Ros Meeker: upcoming artist-in-residence

Ros Meeker, Things to Do, 2011

Photopolymer Etching, gouache on Arches BFK paper

28 x 20.5cm

I grew up in NSW, but for the past 28 years I have dwelt in a tall wet rainforest in Tasmania’s south, and as such I anticipate viewing the North Coast through a window of nostalgia and fond memory. I think I can remember the smell of the air and the quality of light.

Ros Meeker, Sonja’s Dream (The Sound of One Hand Clapping), 2012

Photopolymer Etching on Arches BFK Rives paper, 30 x 40cm

My current research concerns the identity of the children of the Scottish diaspora, the children born in Australia, to Scottish parents or grandparents. In a recently presented paper I wrote:

"It wasn’t that my family did not embrace Australian culture. Far from it. Barbeques and days at the football or the beach were common fare. Yet these activities were supplemented with evenings of my father standing by the piano, singing songs of a Scottish home.."

I will use my time at Gunyah to reacquaint myself with the North Coast as ‘place’, and respond to it through documentation of the actual landscape/ground and through memory of childhood holidays. I plan to amass a photographic and found archive of frottages (I'm always looking for a new texture to bring into my work and to me rubbings carry an authentic sense of real placedness), which will figure into collages and ultimately etching plates. These works would look back nostalgically to 1960s/70s holidaymaking coastal culture, past ideals of Australian identity and also contain that which I rediscover during residence.

Ros Meeker, What to Wear

Photopolymer Etching, gouache on Arches BFK paper

28 x 20.5cm

Currently a MFA candidate at the University of Tasmania School of Art, Ros Meeker’s thesis in the making is titled Familiar Ground: Expressing Post-Diasporic Scottish Identity through Collage and Print. The project continues an art practice that long term has engaged with contemplation of the physical ground and the psychological landscape. In her art practice Meeker works on paper producing prints ranging from the miniature to large scale, using both modern and traditional forms of etching. Her work sometimes takes the form of installation and she has an ongoing interest in the curation of small group shows. Meeker has had a number of solo shows in Hobart and interstate, and exhibits with the Osmosis group and Hunter Island Press. Her work is represented at the Henry Jones Art Hotel and held in various collections such as CSIRO, RACI and the Allport Library. 

You can view more of Ros' artwork at www.onewall.com.au/2012/05/ros-meeker

Port Stephens Diary of Natural Events - June/July

An extract from Michael Smith's "Port Stephens Diary of Natural Events"

JUNE
Pixie-cap orchid flowers appear.
After the summer bushfires Grass-Tree flowering spikes are covered in flowers.
World Environment Day.
Foxes mate.
Mosquitos die off, the few survivors forming the breeding stock for next summer's population
explosion.
Broad-Leaf Geebung in fruit.
Heavy dews keep the ground wet until mid day.
Plovers lay eggs in ground nests.
Striated Pardalote arrives from Tasmania.
Black Cormorants move about in large flocks.
Some Melaleuca quinquenervia are still in flower.
Acacia suaveolens is in flower.
Tailor are being caught locally as they travel north to FrazerIsland.
The "wolf whistle" of the Currawong can be heard.
Quoll babies detach from their mothers teats and are left in the den while she forages.
Echidnas mate.
This is the time of year that fungi are most abundant.
Sour Current Bush is in fruit.
White Breasted Sea Eagles nest.
Earth Star fungus appears.
Red Ironbark in flower on Kurrara Hill.
Nights are getting cold, and snakes begin to hibernate down holes in the ground.
Bandicoots are at Middle Rock Caravan Park.
Wedge-Tail Eagle pairs perform pre-mating aerobatics.
Winter solstice, 22nd June, longest night, shortest day.
Puff Balls emerge through the bitumen on roads around GanGan Hill.
After storms look on the beaches for dogfish egg-cases and cuttlefish egg-masses.
Travelling blackfish and mullet pass through Shoal Bay.
King Prawn Season.
Bream head up the creeks.
Greenhood Orchids flower under the trees.
Plants in flower: Lobelia gibbosa, WhiteFinger Orchid, Woolsia pungens, Granny Bonnet and Black-Eyed Susan.
Blue-Faced Honeyeaters feed on flowering trees.
Wombats seen sometimes in the daytime as they warm up in the afternoon sun.
Wombat mothers have last years cub at heel and this years in the pouch.
June and July are the months of coldest water temperature, 13°C.
Inky Cap fungus appears.
Foggy mornings are more common.

