EMILY VALENTINE

Bullburra (2015)

feathers, mixed media, size: 185 x 265 x 170 mm

Peacat (2015)

peacock feathers, mixed media, size: 160 x 250 x 200 mm

Woompoo Pup (2015)

wompoo fruit dove feathers, mixed media, size: 165 x 280 x 210 mm

Casella (2015)

rosella feathers, mixed media, size: 200 x 90 x 240 mm

Owlmatian (2015)

barking owl feathers, mixed media, size: 340 x 220 x 180 mm

Spancock (2014) peacock feathers, mixed media, size: 355 x 360 x 250 mm

Springsella (2015)

rosella feathers, mixed media, size: 250 x 220 x 115 mm

Pussikeet (2014) lorikeet feathers, mixed media, size: 350 x 135 x 80 mm

Bitsy Boy (2014) mixed feathers, mixed media, size: 215 x 140 x 110 mm

Wood Duck Plane (2015) brown wood duck feathers, mixed media, size: 430 x 400 x 105 mm

Wattle Lizard (2015)

wattle feathers, mixed media, size: 250 x 210 x 65 mm

Fruit Dove Lizard (2015) fruit dove feathers, mixed media, size: 250 x 190 x 55 mm

EmilyValentine’shybridbeastsareunnervingandstrangelyfamiliar.

Atoncebeautifulanddiscombobulating,Valentineposesriddlesandserious questions,buildingvisualdilemmaandacuteparadox.

Herworksreferenceancientmyths,whereanimalstraversedspecies, reachedacrosstimeandweretheembodimentofgreatthreatandimmortal legend.Valentinealsoactivelydebatestheconflictsoftechnologytoday, speciesthreatandenvironmentaldegradation.

Eachofthewondrousstatuetteshasbeenadornedwithfeathersand transformedintosomethingthatisbetweenspecies.Memory,suggestionand factareinthiswaysubvertedanddeliberatelymixedup.Whatisit?Whatare welookingat?Theartisticobjectiveistodisconcertandinthatprocessforge newawareness,demandquestionsandelicitexplicitresponses.

Andyetnothingisasitatfirstseems.Theseareworkswithsignificantemotive presencetooandValentineusesgaze,feelingandconsciousnesstoaddress theviewerdirectly.Theyarebeguiling,beautifulandalarming,allatonce.

Theunforgettableworksin Queens Down demonstrateValentine’s transformativeabilitytoimbueheranimalswithpersonalityandcharacter, whileclothingthemwithimprobabilityandthelayereddynamicofmyth.In thatprocess,shesuspendsdisbelief,isenormouslyinventiveandposesvery importantquestionsofusall

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

EMILY VALENTINE

b. New Zealand, lives Australia

EmilyValentine:Pomerooster(2013)

A sense of the mythical surrounds the hybrid beasts created by Emily Valentine. Cats and dogs sprout wings and feathery pelts, drawing to mind the sphinxes and gryphons that populate tales from ancient history. Cyborg bird-planes bring new meanings to the phrase ‘wonderful flying machines’, drawing together science-fiction elements with Valentine’s investigations into the place of animals in a world dominated by mankind and technology.

As well as commercially available feathers, Valentine does not shy away from using road-kill, commenting that “a driver’s right to use the road is a given. Animal and bird kill barely rates a mention.” (1) She has also trapped Indian mynah birds, a registered pest species, to make feathered warplanes as a commentary on invasive species. With animals still exploited for their fur and feathers, Valentine questions the way we view them – what makes one a commodity, one a pest, and another a pet?

Using ready-made statuettes as a base, Valentine produces new combinations that are unnerving yet strangely familiar. Whereas the markings of Lying Loripuss bring to mind any number of everyday moggies, the work is resplendent in emerald and orange lorikeet feathers and features a pair of wings tucked against the body.

Born in New Zealand and now resident in Australia, Valentine studied Jewellery and Object Design at the Sydney College of the Arts, gaining her Bachelor’s degree in 1987. A regular exhibitor in both Australia and New Zealand, she started working with feathers in 1999 when she produced Road Kill, a pair of shoes made from a lorikeet that had been killed by a car. Budgerigar Brassiere, featuring her own dead budgies, won the ‘Bizarre Bra’ section at the prestigious New Zealand World of Wearable Arts in 2002.

