic, membrane-like surfaces, resulting in amalgamations that are equal parts restriction, distortion, symbiosis and protection.

Cytotoxicity (Image example of previous work) Mixed media, Dimensions variable, 2012 POA

Melanie’s practice incorporates sculpture, installation, photography and performance. She has a BA in Art History from La Trobe University, a BFA in Painting and First Class Honours in Sculpture from VCA, Melbourne. She is currently undertaking her MFA by research at the VCA, supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship and the prestigious Helen Macpherson Smith Scholarship. In 2008, she was a recipient of the Freedman Foundation Travelling Scholarship for Emerging Artists (NAVA), which she used to travel to Warsaw, Poland, where she participated in the group exhibition Constant Elasticity at FABS Gallery. In 2010, she was awarded Second Prize in the inaugural John Fries Memorial Prize, Blackfriars off Broadway Gallery, Sydney and she has exhibited widely in Australia and internationally in Budapest, Hungary and Rotterdam, Netherlands. She recently undertook a six-month residency at Ausin Tung Gallery, Melbourne, where she produced and showed a new, site-responsive sculptural installation, Replicate Elasticity. sculpture2012

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Amelia Johannes

Ritual Object from/for my Grandmother Resin, 34.5x10x35cm, 2012, $1270

This work is inspired by research into West African anthropology and South African cultural heritage. The symmetry is a formal interpretation of twinning and mirroring inspired by my research into cultural traditions with focus on rituals, beliefs and superstitions. It is a hybrid form, created by joining separate casts of various found objects, which are significant for my creative exploration into the process of ritual. One part of the original found objects, which was cast, was sourced from my grandmother with the idea of creating a ritual object that could be given back to my grandmother, thus generating a personal family ritual. The final sculpture conceptually references my investigation into the method of tradition, most specifically the divine effigies of West Africa and lived tradition of postcolonial South Africa.

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Amelia is an emerging artist who lives and works in Melbourne.

Her art practice investigates the construction of her identity: culturally as a South African migrant and biologically as a twin. She uses video, photography, sculpture and installation as mediums of visual and spatial exploration into duality, perception, uncertainty, ritual, tradition, sameness and difference. She recently completed her MFA (By Research) with First Class Honours at VCA, Melbourne University.

Solo exhibitions include Propaganda Window, Melbourne, Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, St. Kilda and Bus Projects, Melbourne. Recent group exhibitions include Elysium Gallery, Swansea (Wales), George Paton Gallery, Melbourne and Create the Human Rights Art & Film Festival 2011 at Platform Art Space.

She has also screened her video works at Australian International Experimental Film Festival and MudFest10.

Cath Johnston

I am passionate about the interactivity and tactility of the sculptural installation. My pieces comment on the contemporary human condition in a personal and sometimes confronting way, using techniques of repetition, scale, and an inherent respect for the technical process of making. This piece talks about the nurturing and growth of life, and its fragility and vulnerability.

In this time of Preconception there is an endlessness of possibility. The babies, floating in life’s elixir, are peaceful and asleep, waiting calmly to be plucked, and in that moment the preconceptions of those that choose and the world they must live in override all… the only certainty is that the end has begun. This work asks the viewer to examine their own preconceptions about humanity.

Nature vs nurture. Good vs bad.

Black vs white.

Preconception Mixed media, 100x200x70cm, 2011 Individual vases for sale at $150 each. Entire sculpture POA

Cath was born in Toowoomba, Queensland. Her father, a Scottish immigrant is a jack of all trade’s who encouraged her to build big and dream bigger. Her mother is an Australian who became an art teacher and has always supported her artistic passions. After finishing a Psychology degree in the early 1990’s, she traveled and was inspired on many levels, particularly her art practice.

She returned to Australia in the late 1990’s and completed a fine art degree in Queensland before eventually settling back in the UK running her own graphic design business.

She returned permanently to Australia in 2005 and with her partner has a blended family of six children. She is now a full time professional artist working from her private studio in Ararat, Victoria. Her work is held in private collections throughout Australia, Bermuda, Holland and the UK. sculpture2012

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Stephanie Karavasilis Stephanie is a Melbourne based sculptor, installation artist and art educator. Her practice explores issues of social justice, the environment, Australian culture/history, language, gender and identity.

She utilises ephemeral, found and ‘craft’ materials – primarily clay, textiles and plaster – within a political framework, creating aesthetically and intellectually engaging work. Stephanie holds a Diploma in Creative Arts from VCA, a BA with Honours in Art History and a Graduate Diploma in Education from The University of Melbourne. She has shown in a broad range of exhibitions across Victoria and created several prize-winning site-specific installations. In 2012 she undertook a residency at the Yarra Sculpture Gallery to explore her current interest in memory, loss and nostalgia.

WaterShed Reclaimed timber, stoneware, pine, acrylic paint, screws & nylon thread 98x75x83cm, 2012, $4600

This is an environmental work that invites the viewer to reflect on two of humankind’s basic needs: shelter and water. With climate change creating extreme weather conditions such as flood and drought, it is inevitable that people will be displaced and access to our most basic needs will become compromised.

