Please order at the counter

Self portrait in food

2007 detail

watercolour

Amorphic resonance resounds. It is my honour to work as an artist. I get to see, I get to think, watch and observe how it all goes, then I get to react and make work about it. Thank you to every curator has ever given my work a chance. I wish there was more. I wish that there were a hundred more times space and each show included more insights and that it wasn't so clubby. Over the years there have been some extraordinarily great omissions, I guess it is how things go, but I can't help think that if art were more important to the general public we would see greater support, and therefore more diverse work.

More

It begins with a bowl made of cornflakes, and it never ends in this land of plenty. So much thrown away, so much produced, so much to collect!
The plastic house was found and filled with wooden blocks that Ron had left over from his install...they all fit in perfectly.
The strange turquoise plastic pen was found. It is a lap-band sugery promoter, by some pharmaceutical company, and was PERFECT in colour and content for my installation. It matched the neon around the corner from the gallery, on the local club, and it matches today's get thin quick ideals. And I found it while working on the project. When I gave a talk about the show, although to me it was a seminal piece, I neglected to say it. So here it is! Any questions?

Install view

Plastics

Hot glue works in Small Mall
1.Local businesses
2.Workshop participants (with glitter on red plastic donated by Kate)

Working with the public

This counts as a collaborative affair; I sat in the lobby at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery for two weeks, making clay words of local logos. Passer-byes were invited to create their own, to be used in the installation Branding 2007

My Store

I really focused on the consumer aspects of the situation involving the shire riots and what we are made of. I thought, as we all shop in these same places we are equalised through our consumption! My store is the catchphrase for Myer's, and I found Westfield Miranda a minefield of inspiration, identical to each Westfield I have ever encountered.

Self portrait in food

Watercolour on nice paper. And a papermache lettuce. These were products I consumed during my residency at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, bought at Gymea shops. A vain hope that it will cure me of my addictions by blowing them up and painting them large scale. Also, the tim tam packet really had "Love me" written on it! Special.

Consumers buy products

Do I have the guts to video the fitness places at night, through the windows, all those people burning their fat off and making their muscles stronger?
2007
Dvd 15 minutes

Small mall 2007 installed at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre as part of Ron and George Adams' epic year long project unfortunately titled Our Lucky Country (still different)

Plastics

Here is my plastic bag collection.
Photo: Margaret Roberts

1. I love the way plastics can be bundled up, and squashed, then laid out again and re-flattened. They have a memory, physically, and can become impregnated with scents. I notice very few used bags in our affluent society. Occasionally someone on the train will have their trusty favourite that they use regularly, and you can see how the colour has evaporated around the handles, however it is quite rare.
2. I was asked recently why I focused on plastics. Perhaps because I grew up in the USA and was a victim of polyester! For sure because of the environmental impact, but also because they symbolise our affluence, and neglect as well. But growing up in New York city in the 70's and 80's there were various artists who made sculptural works in abandoned lots, using garbage they'd create fantastic art works. I found these very inspirational. I would watch the barges go down the East River laden with millions of bags of rubbish. Even as a child I was incredulous that these got dumped out at sea. Sick! The synthetic nature of petrochemicals and their impact on our everyday life is one that I am examining.
3. Maybe Christo has something to do with it? Or Jeff Wall? Later, in the 90's I saw work by Mikala Dwyer and Hany Armonious. I knew I was amongst friends. Nowadays I can list dozens of artists, just locals who work with the stuff, and I love it. Anne Kay! Josie Cavallaro! Lisa Kelly! Kathy Cavaliere! Simon Yates! Simon Cavanough! Nick Strike! Caz Haswell! Jason Markou! Michelle Hanlin!

