Meet Your Maker: Ross Taylor

i'm pretty much in love with Ross Taylor's work. you can read my thoughts on his show Phatland here, where i've written a review of the show.

so, with no introduction now needed, here's Ross submitting to my barrage of curious querying ...

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 Ross Taylor, Phatland

Kent:
First up, the meticulous detail in your work is mesmerising. How is your eyesight and what's the status on carpal tunnel syndrome?

Ross:

I have to say that until now, the hands haven’t given me too much trouble… although I did get a minor blood clot in my arm a few years back from drawing standing up! It’s a pretty intense process on the eyes, but working that closely allows you to kind of drift off into the flow of it.

Kent:

It must be meditative working like that. Do you have a plan when you start your drawings?

Ross:
I never have a specific plan, I pick a spot on the paper where I feel comfortable to start and go with that. I often have an early sense of how the composition will work in relation to where the eye should be drawn to next, but it always inevitably changes. You can see the repetitive gestures throughout the drawing, I use them to start a dialogue with the surrounding space, they may end up forming into a rock or some other matter, but it is the process of repetition that allows me into the drawing if that makes sense. I suppose that it’s the closest I get to a form of meditation.

 Ross Taylor, Which way the wind

Kent:
There's a couple of figurative drawings in the mix here and they have the body, especially the head (which we associate with the identity of a figure) dissolving into fragments and forming into landscape. What's your thoughts on the blurring of landscape and portraiture? I mean, I read some of your landscapes as quite psychological in nature, like 'inner' portraits.

Ross:

I made a series of works involving figures to test the specifics of what I was trying to achieve within the drawings. The general idea was to have a greater control of the narrative, but through this I have learnt that I am not necessarily the best ‘interpreter’ of the drawings in their completion (nor do I want to be). I have found that because I work from nothing, the negotiation from one mark to the next interrogates more of me than the depiction of a figure ever could in the landscape, so I now leave the figures out. I think it’s more interesting that way.

Kent:

There's a really subtle inclusion of colour in the work, that's only noticeable at close inspection. What's going on there?

Ross:
The colour is a new thing, parts have been rubbed away to take the edge of that kind of 'illustrated' look, but it also works as a kind of visual pit stop in the composition. I hope that it affords the eye a little breather and then you can re-address the drawing again once more.

Kent:
What's next on the horizon for you Ross? Do you have another body of work on the go or a plan for your next direction?

Ross:

I have a series of smaller works on the go for my next show at the end of September, then I plan on taking a month off for research (not master chef). I would like to develop new imagery and start to work on a new body of ideas that play around with the notion of how everything is interconnected. I guarantee that there will be more rocks...

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brilliant! we'll keep you posted about Ross's upcoming shows and in the meantime you should get down quick to see the fantastic drawings on show here. there's some large-scale works and some medium-sized, deliciously framed works. they look amazing, they are loaded with invisible ideas and connotations, and they keep offering new experiences each time you look at them. plus, Ross is clearly heading somewhere and you can both be a part of that and help make it happen. buy art! (editor's note: bias? what bias?)

Meet Your Maker: John Barter

We've had the pleasure of presenting John Barter's artworks since the very inception of Stockroom. His work is colourful, fun, playful and has been widely popular. A clever wit runs through all of his work as well as a keen eye for detail and clarity of execution. This month John is presenting a photographic series themed around the iconic image of the astronaut. This body of work also extends into prints and an element of installation practice that literally hangs over the whole show. John kindly returned serve on a series of lobbed queries I fired his way.

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Kent:

Astronauts - heroes, fools or lone wolves?

John:

The Astronauts have always seemed to me to be some of the last great explorers of our time. So I would think lone wolf just might fit my picture of my spaceman.

John Barter, Far Side of the Moon

Kent:

You work across a few different mediums - sculpture, print, photography. How do go about deciding what you're going to make next?

John:

Good question, in this show I worked on the photographic works first and the print works followed, I don't think I could only ever do one medium. I think one thing just leads you to the next, so it could be sculpture but then it could be printing. When I go into the outback with Kim my painter/printmaker wife, I tend to make sculptures out of things I find around the campsite. There is no answer, because I don't know.

Kent:

There's a strong sense of humour running through all of your work John. There's some fun sculptures of yours around the warehouse that make me smile - Powerboard, for example. Why is humour important to you?

John Barter, Powerboard

John:

I think it came from my Dad, he always had a good sense of humour, even in his last days at the nursing home he still had it. We asked him why he did not go to happy hour, he said I don't know why they call it happy hour, no one smiles!!!. I like to use humour in my work because we have so much very serious artworks that don't do much for me. I like to see people smiling after they have looked at my work, I think you can use humour in artworks and still have something to say as well.

