Construction

I am still playing a bit of catch up with my blog both in terms of attempting to stay up to date with regular postings and also attempting to give a bit of context for current work (preparing for a biggish exhibition in November). So I thought I’d share a bit of info on the exhibition (Construction) of small desk top sculptures I had about six months ago. The attached photos show that whilst still using recycled timber, rusted rod and found objects (including the quills of an echidna that was dead by the side of the road) I have scaled the pieces down but still give the sense of the bigger picture.

Tension uses sharp echidna quills in strict rows but with one set flowing in a contrasting direction to reflect disharmony.

The black and white of the stones in the fault line of Balance on the other hand create a sense of quietness.

The curved short lengths of salvaged stainless marine cable in Small Reeds reflect the peacefulness of reeds gently bending in a breeze.

Grove 3 combines the quirkiness of a small sculpture grove of trees with dry cracks or fault lines in the earth.

3D Artists' books

Several months ago about twenty artists across Queensland were invited to participate in an artists’ books exhibition. All sounds good as invites such as that don’t come along every day. The challenge for me was how to be true to the concept of a book as having some words to communicate a message or story and yet produce 3 dimensional works using recycled wood, rusted metal and salvaged building materials. In the end it turned out to be quite a lot of fun. Most pieces ended up with a haiku poem or words to make a statement as one design element of the piece. With actual written calligraphy I was assisted by Fiona but on the metal pieces, including rusted steel packing bands, I was able to use metal workers alphabet stamps to create the words. The exhibition at Maleny Artworks was quite impressive with the range and quality of work presented. One of my pieces is below - Between the Mountains. The haiku, with calligraphy by Fiona, is Between two mountains the wings of a gliding hawk balancing sunlight (D Elliott). This piece sold during the exhibition

Japan adventure

As part of an art-culture exchange to Tatebayashi Japan I designed a collaborative two metre sculpture which features four strong pillars made from salvaged pine wood that make up an imposing sculpture two metes high and 800mm square.

Fiona Dempster assisted me to construct the sculpture which needed to be created in situ in two days. Material and equipment requirements were both a challenge and a great experience in international communication, good will and cooperation. A local builder, Kanda-san, provided all the recycled timber cut to size. Local artists such as Tombow and her friends including Bessie supplied a range of tools. A trip to a great local hardware store resulted in all the glues and screws required. Fiona and I so loved the hardware store, more an Aladdin’s cave, that we had to return to make purchases to bring back home.

There was a great sense of support for the sculpture to become a reality and I was really relieved when the four pillars were manhandled into the exhibition space with a couple of hours to spare.

The final sculpture was much more than the wooden structure as its ledges and niches accommodated about twenty small art pieces contributed by the eight Australian artists and eight Tatebayashi artists. A truly collaborative sculpture was created. The pictures below show: the pieces of timber we started with; progress; the raw completed sculpture; and then the sculpture with the smaller pieces in place.