It is only through sustainable practices that we can begin to address this problem.

WaterShed is literally made from sustainable resources – reclaimed wood from urban fencing and clay – but also symbolises the tension between natural and man-made environments. Although having running water in your house is usually a sign of civilisation and mastery over the natural environment, the ceramic pieces also reference the destructive forces of flood (raindrops) and drought (dry earth/ bleached bones). WaterShed asks whether we have reached the crucial turning point in our thinking to enact behaviours that will benefit both the environment and communities.

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Andrew Kimpton

I am currently working on a theme of flower parts made from forged mild steel. This work is based on the stamen of a gumtree flower.

After Linnaeus II (detail) Mild steel, 280x150x90cm, 2012 POA

Andrew was born in Melbourne in 1967 and currently lives and works in Yandoit, Central Victoria.

After working with Victorian sculptor, Russell Petherbridge as a studio apprentice, he went on to develop his skills as a blacksmith and welder in Melbourne, working with glass artist Mark Douglass and later at Abbotsford Iron, gaining experience in project management and construction of architectural works as well as sculptural pieces. In the years since, he has pursued his own studio practice, specialising in bespoke design, hand forged iron work and a variety of metal work ranging from commissioned sculptures to one-off architectural artworks.

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Jennifer Leggett

Jennifer was born in Melbourne 1969 and studied sculpture at VCA and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia at RMIT in 2005. She has worked as a teacher in digital media and pursues her multi-disciplinary art practice from her home studio. Her work has exhibited in Australia and internationally and is held in private and public collections including the Florean Museum Romania, Griffith Artworks, Griffith University QLD and Microcinema International USA. She was a finalist in the 2012 Artrecycle Sculpture Award and Flanagan Art Prize. Her current art practice explores environmental themes using recycled materials. www. jenniferleggett.blogspot.com

Untitled 12, From bird series Found native twigs & glue, 150x105x12cm, 2011 $2500

This relief sculpture focuses on the depiction of birds in order to explore their precarious relationship with humans and our threatened shared environment.

The ephemeral birds are large in scale and meticulously constructed from fallen tree detritus. The twigs are cut and glued together to form frameworks reminiscent of digital 3D geometry. This references the impact of technology on the natural world. The organic twig mesh also explores the tension between figuration and abstraction using line, light and shadow.

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Sally Lie

My interest in art is in expressing the colors, beauty and harmony of life and nature that I see around me. I hope my work makes people feel happy, peaceful and joyful.

Recently I have sought to expand my painting practice to experiment with textiles.

Naturalised Beauty is my first completed work in this medium which was inspired by the beautiful Anthurium flower, a species I had never seen before moving to Australia.

The title also refers to my love for my adopted country and the beautiful life I enjoy here.

Naturalized Beauty Felt, paper & canvas 60x30x17cm, 2011 NFS

Sally was born in Singapore of Chinese and Singaporean parents and grew up in Jakarta in Indonesia, speaking Indonesian and Mandarin. In 1990 her daughter began studying in Australia and after several visits she fell in love with this country, eventually emigrating here in 1999. She began drawing with charcoal when she was fourteen for about one year, but it wasn’t until she migrated to Australia that she found the time to begin pursuing art again, joining the Prahran Neighbourhood Arts Group. In 2001 she was invited to paint two telephone poles in Chapel St by the Stonnington City Council as part of a pilot program to beautify the precinct. Although a senior citizen, she keeps an active mind and body and enjoys Mexican and tap dancing classes as well as Zumba. She became an Australian citizen in 2008. sculpture2012

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Joanne Linsdell Joanne is a Melbourne based artist and educator who has exhibited in solo and group shows in Australia and the UK. She has coordinated community art programs and participated in artist residencies throughout regional Australia and her works are held in public and private collections. She completed her MA at Sydney College of the Arts and Glasgow School of Art in 1996.

The Accidental Case of Mrs Reagan Pit fired earthenware, 40x39x19cm, 2012 $660

I didn’t know Mrs. Reagan when I was offered her suitcase to sculpt however I was keen to reconstruct the classic dimensions and arbitrary bumps of her discarded case.

By a series of deliberate processes the fashioned form was anonymously fixed.

The distinctive nature of the structure was defined through the transformative and unpredictable process involved when burning chemicals and combustibles in a pit fire. As a paradigm, completed through a series of accidents and random actions my artwork reflects the intrinsic nature of its own creation.

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Georgia MacGuire

This sculptural self-portrait reflects upon the history of assimilation of Australian Aboriginal women.

The process of creating this work involves taking the natural fibre of paperbark and forcing it into a Western female construct—the dress. The work is personalised through its internal structure: a plaster cast of the artist’s body that carries and wears the dress. In creating this work, I acknowledge the significant impacts of assimilation on my own life and the lives of all Aboriginal women. In the light of recent discourses about Aboriginal identity in the media, it serves as a poignant reminder of the essence of what it is to be an Aboriginal woman.

