Bernadette Boscacci - Travelling by String Catalogue

BERNADETTE BOSCACCI

16 AUGUST - 22 SEPTEMBER 2019 UMBRELLA STUDIO CONTEMPORARY ARTS TEMPORARY GALLERY SPACE DOWNSTAIRS, 380 FLINDERS ST, TOWNSVILLE

BERNADETTE BOSCACCI The term Travelling by String refers to an elemental way of being and moving through the world. It can be compared to that of following The Tao - going with the flow and practising the art of living.1 With this philosophy in mind and using a process-based, wabi-sabi aesthetic, Boscacci has created an environment of objects and images which reflects her own creative journey, deep love of nature and cultural experience.

The artist weaves together a myriad of materials to create an installation of works that present raw, intricate, whimsical and sometimes critical observations of mortality, the contemporary world and her place in it. Many of the works evolved in response to life events and personal insights.

Her work playfully mines the metaphysical and entropic interface between discarded objects from human activity, found natural materials and her contemplations of life / death, ecology and connectivity. This exhibition marks 20 years since Bernadette returned to live and work in Townsville, and 20 years since her first solo exhibition at Umbrella Studio.

Above: Chariot and beast, 2017-19, mixed media, 60 x 22 x 20cm Top Right: Cupid 1, Macropod, 2018, bones, adhesives, leather and inks, variable dimensions.

Bottom Right: Fisty Cuffs (standing my ground), 2019, bone, plaster, steel, rubber, leather, electrical cord, 100 x 32 x 15cm Front cover image: Mapping Strange Attractors _ determining chaos, 2014, chinagraph pencil, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 172cm 1 “The art of living is, thus, an art of the most mundane, modest (and, thus, also truest) moments in our lives.�

Crispin Sartwell, The Art of Living, Aesthetics of the Ordinary in World Spiritual Traditions. State University of New York Press, 1995.

Travelling by String: • is living in the present as process • there is no conscious point of commencement • just pick up a thread and go from there • the key to travelling is to make a start and continue • knots may arise or be made at any time along the way • time spent unravelling is inevitable • unpick any knots that limit one’s ability to move forward • some knots are helpful and add to the strength of the line • bind tightly that which needs to be held fast • fix your binds to points of stability • one thread will lead you and may lead you to others

Cartography of the heart - this country that leads me back home to myself, 2011-2018, mixed media on board, 120 x 90 cm

• it isn’t necessary to follow only one thread • it is possible to follow and lead simultaneously • from time to time, loosen the cords for flow to happen • integrate loops, they’re fun and can be integral to structure • pay attention to form and detail during the journey • observe and consider the warp, work your weft amongst it • follow the path of least resistance • be opportunistic and make the most of the spaces in between • maintain a view to the expanse - the overall fabric • being on the path is the goal • weave with intent and awareness.

Plugged in – Communication overload (detail), 2019, plastics, canvas & timber frame, 60 x 180 x 25cm

Figures in the landscape survivors of the 6th major extinction hanging on by a thread Transmorphic bodies ‘bots and biological mutations walled in this garden meta morphosis momento mori Contemporary fragments drawn from the environment salvaged from the world at large.

I piece them together, parts of things discarded or dropped.

Small forms manifest and entice us to read deeper, darker stories and solicitudes Sprites, beasts, heroines and villains mythical beings, both nefarious and benign Snap shots, souvenirs remnants of the past metamorphosis momento mori 2018

Above LTR: Spike, 2018; Tree Hollows, 2001-19; Widow’s basket, 2017; Damsel in distress (whoopsy faery), 2018; H-bomb - doughboy, 2017; Burnt baby, 2019; Turtle boy - enamoured, 2017.

Overleaf back cover: Bone bridge (detail), 2000 – 2019, bones, rope and copper coated wire, dimensions variable.

Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts Open Add Tel Web

Mon-Fri 9-5 / Sun 9-1 380 Flinders St, Townsville 4772 7109 www.umbrella.org.au

Umbrella Studio is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, and the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, state and territory governments.