1.Artist’sstatement,2013.

EDUCATION

1984-87

EMILY VALENTINE

b. New Zealand, lives Australia

Bachelor of Arts, Sydney College of the Arts majoring in Jewellery & Object Design

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2015 Queens Down, milford galleries queenstown

2014 Feathered Finery, Solander Gallery, Wellington

Feathered Friends, Online Exhibition, Jas Hugonnet Gallery, Australia

Feathery Friends, Manning Regional Gallery, Taree, Australia

2013 Feather Fantastic, J Online Exhibition, Jas Hugonnet Gallery, Australia

Feather Fanciest, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland

Feathers Are My Paint, Zimmerman Art Gallery, Palmerston North

2012 Feather Fancier, Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga

Feather Flings, Online Exhibition, Jas Hugonnet Gallery, Australia

2011 Flying Forward, Online Exhibition, Jas Hugonnet Gallery, Australia

2010 Feather Fancy, Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui

Flying Flings, Craft ACT: Craft & Design Centre, Canberra, Australia

2009 Dog the Bird, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland

Dogs and Dolls, Hunter TAFE, Newcastle, Australia

Mynah Messiah, Tin Sheds Gallery, University of Sydney, Australia

2007 Flown To, Pataka, Porirua, Wellington

2006 Flown, Quoil Gallery, Wellington

Exciting, Exsighting, Exsiting! A-Space, Sydney, AUS

2002 City Edge, Enmore Theatre, Sydney, Australia

2001 City Edge, Enmore Theatre, Sydney, Australia

2000 Edged Over, Tapp Gallery, Sydney, Australia

City Edge, Enmore Theatre, Sydney, Australia

1999 Sole to Soul, Walking the Streets, Sydney, Australia

1998 Beaded Booty, Shopfront Gallery, Sydney, Australia

1996 Objects & Old Lace, Shopfront Gallery, Sydney, Australia

1994 Wood a Feather Have a Bone, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

1993 Sole to Soul, Walking the Streets, Sydney, Australia

1992 Collidscape Airspace, Redfern, Sydney, Australia

1991 Burning Bush, Bounty Gallery, Glebe, Sydney, Australia

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2014 The Review, milford galleries Queenstown

Quintessentially Queer; Quriouser and Quriouser, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Newtown, Australia

2013 Spring Catalogue, milford galleries Queenstown

Maxius Minimus, Defiance Gallery, Newtown, Australia

Birds, Birds, Birds, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland

Don’t Shoot the Messenger, Solander Gallery, Wellington

Back to the USSR, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Newtown, Australia

2012 Tiny Tatans and Miniliths, Defiance Gallery, Newtown, Australia

A Time of Gifts, Stanley St Gallery, Sydney, Australia

Animals, Syndicate at Danks, Waterloo, Australia

Exploration 12, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

A4 – Smallworks, Glass Artist Gallery, Glebe, Australia

2011 Christmas Show, Wilson St Gallery, Sydney, Australia

Animal Instincts, Glass Artist Gallery, Glebe, Australia

Mini Majors, 16th Miniature Sculpture Exhibition, Defiance Gallery, Newtown, Australia

Manning Art Prize, Manning Regional Gallery, Taree, Australia

Game On, Hastings City Art Gallery, Hastings Flight, Salmagundi Gallery, Arncliffe, Australia

2010-11

Creatures Great and Small, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland

Art and Humour Me, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, Australia

Animal Collective Nouns, Gaffa Gallery, Sydney, Australia

Doggie Dogma, A-Space Gallery, Sydney, Australia

Excessory – Contemporary Australian Jewellery, Museums & Galleries NSW touring exhibition curated by Sarah Samild, Manly Art Gallery & Museum; Rockhampton Art Gallery; Grafton Regional Gallery; Goulburn Regional Art Gallery; Yarra Ranges Regional Museum

2010 Little Devils, Defiance Gallery, Newtown, Australia

Green, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, Australia

Celebrating 40 Years of the Alice Prize 1970 – 2010, Northern Territory Craft, Alice Springs, Australia

2008 Private Park, Mary Newton Gallery, Wellington

Pouch, A-Space Gallery, Sydney, Australia

What Touched My Soul, MAD Gallery, Sydney, Australia

2007 One Small Step for Mankind, Defiance Gallery, Newtown, Australia

Pocket Sculptures, A-Space Gallery, Sydney, Australia

Curios, Contemporary Jewellery, Redlands Regional Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia

