gooseflesh

The Border Art Prize 2010

My entrant in the Border Art Prize was accepted and has been part of the exhibition since late last year. It feels good to be part of a very big diverse group of artists who live in this area. I managed to get down to the gallery today to take a photo of it as the exhibition finishes tomorrow. The exhibition in its entirety looked good and I think the gallery staff have done very well to put together the 250+ pieces, in many different media, into a cohesive whole.

The Retail Reef, 2010

Discarded plastic bags.

 

Border Art Prize, 2010, Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, NSW.

Here it is sharing a podium with a very cheery giraffe.

Last night I was crocheting whilst watching the Australian Open Tennis Tournament on TV. This was the result:

The Lichen Necklace made from two plastic bags and I still have some left over. 

 

The Retail Reef

The latest creation came off the hook yesterday.

The Retail Reef, 2010.

40x28cm.

Discarded Plastic shopping bags.

This piece is being entered in the Border Art Prize. A local art prize open to artists from the surrounding shires. The finalists will be exhibited at the Tweed River Regional Gallery. Hopefully it will get in........ fingers crossed.

I managed to find the sea urchin fossil I mentioned in an earlier post, in the garden. I've had it for a long time and it's really very precious. It needs a special safe position where it can be admired.

Some publishing news for the record......

Green Design, 2010. Braun Publishing. Stuttgart, Germany.

Making Art Connections, Chris Bates, 2010. McGraw Hill. Australia and New Zealand.

Festival of Textile Art and Craft. Ekaterinburg Museum of Folk Art, Russia.

I mention it here so that I don't forget. I'm thrilled to think that my work will be seen in Russia, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. It never ceases to amaze me how the internet makes it possible to make connections across the world

Lost at Sea

The following sculptures arrived safely at gallery hanahou, for the exhibition, Lost at Sea. I was a little concerned that they wouldn't arrive in time because of the volcanic ash in the atmosphere. Thankfully the sculptures flew over the North Pacific so I need not have worried. Actinia was a WIP last time I posted a photo of it. So here it is finished. These pieces will be for sale in the gallery.

Exhibition details:

Lost at Sea  

daring fiber artists delve into the deep

May 6 - June 11

gallery hanahou / 611 Broadway, Suite 730, New York City/ galleryhanahou.com

Opening reception: Thursday, May 6, 7-9 pm RSVP info@galleryhanahou.com

 

Actinia, 2010

Discarded Plastic Bags

20 x 12 x 6 cm.

 

Echino, 2010

Discarded Plastic Bags

14 x 14 x 11 cm. 

Diploria, 2009

Discarded Plastic Bags

13 x 13 x 9 cm.

Blue Cunjevoi, 2009

Discarded Plastic Bags

15 x 15 x 10cm.

I wish I could be there to say hello to some of you but I will be there in spirit. 

Group Exhibition

coming soon to gallery hanahou 

Lost at Sea  

daring fiber artists delve into the deep

May 6 - June 11

gallery hanahou / 611 Broadway, Suite 730, NYC / galleryhanahou.com

Opening reception: Thursday, May 6, 7-9 pm RSVP info@galleryhanahou.com

There is something about the malleability and textures of fabric, thread, and yarn that speaks of the sea and its many mysteries. 

Curated by Kristen Rask of Schmancy and "Plush You," "Lost at Sea" gathers 32 exciting artists who share underwater visions of items lost, creatures forgotten, and life that struggles to stay with us. The show will feature a broad array of amusing and uncanny works in embroidery, plush, and other materials.

The Pobblebonk

A finished piece. Yeahhh!!

 

Echino, 2010

Discarded Plastic Bags

14cm x 21cm

Pretty Lucy wears it beautifully. 

It's the rainy season and the the frogs are busy calling to each other. One especially, the pobblebonk, is breeding in boggy area close to the house. It sounds like a very large dripping tap. You can hear it's call here.

 

Ha!!

A little bit of progress has been made on this piece. 

Last week I went back down to Sydney to appear on "Mornings with Deborah Cameron", 702 Local ABC Radio. She was hosting the "Knit-in" and I did a demonstration showing how to make plastic bag yarn and talked about my work. 

I'm back and itching to finish a myriad of projects.

New tools and a nest

The newest piece is beginning to take shape. The final form it takes is not apparent at this stage but the same archetypal shapes come back to me again and again. Are they hard-wired or have they been imprinted on my brain after years of looking at cell structure through a microscope? The plastic bag yarn is becoming finer and the stitches more uniform. Lots of practise and increased neuromuscular wiring has made the medium and technique very familiar and the fingers are dancing quicker than ever.

Tentacles perhaps?

A little nest, the first found here. The eyes are rehearsed in spotting this delicate structure,

and dear Lucy (a sight hound) has spotted YOU! 

At the local market I found some old tools.......... 

a net making needle,

and a drawknife.

I want to learn how to make rope/cord from the abundant plant material here. How to lash sticks together and how to thatch. What shape the new projects take is anyone's guess.

臥虎藏龍

We went for a drive on Sunday and passed this massive grove of bamboo. I stood in front of it to show the scale of it. It reminded me of the wonderful fighting sequence in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (臥虎藏龍).

 

On the topic of things Chinese, the special "Ocean" issue of little thing  magazine arrived from China today. It features an interview I did with Jie Zhou. I'm thrilled to bits. The images look very beautiful on the white background. I just wish I could read Mandarin. 

Work in Progress

A map of thoughts (sorts)

My pieces of coral are crocheted spontaneously. 

It's possible but highly improbable that I will create two pieces exactly the same. 

Whilst playing around with a piece of coral I realized how it's branching pattern is a bit like a map of my thoughts. I start with a germ of an idea which quickly grows out of control in a branching pattern. It could also represent a network of nerve fibres firing across the brain. My thought patterns are like pieces of coral or perhaps I just have coral on my mind. 

Fine branching coral, 2008

Dimensions variable, (16x9cm)

Wool

The mind is ordered in a disorderly way