Portfolio of Selected Works
Work is to be professionally photographed for the website gallery. Video content of new works will be made and interviews with artists and collaborators will be filmed. Unbranded video embedding will be used on the proposed website. Please note imagery used in this portfolio is not indicative of the quality of imagery to be used on the proposed website.
Metamorphosis
– Anthurium
This piece was really the beginning of new work for me. I had a couple of Anthuriums left over from a work shop that had been drying for a number of months – not from any intention, just because I had forgotten about them. I was struck at how beautiful the colours and form of the flower had become as it contracted and broke down. I was also looking into a workshop on making paints from ground rocks at the time. My first attempts were unsuccessful using local rocks and grinding them but after buying purified Australian clays I struck gold with my paint creation. I brought the two together as they complemented each other so well. I overlaid the clay paint with pencil and oil pastels to create more detail. The artwork has a dry textured feel that evokes the process of the flower breaking down. I love the richness of the colour and the connection with soil and rock – the future resting place of the anthurium before it begins a new life as something else.
Metamorphosis – Anthurium
Clay paint, pencil, oil pastel / 84cm x 60cm
I developed a children’s workshop using gelli plates last year and became very interested in the process of mono printing. I was looking at printing with styrofoam for another children’s workshop and this inspired my exploration with EVA foam within my own work. Using the dried Anthuriums in my studio, each ‘design’ is issued in 5 original editions. The use of editions emphasises similarities and simplicity at the conception of life but the subsequent random creation of each edition expresses individuality of experience through out life.
The process for each work starts with a print made with natural homemade paints (created using Australian clays) and a foam cutout of the design. The print outcome is very different each time which then influences the approach I take to finishing the piece. Different mediums, techniques and colours are used on each of the 5 editions. Each piece connected but also individual and beautiful.
Collaborations – Elsa Thorp
New Work – Inspirations
Some examples of inspiration behind new work that I will be undertaking. I am continuing with naturally derived paints and will continue to experiment with application and layering of mediums. I particularly love the texture of the Ironbark and can not wait to explore this.
Virtual and Physical Workshops
Free video tutorials for both children and adults will be added to the website. These will be an extension of the physical workshops that I run in my studio space and in community spaces at Gasworks Arts Park.