Kath Fries, Burnt tree stump - North Arm Cove Bush Walk,  2013

JULY
Winter westerlies thrash boats on their moorings.
Helmet Orchids in flower.
Sand Flathead males wait at Tomaree for passing females heading for Providence Cove.
Dusky Flathead spawn in the estuary.
Fairy Penguins lay their eggs between July and November.
Fantail Cuckoo calls can be heard.
Blackthorn in flower.
Wattles show early signs of flowering.
Bushfires are lit for fuel reduction.
Magpies start collecting nest material.
Albatrosses can be seen out to sea.
Estuary Perch and Bass spawn in brackish water.
Young Galahs, born last year, fly up to 50 km from their birthplacein flocks of immature birds.
Male Echidnas look for females.
Female Echidnas develop a pouch and their milk glands get bigger.
Golden Wattle and Prickly Moses are in flower.
Swamp May has seed pods forming.
Plants in flower include Coast Tea Tree, Crimson Bottlebrush, Epacris obtusfolia and Drumsticks.
Case moth caterpillars are active cutting sticks.
Earthworms wander about after rains.
Frogs call on still nights.
Maroonhood Orchids appear.
Gymea Lily in flower.
False Sarsparilla vines in flower.
Wax flowers bloom.
Dingo pups are born.
Lilly Pilly in fruit.
Cold weather causes some snakes, bats, lizards and small mammalsto seek a secure shelter and lapse into a winter torpor.
Silver Gulls move to nesting islands with low vegetation.
July - the month of the least number of hours of sunshine.
Mopoke calls at night.
Crickets call in the grass at night.
Female Echidna lays one soft egg.
Scrub Wrens build their nests.
Baby Ringtail Possums leave the pouch and start riding on theirmother's back.
Both Green-Tailed and Yellow-Tailed Cockatoos can be seen inthe area.
Swamp Wallabys come closer to settlement as their natural food supply dwindles.

Michael Smith, 1999

http://puggle.byethost14.com/homepage/calenda.html

Kim Percy and Morgan Williams: artists-in-residence June 2013

Kim Percy, Flight, 2013, acrylic paint on paper

Kim Percy - reflections on Gunyah

The Gunyah Residency was an opportunity for me to reconnect with painting.  Over the last 20 years since finishing my undergrad, I have moved further and further into a digital realm.  Through photography I discovered photoshop and digital imaging. My Masters concentrated on Digital Abstraction and I have been pushing the digital horizon for many years.

With me on the residency was my partner, Morgan, our two boys, Joss 9 and Tarquin 4, and a close friend and adopted ‘aunt’ Selena. Morgan had his own art project that involved a bag full of bottle caps and the environment. The kids were also keen to draw, make model robots and play violin. I think it is important for children to experience creative expression as a valid pursuit and career option.

Joss drawing at the Gunyah table, June 2013

Tarquin’s ‘man drawing’ photographed by Tarquin

Our experience began on a cold frosty morning in Daylesford, Victoria. The car was packed and children revved up.  We drove to Wagga Wagga and stayed the night in a cramped motel on the edge of town. I don’t think any of us were eager to stay any longer than we had to! From there we continued on the highway to Sydney where we spent 2 nights right on Darling Harbour where Vivid Festival put on a bigshow! A trip to MCA wet my appetite for art making. Tarquin wasn’t too sure once he realised he couldn’t touch the art. He stormed out of the building stating ‘I don’t like art!’ I hope we can change his mind.

Arriving at Gunyah was like a breeze of fresh air. The weather was sunny and balmy, the water lapped at the bottom of the garden, the house big and comfortable. Ahhhh…. The kids loved the rock pools and still water.