“To rip, cut, stitch and bend a fibre that has been traditionally used by Indigenous women to feed, house and heal, is to repeat the trauma inflicted. What is left is something that, to me, is indicative of a sublime experience. In the moment I witnessed the completed work, I experienced something beautiful yet almost sickeningly painful.”

Ill-fitted I Paper bark & plaster bandage, 120x51.5x51cm, 2012 $1250

Georgia is an Aboriginal artist based in Melbourne. Growing up in Canberra in the 1980s, she developed a strong interest in art, politics and human rights. This led to a fifteen-year career in the community sector, travelling Australia to work with young people, children and families. In 2000, she moved to Melbourne to rekindle a sense of belonging to the places where her mother and grandmother were raised and lived. Reconnecting with her family’s origins encouraged her to redirect her humanitarian passion into a full-time art practice. She is currently completing a BA Visual Arts at Deakin University and has been selected for various awards and scholarships. Her multi-disciplinary practice is derivative of a postcolonial feminist perspective, and is driven by a desire to communicate her experiences of the human condition. sculpture2012

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Katherine Marmaras

Found Peacefulness Discarded tree branch, relief & intaglio prints on kozo paper, approx 76x125x37cm, 2010/12 $790

My work is inspired by patterns and motifs found in both the natural and built environments. Random mark-making is used to create layers and subvert patterns creating a play between organic and man-made; strength and vulnerability; the expected and the unexpected. The tree figure symbolises strength, resilience and an element of vulnerability through its form, whilst the Japanese kozo paper has elements of both strength and fragility – adding further layers to the work. I set out to evoke a feeling of stillness and quiet to reveal what is not necessarily instantly apparent and invite you to reflect and contemplate the beauty in nature, and take a closer look.

Katherine was born in Melbourne and completed a Diploma of Visual Arts at RMIT University in 2010. In 2008 she was a purchase prize winner at the Silk Cut Award for Linocut Prints and her works have been exhibited across Australia and in the USA, including a solo show at Anita Traverso Gallery, Richmond in 2012.

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David Marshall

What are the odds?

Granite, carrara marble & acrylic, 12x90x60cm, 2012 $3737

The seventh in the Fried Egg series exploring the idiosyncratic quirkiness inherent in us all. Looking down the fine line between eccentricity and normality; (6/5) (1/1000) 5 (999/1000) 1, 6 x 1/1000 5 x 999/1000, 6 x 999/1000 6 = 5994/? = ?

For some the lure of a potential win at gamblings many and varied manifestations is irresistible. Others find delight in the abundant combinations and permutations surrounding us in the natural world.

David worked as a landscape contractor for thirty years, specializing in the design and construction of Japanese gardens/interiors. In recent years developing his ideas and pursuing opportunities in the field of contemporary sculpture, he was Highly Commended in the Outdoor Sculpture Prize at Wangaratta, 2008 and he has been a finalist in Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Toorak Sculpture Exhibition, Williamstown Festival Contemporary Art Prize, Lorne Sculpture 2011 and this year, the Yering Station Sculpture Exhibition. sculpture2012

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Sheena Mathieson Sheena is a Melbourne based artist whose practice revolves around the use of materials at hand. She is a collector of found objects of beauty, and is fascinated by form, repetition, surface and space. Her work oscillates between the figurative and the abstract, between the colourful and the natural.

Sheena exhibits her work regularly in Melbourne.

Her website is at www. sheenamathieson.com Treasure Trove (detail shown) Wood, drypoint on paper & found objects, 225x30x25cm, 2012 $1120

Treasure Trove (from French, literally meaning ‘Found Treasure’) A fallen gum tree trunk from East Gippsland has been burnt, then scraped, drilled and polished to reveal its natural surface and in order to hide jewel-like objects found on the footpaths of Melbourne. Like all trees around us (even the dead ones), it is to the audience, tangible and precious, revealing different aspects depending on the viewpoint. This torso-like trunk is balanced on a section of the old Warrnambool railway bridge.

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Andrew McPherson

Tree and shade Salvaged metal & wood, 105x135x10cm, 2011 $1500

This piece was based around the patterns I found on the underside of the bonnet from an 80’s Corolla that is suggestive of a tree.

The wood was split from a rail salvaged from the Korumburra Sale Yards.

Andrew was born in 1958 at Toolangi, Victoria. He has worked in fine woodwork and furniture making since 1976 and received a Special Commendation at the 8th National Woodwork Competition in 1996. In more recent times he has begun to focus his creative energies on his sculpture practice and in 2008 opened his own gallery, ride the wild goat in Fish Creek, South Gippsland, exhibiting his and other local artists works.

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Samantha Menzies

Samantha is a collecter of things narrative, a hoarder by trade and genetic inheritance, a believer in “support local”, and a self taught artisan who is fascinated by history and people’s stories. Her artwork forms a map of her country, a personal topography of the space she occupies. From a storyteller’s voice to landscape and narrative artworks, she combines textile, printmaking and mixed media and marks significant places and sacred spaces.

