"A FASHIONABLE VIOLENCE"

My latest series of works [10] are hand embroidered silk on canvas. I was wishing to use a drawing of a pattern I made in the early 90's. It was a pattern of a 1740's mens frock coat. I then composed a series of drawings based on the frock coat and a series of drawings I made, based on the fashion my Mum wore in the 60's and 70's. I wanted to juxtapose those refined inspirational sources to create a somewhat masculine collection of guns and bullets. Once again, the mapping influence overtook but I feel they are succesful in their resolution. The gun works are embroidered on subtle pink acrylic backgrounds.....and the 'bullet/bomb' series are slightly smaller scale on grey acrylic backgrounds. I love 'em and can't wait to start yet another series!

conversations overheard

In may 2012, I was in Byron Bay and decided to, rather than keep a comprehensive daily journal, I would focus on one short sentence. Either overheard or something that came up in conversation. I have recently printed some of them on T shirts and can't believe the response. I think 'Blame God' was a huge hit at Christmas lunch.

It is about time the blogger returns!

It has been many months since I have even viewed my Dumbcraft site and, as of December 28 2012, I am returning, hopefully on a daily basis.

suburban decoration

I am overwhelmed with bodily decoration in Newcastle. I feel slightly 'out of fashion' as I don't have a tattoo! I am about to collide the material pieces I have been working on lately with awesome body decoration. Documenting the body here is extremely easy when I tell them I'm an artist (and not a total pervert).

the questioning

I have been thinking hard recently, looking for an issue to both question & challenge. I am over the age old art vs craft debate so have decided to question contemporary art practice and it's validity within the wider design field. Okay, let me explain.......I have two works sitting in front of me. One is a Bill Viola video showing on a large flat screen [people crying, people dying, people staring in to space etc etc], on the next shelf is a 1950's Wedgwood white porcelain container. I am enjoying dissecting the concept, design and creation of the container, thinking of it's history, and uses over the past fifty years. I have to be careful as, if I view Viola's work for more than two minutes, I fall into a psychotic episode of sheer boredom.
I have decided I don't want to be rescued from my passion for design and my practice is taking a 'utilitarian' direction

art observation

I spent a number of hours last Sunday, visiting the John Kaldor wing of the AGNSW. My darling friend Ivana & I viewed and discussed the brilliant collection. I found it somewhat odd to stand close to a trio who I thought were waiting for the lift. I stood by as they discussed the lift doors as a contemporary work. I stood by them and discussed contemporary installation practice. I sensed as I ws standing with them as they were overwhelmed when they commented...."oh mygod, the doors actually open!!

Travellin' Man

with a passion for fashion & travel, I began to keep a daily journal when I visited China for the first time in 1997. Each day, along with collecting discarded images & packaging on the street, I also mapped where I walked each day. Arriving back in Melbourne, I needed to use the maps I had made. Maximillian, my partner of the time , was a courturier / tailor and I used his creative skills to produce the work above. It is a fully tailored mens suit to fit me. It is constructed from fabric interfacing. I joined all of my 30 days walk maps together. The white mapping lines are cut from white adhesive interfacing and ironed on to the heavier grey interfacing. Basically, Max cut each section and I adhered the lines. It is so beautifully constructed with all the lines joining up! As a 50 year old, I truly wish that men's attire could possibly be a little more cutting edge.



a lyric influence

Having such a huge interest in lyrics, I have just watched a performance of Les Miserables and was reminded of the power of words. Yes, Victor Hugo set to music! I had a show in Melbourne a few years ago. I wanted to honour my father and make work[s] around our domestic interactions. Most Saturdays in Newcastle, we would visit the public garbage dump with the trailer attached to the Ford. Dad used tarpaulins to cover the load. This is the first in the series. My colleague at Monash University visited my studio on campus and started to cry. She was so overwhelmed by the poignancy of the words. When she asked me how I came up with the text.......I said, Oh it's one of my favorite lyric lines by the Dixie Chicks! In 1993 I had a show in Sydney devoted to Billy Bragg's Workers Playtime CD. I dream of the day, when I grow up and become a Broadway star.

