Richard Glover: artist-in-residence July 2017

I had a wonderful time at Gunyah! It is a fantastic place to contemplate one’s work; quiet, comfortable and the environment is truly inspiring. I spent my time exploring the local bushland and coastal sand dunes north of Hawkes Nest; and travelled further afield to Maitland and the lower Hunter Valley investigating housing developments and coal mining impact on the landscape. The latter will require much more time and exploration but its impact on this region is pronounced. The days have been cool and clear and provided a perfect opportunity to make photographs. For a special Australian landscape experience I suggest visiting the dunes especially during and after sunset on a clear evening. I have not yet completed post-production of my photographs, but eventually you can view the results at www.richardglover.com/projects

Richard Glover, Gunyah residency, 2017, photograph

Richard Glover, Gunyah residency, 2017, photograph

Richard Glover, Gunyah residency, 2017, photograph

Ramana Dienes-Browning: upcoming artist-in-residence

Ramana Dienes-Browning speaking at the 2014 Gilded Anarchy Film Festival

Ramana Dienes-Browning is a Blue Mountains based film maker, writer and photographer. Her art practice involves explorations of concepts of self, identity and how the individual often struggles to interact with society. Drawing on her unusual personal life experiences of being raised and indoctrinated in a religious cult, which she finally escaped in her mid-twenties, Ramana's work is deeply insightful, haunting and brave. Her most recent work, Julianne, is a 30 minute short film about a young woman whose true identity was trapped by her upbringing, only coming out when she sleep walked. Through meeting an insomniac during her walks her identity was validated and their connection begins to heal them both.

Ramana Dienes-Browning, Production still from Julianne, 2012

During her Gunyah residency, Ramana plans to work on Imra’s Ocean, the script for her first feature film. Imra’s Ocean is a heroic fantasy narrative about a young boy's journey to bring balance to a world troubled by patriarchy, fear and oppression. The young hero must save his ill sister by freeing the captive spirit of the ocean, bringing the feminine back into their world. In order to do this he must go against a childhood of brainwashing that the ocean spirit is evil and dangerous. 

Ramana Dienes-Browning, Child-bride, 2012, digital photograph

You can read an interview with Ramana here and see more of Ramana's work at facebook.com/gildedanarchy and vimeo

Bethany Wheeler: artist-in-residence June 2017

Bethany Wheeler, Fog on the Hume Highway 6 am

We set off for North Arm Cove from Melbourne at 4:30am, driving through fog we arrived at Gunyah just in time to see the last rays of sun reflecting off the water. 

Bethany Wheeler, 8am looking up North Arm Cove

We woke see the sun rise over the glass-like water of the Cove turning the moored yachts into silhouettes.  As the morning sun filled the house, the wooden interior started to glow and poured over the studio desks.

Bethany Wheeler, Sun pouring into the studio 8:24am

The country surrounding Gunyah was beautiful to explore.  We visited The Myall Lakes, The Grandis – tallest tree in NSW, Mungo Brush, the ocean beaches, their islands & the still waterways of Port Stephens.  We kayaked out into The Kaurah River stopping at secluded inlets - viewing the big sky & landscape from the water.

Bethany Wheeler, Mungo Brush 11:30am

The wildlife in the backyard was abundant with regular visits from wallabies, kookaburras & dolphins, we saw koalas at Hawks Nest & whales passing by at Anna Bay.  We spent time bush walking the dirt roads of North Arm Cove & visiting the Gooreenggai Aboriginal site.

Bethany Wheeler, From the land & from the sea

I began pressing & collating collected botanical specimens from the local area & spent time documenting & developing a sense of place through photography, drawing & engraving.

 

Bethany Wheeler, Engraving on the jetty

I spent time recording the ever-changing light of the cove through photography & began engraving landscapes, pressed botanicals & maps of North Arm Cove onto sheet glass.

Bethany Wheeler, Reflections on the Cove

My final days were spent creating glass sheet assemblages, accumulating layers of pressed botanicals, ash from the fire, salt form the cove & engraved silhouettes with copper & wood.

Bethany Wheeler, Layered pressed botanicals and engravings

Spending time at Gunyah allowed me time to focus on creative research & to explore the beginnings of a new body of work.