Preservation Handspun, crocheted paper yarn & mixed media, 25x25x40cm, 2012 $800

I have drawn upon an ancient Japanese craft, ‘shifu’ (yarn spun from mulberry fibre paper) and family history to form this work. The use of the “vessel” metaphor has maternal significance and references personal values around the contribution of maternal line to family narratives and the development of values. The use of crochet and hand spun paper is important in highlighting the richness and connection to families and treasured narrative. The glass dome serves to illustrate the importance of preservation of what we hold dear.

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Martin Moore

Extinct (detail) Ceramic, 40x70x25cm, 2012 $1500

This is a portrait of the lesser bilby, which was declared extinct in 1968, one of a growing number of extinct Australian native animals.

Martin completed his Masters at Royal College of Art in 1995 and has over sixteen years experience as a commercial artist/sculptor and designer, working extensively in London with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, the TV series Spitting Image and as an assistant sculptor to artist, Anish Kapoor and also the late Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, (sculptor to the Queen). Since arriving in Australia in 2003, he has worked at Mothers Art as principal sculptor, designer and project manager, developing and incorporating site specific artworks for projects including: Rouse Hill (Bovis), Caroline Springs (Delfin), Taronga Zoo and Werribee Zoo. He is currently pursuing his own studio practice as an independent artist and designer. sculpture2012

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Mutsumi Nozaki

This work explores the moral and ethical treatment of animals in modern society and ideas behind the scientific and clinical manipulation of their physical forms in a laboratory setting.

Playing God – Two Heads Plaster, 24x15x25cm, 2012 $3300

Mutsumi is a Japanese born artist who currently lives and works in Melbourne. She studied fine art in Japan where she gained traditional art skills such as drawing, painting and sculpting before completing a Bachelor of Fine Art in 2007 at VCA majoring in Sculpture and Spatial Practice. Since her graduation, Mutsumi has been working as an independent model maker for a number of Australian artists. Exhibitions that have shown her commissioned sculpture works include; NEW11 at ACCA (2011), Intimate Interior at Gadfly Gallery (2011) and Winners Are Grinners at The Old Meat Market (2006). She received numerous scholarships while studying in Tokyo and received the National Women’s Association Encouragement Award at VCA in 2007.

She was a finalist for the Wallara Traveling Scholarship in 2007.

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John Owe Young

This work suggests one’s awareness of self and this “self” as seen by others. It also plays upon the use of the minimal to create the substance of the whole – as constructed by the viewer’s changing points of view.

I think of you often Acrylic & steel wire 70x50x25cm, 2012 $2500

John graduated from RMIT Fine Art Painting in 1980 and is currently teaching painting in the Visual Arts program at RMIT University. He also has a studio practice working in a variety of media including sculpture. His works are held in the collections of Art Bank and Melbourne University.

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Sherry Paddon

Misty Canyon (II) (Image example of previous work) Mixed media, Large sculpture 79x190x135cm, Largest pyramid 180x40x70cm, 2012 $2800 for large sculpture, $550 for pyramids

This installation features organic and geometric formations inspired by expansive canyon and mountain regions and the geological forces within them.

Organic sculptural forms constructed from polystyrene and artificial leaves are contrasted with a pentagonal pyramid collaged with images of rugged landscapes. Found cultural ephemera and recycled materials are manipulated, and texture, symmetry and repetition is used to explore themes such as idealism and escapism whilst referencing the patterns found in nature.

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Sherry was born in Port Hedland and schooled in Geraldton after her family relocated to Mingenew, a wheat and sheep farming town 400km north east of Perth. She completed a BA majoring in Sculpture at Curtin University in 2003, followed by postgraduate studies in art curatorial studies and secondary education.

Her work has been seen in solo and group exhibitions and collaborative projects around Australia and most recently in the United States, as part of Lie of the Land: New Australian Landscapes, Embassy of Australia, Washington D.C.

Norian Paicu

The ever reoccurring theme, Ecce Homo, a consequence of real life suffering, violence and injustice, is as present today as throughout the history of the last two thousand years and more.

The same problems are concerning todays society but on a larger and more complex scale. Is it the human condition that we are unable to utilize the wisdom of this long period of conflict, wars and violence, or maybe..... is it hope?

Ecce Homo Cast bronze & cast iron, 34x26x26cm, 2012 $7000

Norian was born in 1969 in Craiova, Communist Romania.

He studied at the National Art Academy Bucharest specializing in ceramics, glass and metal. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, receiving numerous awards. He immigrated to Australia and in 2010 completed a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture at Monash University. He works in installation, sculpture and graphics from his studio in Mount Waverley and was a Finalist 2011 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize. sculpture2012

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Anuradha Patel Anuradha was born in Gujarat, India and settled in England, having spent a few years in Uganda, East Africa. She lived and worked in the UK for thirty-four years from 1972 before relocating to Australia in 2006, where she has continued her practice in Public Art and studio based work. Her designs for public art projects include large scale and site specific architectural sculpture and furniture and her commissions include local government authorities, corporate clients and educational organisations.

