Rilka Oakley: artist-in-residence April 2014

Rilka Oakley, Playing with the tide, 2014 Gunyah April AIR

My trip to Gunyah was filled with anticipation. Would the space work, would it work with 4 young kids, would we find things for everyone to do? I was very much looking forward to time to contemplate an upcoming independent curatorial project and was wondering when I would find the time, but also trusting that I would.

Rilka Oakley, Keeping an eye on the kids, 2014 Gunyah April AIR 

We were all delighted on arrival. A lovely welcoming space that would be ours for a week – the kids chose sleeping spots and changed their minds often. Once rooms were decided we quickly went to explore the jetty – nerve wracking as it was (for me) no one fell off and it was an endless source of entertainment for kids and adults alike – we had been there ten minutes and saw a HUGE turtle – such a lovely introduction to the bay.

Rilka Oakley, My favourite spot – another view, 2014 Gunyah April AIR

Part of the plan for the week had been to maximise the low technology experience by not spending time on our phones except for essential calls. In the end I did need to use the phone at night to send some emails and make notes about exhibition ideas. But I abstained from social media and didn’t spend time texting friends. It became a kind of detox and I came to realise my use of social media does not enhance my life. Minimal use is more beneficial.

 Rilka Oakley, Out on the water, 2014 Gunyah April AIR

We made forays to the local beaches at Hawks Nest. Hunted for Koalas but didn’t find any. Walked the bush tracks and looked at blocks of land with lust for the perfect waterfront bit of bush. The history of the land development and the Canberra-style road layout is fascinating. I doubt we will be buying in North Arm Cove but it was certainly tempting. 

Rilka Oakley, Considerations, 2014 Gunyah April AIR

We spent many hours of each day down by the jetty playing, fishing, collecting and paddling in the boat. We were lucky to have dolphins come to visit but I didn’t get any photos. Not using the phone meant I have very few photos of our outings and activities.

Rilka Oakley, My favourite spot, 2014 Gunyah April AIR

I had hurt my back before we went away so I often spent time lying in my favourite place – the window seat. I wonder how many people choose that spot? I could lie there day or night looking at the trees, the water, the stars. I made notes there and sent emails. I watched the older kids on the jetty from the window. I read to the younger ones.

Rilka Oakley, Random collections, 2014 Gunyah April AIR

The record player was another delightful feature. The kids were fascinated with the “big disks” and we danced to Tom Jones, Olivia Newton John and the radio. The kids sang along to Mary Poppins and had competitions to see how quickly they could say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. We brought board games and colouring in with us and spent time spread around on the floor as a family in quiet activities.

Rilka Oakley, Would you?, 2014 Gunyah April AIR

The project I focussed on while at Gunyah is an exhibition in the Modern Art Projects (MAP) series. MAP is a social and cultural engagement exploring the intersection of art and architecture organised by a group of Blue Mountains curators/artists. Having committed to curate one of the MAP exhibitions I was glad to have the time at Gunyah to concentrate my ideas. See link to MAP website www.modernartprojects.org for more information. An exhibition outline will be added in due course.

Rilka Oakley, Dinner with friends, 2014 Gunyah April AIR

Having time away from home, away from work, away from technology and especially away from social media allowed me time to contemplate this project and as well as work on other ideas. Gunyah was a very welcome and delightful time out.

Rilka Oakley

AIR Gunyah, April 2014

Rilka Oakley, Random collections 2, 2014 Gunyah April AIR

Rilka Oakley is a Blue Mountains based curator working within contemporary practice. She is currently the curator at Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Katoomba and guest curator for MAP at Falconbridge July 2014. 

You can read her residency proposal here.

Upcoming artists in residence: Karin Mainwaring and Michael Ramsden

Karin Mainwaring, Rehearsing "Whatever Happened to Deirdre Wheeler…?" 2013
with Kate Hood and Tas Dimitrakakis at Rex Community Theatre Daylesford, photo by Jade McCuthceon 

Karin Mainwaring is a writer and Michael Ramsden is a painter - this creative couple live in Tambaroora near the old mining town of Hill End, West of Bathurst, inland New South Wales.

Michael Ramsden, Shed midwinter afternoon, Buckley's View Hill End Road, 2011

Acrylic, oil and shellac on canvas. 168 x 121 cm

Living where we do, in our Ghost-town of Tambaroora, we are coastal exiles. You transform when you go the sea and we plan to maximise the transformative experience. We are great walkers and “lookers”. At Gunyah we’ll spend many hours exploring and photographing the area. We’re both keen to hunt out any old, unusual dwellings that may exist in the area. Michael on the search for images to add to developing series of  Landscapes where empty buildings  feature. Me, for atmosphere, to feed the dialogue I need to develop my coast-based play “Dead People are my only Love”. I am also keen to use the opportunity this presents to research a visit the Dancer, Lola Montez, made to Hill End with a view to a possible future script.

Karin Mainwarning, Gunyah AIR proposal

Karin Mainwaring, Trentham Victoria

Karin Mainwarning grew up in the badlands of Adelaide. She trained as an actress, at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Her playwriting credits include Binge @ Griffin, The Rain Dancers and Stiffs at Sydney Theatre Company and Melbourne Theatre Company. She is the only Australian playwright to have work performed by La Comédie-Française. Karin's work is characterised by the darkness of its humour and the verbal fluency, cruelty and violence of her language. 