In every dream home

Curated by Sophie O'Brien at SCA Gallery 2007

Heavy Duty
Collected plastic bags, photocopy, pencil on paper, shelf by Marley

I first saw the audio processor on Tim Hilton’s computer last year. What a pretty and complex picture it made! He printed it out for me, as I knew what I wanted to do with it right away. I wanted to replicate it as best as I could, so I drew it, photocopied it and coloured it in. It seemed to present me with so many possibilities as a picture, painted or coloured in various ways. Presumably, originally an artist designed the series, and perhaps began with a sketch, then scanned it into the computer, before modeling it using software. The racks of sound mixing equipment convincingly resemble the actual things found in expensive studios, and are available to anyone owning a computer with the desire to make their own sounds. My appropriation of the drawing lends a facile, childish interpretation of what it was originally designed for…misuse of advanced technology.
The plastic bags are a result of fourteen years of collecting from my family, friends and neighbours. Their usage is primarily a billboard to advertise the retailers, and secondly a carrier to take your purchases away with you. What are we supposed to do with these once they’ve served their purpose? En mass their weight is surprising, their colours amazing, and their bulk sizeable. Shouldn’t I just discard them and make more room for myself? I cannot let them go.

Excess

Excess 2007
found fabrics, trestle table, Lisa Andrew's borrowed sewing machine, photocopy

At SNO, curated by Billy Gruner with Margaret Roberts (pictured).

Photo Sue Pedley

Colour world, it appears as though you could just step in the room, whereas in fact, you never got out from behind the continuous curtain, I made holes for seeing through every now and then. It was fun, and felt like a big playroom, or being in a giant dress.

VICTORIA!

VICTORIA!

Ocular Lab, Melbourne


curated by Elvis Richardson

I was thinking about the gold fields that established Melbourne, and researched Queen Vic and her coronation;

"After the Homage was concluded I left the Throne, took off my Crown and received the Sacrament; I then put on my Crown again, and re-ascended the Throne, leaning on Lord Melbourne's arm; at the commencement of the Anthem I descended from the Throne, and went into St Edward's Chapel ...where I took off the Dalmatic robe, Supertunica, and put on the Purple Velvet Kirtle and Mantle, and proceeded again to the Throne, which I ascended leaning on Lord Melbourne's hand ... I then again descended from the Throne, and repaired with all the Peers bearing the Regalia, my Ladies and Trainbearers,to St Edward's Chapel, as it is called; but which, as Lord Melbourne said, was more unlike a Chapel than anything he had ever seen; for, what was called an Altar was covered with sandwiches, bottles of wine etc. The Archbishop came in and ought to have delivered the Orb to me, but I had already got it…The Queen of Hawaii gave me a present of very rare feathers, but very strangely arranged as a wreath about my monogram, also in feathers on a black ground, framed." From Queen Victoria's diaries online

I have seen Queen Vic's clothes and although she was much shorter than I, as she grew older we filled about the same space. Also, when I was in London I visited the Royal Albert Hall, and the monument to her lost and beloved Albert, which amazed me. I spent many hours in the Victoria and Albert Museum and believe it is my spiritual home. For the opening I made real cucumber sandwiches, and shandies.

Brand Identity

Brand Identity 2006
collected plastic bag logos, sellotape
Polite car 2006
cardboard, paint, wood, plastic, police scanner radio (borrowed from Elvis Richardson)
Self portrait 2006
watercolour on paper

Our Lucky Country (difference) 2006
Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and MOP projects

The show was put together as a response to the Cronulla riots.

Polite car

Polite Car 2006

detail

texter and paint on cardboard

It's a new day

And now...Sim City 2006

Mixed media installation

A residency driven project curated by Sally Breen for Artspace, NSW with Anne Kay, Josie Cavallaro, Lisa Kelly, The Wild Boys (Trevor Fry, Richard Gurney and Tim Hilton)

Pictured; L found mattress, solarised paper R install view

Writings in situ

I could watch the water all day, recording the changes and transitions I observe every time I get the chance. As the tide goes out more piers are appearing, and when it rains I can see the fugue. Rain falling on water seems one of the only times you can see the wind. Emerald gelatinous form, solid...smoothed with light, billowing. The golden purples of the afternoon, the light! The light! Swelling the mass. Harboured in this little nested bay, we are quite still and safe when it is choppy water further out. Am mesmerised by the passing of air in front of me, through me, and out to the H2O. Inside the walls I am hidden, outside I am shared. Public space reveals us, we are on show, sharing each other's breaths.

