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BONANZA 18 1
CSA
BONANZA 2018. Curated by Lee-Ann Joy Publication by the Contemporary Sculptors Association (CSA) Operating at the Yarra Sculpture Gallery (YSG) 117 Vere Street Abbottsford VIC 3067 Australia www.yarrasculpturegallery.com Chair Lee-Ann Joy Vice-Chair Anna Prifti Members Giordano Biondi Monique Lacey Antonia Goodfellow Lizzy Simpson Nat Grant
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We would like to acknowledge the City of Yarra for their ongoing support.
Publication Design and Production: Lee-Ann Joy Publication Development: Giordano Biondi Content: Artist statements provided by the artists in BONANZA 2018 - no edits. COPYRIGHT: InText Pty Ltd. Cover Image: Amanda Page 2018 Winner of CSA Award
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Contents FOREWORD
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JUDGES
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AWARDS
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CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
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ARTWORKS
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CSA
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Foreword BONANZA is our much-admired annual exhibition for the members of the Contemporary Sculptors Association (CSA), to come together to celebrate and showcase their latest works, ideas and inspirations at the Yarra Sculpture Gallery (YSG). The exhibition provides awards to artists by acknowledging their achievement, dedication and enthusiasm for sculpture, installation and spatial arts practice, that has become synonymous to the gallery since 1992. BONANZA 2018 was my first exhibition as Chair and my first opportunity to work with such an exceptional and dedicated team of artists, who were there to offer hands on support, to bring the exhibition into a success. Their professional capacity was outstanding, and I extend a warm thanks, to those involved. As 2018 ends, we look back and comprehend the sheer capacity of willpower to operate the Yarra Sculpture Gallery, and the good fortune to keep and accumulate members, dedicated to keeping the gallery alive and moving forward in a positive direction. Thank you to the CSA Committee, who in 2019 will be working with me to achieve bigger and better milestones. Thank you to the City of Yarra – all those brilliant people, from different departments, who have been in full support of YSG and continue to assist in improving the gallery. Lastly, a big thanks to you, our members and friends, who through your sheer love and passion for art, the CSA, and the YSG, have made BONANZA one of the best exhibition celebrations in Melbourne. Lee-Ann Joy Chair, Gallery Manager
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CSA
Judges A special thanks to our 2018 guest judges, who filled the gallery with rigorous debate, laughter, exceptional good will, and an expert eye.
Anouska Phizacklea Director of Monash Gallery of Art www.mga.org.au Dr Ewan Jarvis Curator of Yering Station Art Gallery www.yering.com/visit-yering-station/art-gallery Fady Hachem Director of Hachem Architects hachem.com.au Rebecca Daff Senior Associate of Future Space www.futurespace.com.au
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Awards Contemporary Sculptors Association Award Amanda Page S1000 p10 Yarra Sculpture Gallery Award Sarina Lirosa $700 p16 Encouragement Award $300 Highly Commended Prize Voucher
Anita Bozic p28
Yering Stations Sculpture Prize Auto entry
Andrew Paul Smith p26
West End Art Space Prize Free exhibition
Cetta Pilati p54
Subscription Award Publication
Lee-Ann Joy p74
Donal Molloy-Drum p14
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Contributing Artists Penny Algar, Louis Balis, Giordano Biondi, Helen Braun, Heinz Boeck, Cliff Burtt, Katy Bowman, Pip Byrne, Aneta Bozic, Kerry Cannon, Betty Collier, VĂŠronique Derville, Tanja George, Linda Oy Ho, Andrea Hughes, Lee-Ann Joy, Monique Lacey, Sarina Lirosi, Rachel Mackay, Oliver Ashworth-Martin, Julian Di Martino, DĂłnal Molloy-Drum, Rebecca Monaghan, Amanda Page, Milos Pelikan, Cetta Pilati, Anna Prifti, Pamela Rataj, Cezary Stulgis, Andrew Paul Smith, Robert Waghorn, and Kerrie Warren.