Bethany Wheeler, Pressed Acacia ash and engraved glass

Bethany Wheeler, 

Gunyah residency report June 2017

bethanywheeler.com

Richard Glover: upcoming artist-in-residence

Richard Glover, photograph Australian Design Review 2017

Richard Glover is a photographer based in Sydney and London. His commissioned work is marked by a considered and pragmatic approach to illustrating the concepts and reality of architecture. Richard's exhibition projects investigate transitional phases of the built environment and are held in private and public collections including Art Gallery of NSW, Art Bank Australia and Tate Modern. He also teaches photography at University of Technology Sydney and the Australian Centre for Photography.

Recently, Richard has begun examining the natural landscape with fresh focus on the correlation between ‘designed’ and ‘natural’ landscapes. Such visual overlaps in man-altered landscapes are counterpointed with the discover of natural settings incorporating a perceived architectural foundation.

Richard Glover, Architecture in Landscape #L140--69, 2016, inject print, 110x50cm 

Richard’s work has been featured in Exit Magazine, Architectural Review, Blueprint, Art & Design, Independent on Sunday Review and Tate Magazine and in recent exhibitions at Sydney Architecture Festival, Arle Photography Festival and the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale TIME-SPACE-EXISTENCE.

Richard Glover, Architecture in Landscape #L210-053, 2016, inject print, 110x50cm 

During my Gunyah residency I plan to further develop my photographic series of Architecture in Landscape. I am particularly interested in exploring the sand dunes north of Hawks Nest, coastal cliff faces and bush-land settings in the vicinity of the North Arm Cove.

Richard Glover, Architecture in Landscape #L140-068, 2016, inject print, 110x50cm 

To see more of Richard's work please go to richardglover.com/projects

Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: artists-in-residence May 2017

We arrived at Gunyah excited for the opportunity to slow down and take a break from the constant demands of juggling family, art, work and social commitments. The residency fell at an opportune time, just as we needed to really focus on our practice and resolve some crucial technical and practical issues for a project to be exhibited later in the year.

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Our first day was romantically rainy, and our children (2 and 4 years) immediately went to work gleefully familiarising themselves with the house and its contents: they were thrilled by the walls made of exposed tree trunks; the loft bedroom with its climbing ladder; and the bay window looking out over the trees and water below.

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Our days started early (as is often the case with young children), with a walk down to the jetty to watch the sunrise over the water and to jump across the rocks, stopping briefly to watch for tiny fish and periwinkles moving in the rockpools. A dead jellyfish was the source of much interest and curiosity.

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

We were struck by the soft light and peaceful stillness that surrounded Gunyah, and the space that it created for us to pay attention to our ideas and questions. It took us some time to settle into the unhurried pace, but as we did so, our thoughts clarified and we made significant progress in mapping out and determining the solutions that we needed to progress with the work.

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

We began testing, making and building the smaller detailed components for the first part of the work, which involves a model of a kitchen at 1: 0.12 scale. Serendipitously, various objects and fixtures at Gunyah, including a ubiquitous coffee mug served as inspiration. The children embraced the polymer clay we were using and worked happily alongside us, our eldest making her own replicas of our scaled down replicas (meta!).

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017

As the residency came to a close, we were grateful to be able to move forward with a renewed focus and energy, both for our current project and our art practice as a whole. It was a joy too, to see how beneficial the unstructured time was for our children’s relationship and their creative energy. Gunyah is a magic place. Thank you to Kath and the Gunyah owners for your generosity in sharing it with us.

Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey
Gunyah residency report May 2017
wayback.net.au

Bethany Wheeler: upcoming artist-in-residence

Bethany Wheeler in her Melbourne studio, 2016

Bethany Wheeler is an artist based in Melbourne. She trained as a glassmaker and her work now ranges from studio glass to found object assemblage sculpture and installation, jewellery and design. Bethany’s work embraces concepts of memory, place and what lies at the end of our perceptions of interior and exterior space. She is particularly drawn to working with glass as it reflects the vitreous environments we live in - glass is a material that surrounds us in almost every aspect of our lives. Glass allows light to fill space, letting objects visually materialize and dematerialize simultaneously whilst describing interior and exterior space. It is charged with fascinating material paradoxes, fragility and solidity; liquid and solid; transparent, translucent and opaque – it is a hybrid that illustrates notions of the human condition and ways of seeing. 

