Michael Doolan: Stories with Endings Changed

Michael Doolan

Stories with Endings Changed 6 – 22nd December 2018

STORIES WITH ENDINGS CHANGED I often question why certain images and objects unexpectedly prompt me to experience strange and unsettling feelings of both familiarity and unfamiliarity, leaving me in a “known past that unfolds in my memory and an evolving present.” Initially, the origins of these feelings were difficult to locate. But over the years I have discovered that many of these uncanny sensations stem from memories of my childhood, where I spent countless hours in the living room of my family home gazing into the glass-fronted cabinet that held my Mother’s cherished collection of small antique glass and ceramic figurines. To my childhood amazement, these carefully arranged collectibles would regularly spring to life. They would tell me stories about their experiences or offer the occasional cautionary note to warn me of the perils of the outside world.

Each silent encounter was like being immersed in an ever evolving, swirling threedimensional narrative, where storylines would suddenly take new and unforeseen directions, and at a moments notice its protagonists would assume altogether different identities, blurring the lines between imagination and reality. This space became the homeland of my imagination, a private place where I could secretly project my deepest wishes and innermost fears to help make sense of the world.

By merging the past within the present through the de- and re-construction of these strange but familiar forms, my aim is that they come alive in an accumulation of contradictions. The uncanny, kaleidoscopic optical effects of their two dimensional mirror surface at play on their three-dimensional form is set to create an immediate sense of disorientation and instill feelings of “intellectual uncertainty” in the onlooker. While the viewer gazes at the work, my intention is that they catch momentary glimpses of themselves as they are reflected in part by the work’s mirrored surfaces. But unlike the mirror, their reflection resonates with qualities associated with the three dimensional as it shifts, distorts, warps and bends both object and viewer as they attempt to fully grasp the work’s “shifting” storyline.

Due to the work’s intimate scale, the viewer’s gaze is reduced to reflected moments of themselves, their immediate surroundings and momentary glances of the unfolding story “duplicated, divided and interchanged.”

Stories with Endings Changed presents a problem. The works disappear and suddenly re-appear. They blur and immediately flash back into focus. Devoid of any immediately perceptible features, these highly reflective, uncanny mirrored protagonists are unsettling to the eye. They enact their beguiling art of seduction as they silently reveal both a known past and an ever-evolving present.

Michael Doolan November, 2018

1. Lynne Cooke, Between Image and Object, Objects and Sculpture, (London and Bristol: ICA, 1981) 34-36.

2. E. Jentsch the initiator of theories regarding the uncanny ascribes the essential factor existent in obtaining a sense of the uncanny to “intellectual uncertainty. Where one would does not know where one is, as it were”. For more see Sigmund Freud, The Uncanny, trans., David McLintock (London: Penguin, 2003), 125.

3. Freud, 142.

Dr Michael Doolan is a Lecturer in Visual Arts and Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney.

Alpine Boy (2018) Ceramic, aluminum, fibre glass and auto enamel 35 x 27 x 20 cm $6,800

Cautionary Note (2018) Ceramic, aluminum, fibre glass and auto enamel 32 x 15 x 15 cm $6,500

Darkness and Light (2018) Ceramic, aluminum, fibre glass and auto enamel 28 x 27 x 20 cm $6,300

Singing Apple (2018) Ceramic, aluminum, fibre glass and auto enamel 33 x 27 x 20 cm $6,800

Speaking Bird (2018) Ceramic, aluminum, fibre glass and auto enamel 26 x 27 x 20 cm $5,900

Story of Trees (2018) Ceramic, aluminum, fibre glass and auto enamel 35 x 27 x 20 cm $6,800

Talking Tree (2018) Ceramic, aluminum, fibre glass and auto enamel 33 x 27 x 20 cm $6,600

CV: Dr Michael Doolan

Educa3on: 2013 PhD Monash University, Victoria, Australia 2001 M.A Monash University, Victoria, Australia 1981 B.A (ceramic design) Monash University, Victoria, Australia

Employment: 2010-18 Lecturer, Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney, NSW 1998-07 Lecturer, Department of Fine Arts, Monash University, Victoria 1992-93 Lecturer, Department of Applied Arts, Monash University, Victoria

Solo Exhibi3ons (Selected): 2017 Michael Doolan, New and Recent Work: Michael Reid, Sydney World without World: Castlemaine Art Museum, Victoria 2015 World within World: Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria 2013 CauWon and Reassurance: BeX Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania Between Wishes and Fears: A Studio InvesWgaWon of the Fairy Tale, MADA Gallery Monash University, Victoria 2012 Between Wishes and Fears: Jan Manton Art, Brisbane, QLD 2011 CauWonary Tales: Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria 2010 Once Upon A Time: FederaWon Square, Melbourne, Victoria 2008 For Ever For Now: Depot Gallery, Sydney, NSW 2007 For Now and For Ever: Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria 2005 Boo Who? Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria Never Ever Land: Academy Gallery, University Of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania 2003 Good as Gold: Brisbane City Gallery, Queensland 2001 The Good the Bad and the Cuddly: Faculty Gallery, Monash University Caulfield, Victoria 2000 SHELF: Crab Victoria, Fitzroy, Victoria 1998 Pharaohs’ PrescripWon: Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne, Victoria