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Their Art
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CSA
Amanda Page Falling Away (Fragility) and (Loss) Plaster, wood, wax, resin, aluminium, concrete. 10 x 10 x 30 cm $950.00 each
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AMANDA PAGE In capturing and recording changes of state in materials and processes, this artist makes works about transformation. Phenomena and the coalescing and dissipation of natural systems are investigated. Change is explored as a universal condition that connects all matter. Falling Away records erosion and references fragility, loss and impermanence. The works developed from observing ice formations around Antarctica and Iceland.
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Julian Di Martino Take Another Path, 2018 Wood, concrete, rope. 120 x 150 x 170 cm $1500.00
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JULIAN DI MARTINO I encounter turn-up footpaths, fluorescent flags, warning signs, safety barriers, holes in the road, covens of witch’s hats, and countless bollards in an increasingly congested and over-controlled city. Half of these safety devices seem to be knocked over or flapping wildly in the wind creating more confusion. Sadly, the solution to the horrific use of vehicles as a weapon is more bollards, more channelling of pedestrians, less open space and less freedom to aimlessly wander. The title with what may be the primary value of the artist, that is, a disconnection from society. The artist can stand back, take a long look and seek an alternative route.
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Donal Molloy-Drum Island Light II, 2018 Stainless steel, wood, brass, veneer. 80 x 33 x 15 cm $6600.00
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DONAL-MOLLOY-DRUM Influenced by Celtic art at the National Museum of Ireland and a childhood fed on myth and legend, has my work etched with traditional symbols – the most potent for me being that of the boat. Drawn by its volume, clean line and simple shape, the image is a metaphor for journey’s both physical and spiritual. While retaining such symbolism, my work has evolved to reflect the different environment of Australia. Living under the vast sky of the Wimmera, my sculptures and medium have become lighter and more refined. The open space and quality of light, give crispness to shadow and silhouette. Fleeting visual moments – a tree at dusk, a shadow on the wall or a passing raven – become part of the passage of time and the imagery conveyed through my sculptures. From initial notebook sketches, cut-outs and photographs, I develop an idea with a chalk drawing on my workshop floor, shapes and lines are then fabricated into a three-dimensional work. Quite often a sculpture evolves from an offcut of previous work with a negative space of one piece shaping the form of another. Working in this way I am looking to further develop, through my sculpture, the symbolic imagery of my past with the impressions of the landscape in which I now live.
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Sarina Lirosi Mass I Ceramic, mixed media. 22 cm diameter $660.00
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SARINA LIROSI The artist Alberto Giacometti said “The more I work, the more I see things differently; that is, everything gains in grandeur every day, becomes more and more unknown, more and more beautiful. The closer I come, the grander it is, the more remote it is.� J. Lord, Giacometti: A Biography, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, NY, 1997. Nature can be extraordinarily beautiful and terrifying at the same time. In many instances, it can be alluring; yet its capriciousness can also make us apprehensive,anxious, and feel rather insignificant. In this brute physical world, where death is an ever-present possibility, I am strangely comforted by the knowledge that we are all just a collection of subatomic particles and that our experiences are created by a series of chemical reactions. This work is part of an ongoing exploration of nature and my dichotomous relationship with it.
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Cliff Burtt Fibonacci Rationonmeter No.3 Steel. 36 x 42 x 8cm $POA
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CLIFF BURTT Perhaps it’s a matter of proportion. In any case, how do we get the message of things, time. space. Being.
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Rebecca Monaghan Palette: Pink to Blue, 2018 Acrylic paint on board. 70 x 71.5 cm $1380.00
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REBECCA MONAGHAN ‘Palette’ refers to a flat surface for mixing colours, a subset of colours, and a range of tones in a musical score. These concurrent meanings correspond to the integral position palettes hold in my practice; as a surface for experimenting with the impact of shape and relative position and proportion on the perception of individual colour blocks and colour combinations. Palettes form part of my developing theory into the hermeneutics (interpretation) of colour that draws on the work of Wassily Kandinsky, who viewed colours as having their own personalities (or even psychopathologies), and the work of Claude Debussy, whose orchestral compositions enhanced the inherent quality of musical instruments to create a perceptible structure, an experiential journey filled with tonal colour.
