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| 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.
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| Joss drawing at the Gunyah table, June 2013 |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Kim Percy, Red Ochre Bird and Spirit, 2013, acrylic paint on paper |
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| 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!
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Kim Percy, Untitled, 2013, acrylic paint on paper
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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
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’?
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| Morgan Williams, Emerge, 2013, plastic bottle caps on rock |
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| 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.
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
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To see more of Kim and Morgan's work go to their website www.designscope.com.au