Group Exhibi3ons (Selected): 2018 Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria SPEED: mobility and exchange, Mona Foma, Academy Gallery, the University of Tasmania, Tasmania 2017 Imagined Worlds, City of Glen Eira Art Gallery, Victoria Sob Sculpture, Ipswich Art Gallery, Queensland 2016 Winter Salon, BeX Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria 2015 City of Hobart Art Prize: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria Sculpture from the CollecWon, Ipswich Art Gallery, Ipswich, Queensland 2014 Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria NarraWves of New: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania

CV: Dr Michael Doolan

2013 2012 2011

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Plahorm 2014: Jan Manton Art @ Metro Arts, Brisbane, QLD 12 ArWsts | New Work: Karen Woodbury Gallery, Victoria DomesWc Bliss: Deakin University Art Gallery, Burwood, Victoria In Your Dreams: Counihan Gallery, Brunswick, Victoria House and Home: Margaret Lawrence Gallery, University of Melbourne, Victoria and The Academy Gallery, University of Tasmania, Tasmania City of Hobart Art Prize: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania Jakarta Contemporary Ceramics Biennale: North Space Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia Smash Hits: Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, Victoria Silver: WangaraXa Art Gallery, WangaraXa, Victoria Deakin University Small Sculpture Award: Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria Art for Science: Moss Green Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria NaWonal ArWsts’ Self-Portrait Prize: University of Queensland Art Museum, QLD 25 Years- An Unfolding Journey: BeX Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania Our House: Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, NSW Light Moves: Jan Manton Art, Brisbane, Queensland Think Tank- the Visual Diary/ArWst’s Book: Academy Gallery, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania You’re Move: Australian ArWsts Play Chess, Bendigo Art Gallery, Vic; University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, Qld; McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park, Langwarrin, Vic; Samstag Museum, Adelaide, S.A Melbourne Contemporary Art Fair: Melbourne, Victoria Hobart Art Prize: Tasmania Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania ZEN to KAWAII: THE JAPANESE AFFECT. Queensland University of Technology Museum, Brisbane, QLD KORERO, Taiwan InternaWonal Ceramics Biennale, Yingge Museum, Taipei New AcquisiWons: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania CLASH, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, Newcastle, N.S.W Art for Science, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria Deakin Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, Deakin University, Victoria Hobart Art Prize: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania FiguraWon: Jam Factory, Adelaide, South Australia Trouble in Toyland: Counihan Gallery, Brunswick, Victoria, Australia ConversaWons: BeX Gallery: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Trajectory of Memories: Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Australia Bright and Shiny: Ipswich Art Gallery, Ipswich, Queensland, Victoria Select Gallery ArWsts: Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria Surface (Detail): Newcastle Region Art Gallery, Newcastle, N.S.W Delegates: Snow White Gallery UNITEC, Auckland, New Zealand PLAYTIME: Amusing Melbourne through the ages, City Museum, Melbourne, Victoria McClelland Sculpture Survey: McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park, Langwarrin, Victoria Art for Science: Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria Making and Meaning: Object Gallery, Sydney, NSW BLAST! The influence of Manga and contemporary Japanese culture on Australian arWsts: Redcliffe City Art Gallery, Logan Art Gallery, Queensland

CV: Dr Michael Doolan

Snap Freeze: SWll Life Now. TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria 2006 Strange Cargo: Contemporary art as a state of encounter. Newcastle Region Gallery, Tweed River Regional Gallery, Ipswich Art Gallery, Broken Hill City Art Gallery, Orange Regional Gallery, Bendigo Art Gallery, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery Melbourne Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne, Victoria Sidney Myer InternaWonal Ceramics Award, Shepparton Art Gallery, Victoria 2005 Hobart Art Prize, Museum and Art Gallery of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania Trans Ceramic Art, 3rd World InternaWonal Ceramics Biennale, Seoul, South Korea You’re So Vain, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria 2004 Boogie, Jive and Bop, Plimsol Gallery, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 2003 Hypercrabing, Faculty Gallery, Monash University, Caulfield, Victoria, Australia Gold Coast InternaWonal Ceramics Award, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland 2001 Friend of the Family, Discreet Projects, Arts Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria 2000 The Good the Bad and the Cuddly, Faculty Gallery, Monash University Caulfield, Victoria 1999 Contemporary Australian Crab, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, NSW. Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Takaoka Art Museum and Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Otsu, Japan Space & Time, Faculty Gallery, Monash University, Victoria 1998 Sidney Myer InternaWonal Ceramic Award, (Winner of Premier Award), Shepparton Art Museum, Victoria IMPACT: Art for a World IdenWty, Monash University Museum of Art, Victoria 1997 Auto Art, NaWonal Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria Sidney Myer Fund, InternaWonal Ceramic Award, Shepparton Art Museum, Victoria 1996 ArWsts at Ord Minet: Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne, Victoria BOX: Next Wave FesWval, Crab Victoria Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria NaWonal Crab AcquisiWon Award, Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory 1995 Delinquent Angel: Australian Contemporary Ceramics. Museum of InternaWonal Ceramics, Faenza, Italy, touring Japan, Singapore and Australia 4th InternaWonal Ceramics CompeWWon, Mino, Japan The Object Sublime, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne, Victoria Sidney Myer Fund Australia Day Award, Shepparton Art Museum, Victoria

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