You can find out more about Karin and her work at deirdrewheeler.blogspot.com.au 

and TheTambarooraTimes

Michael Ramsden, Serpentine Creek, Tasmania, 2003
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 101.5 x 213 cm

Michael Ramsden was born in the southern Sydney suburb of Caringbah and grew up in Port Hacking Bay. He been a painter for nearly his entire life. Michael has had numerous shows, solo and group, in England, Germany, America and Australia. His work is included in many private and public collections including a, 6-panel ceramic work, “River Odyssey” which hangs in the Members’ Hall at Parliament  House, Canberra. You can see more of Michael's work at michael-ramsden.com/index-eng.html

Michael Ramsden

Melinda Rackham: artist-in-residence March 2014

I arrived at Gunyah thinking I would unravel knotty issues in the structure of my first novel Attachment, planning days of writing and editing at a desk, with outcomes measured by wordcounts. What happened instead was an experience of slowing down - of becoming immersed into the natural and built environment, noticing the prolific wildlife and considering the heritage of the rough hewn trees that made the house. To stop and be is a powerful tool for gaining clarity and refreshing creative juices.

Melinda Rackham, Thinking, Gunyah foreshore & jetty March 2014

Nestled close to the eucalypt canopy, Gunyah’s balcony and window seat became my reading and writing studio. The perfect spot for observation - at once connected and removed just enough for perspective. Here a kookaburra visited me, meeting my stare, then running towards my feet and gently tasting my toe before flying off in search of an easier meal! Another day I witnessed a massive storm that wrecked havoc the district and neighbouring properties, while leaving Gunyah’s trees untouched.

Melinda Rackham, Window seat studio, 2014 Gunyah March AIR

There is a sense of safety and nurturance held in the tree walls of the house - walls that have witnessed a generation of family holidays and countless groups of friends conversing around the table after a day of reading or working in the garden. One can feel the resonance of salty sun tanned children laughing and squealing as they run up and down the stairs.

Melinda Rackham, Contemplation, 2014 Gunyah March AIR

Melinda Rackham, Textures, 2014 Gunyah March AIR

Gunyah was for me the perfect container to read more material for my memoir – research articles and look at more personal papers, letters and photos - which I could not have done at home with the distractions and responsibilities of daily life. While resting and contemplating I started another chapter of my memoir around my own adoption, and a rough draft for a magazine article on the hidden aspects of celebrity adoptions. I also surprised myself with a short playful piece inspired by the cheeky kookaburra. I will update you when all are published. Thank you Kath and the Gunyah Board for your generosity in making your wonderful house available for this artist-in-residence program.

Melinda Rackham

Melinda Rackham, My adoption, 2014 Gunyah March AIR

Dr Melinda Rackham is an writer, artist and curator, based in Adelaide, South Australia. Her digital, online interactive artworks have been exhibited and collected internationally. She has been a Curator at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Director of the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) and Adjunct Professor of Media and Communications at RMIT University. She is currently writing a memoir focused on adoption and identity. To find out more about Melinda's work go to her website www.subtle.net and you can read her residency proposal at www.gunyah.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/.

Melinda Rackham visiting Sydney Biennale on Cockatoo Island,
on her way home to S.A., March 2014

Rilka Oakley: upcoming artist-in-residence

Close to Home, 2013, group exhibition curated by Rilka Oakley at Blue Moutains Cultural Centre
Gallery view with work by Ben Denham and Joan Ross
www.bluemountainsculturalcentre.com.au/blue-mountains-art-gallery/past-exhibitions 

Rilka Oakley is a Blue Mountains based curator working within contemporary practice. She has been working in arts administration and curatorial positions since finishing her arts degree in the mid 1990s. Rilka has worked at the Biennale of Sydney on the 1998 and 2000 editions, Ivan Dougherty Gallery as curator from 2000 until early 2009 and most recently at Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Katoomba, as Curator since October 2012. Recent exhibitions include Close to Home (2013), Making Ground: Blue Mountains as Material (2013), Keepsake (2013) and most recently Desire (2014) featuring work by Joyce Hinterding and David Haines, Sarah Breen Lovett, Mike Parr, Joan Ross, and Ken and Julia Yonetani. Previous exhibitions of note include Intimacy (2007) Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Face Value (2005) Ivan Dougherty Gallery and touring to New Zealand in 2007, Crimson Threads (2003) VCA Gallery, Melbourne & touring in 2004 to Gosford Regional Art Gallery and Tamworth City Gallery.

Making Ground, 2013, group exhibition curated by Rilka Oakley at Blue Moutains Cultural Centre
Gallery view with work by Tony Lennon in the foreground
www.bluemountainsculturalcentre.com.au/blue-mountains-art-gallery/past-exhibitions 

My curatorial practice comes from the excitement I feel when I encounter excellent art. From early experiences at the 1986 Biennale of Sydney I have been fascinated with, and engaged by, artists’ imagination and their creative output. I will use the Gunyah residency to allow curatorial ideas to form. To read and contemplate and let the impossible ideas take hold - see if they have any validity. I would write and test ideas and see what evolves with some space and time.

Rilka Oakley