‘ In the Arms of Unconsciousness - Women, feminism and the surreal’ - (Invite). Image credits in order: Del Kathryn Barton, Louisa Chircop, Freya Jobbins, Deborah Kelly, Madeleine Kelly, Honey Long and Prue Stent, Jill Orr, Julie Rrap, Anne Wallace, Kaylene Whiskey,
LATEST
So excited to be curated into this incredible exhibition of female talent featuring 22 of Australia’s leading and significant female contemporary artists.
The exhibition due to be launched on 30 June 2023 6pm at Hazelhurst Arts Centre Sydney is curated by Carrie Kibbler and aims to look at the links between feminism and surrealism in Australian art. It is a cross generational survey exhibition that includes loaned existing works and new commissioned works and will be the first large scale exhibition looking solely at women artists and the surreal in Australia.
Sitting within a renewed global interest in women artists and Surrealism, this ambitious exhibition explores ideas of feminism and the surreal, proposing linkages between the two, particularly in contemporary Australian art practice.
These leading artists work with elements of the surreal to explore, disrupt or challenge traditional representations of the female body and provide unique perspectives on personal and political issues which resonate today.
The exhibition will examine the waves of feminism in Australian which began in the 1970s to the early 1980s, and again in the early 1990s and how they were directly linked to the feminist art and Riot Grrrl movement in which female artists and theorists began to rethink and reclaim how the female body was represented. Artists during this period include Vivienne Binns, Jill Orr, Pat Brassington and Anne Wallace.
More recently, a younger generation of female artists are working with elements of the surreal, the psychoanalytic, the unconscious and the fantastical in their practice, with several specifically citing the influence of the surrealists in their practice. Artists include Del Kathryn Barton, Louisa Chircop, Madeline Kelly, Deborah Kelly, Juz Kitson, Lucy O’Doherty, Caroline Rothwell and Amanda Williams.
The exhibition proposes that there has been an intrinsic link between feminism and the surreal, particularly in Australia, and this current wave is most notable since 2012 in that it aligns with the fourth wave of feminism.
The Mayor of Sutherland Shire Councillor Carmelo Pesce will officially open the exhibition with Guest Speaker Senior Curator, Exhibitions Art Gallery of New South Wales and Welcome to Country Aunty Lola Ryan. The exhibition will continue from 1 July - 3 September 2023 with a public program of planned events, interviews and talks, a feature film presenting the artists in show and accompanying digital catalogue with essays written by leading Australian arts writers.
Exhibiting Artists: Del Kathryn Barton | Vivienne Binns | Pat Brassington | Louisa Chircop | Lynda Draper | Freya Jobbins | Deborah Kelly | Madeleine Kelly | Juz Kitson | Honey Long & Prue Stent I Lucy O'Doherty | Jenny Orchard I Jill Orr | Patricia Piccinini | Caroline Rothwell | Julie Rrap | Marikit Santiago | Jelena Telecki | Anne Wallace | Kaylene Whiskey | Amanda Williams
ABOUT MY WORK
As I create, sculpt, construct, paint, draw, print, collage or experiment in mixed media, I think of my work and process as a crystal ball conversation about life and the human condition. The unearthing of experiences, the sifting of my psyche and my emotional response to the world around me exposes a multilayered and multifaceted way of seeing and feeling, a process of realisation.
Anything can inspire me, as I work from a variety of sources conjuring portraits, landscapes or objects working in diverse mediums and approaches that intersect with art history and culture. I delve into the unknown, into memories and lived experiences in search of a more poetic understanding of the universe. My adventure, a magical mystery tour, where my angels and demons converse on topics regarding the physical, spiritual, emotional and psychological structure of things as well as life’s full spectrum of tenses, past, present and future.
This is how approach my every day and every artwork. Some days I love it, some days I want to strangle it, kick it before it kicks me. Some days it beats me up and pummels my insides to a pulp. But I choose to carry on, I survive, I let it flow, those fragments and elements of material forming connective sinews to my thorny soul. I make art so it teaches me about my place in the world, what I am and where I am going. In turn, I wish to lure others closer to this experience of my crystal ball wonder.
Using my subconscious to discover my subterranean voice, I hone and master connections between personal and universal, life and existential themes. The resulting works, often a surreal reflection of my inner being, can appear as hybrids of shifting parts, or psychic montages and troves of ambiguity and enigma, making visible the intimate and elusive qualities of the shape of my thinking, to give form to our fragile ever-changing world.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
I am honoured to have been invited to take part in the PLC Artist in Residence program. The annual Artist-in-Residence program connects Visual Arts at PLC Sydney with industry practitioners. To date, the College has welcomed some of Australia's most respected contemporary artists on the Year 11 Visual Arts Camp at Bundanon; each inspirational in sharing their art practice and approaches to depicting the Australian landscape. Video by Hugh Clark. Read more >
PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE YEAR
I'm thrilled to have been approached by Foxtel Arts to feature in their launch campaign alongside two other respected Australian portrait artists for 'Portrait Artist Of The Year - Season 4 Launch'. Don't miss the series beginning on Tuesday 14 August 2018 on Foxtel Arts or stream On Demand.