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Robert Waghorn Dark Matter Mixed media. 69 x 46 x 20 cm $1800.00
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ROBERT WAGHORN Anubis points at Ra in anger as there is chaos and order in the cosmos.
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Pip Byrne Landscape 3 Clay. 16 x 11 x 5 cm $210.00
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PIP BYRNE Landscape 3 is part of an unfolding and ongoing body of work that encapsulates a process of movement and change, growth and unravelling. The work reflects the inner search for direction by peeling back layers to an elemental core. Applying a technique of carving into leather-hard clay to form each landscape, the creation of this work itself is a meditation that provides me with a sense of clarity and gives a voice to my thoughts. In this way, these are the works I make when I can’t decide what to make, yet they embody the most meaning. Each piece is fired, but unglazed, speaking of the developmental nature of the body of work.
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CSA
Andrew Paul Smith Timepiece, 2018 Reinforced plaster. 35 x 37 x 10 cm $650.00
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ANDREW PAUL SMITH In this sculpture titled: Timepiece, I’ve incorporated the hearth, clock and steps and planet earth. The hearth represents a place of domestic and social gathering, while the steps suggest a cycle of growth and levels of understanding, throughout our life during our time here on earth.
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Aneta Bozic Assemblage II: Transition, 2018 Organic materials of bone, leaves, pods combined with wire, paper, paint on board. 100 x 40 x 20 cm $250.00
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ANETA BOZIC Assemblage II: Transition is a reworking of previous work within an ongoing series under the broad concept of unNatural Hybrids. This particular sub-series continues to explore the process of deconstructing, combining and merging elements from the animal, vegetable and mineral worlds to create unique ensembles. Assemblage II is an evolution from the first creation, transitioning into something new. This modification removes elements from the old and brings together new elements to compliment the previous primary components. Using predominately organic materials of bones, leaves, and pods, these combine with wire, paper and paint, sometimes seamlessly, other times exposing the transitions from one element to another. These components are scavenged and foraged, manipulated and brought together in an organic way, allowing for another unique combination to emerge.
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Kerrie Warren Private Garden, 2018 Stoneware ceramics, gold leaf, timber pedestals. 2 x 2 sqm $9500.00
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KERRIE WARREN Private Garden 2018 consists of five stoneware ceramic flowers (wheel thrown and sculpted) that rest upon found and inherited timber pedestals which not only act as stems to support the flower head, but as symbols to acknowledge my own work resting upon the foundation of others.
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Monique Lacey (L to R) Over the Hill, Blackened, Black Box, 2018 Materials. 16 x 16 x 11 cm $950 each
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MONIQUE LACEY An ongoing tension between the legacy of de Stijl and Geometric Formalism, manifest in a sense of restraint and matter-of-factness, and the embrace of a baroqueness of surfaces is a driving force in the practice. The work attempts to investigate how ascetic restraints can be pushed against to reveal complexity of both surface and form, all the while remaining indebted to that asceticism
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Lee-Ann Joy Discourse II Dc motor, sink, plug, water. 180 x 60 x 60 cm $NFS
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LEE-ANN JOY A continuation of exploring the domesticity of the home and the application of fittings and fixtures as a form of art.
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Giordano Biondi The Folds, 2018 Mixed fabric. 1x2x2m $NFS
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GIORDANO BIONDI THE FOLDS is a homage to the blankets, sheets and covers that contain, hide and protect ourselves and our material possessions. The cloth from which they are made, natural or synthetic, takes the form of our bodies, and wields to our weight and our movement; it also subtly confuses our shape, protects us from night fears, maintaining warmth and isolating us from us from the outside. Our sheets don’t hold stable shapes and forms, and are intended to adapt to the wearer, a thin veil that hides our nudity, and provides a filter between us and the surrounding environment. The featured installation will instead present them as free-standing sculptural forms, that contain nothing and are nothing but themselves, a sculpture of folds, crevices, and protruding elements that hold themselves in place (no wireframe or hidden support whatsoever). A collection of spectral forms that hide or wrap nothing, a hint at the absence and ultimate irrelevance of the human form as the necessary shaping agent for the army of blankets and sheets we all possess.
