Vietnam: Visiting Tickets

In November 2016 a series of disappointments had left me feeling fed up with my life in Australia. Having tried and failed to live the pragmatic life I threw caution to the wind and bought a last minute ticket to Ho Chi Minh City and within a week was on a plane bound for the land of pho. 

Nine years earlier, Vietnam had been my maiden voyage overseas, one of my first holidays alone and by far a coming of age trip. Returning nearly a decade later,  I hadn't anticipated the changes I would appreciate in myself against the backdrop of the busy Vietnamese streets. When I first arrived at the tender age of 20, the swarm of traffic, hectic pace of life and gritty street culture had me stepping cautiously and with a great sense of 'otherness'. This time round, I felt like Hanoi, my first destination, swept me up in its street current and I swam with it. With a greater understanding of who I was and what I could achieve, my steps were confidant.

My 2016 trip reminded me of the value of the present, simply because it is nearly impossible to escape the vibrant activity that is everyday Vietnamese life. Every sense is activated when walking down a city street, there is little time to contemplate but just enough to jump out of the way of  a speeding motorbike. The eye doesn't rest, but jumps between the patterned surfaces of roadside vendors and bicycles. Aesthetics are jarring and odd, roadsigns confuse and the dissident bellow and cry of competing karaoke bars keep you up at night. Yet, somehow its enlivening, its fun ! Unapologetic and not self conscious. 

I travelled between Sapa in the Mountains of far North Vietnam and the region surrounding the city of Ninh Binh, about 400km south east. Between these areas I experienced the mountains and small ethnic minority villages surrounding Sapa, the 1600 limestone pillar islands of the UNESCO world heritage Ha Long Bay, the capital city of Hanoi and the farmland, cavernous mountain systems of the Red River Delta. When visiting Tam Coc I was fortunate to befriend a local hotel owner who commissioned a mural in her tropical garden courtyard. This work stay arrangement allowed me to make the small village and surrounding karst landscape home for a week. This lucky opportunity engaged me in local life and landscapes and was an empowering activity to do as a travelling artist so as to exchange with the people.

Farms of the Red River Delta 2017 - ink and acrylic on board

Detail of Tam Coc Mural

 Visiting Tickets is a series of mixed media works on paper that I made from materials and sketches gathered during my trip. I have adopted the palette, colloquial charm, landscape views and reoccurring motifs that I encountered on my journey. Stitched together, glued on, quickly made or painstakingly assembled, each work presents a different reality in Vietnamese life and my time in the country.  There is a Homage to a duck farm (where I don't know how or why the ducks don't fly away) my rendition of street food signs, as well as works that adopt prayer flag imagery. The works are tickets to other lands and my sense of discovery within them, as an artist and a growing human. 

Zipper Shop 2017 Mixed media on paper 29x21cm

Tam Coc duck farm 2017 Mixed media on paper 29x21cm

Votive 2017 Mixed media on paper 29x21cm

Roasted street dog & yam 2017 Mixed media on paper 29x21cm
 

Dancing Karsts 2017 Mixed media on paper 29x21cm

Karst Reflections 2017 Mixed media on paper 29x21cm

Offering 2017 Mixed media on paper 29x21cm

Jungle Pagoda 2017 Mixed media on paper 29x21cm

In search of Phat Diem 2017 Mixed media on paper 29x21cm

Roadside Prayers 2017 Mixed media on paper 100x70cm

Street Dog 4 Ways 2017 Mixed media on paper 100x70cm

Cave Temple 2017 Mixed media on paper 100x70cm

Try Horse Wins 2017 Mixed media on paper 100x70cm

Hot Pot Cat  2017 Mixed media on paper 29x21cm

I'll Tweet If I Want To 2017 Mixed media on paper 100x70cm

Flying Prayer Call 2017 Mixed media on paper 100x70cm

Duck Homage 2017 Mixed media on paper 100x70cm

Art Club October / November 2016

For the past month or so I have been facilitating the very exclusive 'Art Club' for a local Newcastle Primary School. Every Wednesday morning before school a group of very wide eyed and bushy tailed  students aged 6-12 gather to release their inner artistic genius, with of course a few squeals, jokes and tumbles in between.

I was excited to lead 'The Royalty Project' which involved researching different cultural leaders and their traditional dress throughout the world. We looked at Indian Princesses, medieval Queens, Sultans, Indian Chiefs and Ancient Egyptian kings, paying particular attention to the kind of head dress they would wear. We then designed our own head piece and thought about what represented our identity and what we valued. Using collage material we built our own crowns and hats before choosing a friend and painting their portrait as an 'Art Club Royal'. The process was very amusing and messy and it was interesting to see how the children combined different cultural symbols into their design (including of course pikachu).

On our final day we held an Art Club photo shoot, which involved building a throne from the donations of trash n treasure in the classroom. I was very impressed to witness one girl lay out the crown jewels that were to be dressed on the king or Queen upon ascent to the throne. One by one each student was robed in a dressing gown and dressed in jewels before assuming their rightful place on the doona covered thrown. With their hand made creations atop their head they all made very stylish and entertaining rulers.

