The Artists
Deborah Williams
Yesterday, I was a dog
Today I’m a dog
Tomorrow, I’ll probably still be a dog
Snoopy
Warisa Somsuphangsri
I am interested in the nature of relationships; the relationship of people and between people and nature. In the making of these two pieces, even though both are different, I feel that there are interesting resonances between the two media. They both acquire minimal use of colour. Their simplicity lies with just the need of light for us to realise their forms and textures. They both invite observation in an intimate distance from the viewers. They deal with imprints–memory; what is to be remembered and what is missing and left out.
Sarinah Masukor
The subtle and mysterious impressions created through the process of making photocopy transfers seemed to suggest the melancholy of memories and dreams. In the forest with its hidden lake and dense foliage, a red kite flys and a crane creaks in the wind. The disjuncture of these shadowy images with the sewn cranes emphasises the dream like feeling of disorientation.
Naomi Phelan
Pictures at an Exhibition explores the varying responses of viewers at an art show. The book was named after Mussorgsky’s suite Pictures at an Exhibition and contains hand-coloured prints inspired by the music. Each print in the book corresponds to a piece in the suite, with each based on impressions of the music itself as well as the title of the piece. The machine-sewn threads represent the movements of the individuals viewing the exhibition, each responding in their own personal way.
Laura Devenish
Focusing on the theme of 'Myth and Narrative', I drew from traditional Greek mythology the figures of Medea and the Minotaur as my subjects. Often maligned in the many interpretations and permutations they have been subjected to, I utilised this opening for alternate interpretations of both myths to create a more ambiguous depiction of the character of Medea in the stages of her myth, using movable elements so that part of her persona is always left covered.
Laura Cashman
Sanctuary was created around the theme of migration, using birds as a symbol for the millions of refugees and immigrants who are uprooted from their homes every year by war, famine, persecution and violence. In the natural environment, after events of wide-scale destruction, it is the birds who are first to re-inhabit the landscape, clinging tenuously to branches, unable to put down solid roots but still managing to survive. The red earth represents Australian soil and the often unwelcoming and hostile environment into which many refugees are forced, the thin branches offering a precarious sanctuary to those in need. The stories of these refugees are steeped in different cultures, patterned with the histories of different places and times. The collage elements of the book reflect the stitching together of histories and the building of something new from the rubble of the past.