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Katy Bowman Caress, 2018 Glass dome with wooden base, soap, soap fragments, felt. 24.5 x 20 cm $NFS
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KATY BOWMAN Colour materiality and form are my overriding concerns in a practice that encompasses a range of interests and approaches including site responsive interventions, installation, found object assemblage, embroidery and collage. I use recycled, domestic and light industrial materials to investigate a range of formal and conceptual concerns including light, perception and materiality to imaginatively and physically engage the viewer in an experience and awareness of the relationships between objects, time and space. Ideas of thresholds, membranes and veiling are considered in installation works that explore temporality and transition and reference soft sculpture, minimalism and the monochrome. Caress explores ideas around time, form and transformation. Collected over a period of 18 years these soap fragments form a record of my daily ritual of bathing and were formed from repeatedly caressing my body. The washed-out colour palette is reminiscent of bones which references the body which the soap was used to caress.
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Betty Collier Bird of Prey, 2015 Pilba jade on granite. 38 x 43 x 36 cm $3500.00
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BETTY COLLIER Bird of Prey is Pilbra Jade sits watching, waiting for the opportune moment to accomplish his mission. Strength, endurance, cunning and alertness being his trademarks.
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CSA
Tanja George ‘Untitled’ Stainless steel, black marble. 25 x 35 x 10 cm $NFS
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TANJA GEORGE “Untitled” is a very personal piece. When my father died I could not express and process my grief artistically - it took more than two years to respond creatively. What finally got me started was this commission: to make an award trophy for my father’s foundation. The inspiration behind the shape in “Untitled” is my father’s very expressive handwriting. The soft and playful form, which was one part of his personality, contrasts the choice of material (hand driven stainless steel), which is meant to represent the strength of my father’s convictions.
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Penny Algar Safe Haven, 2017/18 Ceramic. 90 x 30 cm $NFS
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PENNY ALGAR Safe Haven is a work in progress. It comprises scores of small hand-formed bisque fired hollow ceramic dome shapes. These are made up from handmade minute mini ceramic bricks. The work is designed to eventually be placed in the landscape on the ground at a property in northern Victoria. It is hoped that the architectonic forms might offer a degree of safe haven for small organisms escaping the ravaging summer heat under climate change. The final work will comprise many hundreds of elements of varying sizes with the tallest not more than 12cm high.
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Rachel Mackay Plastic meets Cardboard, 2018 Plastic, cardboard. 60 x 40 x 40 cm $NFS
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RACHEL MACKAY The artist’s work provides a commentary of everyday life and reflection between the natural world and its modern development. This sculpture titled ‘Plastic Meets Cardboard’ is made exclusively from plastic shopping bags and commercial packing boxes, to contrast the qualities of each material. The neutral coloured cardboard is derived from trees and the natural world, whereas the plastic characterised an artificial substance that is an unsustainable pollutant. The artwork relates to the supermarket removal of single-use plastic bags.
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Anna Prifti QUATERNION – Sacrifice is a dirty word Wood, plastic, fabric, polyurethane. 25 x 25 x 40 cm $NFS
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ANNA PRIFTI ‘Quaternion- Sacrifice is a dirty word’ is a maquette from the ongoing series of sculptures called “We don’t need another hero’. The ‘white chiton’ formed by cascading water washing the souls, left in limbo over purgatory, draws reference to all the years I spent on scaffoldings, in Europe and Australia, while restoring murals paintings in churches. Surrounded by awe-inspiring history and legend, I can’t help but think of a compelling fact that springs in mind…in one word…Sacrifice. History is overfilled with wars, legends and heroes and I believe that there’s no room for one more. In my art practice, while influenced by the coded language of the ancient Byzantine times and Greco-Roman antiquity, I try to express a metaphysical element through organic shapes. They become a channel for expression and contemplation of different forms of energy in connection with a different ‘other world’.