Black Bird Laser cut painted steel, 70x60x10cm, 2012 $550

My primary experience over the last fourteen years has been largely in metal, using industrial processes such as laser cutting. The process enables me to transfer directly my studio practice of paper cutting into intricately cut designs in metal. This work is a joyous interpretation of man’s interaction with the living world and the relationships forged with other living beings be they tame or wild.

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Kirsten Perry

Anthropomorphic crafted forms like this giant goblet with crystal eyes are a major part of my work. My blog, Repugnant Charm could sum up its nature; I am interested in the balance between ugly and attractive and play with bringing enough beauty to an ugly object, or making a beautiful object a little bit ugly.

Crystal Vision Concrete, wire, glass & paint, 110x65x65cm, 2012 $500

Kirsten has Degrees in Industrial Design and Fine Art (Gold & Silversmithing) from RMIT University and also an Advanced Diploma of Mulitmedia. She has taught digital based media at Swinburne and Kangan Tafe for five years and has been making jewellery for eighteen years. She took a break in 1999 because she underwent chemotherapy for Hodgkins disease. During this time she concentrated on her health and researched non-toxic materials. It took a few years, but she eventually began making jewellery using non-toxic processes which included the use of ceramics. From there her work expanded from small scale to larger sculptural objects. She has exhibited four solo exhibitions including Craft Victoria and most recently Lowrise Gallery, Richmond. sculpture2012

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Jackie Ralph Jackie completed a Bachelor of Fine Art in 1988 at Victoria College in Melbourne before travelling aboard to many countries and living for a short time in both London and New York, maintaining a studio practice in both cities. She moved to Japan in 1998, where she held her first solo show. She returned to Australia, completing a Graduate Diploma and a MA in Visual Art at the VCA in 2005. Since then she has exhibited in solo and group shows. Recent awards include a Special Commendation at Lorne Sculpture 2011.

What now?

Wire, polyester resin & enamel paint, 46x56x24cm, 2012 $1100

The horse is a subjugated vehicle for people’s desires; it is representative of man’s dominance. I present the horse dislocated from its two common environments: wild and man-made, but construct work with these two environments equally in mind. I’m also interested in the combination of fragility and mass, and the horse, as well as being a highly sentient emotional being, has these ideas represented physically in the bulk of their body and the thinness of their legs. In the sculptures, this combination of bulk and fragility becomes the key carrier of emotion with each sculpture depicting an emotional state

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Geoffrey Ricardo represented by Australian Galleries

Geoff was born in 1964 in Frankston, Victoria. He studied Fine Art (printmaking and painting) at C.I.T.
and completed Post Graduate and Masters of Fine Art in printmaking at Monash University. He has been a sessional lecturer at Monash University for seven years and guest lecturer at Victorian College of the Arts, RMIT and PIT. He has completed residencies at Canberra School of Art and UWA. Drawing on a heritage of Surrealism and figurative expressionism, his work explores personal and broader issues of the human condition, often tinged with humour and a feeling of the absurd.

He has held regular solo and group exhibitions since 1990 and is represented in various public and private collections in Australia and overseas.

The End. The Beginning Painted & patinated copper, 290x195x430cm 2012

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Robyn Rich

Brassica Fabric, thread & mixed media, 27x40x49cm, 2012, $1200

Cabbage Aluminium & steel, 25x75x55cm, 2011, $800

My aim is to make this vegetable the centrepiece and remind us how beautiful the food we grow in our gardens or buy in the green grocers is. It not only sustains us and nourishes us, but provides a visual impact in our veggie patch.

These works are two different approaches to achieving this, playing with different materials and perhaps the idea that no matter how convincing the appearance, the life giving essence of nature is impossible to replicate. As if freshly picked the fabric sculpture comes complete with embroidered dirt and thread roots. Made out of crinkle cotton each leaf is hand painted and each vein is hand stitched with thousands of tiny stitches. The leaves of the other are made out of aluminium window flashing molded into shape and hand painted. The steel taper roots have been heated over a fire and hammered into shape.

Robyn is a Melbourne based artist who works in bronze, aluminium, fabric, pencil, ink and oil, creating a wide range of artwork varying from fabric food sculptures to narrative oil portraits. After leaving high school she studied Visual Merchandising (Window Dressing) at the Melbourne College of Decoration and is currently pursuing a Diploma of Visual Art at Chisholm Institute in Frankston.

She has exhibited in various galleries around Melbourne and created pieces for The Johnston Collection Decorative Fine Arts Museum. More of her work can be viewed at www.robynrich.com.

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Anna Robertson

Home to Roost (detail) Mixed media, 130x120x180cm & 2 x 40x40x40cm, 2011/12 $1200

This work consists of perspex triangles from which hang “birds” made from plastic eggs with silken tea-bag wings. These simulate the flying formation commonly seen of birds in nature and represent our actions in life which can also form patterns which inevitably have consequences - good or not. The title is taken from the old saying “all your chickens come home to roost” attributed originally to Chaucer and indicative of a belief that our thoughtless or unkind actions/words will bring unpleasant consequences. Perhaps the use of man-made, unrecyclable materials in our world threatens to do just that.

