Thursday, October 4, 2012

Dell Stewart at Westspace

This show is SO good!! Dell you are a genius!!

Presented in West Space’s back-space, this project is populated with handmade instruments, tools and other objects of use. Basic furniture; a chair, a table, a light, a kind of bastard wunderkammer, a microcosm and museum of recent works.
Musical instruments, porcelain serving platters, occasional finger foods, costumes, tools and coddled plant life comingle in a workshop setting. Pursuing an obsession for objects with mystery and purpose – or least suggested purpose and potential mystery – creates a series of curious gatherings with ritualistic possibilities. The exhibition will allow both the artist and the audience to entertain the promise of a suggested, unspoken narrative. The changing relationships and instances of documentation build up a kind of field guide to living with things.
The works in the space become the subject of further work, documented for an online publication to be updated during the show. This will feature drawings, video, animation, performance and conversation. It’s an attempt to chronicle the various instances and possibilities of these things, while rejoicing in the quotidian detail.
Dell Stewart has organised and participated in numerous solo and collaborative exhibitions, working with print, textiles, ceramic, sculpture, drawing, animation and installation. Her work features recurring motifs and symbols in a broad range of media, creating a personal symbolism, suggestive of memory and elementary connections. She was born and raised at the end of a dead end road in the mountains of North Queensland where she learnt self sufficiency and a do it yourself outlook. Interested in tools, patterns, nature, exchange and mysterious things.

Stevie Dreams

Dream, written by Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, is the inspiration for artist Kirsten Perry in her exhibition Stevie Dreams. The lyrics have long remained a mystery to the artist, but as she listens to it over and over again while working in her studio, she feels she is getting closer to discovering a meaning. Through an exhibition inspired by interpretation of the lyrics a series of objects will be created including ceramic rain drops, a large sheepskin wall hanging, illustrated hand made tiles, and video element.
Fleetwood Mac formed in 1967 and had the majority of their success during the 70’s and 80’s. Currently there is a big craft resurgence influenced by those times. Craft practice and the wonky hand made objects are a big part of Kirsten's work. It introduces a comical element and allows people to build a relationship with strange but funny objects. The lyrics to Dreams are serious but the exhibition will bring a lighter edge to the song. 'Heartbreak, after all, can be pretty heavy and learning to laugh at our selves brings some relief to our problems.' (Kirsten Perry, 2012)

I went along to the show this afternoon and fell in love. A calm cool space with plants and ceramics by Kirsten- there isn't much more that could make me happier!!