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Helen Braun Linear, 2018 Glass, paper, Acrylic. 90 x 30 x 25 cm $POA
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HELEN BRAUN Decay, florescence, strength, fragility and the interdependence between all species within the natural world call attention to creative curiosity. In extension, processes and investigations involving art, science, place, act as intertwining lines of connective force for exploring nature’s persistent awe and wonderment.
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Oliver Ashworth-Martin Traces (v), 2017 Concrete on wooden base. 39 x 13 x 13 cm $1800.00
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OLIVER ASHWORTH-MARTIN The native seed pods of Australia have become a central theme in my work. Not only do they house and protect the multitude of new life, they also symbolise nature’s continuous cycle of renewal and growth. These forms represent an endless flow of life coming into form, moving through form and leaving form. My work transcends the everyday/mundane natural objects that we find scattering the land, and re-awakens a fascination with our natural world. When we become aware and mindful of our environment we see that what has always seemed so natural reveals how wondrously supernatural it really is. Through a process of magnification, abstraction and intervention upon the native pods, I am showing the unfathomable complexity and depth of the natural world, while simultaneously pointing to the impermanence and entropy within all forms. Both my sculptural and two-dimensional practice are investigations into the timeless and formless intelligence within nature.
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Cetta Pilati Happiness is the Way, 2018 Mild steel. 140 x 60 x 80 cm $POA
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CETTA PILATI Happiness is the Way is associated with a new series of metal artworks I am currently creating titled The Cellular Series. They are in response to reading a friend’s findings titled THE BIOLOGY OF CHANGE: from DNA to HAPPINESS. As I read, I began to understand we can change our DNA on a cellular level to create happiness. The sequence of cells presented in this work offers a path to the possibility of such a change.
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CSA
Louis Balis Ekphrasis: lapsing into meaningless Plywood, pine. 20 x 80 x 60 cm $NFS
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LOUIS BALIS This works explores structure through play.
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Cezary Stulgis PDLSeries 2, model 1 5mm steel wire, primer, enamel paint. 90 x 83 x 40 cm $3500.00
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CEZARY STULGIS Exploring a verity off shapes with in the dog framework series. In this case a miniature Poodle, exaggerating the spherical structure off the Poodle’s sculpted fur. An organic honeycomb method of building was implemented in this work in order to achieve a cloud like, bubble effect in a slightly abstract feel.
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Linda Oy Ho Light the Way Home Wood, ceramic, clear quartz crystal, resin, enamel paint. 200 x 150 x 200 cm $NFS
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LINDA-OY-HO May freedom, Walk every woman, Home safe, To sleep. May light shine, Upon dark nights, May justice, Echo for evermore. Committed crimes, Have nowhere to hide, For collective voices, Create great change. In tribute to Eurydice Dixon. On 13 June 2018, Eurydice Dixon, 22, an aspiring comedian was raped and murdered in Princess Hill Park. Before her death, she messaged her boyfriend, “I’m almost home safe.” In this work, the clear quartz crystal represents the light and conversation her tragic death raises about violence against women, and how it is men – not women – who need to change. On average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner.1 In Buddhism, the lotus flower represents purity of body, speech and mind. May all ages of men be educated to respect women. May men find their way ‘home’ within so women arrive and live at home safely. The gold skeletal hand represents the precious women’s lives murdered and/or subjected to violence. These women who were/are loved mothers, wives, partners, daughters, sisters and friends.
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Heinz Boeck A Cranked up Quadrant Deck, 2018 Wood, metal, rubber, plywood, plastic, paint, mdf. 1.8 x 2.0 x 00 x 0.7 m $900.00
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HEINZ BOECK Rubberoo-Mike, the chief transfer man governs the signal box operations. Now cranking up the quadrant deck. Do approach with caution! We met the madam down the road, sir, & she said we might look around a bit, then quit. Quick! eat that rare fruit and away from here. A bitter, yellow lemon is yours for now. The failures around us lie dismally deep. Methodology: Pushing for the invention of unknown visions by juggling unconventional forms - provoking uncertainties, mysteries and doubts. No resolution or specific solution, allusion for the sake of interrogation. Making a committed gesture to take things further.