Kent:

There's some great vintage cars in this series. And in other works you often use materials from a by-gone era, or recycled materials. With NASA cutting back space research, even astronauts seem like they're from a past era. Does nostalgia or memory play a part in your thinking about what you make?

John:

Yes I have always loved old things and collectables, my Dad ran pubs back in the 1960's and first thing in the mornings I would be down on the bar floor looking for dropped coins, I still have all the old silver coins in a box. When we lived in Wagga Wagga I never missed a Sunday market day and still make it to Daylesford market each Sunday. I also love to see what gets thrown out at the tip, and have lots of sourced bits waiting to get used in my artworks. The cars I used in this show I bought from a kid in Wagga at the markets in the late 80's, he was selling his 1970's toy cars but he also had his Dads 1950/60's Dinky toys in the same box and well yes I did buy them. I love the faded paint and perished tyres, we did a trip to Cuba a few years ago so the images of vintage cars sitting in dilapidated streets was in my memory when doing the work for this show. 

opening night

Kent:

There's a strong theme in this body of work John. Do you have the next body of work in mind, or plans for new work?

John:
We are planning a trip into the outback soon, lots of ideas come to me when we are far away from our daily lives, and if it's anything like our past camping trips with a bit of luck the ideas will flow. 

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Here's hoping more wonderful creations are generated on John's next adventure!
The exhibition runs until 5 August - and you can purchase John's work, not only his limited edition photographic works in the gallery but also his framed prints, from the warehouse space at Stockroom. 

Meet Your Maker: Alison Eggleton

Alison Eggleton produces sculptural works of a highly tactile nature, working predominantly with textiles and fabrics. For Within Patterns she has produced two wonderful pieces which take as their starting points the designs of carpet and wallpaper. In her hands she has summoned the complex patterns of these designs into three-dimensional forms, evoking landscapes and the dynamic interplay of repetitive symbols in our architectural adornments. I chatted with Alison about her work and the ideas that drive her.

Alison Eggleton, Wallpaper

Kent:

Hi Alison, there's a very strong sense of tactility and dynamism in the textile materials you use in your work. The appear like fractured tectonic plates, as if the patterns are alive and moving out into 3-dimensions from flat 2-dimensional beginnings. What drew you to working with this material/medium?

Alison:
It’s interesting that you refer to tectonic plates. I think the carpet work draws your gaze to it, like a gravitational force. The shapes appear to shift, advance and recede, creating a geography that is free of logic, where the viewer could imagine the shapes rising and falling and continuing across the perimeter of the installation. What l remember most of this pattern, is that while each shape is locked in by repetition, one colour - cream - leaps out and is made autonomous. It is often this illusionary quality of patterns that draws my attention or sticks in my memory. Particularly if the effect is sculptural. It’s how l’ve chosen to recall this experiential place of play while concurrently allowing it to hover in the space of the propositional.

Growing up on a poultry farm in a coast town, l was always outside. With my hands in the earth, making things, collecting eggs, or down the beach combing over rock pools. It was only cold and rainy days l would spend inside the house. Maybe this is why l think of carpet as the embodiment of the domestic realm. Carpet and fabrics to me have always been about the luxury of touch, the act embodying a sensual relation to material and form.  During the opening, I witnessed people stand and staring into the pattern and others squatting to run their hands over the material surface of the carpet. That to me, makes the work.

Why choose carpet to make carpet? Well the tactile quality and structure of the three kinds of carpet used was perfect for constructing the pattern and form of this work.

Alison Eggleton, Carpet (detail)

Kent:

As you've hinted at, there's an element of nostalgia going on with the work. There's a feeling, especially with the carpet piece, of being young again and being down on the floor playing around with toys, inventing scenarios. And in a different way, with the wall piece, I'm reminded of 70s interior design, restaurant fit outs and crazy curtain patterns. What is it about historical legacy that interests you?

Alison:
Nostalgia is not usually something l drawn on. But there is no denying it is the foundation for these works. The tactile and haptic nature of the carpet work is established within a place of play. Although the pattern allows for a sense of visual shift across its landscape, as propositional space is more about whether other people respond to this, rather than wanting to re-live the act of playing matchbox cars. The pattern reminds me of locks, groupings of lines turns inwards, inter locking with the next and running at parallels, the design of which lends itself to a grounded floor work.

