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.
Ravens in the Landscape (triptych) by Meg Doller