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Pamela Rataj Baum Glass, ink, leather, mirror, wire. 30 x 20 x 20 cm $7000.00
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PAMELA RATAJ The works investigate a shift between and possible merging of opposites: of intellect and intuition. Processes and the resonance amid materials, between their inherent properties and historical associations, are fundamental to this investigation. I use both found objects, which carry a historical connotation, and purposely chosen materials that evoke the significance behind each piece and propel this dialogue. In an era of ceaseless change that increasingly envelops itself in an ahistorical “now�, these works question the value of being aware that we are connected to deeper layers of time, history and experience, and that we are not just formed by our individual lives. They investigate materiality and processes as ways to maintain this connection.
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Kerry Cannon Aussie Rules, 2018 Bronze. 50 x 40 x 24 cm $4600.00
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KERRY CANNON From the Changelings series: The Changelings are amongst us. As long as we keep them amused they might keep us around. Changelings long for human culture. Aussie Rules uniforms intrigue them and they love to dress up. There might be some discrepancy with the rules, but we all know who’s going to win this little disagreement. Actually, it looks like both of them will win. Australia is changing so quickly. The referees’ uniforms have changed, there’s seven million more of us since I arrived here in 1995. Other than that, where I live in Warialda, NSW we go from drought to drought and worry to worry. Our population has steadily declined since I arrived in 1997, but at such a slow rate I’m positive that it will be the thing that never dies. I cast my first bronze in 1996 and have stuck with it since then. My big project is Ceramic Break Sculpture Park outside of Warialda. The park has 3 art galleries, a gift shop and bushwalks one of which goes to “Ceramic Break” where people are encouraged to break pottery to create an artwork in the bush.
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Andrea Hughes Paint Drops and Painted Paint Acrylic, paint, glitter. 1-1.5 sqm $NFS
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ANDREA HUGHES This artist loves to experiment with mixed mediums and explore different surfaces - and vibrant colours, unexpected combinations are hallmarks of her work. This project explores paint as its subject matter how the very �matter� of paint - its physical structure and role in abstraction composition may be manifested in real space as individual sculptural artworks and installations. Through the manipulation of paint as a fundamental element; colour, composition and surface will be combined to encourage philosophical and sensory connections. My practice is a continual process of trial and error experimentation with paint as a medium exploring colour, touch, space and materiality.
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Veronique Derville The Girl and the Rooster Mixed media. 60 x 60 x 30 cm $2900
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VERONIQUE DERVILLE Inspired by Chapall’s ‘“rooster”. How would the world be if human were small and roosters tall?
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Milos Pelikan Sentinel Found objects, steel, spray paint. 90 x 40 x 40 cm $450.00
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MILOS PELIKAN The sense that memes of “the tribe” are borrowed from the past, recycled as retro, re-imagined as novelty, is a significant statement about personal identities. In the digital age the speed of transformation and renewal is mind spinning the recycling identities has become highly visible. The constructed nature and the recycling of identity memes are an ongoing exploration in Milos’s practice. Milos’ current practice involves the use recycled and transformed mundane objects to create a visual conversation on constructed and reconstituted identity. The works inhabit the tension between the positive effects of identity (the sense of community) and the negative (the culture of “me”) and invites reflection on the binding and corrosive effects of this intrinsically human concern. This focus has its origin in many years of living within Melanesian culture of Papua New Guinea where diversity of identity was a driving factor in life and art. Immersion in such diversity in cultural terrains has provided the foundation to a conversation about the constructed nature of cultural norms and perceptions. This early influence is seen in Milos’ use of totemic symbols as he explores the transformation of everyday materials into totemic symbols of relationship, identity and bonding.
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Lee-Ann Joy Chairs and Thanks for Coming, 2018 Chairs and plinths. 80 x 90 x 6 cm $NFS
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LEE-ANN JOY Working within the symbolism of endings.
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BONANZA 2019 3-26 October
© InText Pty Ltd 2018 www.intext.net.au
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