Joss on the rocks, Gunyah foreshore, June 2013

I didn’t waste any time and set myself up in the studio below. I ignored the yellow and blue walls and focused on the view from the window. One of the first visitors I had was a magpie. Its presence reminded me of the white winged chough. Our house is situated in shrubby bush and our garden is often full of choughs calling their sorrowful song. An interesting bird, they look a lot like ravens but behave more like cockatoos. They live in communities and bring up their young as a group. This resonates with me.

Kim Percy, Gunyah studio, June 2013

From my initial drawings I made stencils. I wanted to work at building up layers and textures. I had a very large drawing that Joss had made as part of a collaborative piece from the last Ballarat International Foto Biennale 2011. I had photographed it as a backdrop, which became part a large Perspex sculpture. I have always loved the intricate, story telling he creates with simple line work. With his permission I divided up the drawing into 4 panels about A0 in size. These become the groundwork for my bird series.

Kim Percy, Red Ochre Bird and Spirit, 2013, acrylic paint on paper

Kim Percy, Ying and Yang, 2013, acrylic paint on paper

A number of repeated symbols emerged with the work – a gold cross, cloud, circle, open heart and trail of dotted lines, which I have used to connect parts within the composition.  The transparent background has allowed Joss’s planes, monster, rockets and people to come through. Amongst the lines he has written words like ‘Lava’ and ‘Warning’ which have become integrated into the works and a juxtaposition to the floating clouds and birds in flight.  I love the complexity and the depth within the surface. The muted colours allow the eye to wander un-hindered over the artwork. Each work compliments one another and creates a larger experience. I completed around 8 paintings that I hope to show sometime soon.

The Gunyah is a spark that has reignited my love of painting!

Kim Percy, Untitled, 2013, acrylic paint on paper

~

Morgan Williams - reflections on Gunyah

My time at Gunyah was a pivotal point in the development of a new series of artwork I have been contemplating.  It is the culmination of an interest with two elements: Land art and recycling.

The temporal nature of Land art and the resulting Earthworks as an art movement has long been a fascination for me. I have for sometime, been in awe of the ephemeral nature of their work. To create something that is so momentary and fleeting, to watch it dissolve back into the environment, sometimes before it is even finished, fascinates me. Could I do that? Create an artwork and watch it disappear before anyone sees it? I like that Land art is in direct contrast to how art is treated in galleries, to be painstakingly preserved at all costs.

I also have a keen interest in the environment.  Having moved into a more rural setting, where I need to remove all the waste from our property on a weekly basis, has made me acutely aware of the amount of plastic in our lives.  Looking at our recycle bin each week, I started to think about what would happen if I had to keep all this plastic.  The thought was over whelming!  What about one small part then? The plastic bottle caps?  Over the past 12 months I have been keeping all our plastic lids.

By the time we were heading to Gunyah I had collected a green shopping bag full of coloured plastic lids and the idea to create some artwork. With an Earth Artist aesthetic in the back of my mind I went for a stroll to the waters edge. The idea of introducing plastic into the beautifully pristine environments and waterways was at first repellent. It is in such contrast to the environment. Unlike Earth Art, it is not using natural materials. Slowly one by one I added my bottle caps. Like a growth they spread forth, covering the rocks. Like many Land Artists before me, I documented by taking photos. The resulting images in turn led to stop motion artworks. My next art series was born! I enthusiastically placed bottle caps in various configurations photographing as I went. The result is over 2 minutes of animation and a head full of ideas and exciting future directions.

 

Morgan Williams, Emergence, 2013

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLQ5Q_pCqeU

Am I a Land Artist? I began reading more about Land art. Apparently it is “an artistic protest against the perceived artificiality, plastic aesthetics and ruthless commercialization of art at the end of the 1960’s”1. Perhaps my new form of “PlastiCap LandArt” is in itself a protest against the deliberate state of denial we are all in with regards to our daily use of plastic? If we throw something ‘away’, where is ‘away’?

Morgan Williams, Emerge, 2013, plastic bottle caps on rock

Morgan Williams, Colonise, 2013, plastic bottle caps on rock

While at Gunyah I also discovered the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ and the mockumentary by ‘Heal the Bay’ in Southern California titled the ‘The Majestic Plastic Bag’. This short video captured our hearts and minds while away.  The kids have asked to watch it many times and share it with friends!