Born of Russian émigré parents, Anna came to Australia in 1949. Now a mother and grandmother, she has worked as a secretary, primary teacher, family services co-ordinator and pastoral counselor before taking up sculpture.

Anna is currently resident sculptor and assistant teacher at Bayside Sculpture in Highett, Victoria, where she also creates her own works. An enthusiastic learner, Anna has taken a number of opportunities to study various forms of sculpture-making: most notably a stint carving marble in Carrara, Italy. Working in various media, Anna is developing her practice and has works in private collections in New York and Australia. sculpture2012

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Shoso Shimbo

Column (detail) Bamboo branches & fishing line 600x40x40cm, 2012 $1500

Shoso was born in Niigata Japan in 1960 and he is a certified teacher of Ikebana in the Sogetsu School. He regularly exhibits at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, at which he has won a number of awards including the Gold Medal for Floral Design. In 2009 he exhibited his work at the Royal Horticultural Show in Chelsea in the UK. His sculptural works have been featured in some contemporary art exhibitions including the Lorne Sculpture and the Glen Eira Artists Exhibition. Shoso has BA and MA in Asian Philosophy and PhD in Education. He is currently undertaking a Master of Fine Art (Sculpture) at the Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Monash University. He is also qualified as a garden designer (Japan Horticultural Society).

The garden was perhaps man’s first attempt to impose design on nature and find meaning through the juxtaposition of everyday elements in new configurations. For over five centuries Ikebana artists have been developing this idea of manipulating natural materials in an attempt to understand our place in the world. Building on this tradition, I have been exploring the role of waste materials in today’s urban environments. I am particularly interested in how waste materials can be recycled in my art practice. They are often broken down and transformed through combination with other materials in my assemblages. I am looking for beauty in unexpected places, for a shift in perspective that allows us to find a deeper understanding of our complex relationship with nature and waste in the 21st Century. Those first gardeners exercising their creative spirit on nature may have felt the same excitement as I do in creating my works.

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Jeremy Shub

Forest Angels (detail) Salvage cypress, 2200x500x1200cm approx, 2012, $4001

This piece is the genesis of group connection. Ostensibly gesturing towards parenting, the monumental dimensions suggest an ‘other’ world. All the objects in this harmonious scene create fairy floss filaments that embrace each other and the environment, reading poetry into people’s attachment to each other. Signals of co-dependency, interdependence and individuality fly avidly around the space, referencing themes of generosity and embracing universal ethnicity. We are all in this together – the meeting of Self and Community, largesse of family, community, nation, humanity, planet and universe. There is a bursting of cultural dark matter that informs the ever lasting gobbstopper of our souls.

Jeremy is a sculptor living in the Yarra Valley with his wife and two children.

In his youth he completed a Bachelor of Science, Diploma of Visual Art and a Diploma of Education. This blend of dynamic and engaging interests informs his work, which is inspired by playing with materials and exploring what is possible. He currently mainly uses Cypress Macrocarpa wood from ethical sources, in what he describes as a collaboration of what is there and his imagination, allowing the raw timber to expresses itself with him as the guide. He uses a chainsaw to rough out the project, then solar powered tools to shape and sand. He exhibits work in private, corporate and urban environments.

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Adrian Spurr Adrian studied sculpture and printmaking in the UK before moving to Australia in 1998. His works have been shown in exhibitions including Toorak Village Sculpture Prize, Melbourne Sculpture Prize and the John Fries Memorial Prize in Sydney. He currently works from Argyle Studios in Port Melbourne. Since moving to Australia the primary source for his investigation has been the arid regions North Western Victoria and South Western NSW. Amidst that landscape, he finds himself considering not only the delicate surface of the earth but also the similarly delicate surface of the human condition.

a.contemplation Wood,antique chair & metal stand, 140x60x95cm, 2012 $4000

My work is concerned with surface, structure and volume and most recently with a granular, axiomatic form and content. My sculptures are assembled from large quantities of small, similarly sized pieces of material that are frequently attached to or envelop, other three dimensional objects. The scale of the sculpture, the materials used, and their ‘pixelated’ appearance, endow my three dimensional work with a narrative which is only revealed as they are assembled. the venus tower Wood pieces, 315x80cm (at base), 2011 $3300

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Jenny Steiner

Four Seasons (detail) Timber, stone, mild steel, glass & copper, 165x90x200cm, 2012 $6800

I have always been interested in a multitude of media, materials and techniques and in my current works are influenced by the disciplines of artists I collaborate with on public art commissions and I translate these inspirations into works in a variety of media, often crossing borders. Each piece tends to develop from an idea with an underlying theme or narrative – it says something, though not always the same thing to everyone.

Jenny graduated in Interior Design at RMIT. She became involved in graphics and a career in Market Communications in the Computer industry for nine years.

In 1988 she established and ran her own graphic design studio with work focusing on the corporate market. She has worked as a muralist for both the private and public sectors and recently completed a Post Graduate in International Public Art at RMIT. She has over twenty Public Art works in Australia and overseas including murals, cenotaphs and memorials. She also runs workshops where her love of a variety of media including paint, mosaic, metal and glass come into play.

