Back bloggin'

After two straight months of written journal work and grant application re-hashing - I am ready to get back into some hands on studio work. The outcome of my submission for the Career Development Grant through Arts Queensland shot me off onto another tangent to apply for the RADF program through my local council. Now that it has been printed, submitted, post marked and express mailed - I can finally crack on with making some new work. So in the little meantime, personal research via GoMA Brisbane charged my battery back up to almost-utter-fullness. The new featured show that opened on the 21st April, is described on the website as: ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’ — the second in the Gallery’s Contemporary Australia exhibition series — celebrates the diversity, energy and innovation of contemporary women artists working in this country today. So many of my have Australian artists have got a spot in this one! There are also a number of upcoming and mid-career artists that I reckon will make lasting impressions on people with their work. Hiromi Tango's X Chromosome makes direct reference to the double helix form as 'X' obviously indicates the female chromosome. Tango's three-dimensional installation is an amalgamation of colourful tentacles, patch worked faces and limbs bound tightly with yarn. The materials the artist has used allude to those typically associated with 'women's work' and you can stand under it. The interior space at the base of the structure seems womb like. In another way the tactility of the soft, rainbow surrounds is reminiscent of a childhood cubby house. I won't give too much more away, but with additional readings into the after effects of the recent flooding events in SE Queensland as well as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last year - Tango's work stands as a seminal reminder of the importance of community, generosity and sharing our personal histories with each other.

See also the GoMA Cinematheque guide for the current exhibition program. Some of these flicks in many ways are underrated and still not as widely recognised in Australian households as they ought to be....at least not against the likes of the American rom-coms/comic book blockbusters etc. The program also aligns with the 'Contemporary Australia - Women' theme and the curatorial touch of Margaret Pomeranz seeks to uplift/celebrate the myriad of female characters portrayed in the films. But at the same time, audiences will be challenged which I think balances it out. Nonetheless Australian films have come a long way. Emotionally charged drama and obscure comedy dominate with force. Two of my absolute favourites are showing in the program - Lantana and Look Both Ways. Some of the other delectable flicks featured include: - Animal Kingdom - Samson and Delilah - Sweetie - The Home Song Stories - Muriel's Wedding - Looking for Alibrandi - Burning Man - see also Tracey Moffatt/Sarah Watt

Homage to Bibi Aisha

Storm Silhouette (Homage to Bibi Aisha)
2012

































Recently I came across the story of Bibi Aisha, the young Afghani woman subjected to horrific domestic violence by her husband and in laws. Married off at 14 (after being 'promised' to a Taliban fighter at 12), Bibi entered a life of abuse and she eventually fled at age 18. As punishment she tortured and abandoned - left to die. But she was found and rescued. Her story isn't wholly unique as domestic violence occurs across all cultures, in all countries and amongst all factions of society.

Madeleine Bunting underlines:

What has also been ignored is any understanding of how Afghanistan's long history of conflict affected gender roles. There is plenty of research on the impact of conflict on women, who are increasingly among its primary victims. They experience violence from both enemies and friends. The common pattern is that conflict polarises gender roles: masculinity becomes more aggressive and women are idealised as "the bearers of a cultural identity", in the words of the World Health Organisation. Their bodies become part of the battle field. This is as true of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as of Afghanistan. In the latter, foreign intervention ultimately only exacerbates such deeply destructive trends. (theguardian.co.uk)

Bibi arguably became the face of the forgotten side of the conflict in Afghanistan and the absolutely abhorrent disregarded or at least 'less talked about' issue of the subhuman treatment of women. You might of seen her face on TIME magazine, but I recommend reading up on her story here and her subsequent reconstructive surgery.

Recent cut-outs (2012 project process work)

Strong Female Protagnists via Almodovar - All About My Mother

A new favorite
All About My Mother - on the sombre side, but it is one for the "bruised". You'll feel as if you've been dipped in gold. Ah Spain!

Studio project development - making of stop-motion sequences

Miniature Lady in Noir Light/Setting

A breath of fresh Collage

Silken Signatures


2012

Collage of found images




I was recently reading a well known text written by a well known, if not controversial and somewhat batty feminist. A reference the author made to the subject of work in both a domestic and employed/paid context, made me think about creative commissions going back hundreds of years. We all know so much about the grandiose work of the male Artists propositioned to paint chapel ceilings and sculpt gargantuan monuments. However, while these Artists and highly skilled Craftsmen certainly made their mark on the evolution of Art and aesthetics (across all cultures/continents - not just referring to to the gilded West here) - why do we not hear so much about the similar work done by the hands of women? There is an interesting connection between Art and gender roles that is bleeding evident yet sometimes subtle. Fashion and 'wearable art' through history presents an apt example.

Fashion has a complex and multi-layered history branching off into categories encompassing identity (individual/social/national), everyday customs/practices, specific purpose/function, decoration and sex. An expert could go on and on and on ...my brief segue here borrows from an elective class I took in my 2nd year at Q.C.A 'Fashion and Art'. This collage work was made from a collection of images accumulated at different times, but they seemed to fall together. A lot of the images I collect have some sort of representation or reference to Women...or even the visual ideas of both feminism and femininity . In Silken Signatures you see three women crouched and hunched down making a rug. They were not in a domestic setting in the original image, they were working in a Bulgarian rug...workhouse ('factory' just doesn't fit this context somehow). The women appear to overlap onto an exquisitely embroidered Men's coat (of a French royal wardrobe I believe). The colourful and luxuriant silken thread in the coat frames the modestly working women in the centre. An opening at the top where a crisp, ruffled colour should be, grey Cygnets poke out over blue water that seemingly filters down into the clothes worn by the woman in the centre. The baby Swans allude to the 'nest' or home and the role of the mother in rearing offspring. At the same time there is an irony in the pronunciation of the 'Sig'prefix/origin and Cyg-net. This piece refers to the anonymous female authors, artists and creators that held no title and inscribed no signature in their craft work through the ages. That is not to say elements of this issue do not exist today - think about the 35 year old career woman on the childless-egg-freeze guilt trip.

2012 project - early studio experiments