The coin bag from the bank states "DO NOT MIX DENOMINATIONS". I wonder if Juanita Neilson is buried in the concrete of the buildings on the hill. I fly out the windows and over the bay before me. Gliding and diving through airwaves, washing through the rush.

There is some graffiti on the window in studio#4; "Does the noise ever stop?"

I watch the rain, the salty water of the ocean laps it up. Gray light and haze fills the bay, as it comes down more solidly it washes and soaks. Lucid tranquility pours over us. I see the shifts in colour, intense blooms develop in the water, from bronze and steel come copper, navy green and deep browns getting murkier. A mass of sawdust and floaties arrive, casting a grotesque grunge. At night I delight in the reflected lights.

Today the water is alternately mirrored and glowing as well as shimmering and fractured. When it rains the pavement opposite looks mirrored. A woman in a red dress struts along, and I can almost see up her dress! Watching the crinkly waves lapping the wharf. Tidily re-arranging themselves to subsume, merge and then re-offer their form, irrespective of each other? The accommodating mass pleads and plies, a washing form, virtually alive. Ominous in it's darkness, but so inviting in the light.

Terrific turquoise emerald quality today. I am transfixed by it's iridescence, and flat whole, stretched like a vast mirror to the sky. Lakes of ripples, swollen with oxygen.

Ships disturb and displace the drink, as rolls come toward me, swallowing land. I watch the warships*, and note their appearances, I detail the colours of the cars across the road at the W.

Sometimes it is just play, the residency at the Gunnery. 'Let me try this with that'. I downloaded a Google map of the area and set about doing a rendition of it in locally sourced detritus. And Now: A new day; Night mergers, Offerings and Wishes

* Huge steel bulk with a killing conscience.

6 week trial

And a dinner
After 6 weeks in the studios, and installing at Artspace, we were rudely kicked out. I got to come back for the night before the closing with a private party. Hosted by Lisa Andrew, Carla Cescon and myself, we created a Grotesque Dinner. Entrees were super-good gazpacho with ghostly croutons (CC), mains, Messy sushi; loads of rice and assorted toppings accompanied by seaweed cut into hand shapes (my own), and finally la piece de resistance, pictured L; ile flotante...by LA; described as an island of meringue floating in a lake of custard, it was truly monumental. Table decor, LA and CC.
Sorry, more pix to come (if anyone has any can they send them to me?).
I think there were 30 guests. Pictured; The fabulous Nobu. Photographs; The great Deborah Vaughan.

Site specific installation

We pay you 2006

Install detail

I needed mirrors to complete the work and used the FREECYCLE service. I can recommend it. It was an adventure going to stranger's homes to pick up their articles. Highly rewarding. The bottom pic has 2 mirror works in it, the far piece, an engraved mirror with the scene from across the water on it, and nearer, a mirror I'd set a hot bulb on, which had cracked to reveal a fantastic harbour scene...oh my good fortune! I have a history with glass, I am very attracted to it, but am such klutz! I break my most precious pieces without fail, and particularly when I am installing. However I have learnt to incorporate this clumsiness into the work. Or I think I have!

Recording details

Top; install detail (the trestle tables were laden with a virtual map of the area)
Center; install detail
Bottom; recordings of warships and car colours parked opposite over the duration of the residency (Chinagraph on card)

Size reduced

More details...the bottom piece doesn't show it, so I'll have to extract stills from the video I filmed of Richard Gurney dancing in my studio, navigating the city scape all over the floor. I have always enjoyed the giant human myths. Adam Costenoble very kindly formatted it for me on the 11th hour, for which I am eternally grateful.

The top piece, a bit of whimsy. Decorated light globe on a chain. I keep seeing fabulous jewellry and accessories all around me, BLING! I keep making fancy decorative pieces in response to all that.

The entire show, once again seemed to figure on points of synchronicity. Pieces I found were perfectly sized and shaped for the purposes I needed. Everywhere I looked I got confirmation of the work I was making.

[I was concerned that the piece had an ivory tower mentality to it. There I was up in my little kingdom, scrutinising the local neighbourhood, noting details and working with my own devised format...but how could I escape this label? Short of relinquishing my control over the project, I wasn't willing to compromise. However the whole idea of It's a new day...involved collaborative projects in some way.]

