Splinter Contemporary Artists: Amanda

I like to think of space from the negative value as well as the positive so “Making Space” would be a conscious effort on my behalf to consider both those values when making a piece of work. In my photographs of a metal crate full of old bottles I chose to capture how their shapes impacted on their immediate environment through colour.

Apart from several colourful prints I also made a light shade from old fencing wire and hand dyed two silk scarves using natural dyes leeched from native barks and flowers. On one of the scarves I made a pattern of broad brush strokes using hot beeswax to create a resist. On the other I made a circular pattern by tying knots along the length of the scarf. Whilst still wet from rinsing I laid red gumtree and yellow wattle flowers on the scarf which created lemon yellow and red stains in another circular pattern.

From the personally creative side of the day, I thoroughly enjoyed the imagination and crossover of experience that was provided by the other artists. It was very easy to be inspired by both the company and the unique location of King Billy Retreat. Along with the fantastic food it was very much “A day well spent”!