Relief carving and glaze process

Latest sculpture featuring some relief carving. Haven't used this technique in a while. Serendipitous happenings. 

 Glazing...

 Sgraffitto.... scraping the underglaze back.

More sgraffitto 

New work and bisqued wares

 Straight slab cutting... sweet shaddowy looks.

 Bisqued wares, none broken, ready for the glazing...

New form emerging from the afternoon studio. 

Plinth Alterations and new drawing series started... this is spring!!!

 Switching up my plinth format. Looking at less traditional rectangular shapes. and more continuity with the ceramic pieces which will sit on top of them. 

 New drawing series for the next Switch installation coming up in October at Southern Cross University, Lismore.

New drawings.... unfinished.

Melbourne Download: Post Urban Materiality

Switch installation shot at Brunswick St Gallery in Fitzroy, Melbourne. Power Poles 2 and 4 with Post Climate Change Desertscapes in the background. I was stoked with the space my work was allotted and it was cool to see how someone else displayed it too. The opening night was packed with two shows opening that night. Some rad work in the show, and some interesting performance inspired by John Cage went down on the opening night. So many different angles and connections to the subject/theme of the show.  

 A very relevant political comment paste up I saw on Brunswick St. Sad times for arts funding in Australia currently with Australia Council for the Arts looking set to lose a good $100 million.

As I drifted off to sleep early on Sunday morning in a friends house I was excited to notice my made up bed was mere centimeters from this Albert Namatjira painting, titled "Mt.Bart". I slept soundly under its watchful gaze.

 Installation shot, Power Pole no.4 with Post Climate Change Desertscape in the background.

 After a wild weekend in the city, at least by my standards, it has been great to get home and enjoy the relative serenity of Mullumbimby. It felt like the first day of spring today and I dragged out the mini pool for the kids to cool off.

New books have arrived!!! I have been enjoying getting better insight into Lichtenstein and checking out various other takes on this popular ism (Pop Art).

Microgalleries Denpasar Installation!!!

I'm involved in a great project happening in Denpasar this October, it is being run by MicroGalleries.org . It involves installing art in a community to create positive social change and enliven the space. Its a super exciting project I am proud to be part of. They are crowd funding to help cover costs of the project, there are rad rewards for donations and heaps of feel good points too.... check it out, there's also a rad blurb about the whole thing.. http://www.pozible.com/project/199463

The image above is a sneak peak of one of the works I will be sending over!!!

Thoughts on the role of curators in museums...

The way I see curation, and the role of the curator is the next level of awareness of creative practice. As my own studio practice has developed I have grown to appreciate the notion of installation or site specificity. By this I mean being concious of the broader context of the audiences's viewing experience when engaging with an artwork. So I view this progression from object production, where the focus is solely on an object, to creating installations or looking at a whole viewing experience, and the next step is curation. It is a logical progression to thinking about how individual works, and different artist's works relate to each other and how their sequence of viewing and proximity to each other help to generate meaning. 

Taking on the role of curator seems at times to be at odds with the mindset of the individual artist who is arguably completely absorbed in their own work and perspective. For this very reason it is such a healthy intervention for an artist to take on the role of curator, whether the show includes their own work or not. To gain some perspective on the relationships which occur between neighboring exhibits, can only be constructive in the production and installation of ones own work. Gaining this understanding of how works contribute to meaning or narratives can help in the reading and interpretation of exhibitions.

Art Piece Gallery, evolving plinths and new work!

     Power Pole no.3 with new plinth is now being exhibited in the beautiful Art Piece gallergy in Mullumbimby. This work is one of the original four I made for the first"Switch" installation at the Southern Cross University gallery in June. These works are about the increasingly urban nature of human life and the subsequent need to switch from fossil fuel use to renewable energy production.

Evolving plinths drying in the sun.

Progress shots after cutting out the shapes on the left hand plinth. It now resembles one of the power poles it will display.

Serendipitous beauty of shattered test tiles.

A new work taking shape. A bit of a shift away from the repetitive pattern can be seen here. Brave new form!