on EST (we ARE)

Pictures from my exhibition "on EST (we ARE)".

Present Pasts

Is this goodbye?

Timelessness

New Work/ Halfway House

Here are some new works:

The Halfway House honours exhibition opened last Thursday night- some really wonderful work-lots of sculptural installations. My work "we're hAIR apart" won a Barry Keldoulis prize. The work itself is two balloons- one big and round hovering in the air attempting to escape from the other balloon which has deflated. They are attached by 4 metres of braided asian hair.

Braiding the hair for "we're hAIR apart"


"we're hAIR apart" in my studio.

At the opening.

'on EST (we ARE)' Solo Show

My proposal for a solo show "on EST (we ARE)" at Kudos Gallery has been accepted! The show will run for two weeks from the 9-20 June. Finally the day has come for me to show all my Stitched in Space works. Ever since I started the series, I have been very anxious about parting with any of the works before they were exhibited all together as a family, as I felt they shared such a strong bond, that detached from this community they would suffer.

I'll also be showing my Fluidity series, and other drawing/oil portraits. I haven't done a portrait for 2 months (a long time!) so I might start working on new series for the show.

'on EST (we ARE)' is a show about humanity's increasing vulnerability and our cannabilistic attitude to images, particularly of humans. In the works, I have attempted to depict a raw humanity, yearning for meaning, in order to confront an audience on their mirroring vulnerability.

'on EST, French for 'we are' becomes 'honest' when pronouced in English. This honesty should be irresistable, as with the claim that these people exist-they 'are'. But this isn't always the case.

Jenny Birt Award and Stargazing Exhibitions

My works in the Jenny Birt Award, from the 'Stitched in Space' (07-09) series.

Tonight was the opening for the Jenny Birt Award. I felt really honored to be exhibiting amongst such talented artists whose work I really admire. I have 4 works in the show, created over 2007-8, 4 of my favourite works from my Stitched in Space series. I received a lot of great feedback, and overall it was a wonderful night with lots of people and great food/drinks- thank you CoFA! The show runs Tues-Thurs this week from 10-4pm, if you couldn't make the opening, it's worth the ride over to CoFA.

And on Saturday I had 3 works in "StarGazing" at Hardware Gallery. Another splendid exhibition, a pleasure to be a part of. The gallery space is really beautiful which makes such a difference, and the works I felt really complemented each other. The show runs until the 18th April (open hrs Tues-Sat 11-5pm). Check it out!

I'll try upload shots of the show, as soon as I get some.

My work is progressing, I haven't been able to stop my brain from thinking, it's on constantly and although it's tiring, it's exhilerating having so many ideas. I've got a few film projects I'm hoping to get off the ground as soon as I find people who have long hair- a difficult task. People tend to cut their hair in different shorter styles, or pay hundreds to get extensions on their already short hair -love the extremes, however it's not helping me out. I find myself staring at people with long hair, trying to locate these rare individuals. In fact, today whilst on the bus to uni, I saw the same woman I'd seen yesterday at Central, who was rather distinctive with her long red hair. It would've been at least 60cm, just gorgeous.

My work is currently looking at disembodied hair being representative of the various consequences of relationships breaking down. Although this is predominantly a symbolic conceptual link, it is also a literal one where there is tendency for people to cut/restyle/dye their hair after a breakup. It is a sort of cleansing of oneself, through the physical act of removing the time/length of hair spent with someone else. It seems almost to be inherent. It's really fascinating. Psychology will help inform me on the different reactions people experience in relationship breakups.

It's looking good- I'm getting a better understanding on the many ways that hair can be manipulated. It's a medium with a never-ending potential.