The Majestic Plastic Bag from Heal the Bay on Vimeo.

http://vimeo.com/14221747

We are all now acutely aware which coloured caps match what drinks - gold and pink are rare, blue is very common.  We are slowly reducing our addition to plastic one cap at a time.  I now have friends, café’s and local schools helping me collect plastic caps with a vision of more artworks.  I have discovered an endless array of plastic cap art online; some people even covering their whole houses!

Thank you Gunyah, who knows where my CAPart will take me...

~

To see more of Kim and Morgan's work go to their website www.designscope.com.au

Helen Hopcroft & Karen Smith: upcoming artists-in-residence

Helen Hopcroft grew up in Tasmania, completed a Fine Arts degree in Hobart and then traveled to London to complete a Masters degree in Painting at the Royal College of Art (1992-1994). After living in London for some years, she returned to Australia in 2000 to participate in the Adelaide Festival with a solo exhibition of paintings. Hopcroft provided the image for the 2000 Festival poster, a painting in the collection of Festival Director Robyn Archer. Her publication list includes Ceramic Art & Perception magazine, the Australian newspaper, Sydney Morning Herald, NAVA quarterly, unsweetened (UNSW literary review), Art Monthly, ArtsHub.com and various other online or print media resources. Her first book, ‘100 women’, co-written with Katharine Gillett of the Hunter Writers Centre, and featuring interviews with one hundred notable women associated with the University of Newcastle, including Margaret Olley, Susie Porter and Julie Ainsworth, was published last year.

 "...a single figure, often depicted on the verge of some decision, some difficult choice. Frequently these decisions appear pedestrian, offering the sculpted figure deceptively simple options: to enter a doorway, or remain outside; to sit on a chair or remain standing; to wait or leave; to climb a ladder or stay close to the ground. Yet underlying this apparent simplicity is a continual quiet recognition that all action has consequence, whether perceived by the actor or not, and this consequence will have to be reckoned with eventually: you cannot escape your acts anymore than you can escape your shadow, memories or mortality..."

(Helen Hopcroft, 'Peter Tilley and the Garden of Death',  Art Monthly Australia, 2012)

Helen plans to spend her time at Gunyah working on her writing projects including, 1001 Nights, a novella length re-imagining of the Arabian Nights, told from Scheherazade’s perspective; a related novel with the provisional title of Catharine: a reverse fairy tale; and Beautiful Day, a paranormal crime novel set in Newcastle, NSW. While the first two projects explore similar themes of fairy tale imagery, female power and eroticism, the last is more experimental in terms of content.  www.helenhopcroft.wordpress.com

Karen Robinson Smith, Journey’s End, cast aluminium on stainless steel, 2011.

Karen Robinson Smith is from Bourke NSW and is currently based on the central coast of NSW where she continues her studies at the University of Newcastle as a PhD candidate. Her focus is primarily sculptural, but often incorporates painted works, photo media and textiles. Karen has participated in over fifty group exhibitions since 2000, as well as six solo exhibitions. She has won a number of art awards, including the acquisitive University of Newcastle Student Art Prize. Her work is held in private collections both in Australia and overseas, as well as at the Soldiers Memorial Toowoomba, The University of Newcastle Collection and the collection of Artspace Mackay, Queensland.

This residency will be an ideal opportunity to further my recent work looking at renewal - exploring regeneration, not simply of the body, but also of the spirit. These interests have been prompted by my own long period of illness and the lengthy journey of my recovery. The Gunyah residency will provide a tranquil location to nurture both my art practice and myself. I hope to use this residency to explore photographically human frailty, possibly by portraying shadows passing fleetingly through areas of dead and decaying plant and animal life: timeless images that will evoke past memories of family and friends long gone. A great deal of the time will be spent organising my photographic work ready to be printed on canvas when I return. I will be taking a printer and computer to enable me to print the final possibilities on paper first, and draw up the designs, which will then be embroidered over the top of the canvas. I also hope to use wax to take impressions of interesting textures with the hope of recreating some of these in bronze. I look forward to exploring the possibilities.