Current Show ON NOW :

A big thankyou to Modern Times in Melbourne and all who attended the opening of HOME last week - The exhibition featured some quality artists in a beautiful space - The exhibition continues till the end of the month so drop in for a look - You can find out more about the artists and their works at http://moderntimes.com.au/blog/art/3473

San Clemente's Icons - completed works

San Clemente's Icons

Introducing the completed works from the September San Clemente High School Residency.

In this collage series, my attention was on the interior style and architectural features of the historic school building, combined with the surrounding industrial landscape. I have used the archways, religious iconography and repeated patterns throughout the school's gardens, brickwork, lead lights and architraves as a framing device for the views beyond.  Layered collages of watercolour, pastel and charcoal reference the working suburban neighbourhood of Mayfield and the ever-changing skyline of industry.

One of these collective collages is a gift to the school in appreciation of my time spent with the community of San Clemente.

 

I'm an OFFICIAL reject

 

This October, my work Mangrove Creek, a painting made during last years residency on the Hawkesbury River, has been selected for display in The Salon Des Refuses exhibition for the Plein Air Painting Prize. You can see the finalist exhibition and the rejects (history proves that these are cooler and more successful in the long run anyway) for FREE until October 28 -  2016 at Sydney's State Parliament House.

 

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/news/Pages/2016-NSW-Parliament-Plein-Air-Painting-Prize-.aspx

 

San Clemente Artist Residency September 2016

San Clemente sketch 2016 Watercolour and pastel on paper 20x30cm

This September I was an artist in residence at San Clemente Catholic High School in Mayfield. The premise of the residency was to engage with the students and share my experiences as a professional artist, whilst developing new works in response to the school. My time at San Clemente however, far exceeded these expectations, as I lead art classes, interacted with a whole hearted community of students and staff and advanced my own creative and professional practice.

What first attracted my attention at San Clemente was its location: Situated on a hill in Mayfield East, surrounded by a grid of ramshackle suburbia with views to Newcastle's working industrial port. It was a gritty landscape and one that I could see influencing a new series of paintings, not dissimilar to previous works. So, for the initial few days of the residency I worked from the second story veranda that had a glorious view overlooking rooftops, coal loaders, ocean and sky.

 

On one of these days I was joined by the year ten art class, who were studying the unit Where We Live. Together we made sketches, in pastel, watercolour, charcoal and graphite, as I cracked the artist whip, encouraging students to work fast and create numerous impressions of the landscape. Some found the task challenging and complained  ''It's not my fault I can't finish Miss, the cranes keep moving !"

Later in the residency, these field sketches (finished and un finished) formed the basis of a collage project that I directed in the classroom. Some what nervously the students cut up their sketches and reconfigured the shapes so as to develop unique perspectives of the landscape.

Toward the end of my first week rain kept me indoors, where my attention turned to the interior style and architectural features of the historic main building. I became captivated by the archways, religious iconography and repeated patterns throughout the school's gardens, brickwork, leadlights and architraves. The archways and date palms reminded me of Matisse and so I took to making cut outs of the shapes that I saw. With an array of shapes to choose from I then set about developing an autonomous symbol, one that represented my experience at the school and could be repeated in a series of works.

In addition to my own project and working with the year ten class, I also had the opportunity to direct a project for the year nine art class, that would complement their unit of study in portraiture. Digging through my archives I decided to share with them my experience of painting animals and lead a drawing and painting activity focused on bull portraiture. Standing in front of a classroom of teenagers giving a drawing demonstration was defiantly a challenging experience as was breaking down my painting technique into an instructional form. However, it did give me a renewed sense of confidence in my own abilities and as I watched the students apply my directions in their work, I must admit I was really proud !

Despite following a certain procedure in this project the portraits that the students drew and painted in this activity lacked no individuality or flair and I was really inspired by the unique marks and sensitive palette chosen by the students. Despite many being quiet or shy during class their personalities shone through in the work and it was such a pleasure and a privilege to be able to communicate with them through the means of art.

By the end of week one my studio / staff tea room, resembled more of a paper nest, with collage pieces and cut outs spread everywhere. I had decided to combine the interior and the exterior space of San Clemente by producing a series of collages based on the surrounding landscape and layering a cut out symbol over the surface of each. Throughout this process teachers and staff would pop into the studio, either to make a cup of tea or to say hi, and witnessed the evolution of the work. We exchanged ideas and experiences and the studio became a meeting place that enhanced my appreciation and involvement with the community of San Clemente.

The finished work is a gift to San Clemente and is a selection of collage tiles that feature many environmental viewpoints with a repeated rhythm of pattern. The sequence echoes the diversity of the school united by the strong community. The colour and brightness of the piece also demonstrates the connectivity that the work has with the people of San Clemente, who were an integral part of my positive experience whilst on residency and who ultimately make the school what it is.

San Clemente 2016 (detail) watercolour collage on Indian rag 25x15cm 

San Clemente 2016 (detail) watercolour collage on Indian rag 25x15cm

San Clemente 2016 (detail) watercolour collage on Indian rag 25x15cm

San Clemente 2016 (detail) watercolour collage on Indian rag 25x15cm