Weird, Wild and Wonderful, A-Space Gallery, Sydney, Australia

Norsewear New Zealand Contemporary Art Award, Exhibition Centre, Hastings

Exploration: Contemporary Jewellery, Gaffa Galley, Sydney, Australia

Black and White, Glass Artist Gallery, Glebe, Australia

2006 Canine Capers, A-Space Gallery, Sydney, Australia

JOC (Jewellery out of Contex), touring exhibition curated by Peter Deckers & Sandra Shaw to Sydney, Auckland, Hallifax, Canada & Europe

4th Annual Dog Exhibition, A-Space Gallery, Sydney, Australia

2005 Junk Love, Reverse Garbage, Sydney, Australia

2004-05

29th Alice Springs Acquisition Award, Northern Territory Craft, Australia

Anti-War Medals, Touring exhibition organised by Velet da Vinci, San Francisco, USA.

Travelling to Oslo, Copenhagen, Valencia & London

Melding, Touring exhibition of eight Regional Australian Galleries curated; Jenny Williams and Emily Bullock.

2003 National Contemporary Jewellery Award, Griffith Regional Gallery, Australia

World of Wearable Art, Nelson

2002 28th Alice Springs Acquisition Award, Northern Territory Craft, Australia

World of Wearable Art, Nelson

Junk Love, Reverse Garbage, Sydney, Australia

National Contemporary Jewellery Award, Griffith Regional Gallery, Australia

2001 Contemporary Jewellery and Metalwork, Makers Mark, Sydney, Australia

27th Alice Springs Acquisition Award, Northern Territory Craft, Australia

Sites of Adornment, Doggett St Studio, Brisbane, Australia

5th National Contemporary Jewellery Award, Griffith Regional Gallery, Australia

1998 Momento, Makers Mark, Sydney, Australia

1996 4th National Contemporary Jewellery Award, Griffith Regional Gallery, Australia

Headfirst, Craftwest, Perth, Australia

1995 3rd National Contemporary Jewellery Award, Griffith Regional Gallery, Australia

Ceremony, Holsworth Gallery, Sydney, Australia

Clockworks, Cornucopia, Sydney, Australia

Up Front, Door Gallery, Perth, Australia

1993 Four Elements, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney, Australia

1992 Collidescape, Airspace, Sydney, Australia

1990 Wearable Glass, Glass Artist Gallery, Sydney, Australia

1998 Graduate Metal, Craft Council of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

1986 Blake Prize, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney, Australia

AWARDS

2014 World of Wearable Art, WOW Factor Prize, Wellington

2013 Marrickville Art Seat, Petersham NSW Australia

2011 Residency Gunyah Cottage, Fries Trust, North Arm Cove, Australia

The Cat Advocate Prize for Emerging artist, Mini Majors, Defiance Gallery

2010 Residency Tylee House, Sargeant Gallery, Whanganui

2007 30th Alice Springs Acquisition Award, Northern Territory Craft Award Merit award (1 of 3) Norseweart, NZ Contemporary Art Award 2007 2004-05 Vision Grant, Australian Federal Government 2004/05, for co-curating Melding a Contemporary Jewellery Exhibition to tour 8 regional galleries in Australia, and to produce a catalogue.

2001 Mac's Bizarre Bra, World of Wearable Arts, Nelson

2000 Most Innovative Work, Marker Mark, Sydney, Australia

COLLECTIONS

The Dowse Art Museum

The James Wallace Arts Trust

Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui

National Library of Australia

Northern Territory Art Gallery, NT Australia

Worldofwearableart Museum, Nelson

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2011 Radio review on Kim Hill’s show, Art with Mary Kisler Sat am 19.02.2011

2010 Norris, Yolande, The Feathered Familiar, Exhibition Essay Flying Flings Craft ACT: Craft & Design Centre, Canberra, 12 February – 20 March 2010

2010 Cover photo on Art Zone No 37 Nov 2010 - Feb 2011 ISSN; 1176-3752

2008 Curtin, Jennie, A Feather of Fine Works, Thanks to Mynas, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 December 2008

EmilyValentine:LyingLoripuss(2013)