Residency report: Sylvia Griffin

Sylvia Griffin, Gunyah AIR August 2018

The residency at Gunyah was the perfect place to unwind from the day-to-day stresses of city commitments and concentrate on my work. The only interruptions were from birdlife in the trees outside my window and the siren call of the sun-drenched deck! I set up my desk in front of the upstairs window to maximise my view of the treetops and have easy access to the deck.

Sylvia Griffin, Gunyah AIR August 2018

Sylvia Griffin, Gunyah AIR August 2018

I was able to do some research reading and to write a conference paper in my time there. I was then free to plan artworks for upcoming shows. My days were fairly disciplined – mainly spent at my desk with occasional walks down to the jetty to commune with pelicans and white-faced herons – or gathering kindling for the nightly fire. Nights were spent reading in front of the fire, eating and playing board games with Robert – when he wasn’t in Sydney working.

Sylvia Griffin, Gunyah AIR August 2018

Gunyah holds a very special place in my heart and I hope to return sometime the near future. Thanks for the wonderful opportunity!

Sylvia Griffin
www.sylviagriffin.com.au

Sylvia Griffin, Gunyah AIR August 2018

Christopher Mouder: upcoming artist-in-residence

Christopher Mouder

Christopher Mouder is a designer and artist currently based in Sydney. Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, Christopher spent his childhood roaming the seashore and sand dunes of Fernandina Beach. The constant movement in the water, wind, and clouds, and the violent electrical storms that blow in across the ocean inspire his creations made from glass, metals, paper and textiles. Since 1993, Christopher has been designing, engineering, fabricating, and installing bespoke lighting sculptures and furniture and a limited edition line of lighting fixtures. These sculptural works of art are diverse in nature, material and environment. Light is always present in Christopher's work. His material palette and lighting palette exist in a symbiotic relationship. Using light his sculptures’ come to life; reaching out into a space through color, shadow, and radiance.
Christopher has a BA in English from the University of Florida in Gainesville and an MFA in furniture design at the Savannah College of Art and Design. For 19 years he operated his design business and studio in Atlanta, GA, creating bespoke commissions for Lowes Hotel, One and Only Resorts, J Crew, Macy’s, and Absolut Vodka, as well as other international hotels, casinos, restaurants, retail outlets and private residential clients. In 2012 Moulder installed Mammatus, a kinetic lighting sculpture in the Arrivals Hall in Terminal F at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Recent work includes exploring a technique he developed using fiberglass thread to create ethereal, cloud-like sculptures which are lit kinetically using computer controlled LEDs. He is presently a research PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, where he is exploring dance, light and sound through the creation of invisible sculptures at the Creative Robotics Lab.

Christopher Mouder, Mammatus, 2012, nickle plated brass bead chain, lighting, aluminum

My present project and PhD thesis at the Creative Robotics Lab at UNSW explores the creation of virtual, “invisible” sculptures which one can move through, occupy, dance with. My work to date involves light as a primary medium and is either kinetic or highly referential to movement and human gesture. However, I have always found the experience of simply viewing a work lacking. I want more than to simply have an audience look at a work for a few fleeting moments; I want them to experience the movement of the work, the essence of space and form, and the elements of light and sound by themselves moving to experience the work. The audience member becomes the performer and the only way to perceive the art is to dance with it.

Christopher Mouder, Seraph, 2002, crystal, silk, aluminum, light

During my residency at Gunyah I plan to explore the forms that my new sculptures will take and to research the human movement involved with creating them. As these sculptures are meant to be moved in, and through, their form is not determined so much by their visual appearance and the formal qualities one normally associates with sculpture (indeed they are invisible). 

Christopher Mouder, Kapow!, 2015, fiberglass, epoxy resin, light

To see more of Christopher's work go to his website www.christophermoulder.com