Art, summer and the spirit of things IT’S summertime: a time to experience the beach, the sea and the bush on the Mornington Peninsula. And, this summer, Lamppost Gallery, Mt Eliza, offers another way to connect with the Australian landscape. It’s Still Life is an exhibition of sculptures by artist, writer, TV producer and actor Nathan King, whose art explores states of being in the natural world. A leaf becomes a skeleton and a sea anemone becomes a shell-casing … Following these shifts and changes in natural forms, King’s work explores nature, its diversity and transience. Discarded, fallen and forgotten remnants of nature are salvaged and assembled into sculptural forms to accentuate the connections, reflections and relationships of each thing to everything else. The shape, colour, form and movement in one object is found reflected in another, as if they are related and yet they may be a rock, twig, seed pod, or a shell. When assembled together, the interconnectivity in nature becomes clear. “I create these sculptures to elevate nature in our eyes,” King said. “The spirit of being is expressed in such a variety of manifestations that there is a certain sense of wonder for me. I think that we can all too easily forget that sense of awe and wonder as we live in our urbanised, contemporary world. “A lot of art reflects our own clever abilities and skills in rendering the natural world in one medium or another. We risk losing our connection to the spirit and energies of the natural world in our rush to impress our own capabilities.
Elevating nature: Nathan King’s works connect with the landscape.
“These remnants and objects have a history of being – they are not what they once were, their present state is merely a reflection of their original form. Of course, they haven’t stopped ‘being’ – the spirit of their existence has just shape-shifted into another form. “This is a reminder to us about the changing nature of existence. Neither is better than the other – it’s just a different state of existence. These sculptures remind me that that is so.” King was brought up in London and knew nothing of the natural world until he discovered the “wondrous Australian landscape”.
“I have never lost that profound sense of shift and change it brought into my worldview and my life,” he said. “It dramatically shifted my sense of self. I would like to impart something of that understanding to others through my artwork.” It’s Still Life opens 7-9pm, Friday 5 February, at Lamppost Gallery in the foyer of St James the Less Church, corner Nepean Highway and Koetong Pde, Mt Eliza. It runs until 28 February. Gallery hours are noon-4pm Wednesday to Sunday. Details: follow Lamppost Gallery on Facebook or visit mteliza.melbourneanglican.org.au
Heartless thieves stun the Strikers PENINSULA Strikers soccer club members are still in shock after thieves broke into their clubrooms on New Year’s Eve. President Mark Brandon discovered the break-in at the club’s Centenary Park headquarters on McClelland Drive. “Initially I thought that the attempted break-in had failed but, once police arrived, it became clear what had happened,” Brandon said. “Thieves got in through the roof damaging four separate ceilings, two toilets, the bar and our storeroom. They also removed a safe bolted to a wall and stole its entire contents, leaving us well short of funds for the coming season.” But the theft of charity tins left him shaking his head in disbelief. “My god niece had placed tins in the club to raise funds for her daughter’s fight against brain cancer and, although these tins were well marked, they were stolen as well. “There was a photo album placed in front of the tins and two photos were removed from the album. “It’s one thing for the club to lose money and not have insurance, but to steal money being raised for 10-month-old Aurora Hall is another and I still can’t come to terms with that. “Aurora was diagnosed with cancer at eight months and, since then, doctors have remover 80 per cent of the tumour and the child is undergoing chemotherapy. “Her parents are juggling their jobs with their daughter’s medical treatment and everyday life and now this heartless act.” Detective Senior Sergeant Miro Majstorovic, of Frankston CIU, said it appeared
Shocked: Strikers president Mark Brandon is still coming to grips with the robbery.
the offenders were in the building for some time. “They have gone through the building jemmying internal doors. They have stolen from the safe and also stolen alcohol.” He said police were awaiting forensic results to advance their investigations. The Strikers will again raise money for Aurora at their season launch at Centenary Park on Saturday 27 February. Games will be held 1pm-5pm and, at 5.30pm Frankston mayor Cr James Dooley will open the club’s new training ground extension and floodlights. This will be followed by a game between ex-players and peninsula celebrities. All soccer enthusiasts are encouraged to attend. Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to call Frankston police or Brandon via email at president@ peninsulastrikers.com Craig Mackenzie
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Caring for Children’s feet Celebrating 30 years
Frankston Times 18 January 2016
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