Tamworth Textile Triennial Tour

I've started studying full time, so haven't had time to keep up with adding information here. The Tamworth Textile Triennial has just wrapped up at the RMIT Gallery in Melbourne.


I couldn't get down for the opening, but there are images on Christopher Young's Zebra-Factory Blog here. This is a photo by Christopher of my work in Melbourne:


The show moves on to Goulburn next, opening at the Goulburn Regional Art Gallery from April 10 to May 19, 2012. The official opening is on Friday April 13. This is the invitation for this leg of the show:


I was leafing through a craft magazine the other day and came across this article about the show. It's from Craft Arts International, No. 84, 2012, pp. 114-115. Click on the image for a larger view:

Sensorial Loop: 1st Tamworth Textile Triennial 2011

Sensorial Loop: 1st Tamworth Textile Triennial opened at Tamworth Regional Gallery on Saturday, October 1. I've been a bit slow getting these photos uploaded as I've been studying and had assignments due, and also planning for a trip to China at the end of October. As usual, I've just taken snapshots, so quality is not great, nor have I focused on individual works. An excellent catalogue has been produced which has images of every artist's work. The curator is Patrick Snelling, who was the winner of the Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award earlier this year. The exhibition continues at Tamworth until November 26, then tours for two years.

This photo shows the middle of the gallery. The dress is by Martha McDonald, The Weeping Dress. It was used in a performance piece, and the video is displayed with the dress. The fabric pieces on the left are Verity Prideaux's A Legacy of Day. The panels behind the dress are Elisa Markes-Young's The Strange Quiet of Things Misplaced #37.

The works on the plinths in the foreground are by Julie Montgarrett, Circumstance. Going Bush: Beardo by Sera Waters is on the back wall on the right.

Different views of the same works, and with my work, Silence, in the corner on the right. I wanted it to be seen from across the gallery because up close it's more difficult to see. The plinth is 176cm high, so not everyone is able to see the figures or the textile up close.

On the wall on the right is Interlaced Manuscript 3 by Carly Scoufos.

I think all the works on the wall on the left are by Meredith Hughes (Image Portal), the piece in the middle is Jennifer Robertson's The Making of a Slow Journey. The red piece is hemispheres: drawn to you, still by Michele Elliot.



The hanging work is Would you like some cake? by Tania Spencer. Anton Veenstra's Sailor Boy (and another work) is in the middle, and Family Portrait (Friday) by Demelza Sherwood is on the right.


Demelza's work again, Cresside Collette's Twenty Four Evocations of the Wet/Dry Landscape, and The Dusting Cloth by Belinda Von Mengersen.


Another view of The Dusting Cloth, then Cecilia Heffer's Contemporary Lace - An Aerial Landscape Suite.

Framework by Esther Paleologos is the hanging work on the left. Brook Morgan's Untitled is in the middle, and Paula do Prado's Almas Gemelas/Twin Souls is hanging on the right.


Paula's work again, then Alana Clifton-Cunningham's Second Glance, and I am part of a living city by Michelle Harmer.

This last work is Lucy Irvine's The Traveller.


I haven't had professional shots of my work taken as the plinth was made for the work by the gallery, and I didn't see it complete until I went to the opening. My not-very-good shot is below. A better photo is at the end of the post.


A close-up shot of the textile which is over the top of the work.

The opening weekend included a number of artist's talks. These photos aren't in chronological order. The first is Tania Spencer.

Two shots of me giving my talk.


Elisa Markes-Young

Demelza Sherwood

Carly Scoufos

Brook Morgan

Belinda Von Mengersen

Anton Veenstra

Alana Clifton-Cunningham


Elisa's partner Christopher Young is a photographer, and he took some infinitely better photos of the show and the artists' talks. The photo of me is from this post of his blog The Zebra-Factory.


This photo of Silence is from this post.


Christopher has also given more thoughtful remarks about the works in the show. Here is his description of my work:

"Rodney Love's work - a collection of figures shrouded by a cloth - was installed on top of a plinth which approximated his own height. This made the viewing of the work in close proximity obviously very difficult but nonetheless invited effort and curiosity from viewers. He was rather dismissive of his personal reasoning behind this particular work in his artist talk and statement with his rationale being that the ambiguity in the work should encourage narrative development (or access) on behalf of the viewer. That said, there were many conflicts in the work that I found interesting and that require addressing.