And now...

The shadows of the glasses revealed Centerpoint Tower!

I used a version of this once in a Canberra show, years ago, and it said; "SUBMISSIVE POLITICAL IDIOT"

(I was talking about myself of course!)

Submissive 2006

hot glue on lightbox

I think about the cool people we got to meet at Artspace while we were there...Minimaxi May from WA...Nobuhiro Ishihara from Tokyo and Deborah Vaughan, Sydney, amongst others.

We had fun with Minimaxi, she had a dinner in her studio one night and since Lisa Kelly's project involved activating the studio area there was a lot of open doors and checking each other's works out. Nobu was really engaged with what we were all doing, and at the end of our stay I got to see what he was up to and it was fantastic in his space. Deborah showed some of her work during the grotesque dinner, eyes projected onto the exterior windows of Artspace, really beautiful and engaging.

Psychiatrist 5c

LUCY from Charles Schultz’s Peanuts: Psychiatric Help 5c

Trial 1
September 2006 Loose Projects

The comic character of Lucy from Charles Schultz’s Peanuts has long intrigued me. As a child, growing up in the USA, I was inundated with Peanuts television cartoons. Every season provided more ‘special’ episodes, and the cartoon was celebrated as ‘clean living’ but slightly awry children’s content. The filler that I enjoyed was purely Woodstock and Snoopy. I loved them, but didn’t care much about the cartoon, except for scenes of the interior of Snoopy’s doghouse. They also had appealing names…Peppermint Patty, Schroeder and Pigpen, and I liked the obsession Schroeder had with his piano playing.
As I got older, I began to reminisce about the ideology of this comic. What did Lucy stand for? Hers was the only way. There was an absence of logic in her arguments, and what has been described on the official website, as “a shining lunacy”. I relate to this, and think, essentially there is an art to her bossiness. In December 1962, Lucy’s character declares to Schroeder “It’s a scientific fact that girls are smarter than boys”. Her big sister claim and motives are rarely pure; in fact she was very selfish and crabby.
As a kid, I really liked the Archie comic series, and fell in love with Betty’s character. Betty is the blonde sweetie, who was always losing out to Veronica’s ‘femme fatale’ antics. It was a battle between blonde, poor, honest Betty and Veronica; brunette, rich and devious. I identified with the wholesome and rarely successful Betty, hating Veronica. Lucy, being quite a nasty piece of work, resembles Veronica’s character. Lucy would whisk away the football she was holding for the trusting Charlie Brown, having promised and lied to him that she wouldn’t do exactly that…a scenario I hated. What a subversive dig at male trust and empowerment! Charlie always fell for it. As did Archie, falling for Veronica.
Lucy’s other role, being the gang’s ‘psychiatrist’ clashed elementally with her status as troublemaker. “Psychiatric help 5c” has such an appealing resonance. Despite all the trouble she caused, she still wanted to give her quasi-advice, assist maybe, and cash in on the trials of existence. She ran a business, calling herself ‘the doctor’- a precocious ego! Perhaps Schultz was making a comment on the plethora of analysists and shrinks common in the West. By having a child acting in this esteemed doctor’s role illustrated his mirth…her lack of responsibility and willingness to capitalise on proffering advice on anything speaks of the American way. Personally, I believe in the essential goodness of couch therapy, and the exploration of the self a noble and necessary modern convenience. Information sharing, story-telling.
The price Lucy charged rose from 5c to 47c in 1992. Even in comic book land there’s inflation. By now it should be $2 at least!
Sarah Goffman 13/9/06
Curated by Carla Cescon

Elvis Richardson in photograph

On reflection

Having tried it, and earning some $5 including tips

It was hard but fun. With people I knew it felt like an everyday arrangement, but with newbies it was all systems go. It ceased to be a camp performance and became charged and demanding. I haven't the guts to go public with this idea yet, as the play on actual mental illness poses problems I am not equipped to handle. I liked the physical proximity I had with my clients, and had to have a 5 minute time limit on the session, but felt really confident improvising on the spot and getting people all to myself for 5 minutes!