Bethany Wheeler, Flotsam, Jetsam and Compassion, 2016, lost wax cast glass, flame worked glass, 

fused glass, found glass, fishing floats, 58x55x19cm

Bethany was awarded a Master of Fine Art by research from Monash University in 2003 and has since been exhibiting her work both nationally and internationally. In 2013 she established 1000 Degrees Glass Studios, a communal kiln forming and cold working glass studio in Melbourne where she currently works. Last year she was a finalist in The Incinerator Art Award - Art for Social Change; Kirra Illuminating Glass Award and Noosa Art Prize. In 2015 Bethany held a substantial solo exhibition, Imprint, Place & Memory at Bayside Art and Cultural Centre Gallery, Brighton, Vic. In 2014 Bethany received The Lino Tagliapietra Grant to attend a Silvia Levenson workshop at Pilchuck Glass School, in USA. Bethany’s work can be found in private and public collections including the National Glass Art Collection of Australia. 

Bethany Wheeler, Beyond Measure, 2016, slumped glass, found pressure gauges, dried collected seaweeds, 

54x110x10cm, 46x50x8cm, 15x30x5cm

At Gunyah I'm planning to explore notions of memory and mapping of place through new experimental works in glass, with combinations of drawing, engraving and photography, working  with locally foraged artefacts and specimens such as insects, flora, ochre, sap, salt, charcoal and clay. Working on-site in the landscape I'll use a glass engraver to sketch line drawings onto sheets of clear glass; find local sands and rocks to abrade/mark into the surface the glass, and collect botanical specimens to sandwich between layers. The resulting works will be transparent blocks of layers of glass that reveal strata’s of sight specific observations of place and history. I'm looking forward to immersing myself in such a beautiful place and to be given the time to explore, discover and record all of its layers of history through new works that re-contextualises a geographical, historical and manifested sense of place.

Bethany Wheeler, What slips through the net, 2016, fused glass, glass beads, bamboo, 

metal and Cephalopod ink, 150x56x55cm

You can see more of Bethany's work on her website bethanywheeler.com

Bethany Wheeler in her Melbourne studio, 2016

Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: upcoming artists-in-residence

Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey are a Sydney based collaborative working with kinetic sculptures, video and performance to construct installations that incorporate motion, optical phenomena, miniaturisation and repetition. By appropriating iconic snippets of film and re-staging fragments of photography and history in their work, Jaki and David invite the audience to observe, breakdown and reconfigure familiar narratives.

Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey working in their home studio

Their recent solo exhibitions include Open Sky at Gallery 9 Sydney in 2016 and Between Worlds at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery NSW in 2015. Recent group exhibitions include, Mind the Gap at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre in 2014, Living in the Ruins of the Twentieth Century at UTS Gallery, Sydney in 2013; Time and Vision at the Bargehouse Gallery, London in 2012; and Otherworldly at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York in 2011, which subsequently toured to MUba – Eugène Leroy, Tourcoing, France in 2012. 

Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey, The world's more interesting with you in it, 2009, video sculpture 40x60cm

Jaki and David have undertaken residencies in Paris, London, Los Angeles and New York, and their work is held in public and private collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Wollongong Art Gallery and Macquarie Group. David Lawrey completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts with Honours at Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney in 2003. Jaki Middleton completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts with Honours in 2002, and a Master of Visual Arts in 2008, both from Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney. The artists are represented by Gallery 9, Sydney.

Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey, Time trap, 2015, kinetic sculpture, 150x270x200cm 

While at Gunyah we intend to develop the sculptural elements for a new series of wind-up kinetic artworks that repurpose the mechanics of old gramophones. With a single figure in each surrounded by a domestic scene, the project examines the tension between the common representation of 'the home' as comfort, safety and warmth – with other realities of anxiety, despair and unconscious desire. The series will be exhibited as part of the exhibition 'Dream Machines' at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery later in the year. We are really looking forward to this inclusive residency that will bring three generations of family together, intersecting creative work with contemplative time in nature, shared with our young children (2 and 4 years old) and two grandparents.
- Jaki and David

Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey, Consolidated life, 2009, kinetic sculpture, 270x120x100cm 

You can see more of Jaki and David's work on their website wayback.net.au and gallery9.com.au