"The major one being that the figures are chaotically arranged under the shroud yet the shroud itself is refined and beautifully made. The later aspect appears then ritualistic rather than a simple, respectful covering of the recently (and seemingly randomly collected) deceased. The dead are ceremonially arranged symmetrically in most cultures - ie. graves are set in grids - so I'm not sure about the chaos in the work. Ultimately, it reminded of a key work from Walker Evans and how aspects of that work overlap with ideas explored here. That is, without it's caption but within context (together with FSA photographs of depression-era America), it's ambiguity could prove problematic."

Hands On exhibition photos

This post has images I took at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre of the Hands On: Craft in Contemporary Art show that I'm exhibiting in. They're just snapshots I took in the gallery, without tripod or lighting changes, so not great quality. They at least give an overview of the show. It's a great space, and the work has been well placed by curator Cash Brown. The show has a great variety of textile techniques and materials, and it all works really well together. The information about works is from the catalogue, so I may not have all the correct details. I also don't have images of all the artists' work.

The work in the shot above is Say it with flowers by Linelle Stepto. What looks like a dried flower arrangement is made from cane toad skin and kangaroo fur. Below are 8 pieces from my The Devil's Cloth series:


Here's something I wrote about this series:

"The medieval eye found any surface in which a background could not be distinguished from a foreground disturbing. Thus, striped clothing was relegated to those on the margins or outside the social order -- jugglers and prostitutes, for example -- and in medieval paintings the devil himself is often depicted wearing stripes."

Publisher's blurb from The Devil's Cloth: A History of Stripes and Striped Fabric by Michel Pastoureau

I was intrigued by this book's investigation of striped fabrics from medieval times to the present. Pastoureau also writes about the striped uniforms that concentration camp inmates were forced to wear in the mid-twentieth century. The Holocaust has been a recurring theme in my work, and the use of human hair is a link to that event. The patterns I have used in this series are mainly taken from Japanese fabrics, so the meanings that may have applied in 13th century Europe obviously do not apply. I hope, however, that viewers can draw out and connect these many meanings when they think about the material, the pattern and the technique combining in this series of woven works.

In this photo, Newell Harry's Untitled is on the left, Braveheart, take 4 by Dani Marti in the middle, and Phone book fashion by Betty Bird in the foreground:


Silke Raetze's Mayflower series is on the left, Peace in the Universe by Jedda-Daisy Culley, not sure of the next work, but in the case in the foreground is, I think, Rockers in my back yard by Cecilia Fogelberg:


Another view of Cecilia Fogelberg's work, with, I think, Leah Emery's The Exhibition on the wall:


A series of applique and embroidery works on linen by Adrienne Doig is on the back wall, with Alan Jones' Todd on the right, and woven polyester mono filament sculptures by Minka Gillian in the foreground:


On the wall behind Alan Jones' work are some works by Narelle Jubelin and Barbara Campbell I think collectively called Refer to Source. On the facing wall is embroidery by Timothy Moore:


Catherine Hearse's figures are on the plinth on the left, Michelle Hamer's Only a little bit dead on the wall, the large sculpture is Auropod by Alice Lang, and Adrienne Kneebone's Town'n'Kantri is on the plinth in the background:


Bridie Connell's Hanky Panky Fiction is on the left, Symbiosis #17 by Annie Aitken is next, my work is in the background. Helen Pynor's sculptural hair work Untitled (heart lungs) is in a perspex box on the wall on the right. It's the exhibition invitation image:


Some works by Anton Veenstra on the left, the back view of Todd, Narelle Jubelin and Barbara Campbell's work again, and, I think, Ingrid Wimbury's Liminal Rituals #2:

Hands On: Craft in Contemporary Art

Hands On: Craft in Contemporary Art, an exhibition curated by Cash Brown, opens this Friday at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery in Gymea. It runs from December 4 - January 30, 2011. I'm exhibiting some pieces from my The Devil's Cloth series, the first time I've exhibited any of them (I mentioned them in an earlier post here). It includes artists:

Annie Aitken, Betty Bird, Nicolette Benjamin Black, Patricia Casey, Bridie Connell, Jedda-Daisy Culley, Adrienne Doig, Leah Emery, Kirsten Fredericks, Cecilia Fogelberg, Minka Gillian, Michelle Hamer, Newell Harry, Catherine Hearse, Alan Jones, Narelle Jubelin & Barbara Campbell, Adrienne Kneebone, Alice Lang, Rodney Love, Dani Marti, Timothy Moore, Sarah Nolan, Jessica Emily Price, Helen Pynor, Silke Raetze, Linelle Stepto, Anton Veenstra, and Ingrid Wimbury.