The Mother Load

The image here is the result of my latest response to Julie Clake as the next work in our Collisions Project. Again, I wanted to 'shake up' the materials and processes in a meaningful, yet decorative fashion. I have been somewhat obsessed with the term The Mother Load and / or it's French translation La Charge de Mere. I have also been interested in using the phrase De Schwertze Gehalct, a line from The Unbearable Lightness of Being, loosely translated as My Heaviest of Burdens. Yet another 'ode to my mother' who carried the load of seven children, one deceased, a career and a truly high maintainence husband for her 84 years. The juxtaposition of feminine frippery alleviates the burden by referencing accessory and costume. I am now working on a small series of these frame works. My sister Robyn who left us in 1980 aged 28 had two of these white plastic frames with convex clear plastic covers, framing tacky ballet dancing scenes. Personally, the framing device is hugely loaded with memory, history, loss, family and retrospective display. I hope to establish a list of imagery and posts of past works, leading to this current outcome.

rear view mirror 2005

I love to look back over images past. I worked on a daily journal for a number of years and this kinda morphed into a collaboration with my friend and colleague Laurene Vaughan. The project was called Co-respond and ended up being shown at PICA [Perth Institute of Contemporary Art] and Monash University Melbourne.
I sometimes forget how much I enjoy playing around with 'stuff'. These two images are A4 works on paper. On the left is a collage on paper covered in drafting film and hand embroidered with the male urinary tract medical illustration. On the right we have a B&W photocopy, colored in with fluoro highlighter and covered again with drafting film and hand embroidered with black jet bead additions
I also remember how easy it was to put these pieces together. The new month could possibly see the return of the daily A4 art work?

Found Friend

My apologies for not posting for some time. I have been examining the relationship between fine art vs craft vs object vs designer object. My great mate Tim Craker mentioned years ago that,one of the tactics he uses to "jump off" is to make a work as a gift for a friend. The work I have included is a reverse work. As I happily continue to create responses to Julie Clarke in our collaborative 'Collisions' project,I am able to divert from the 'serious' making . This work is what I call a unique commission. What better way to celebrate a stunningly close relationship which I have had for the past 12 years. My supporter is always there, continues to be my greatest support, along with being one of the world's most proactive individuals EVER. I have continued my practice, and interest of/in traditional craft. Being me, I always want to throw a spanner in the works, hence the framed Asaro mudman. The Asaro figure is very important to my history but also adds an element of difference.

a past memory

As I sit here in the studio I am attempting to map a creative pathway from here on in. My brain has been scattered with all things creative. I have two works I have been attempting to resolve for a number of weeks. I would like to complete these this week, enabling me to get on with some other 'making'.I have been looking at past works and have realised how serious, important, devestating, ruinous and no laughing matter my fall was four years ago. It has seriously affected my life in every way, including the loss of friends, a shortened concentration span and extremely depressive. Thank Allah that I am able to reflect on that time and make some creative outcomes from the experience. The image above is from the VCA Gallery exhibition Trouble Set Me Free [2010]. This is theWalter van Bierendonck T shirt I was wearing the night of the fall. It had been cut off me pre-surgeryand I have 'remade' it, connecting it back together using the same staples that were used to hold my skull together. I'm attempting to work through the idea of trauma that is not so personally imbued with memory, emotion and contact, without a written descriptive narrative.

influence project #4

text, from all sources, has been a major component of my past work. I favour images that are unexpected particularly odd observations in the public domain.

Katoomba tourist seat dec 31 2011

influence project #3

there are times, usually approaching a tight deadline, where I decide to settle down in front of the screen and have a couple of glasses of red....purely for inspiration! I awake the next morning, turn on the laptop and really have to ask, "who got into my computer and wrote that!!!?". The reverse works with my studio practice. The longer I avoid opening any bottle, I get too involved in making.

random #3

Norman Lindsay lichen: Springwood NSW Monday January 02 2012 - for Jeni