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Kerry Strauss

Luminesque Recycled glass & wire, 30cm diameter x 25cm, 2012 $1375

I am inspired by an area of salt lake in the Mallee, where I grew up. The lake’s foreshore is a luna-esque scape as the detritus of vegetation, animal and farm debris is transformed over time by the heat and salt of that arid landscape into the most amazing skeletal shapes. My work explores this theme of transformation, firing found glass objects to melting point in the kiln over a wire framework. The origins of each piece of glass are unknown so the resulting form is serendipitous and unique.

Kerry has been working with glass for nine years. She fell in love with the medium whilst completing her undergraduate degree in sculpture at RMIT. Working from her home studio in East Brunswick, she uses recycled glass objects, vases, bowls and bottles combined with wire to create unique sculptures that explore themes of transformation and alchemy. She also makes kiln formed bowls and platters which she sells from home and a small number of retail outlets. Kerry is the treasurer of the Contemporary Sculptor Association and President of Upstairs at the Napier ARI and enjoys working with other artists to support and promote the arts within the Melbourne community.

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Tul Suwannakit My work explores themes of dislocation and adaptation using a motif of an animal with regards to habitat through taxidermy in a site-specific installation.

The animal represents my memories of migration in various parts of the world, in which the surrounding environments no longer act as places of comfort, but transient refuge of uncertainty and cultural differences. An animal that is removed from its familiar habitat into unfamiliar urban surroundings can also experience the idea of dislocation. Yet, amidst the idea of displaced existence there is a sense of inherited survival instinct that permits us to think outside the box and use our intelligence in creative ways in order to blend in and adapt to different environments.

The work is a visual metaphoric scenario that reflects an empathetic point of connection and coexistence between human and animals.

Oh Dear! I’m Late!

Mixed media, Dimensions variable, 2012 $2500

Tul received a BFA in animation from The Savannah College of Art and Design in 2004, and has worked as an animation studio sculptor and set designer in New York. He has also written and illustrated children’s picture books for international publishing houses in Thailand and USA, and is currently working on a new book with Walker Books in Australia. He completed his Masters in Fine Art from RMIT in 2011. His practice involves non-linear taxidermy with video projections, sound elements, and everyday materials to create site-specific installations. sculpture2012

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Ronak Taher

Immigration (Image example of previous work) Mixed media, 50x50x5cm, 2011 $770

Ronak was born at 1984 in Tehran. She started her higher education at Art University in 2002 and studied a BA, majoring in graphic design. She was later awarded her Masters in Illustration and Animation from Tehran’s Azad University in 2011. She started her professional career at 2005 in the field of animation, illustration and graphic design. Her film Bride Can has achieved recognition internationally at Montreal World Film Festival, Chicago World Film Festival, Florida International Film Festival and Shnit World Film Festival, Switzerland, South Africa, Germany, Austria, Costa Rica and Singapore. Ronak recently migrated to Australia and the work exhibited here explores aspects of this physical and cultural journey.

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Kim Tarpey Since the graduating in the 1980’s, Kim has held over ten solo exhibitions. She has worked as an artist facilitator for community projects and as administrator and educator. Her work encompasses several disciplines and she admires the diversity of medium employed by the Antipodeans.

In recent years this has lead to a focus on sculptural ceramics and she has exhibited as a finalist in various sculpture exhibitions including the Yering Station Sculpture Award and the Manningham Ceramic Award.

Broken Angel Ceramic (terracotta & earthenware) under glaze & glost, gold lustre & enamels, 22x31x30cm, 2011 $875

I am interested in portraying humanity’s response to environmental impact, particularly in an Australian context since European settlement. There is still a lack of understanding and limited appreciation of the indigenous flora and fauna and more recently, natural disasters have meant that the native forest has become a scapegoat. To emphasise the connection to the past I have been using early ceramic techniques such as sprigging, slip trailing and the mixing of clay bodies.

I love pre industrial revolution ceramics – the ingenuity, effective yet simple decoration technique and the humour often employed. This piece is inspired by John Percival. My Angels represent our ideal selves, sometimes we are forced to compromise and sometimes there are insurmountable forces that overwhelm the integrity of human purpose. This Angel is broken; the past /paste pot is at hand ready however to mend her spirit. sculpture2012

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Brendon Taylor

This is a continuation of my ‘Heart’ series investigating the meaning of heart in society. Everyday I hear references to it not only referencing love but many other emotions and conditions. The concept for this sculpture was sparked after a conversation with my mother-inlaw, Francis, when she said we have to keep working at our relationships.

This is my visual 3D, interpretation of those wise words.

Work in Progress Marble, brass, stainless-steel & solder, 93x29.5x29.5cm, 2012 $4400

Brendon was born in Victoria in 1960 but grew up in Devonport, Tasmania. He always had a keen interest in art and when his parents passed away when he was eighteen, he took up an invitation to live with relatives in Gippsland by stowing away on the Devonport to Melbourne Ferry. He worked in heavy industry for a short time before enrolling in visual arts at Gippsland Institute of Education, receiving his Post Graduate Diploma in 1987. He currently works full time at Museum Victoria as a Preparator and passionately pursues his sculpture practice from his home studio.

