Splinter Contemporary Artists: December 2014

An exhibition of work by Splinter Contemporary Artists
at Black Anther Gallery
42 Anslow Street, Woodend
Thurs 27th Nov—Sun 21st Dec 2014
Officially opened 6th December 2014

We celebrate the beauty of all the habitats where birds sing – forest, grassland, garden, wetland, beach. Artists find common links between themselves and these remarkable creatures, birds. Using a range of materials and techniques, we explore their uniqueness, power, beauty and resilience.

In a world which can depress us with its sadness or wound us with its cruelty, we can yet express joie de vivre. And we are reminded to treasure what we have, our environments, our families, our friends, ourselves.

The following text and all images are courtesy of Meg Doller.

Meg gave the opening speech for Where Birds Sing on Saturday 6th December 2014

Birds have always been fascinating to humans, and especially to artists. Birds have been explored through stories, dance, music, poetry and of course the visual arts throughout history from the ‘Palaeolithic era to the present day.’[i]

We envy them. We envy their ability to fly and their amazing aerial acrobatics which we glimpse in Isabelle’s Brolga Bull Rushes (above left) where the brolgas fly in perfect formation, paper light above a heavy sphere – the earth. We marvel at their performance skills and appreciate their unique singing voices, illustrated joyfully in Kim’s Clarion Call (above right) which celebrates the avian voice and detailed feather patterns.

We’re inspired by their artistic flair and inventive use of found items to construct nests – the most functional art. Margaret and Di’s textile based works both utilise the nest form and nest making materials. Di’s use of textiles (above) envelopes us with warmth echoing the safety of the nest.

Margaret’s textural use of materials (above) present bird, nest and landscape as eternally linked; their nests come from and become part of the landscape in an endless cycle of renewal.

Janet’s Joy (above) utilises shiny found items, the envy of any magpie, and a very sensual use of clay to create a home and she skilfully pushes the ceramic medium and illustrates the warmth of the wing in Embraced (below left); the transformation of a typically hard and cool to touch material into a warm and comforting embrace is beautiful.

We are astonished and heartened by their ability to eke out an existence in incredibly harsh or inhospitable landscapes. Marcus’s painting The Return (above right) explores the passing of time and the capacity for nature to return. Similarly, Kaye’s Endangered Species (below) forces us to consider a future time when humans may find themselves in a very different situation.

Sue’s meticulous exploration of caged animals in Goodbye Blue Sky is contrasted effectively through the juxtaposition of her whimsical piece In The Enchanted Garden (below L-R respectively). We are forced to consider the ethics of caging wild animals as domestic pets. The title of this work is taken from a Pink Floyd song of the same name. Reading these lyrics will add another dimension to the experience of seeing this work.

We draw similarities between ourselves and birds by attaching human attributes to different species, as seen in Chris’s portraits (below) in which she has paired prominent women with birds.

Women often see themselves as birds supported by our colloquial use of ornithological language. Lynne’s brightly coloured, mixed media pieces (below) present like a forced smile, hiding the reality of her personal situation – a bird in a Gilded Cage.

Throughout history, artists have represented birds realistically, exploring, recording and celebrating their unique features. But more commonly, birds act as symbols. Quite possibly the most well-known illustrated bird – the dove - appears spirit like in Amanda’s poignant mixed media work, Time To Fly (below). This work is heavy and full to brimming with tenderness and emotion.

Esther’s painting, In The Wake (below), is similarly emotive and conceptually layered; we observe a downcast face and a series of repeated wing like forms and we feel the slow passing of time after an event.

Kath’s mixed media piece, Where The Heart Sings (below), presents a layered, interconnected brood of bodies and amorphous forms revealing relationships centred around one bird. This work explores the ability women have for supporting each other to achieve greatness.

We appreciate their diversity. In Australia we have close to 900 bird species.[ii] Their diversity in size, shape, colouration and attributes are matched by the various habitats in which we find them; where birds sing. Linda has created an Overall View (below), a place for birds that is unified by colour, line and shape.

Terry’s stylised forest and sea scapes allow us space to imagine ourselves as a bird; we look out of The Gilded Cage to the forest (below right) and the seascape is reflected in our eyes (below left).

And of course in Australia we have a black swan. Bev’s painting Winter Swan (below) highlights the theory of Black Swan events; we see our native swan contrasted against a stark northern winter, a rare event that comes as a surprise.

Splinter Contemporary Artists, a flock of contemporary birds from the bush with one handsome rooster from the city, have continued the artistic tradition of exploring birds through contemporary visual arts with tenderness, insight, humour and flair.