Momentum at Jam Factory

The final leg of the Momentum: 18th Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial 2008 tour opens at Adelaide's Jam Factory tomorrow night.

Textile Symposium/Six Degrees Exhibition

This weekend I'm flying down to the Victorian town of Wangaratta for a textile symposium, and the opening of an exhibition of work of mine at the Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre.

RODNEY LOVE

SIX DEGREES

Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre
Foyer Gallery
3 - 25 July 2010

Sydney artist Rodney Love presents two series of works that are based on double weave techniques and his conceptual ideas about groups and individuals - how they relate to one another, how one shapes the other, how they are connected.

Including the names of the people who donated the hair and socks to be woven, the works become a commemorative object, taking Rodney into his current research into memorials and monuments.

I'll be giving a presentation at the Symposium about my work, and how the links between my conceptual concerns, techniques and materials have made my work evolve the way it has.

2010 Textile Symposium
Symposium, Dinner, Exhibitions, Workshops

3 - 7 July 2010

Textile artists and enthusiasts are encouraged to participate in this exciting program of textile-related talks, exhibitions and workshops.

The main symposium from 10am-3.30pm on Saturday 3 July will include keynote speakers Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Sylvia Kleinert, Rodney Love, Louise Saxton and Cheryl Thornton.

Workshops run over the following four days include Indigenous Basket Weaving, Miniature Suzanis, Machine Embroidery and Freeform Crochet.

Exhibitions include Flourish, Petite, Ensemble (Wangaratta exhibitions Gallery Collection) and Six Degrees (Rodney Love).

To download the full program (PDF 640kb) please click here

Momentum at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery

Momentum:18th Tamworth Fibre Textile Bienniale is currently on show at the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery in Windsor, about one and a half hours from the centre of Sydney. I wasn't able to get to the opening last Friday, but I had a day off yesterday and drove up there. It's a really good hang of the show, made possible by a good range of moveable barriers in the gallery space. My photos aren't great, just snapshots, some a little wobbly, but I've tried to get a shot of all the works so that they can be seen in context. The show continues until May 2, so if you're in Sydney, this is the closest it will get to you, and the best opportunity to see the show.

This is the view when you walk into the exhibition space:


Annabelle Collett's Neo-Camo Installation is on the left, and From the Heart 1 by Christine Atkins on the right:


From left to right: works from Annie Trevillian's Bodywrap Series; Tinkering with Nature - A Decorative Response by Vicki Mason; re-collection:specimens 1-67 by Louise Saxton; and a series of woven rings by Jane Bowden:


Lucille Martin's Lace Tree; Elefteria Vlavianos' the Touch series on the far wall; Fiona Gavino's Perspectives Shift on the plinth; and Cecilia Heffer's Shadow Traces:


Kelly Leonard's A Weaver's Perspective; Burn Out Series by Mandy Gunn; my work Six Degrees; and then 2 printed textiles from Maningrida's Babbarra Designs - Susan Marrawar's Black and White Fish Traps, and Deborah Wurrkidj's Purple, Orange and Green Dilly Bag and Fish Trap:


Elefteria Vlavianos' the Touch series again; Liz Jeneid's work Tea Party; My Eiffels by Debra Porch; Kelly Leonard and Mandy Gunn's work again:


Debra Porch's work is quite small and I don't think I've had a close-up detail of the work before:



The entrance is on the left here. Penny Malone's Gum Blossom and Fashion Fan is on the right:


Two works by Melissa Hirsch on the far right wall (the red and white coral works):


Jill Kinnear's work are on the left - Diaspora Paisley 3 Shawl and related works:


Hilary Green's 70 Tonnes Per Scoop is in the centre, and another shot of Jill Kinnear's work:


Ainslie Murray's An Architecture of Thread and Gesture is behind the first barrier, and the three white works are by Robyn Glade-Wright:


Demelza Sherwood's stitched drawings are on the right:


Here are Elisa Markes-Young's works in the show:



A very poor shot of Alana Clifton-Cunningham's Second Skin series:



When I went to the gallery I met Prue Charlton, from Marketing and Audience Development at the gallery. Here's a photo of me with my work, and with gallery volunteer Tarja Wright: