Posts by Leonie Andrews

I am an artist of the landscape of common objects. Discarded items and suburban life fuel my art practice.

July 24, 2012March 10, 2013 by Leonie Andrews

Fetish – Opening Night

Wow the show is up and all the work looks fantastic, thanks to the massive coordinating prowess of curator Eleanor Jane Robinson and hanging help from Clare Weeks (whose beautiful photograph, Noisy Minor appears on the exhibition invitation, see previous post).

Podspace was absolutely jam-packed on opening night and Jen and the other Octapod staff gave us great help in setting up and managing the food and drink.

The opening in full swing!

Seen here in the gallery window are Gazes 1&2 and 3&4, by Eleanor Jane Robinson. These amazing works are all stitched with black thread (no not drawn) and just to add to the degree of difficulty all the stitches are all made vertically.

Here is another of Robinson’s works from The Glimpses series.

Daniel Smith’s work is both quirky and amazingly detailed. The top image is Tension and the one below is Beauty Therapy? His series of small diorama’s are made with scale model figures and quite a bit of imagination. More of Daniel’s work can be seen on his site.

Sylvie Ray’s works added the extra dimension of sound to the show and encouraged interaction with gallery visitors. People were surprised to hear the gentle sound made when the grains in the basin were poured over the porcelain lips in her work Lipsink (above)

Ray’s found object and porcelain Tongue Tired (above) also received a great response and was one of the most commented upon works on the night.

Here is my contribution, The Odd Couple 2, Calling and Washed Up (from left to right).

My apologies for not having good images to show of the work of other artists in the show. These include Sarah Barron’s Muybridge series, complex images using cyanotype and mixed media processes; Rose Turner’s paintings Fecund Phalanges; Sally Dooner’s Mossy Point series, using images composed of delicate shells and bones and her lantern slides of birds; and Gina McDonald’s print series Love Fetishes in Brancusi’s Studio.

It was really good to see that there were plenty of sales across the exhibition on opening night. Music to an artist’s ears!

July 10, 2012 by Leonie Andrews

Fetish

Three shows in a row! which goes some way to explaining why not much is happening on the blog. Far too busy stitching.

Anyway if you are in Newcastle over the next 3 weeks you can see my work, along with that of 8 other artists at Podspace, 401 Hunter St Newcastle from 18 July to 4 August. Opening night is 19 July 6.00 to 8.00pm. Hope you can make it.

Invitation.pdf

June 20, 2012March 10, 2013 by Leonie Andrews

Petite Miniature Textiles

Last weekend was the opening of the Petite Miniature Textiles exhibition held at the Wangaratta Art Gallery, in Victoria.

I was very pleased that my work The Odd Couple had been selected for the show.

There was also a strong showing from other Canberra and region artists with work from Lisa Molvig, Helen Gray, Dianne Firth, Sairi Yoshizawa, Maryann Mussared, Carolyn Sullivan and Rachel Bickovsky.

The work from the 118 participating artists was of a very high standard. There was a strong showing of tapestry artists with some very fine work from Sue Traylen, North South Weaving; Abigail Howells, Wing Details; and Kim McKechnie, Coast.

Other stand out works for me were Anita Larkin’s Things That Howl in the Night, a series of domestic objects that were covered in a felt of wool and human hair; Mandy Gunn’s Unnatural History, made with echidna spines woven onto fishing line; John Parkes‘ Quilt for the Upper Torso, an intensely stitched reclaimed shirt front; and Ilka White’s Billabong Line 1, 2 & 3 created by threading hollow grass stems on fine thread.

Unfortunately there is no catalogue for this exhibition and photography, other than of your own work was forbidden, so you’ll need to go in person, if possible, to see the work. There are some more installation images on the Wangaratta Art Gallery Facebook page.

The show runs until 22 July 2012.
Opening Hours 12-5 Mon-Tues, 10-5 Wed-Fri and 1-4 Sat-Sun.

May 18, 2012March 10, 2013 by Leonie Andrews

Diverse Directions

Time has flown and its nearing the end of our exhibition. It may be a bit late but here are some of the shots I took setting up the work.

Looking in from the entrance…

wrestling with one of Bev’s large twined works..

setting up the plinth’s for Ola’s work..

some of Bev’s Childhood Archaeology..

two of my works on paper Dream Home (lhs) and House & Land Package (rhs)

three of my works on cloth, lto r, New Land, Estate & Old Land..

looking back across Ola’s vessels to my printed works on paper.

April 30, 2012March 10, 2013 by Leonie Andrews

Sensorial Loop

The 1st Tamworth Textile Triennial exhibition, Sensorial Loop, is currently on at the Goulburn Regional Gallery until 19 May 2012. This is the premier exhibition in the ‘world’ of Australian textile arts, having been around since 1975, (despite the current title). The exhibition’s current change to a three-yearly event is, I understand, designed to enable the Tammworth Regional Gallery to better resource (both dollars and personnel) this major national touring exhibition.

This latest re-invention is certainly maintaining the high standards of previous shows. Two weeks ago I travelled to Goulburn to see the exhibition and specifically to hear a floor talk by Michele Elliot. Michele’s presence at the gallery was more than just a talk by a visiting artist, she was in the process of installing her work hemisphere’s:drawn to you still, 2011. The work consists of two paper pulp disks between which are strung some 1,000 red threads, tied to small hand-made pegs about 3 cms long.

Michele Elliot working on the Goulburn installation

It may seem odd to still be installing a work once the exhibition has opened, however the installation process is itself a major part of Elliot’s work. Time, as she explained in her talk, is of interest to her in both the making and the representation of her work. At each of the nine exhibition venues Elliot will remake this work with the assistance of local artists. At the end of each showing the work will be cut and returned to Elliot.

A close-up of the pegs that Elliot has made as part of this work.

The fact that Elliot is able to travel to each venue to install the work and that the show includes other large-scale contributions such as Carly Scoufos’ Interlaced Manuscript, 2011, which replicates the onsite installation of her work onto her grandfather’s dairy shed wall, demonstrates that moving to a three year schedule is allowing resources to be directed with good outcomes for both participants and audience.

Apart from Elliot’s work I was most interested in a large sculptural work by Lucy Irvine, Continuous Interruptions, 2011, which writhed its way around three sides of an exhibition wall. This was an intricate weaving of irrigation pipe and cable ties. It became the target of my drawing for that day.

I would strongly recommend that you see this exhibition. The strength of the works, both materially and conceptually, will certainly dispel any preconceived ideas you may have about textiles as a ‘nanna’ craft’.

leonieandrews

Author / Leonie Andrews