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Christopher Taylor

Drift Fibreglass & aluminium, 120x130x50cm, 2011 $5200

Drift is a fluid expression of cloudlike forms, subtle and sleek floating above the sharp angular metropolis.

The stairway references societies aspiration to escape and attain freedom from the realities of daily existence.

Chris is a Melbourne based artist and sculptor specialising in metal, timber, plastics and drawing.

Having retired after forty years of teaching art and design, he is now a full-time artist dividing his time between a city studio and country workshop.

His recent work explores documentating multiple perspectives on the urban environment by combining fractured images to create a kaleidoscopic vista.

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Pimpisa Tinpalit This piece represents the idea of personal space in loving relationships.

Privacy in long term relationships is important. Some share secrets with each other, some think the partner is everything in their life.

In fact, almost all couples have a thin veil which separates their own private, personal space. Though a couple may cohabitatate, it does not necessarily mean that they will share the same human experience.

Even married couples need their own personal space without their partner crossing the line into that space. Human nature, being as it is, has a primal desire for permanence and possession. However, it is also important for each partner to respect the space of the other.

Departure no.2 Fibreglas & wood, 220x95x55cm, 2012 $3800

Pimpisa holds a Masters in Fine Art and is a Melbourne based sculptor whose works manifest her life in sculpture. Her art incorporates literature, poetry and symbols through various mediums such as fiberglass, clay, cement and bronze.

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Liz Walker

Using the spiraling form of Readers Digests Condensed book covers as a metaphor for the current trajectory of our obsession with technical gadgetry, Kindle-psycho comments on the sheer volume of e-waste generated by the almost instantaneous obsolescence of these products.

Kindle Psycho Recycled book covers, wood & polymer paint, 49x50x50cm, 2011 $2000

Liz is a gleaner, collector and re-user who, working from her studio in North Fitzroy manipulates recycled corrugated iron, pressed metal and found objects into sculptural forms which explore social and environmental themes. She has shown widely in both group and solo exhibitions and has been awarded a number of prizes, grants and residencies .Her work is held in private collections in Malaysia and Japan and public and private collections throughout Australia including the Bathurst Regional Gallery.

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Carmel Wallace

Though much of my work employs recycled materials found on the wild beaches of southwest Victoria, I am currently developing a new series of sculptures using collections of ubiquitous wooden domestic items, referencing the forests surrounding my hometown.

Everyday rituals associated with these materials are starting points for new works that recontextualise my interpretation of place and comment on broader environmental issues.

Retro Forest 2 Vintage wooden platters 19C Australian cedar table 138x75x88cm, 2012 $4250

Carmel’s art practice, with its focus on multi-disciplinary investigation, is deeply embedded in her home territory in southwest Victoria. Materials washed up with the tides or gathered from other sources are recycled into her artworks, their forms and patinas imbued with stories of other encounters and lives. Carmel has exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions and has been a finalist in Lorne Sculpture, Montalto Sculpture Prize, Yering Station Sculpture Exhibition and many others, including being preselected for Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe in 2013. Awards include the City of Mt Gambier Prize in the 2006 Forestry SA Wood Sculpture Competition and the 2012 SCOPE Galleries Art Award. Her work Illuminated by Fire, Portland (an 18m floating sculpture lit by pyrotechnics), was part of The Light in Winter on the Yarra River at Federation Square in 2011. http://carmelwallace.com

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Brook Winfield

Terrible Lizards Mixed media, 27x84x27cm, 2010 $2800

My work is often influenced by the beauty of nature and all its past, present (and possibly future) flora and fauna and the impact of our increasing disconnection from it. I was inspired to create this work after going to an exhibition of dinosaur bones and being overwhelmed by the sheer size and ferocity of the Tyrannosaurus Rex- the biggest, most frightening monster that has ever walked the earth. I was curious as to whether it was possible to turn this monster into something cute and completely unthreatening. Did I succeed?

Brook is currently working as an artist in the open studios program at the Burrinja Cultural Centre and Galleries in Upwey Victoria. From there she exhibits and sells her work and runs life drawing and sculpting courses. She has always loved working with a large variety of art mediums such as painting, ceramics and printmaking but eventually realised her passion and talents were most suited to sculpture which she chose to major in at Monash University under the tutorship of Les Kossatz.

She has worked as an art teacher but always felt that being an artist was her main purpose in life.

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Keren Zamir

Under My Skin Winter Stone, 9x23x70cm, 2012 $980

I love figurative sculpture, especially of the female form. I try to stretch the human figure with my imagination, creating works which range from realistic to sensual, humorous, or even disturbing at times.

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Keren was born in Israel. She studied microbiology and optometry but after years of academic scientific studies went back to her true love. Art. For the past eleven years she has enjoyed sculpting in clay, plaster, metal and stone and taking part in many group exhibitions around Melbourne.

O wonder!

How many goodly creatures are there here!

How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in’t! —William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, Scene I, ll