I do tend to gravitate to 70’s pattern designs that have illusionary qualities. It is often the simplest designs that are transcendental. Moorish architecture and interior pattern design have a similar effect. The fluidity of the line in the wall pattern are from a dining room wallpaper design that l recall vividly. The pattern sent  my childhood mind to wonder, inventing scenarios. The physicality of the lines,  the shiny textiles and the explosion of fruit salad colours makes reference to  ‘otherness’; far way places across the sea, exotic fruit, exotic people. Hence the floating pineapples and pineapple boat motif.
I don’t think that my experience of growing up in a Anglo Australian family in  the 70’s was particularly unique.
Everyone has a history, a sense of belonging to their surroundings, that exists alongside ethnicity and cultural values. Tapping into these commonalities is what interests me.

Alison Eggleton, 'Within Patterns' installation view

Kent:

You also work as a curator at the Horsham Regional Art Gallery, aside from your own art practice. Is there a cross-pollination of ideas and practice in your work?

Alison:
I have found that working in an art related role has exposed me to so many more artists' work than time or inclination allowed previously. I am constantly spirited by what l see produced by other artists, particularly  in contemporary Australian photography. Although l have a sculptural-spatial practice, l am discovering that photography is as physically moving as any haptic response to a 3D work can be.

Documenting and writing comes more naturally now too and this has definitely impacted on how l approach a new body of work or collaboration. As a curator, writing about other artists work has given me the confidence to look within my own history for the germ of an idea and take it to full conceptual development (as in ‘Within patterns’) rather than only seeing value in the external.

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Big thanks to Alison for letting me dig into her thoughts and for being so eloquent and open with her information for us.

The exhibition runs until July 8 and if you are looking for some pretty amazing art for a big wall in your house or place of business (even Carpet can be mounted) - you know where to come!

Meet Your Maker: Kyoko

With the arrival of a lovely range of new Kyoko 'dotty' and 'netty' scarves, we thought it was prime time to chat to Japan-born Kyoko Osato about her amazing one-woman show Kyoko Designs. Kyoko tells us about the joy of hand-weaving, balancing a business and a family as well as managing every aspect of her business on her own.

S: First up, could you tell us a little bit about your background? You are originally from Japan, what inspired you to live in Australia? How long have you been here and what path led you to what you do now?
 

KO: I stayed in Melbourne with a working holiday visa in 1994 and loved this city. I came back here in 1999 for a year and still loved this city. Everything goes really well when I am in Melbourne so I thought why not live here for good. Finally in 2002, I came back again to study textile design at RMIT and I have been here since. I grew up playing with fabric and yarn, my mother was a seamstress, so choosing to study textile design was a natural thing. Weaving was one of the subjects at RMIT and I really enjoyed it. I've been weaving since then. I keep doing what I like and that's how I got to where I am. 

S: Your scarves are hand woven, more like wearable sculpture than clothing. Could you give us an insight into what inspires you to create such unique pieces?
 

KO: When I was studying weaving at RMIT, I made a sample piece which became more than just a flat piece of fabric. I then realised that how fun it is to make something which has a shape rather than just two dimensions on the weaving loom. Traditionally, weaving is used to create a flat piece of fabric. Using the same traditional technique combined with a technique of felting, I'm trying to achieve some kind of depth, fabric with more surfaces to see. I have been using a shape of scarf as a way to show my ideas because scarves are very accessible to people.   

S: All your pieces are handmade. With so many Australian companies now having products manufactured overseas and mass-produced, why do you choose to produce Kyoko scarves in Australia? What challenges/triumphs have you faced keeping your production local?

 

KO: Weaving is such an old technique to make textiles. Everyone uses woven fabric on the day to day basis such as your jeans, tea towels and bed linen, but not many people know how the woven fabric is made. Most of them are manufactured on a machine in a factory so we rarely see the process. From what I make, I'm hoping to let people know that hand weaving is still around even in a developed country like Australia and can be used to make contemporary pieces. The challenge I have been facing from how I produce my products is to keep the cost low. Weaving is a very time consuming work. Most of the cost is my labour. This is one of the reasons my designs are quite simple.

S: Could you give us a bit of insight to the way Kyoko functions as a business? Do you have a team of staff working with you or do you fly solo? How does the day-to-day operation of Kyoko work - what would a typical day involve for you?

KO: From the admin work to the production, I'm running my entire business on my own. My day used to start from working on my computer in the morning and weaving in the afternoon, but lately my life is slightly different. A new little person joined my life recently so my business will need to be adjusted in the future. I'm only making winter products at the moment so the way my business works changes month to month. I do the design work in spring, stock making in summer, dispatching orders in autumn, and a bit of relaxing in the winter. 

S: And lastly, what’s your favourite Kyoko creation to keep you warm in the winter months?

KO: Samples! I have to try many times to finalise my recipes for my scarves so I have many samples. At the moment, my favourite is a Netty Tube scarf sample. 

Thank you Kyoko! We love knowing that there are still designers and makers producing their own wares by hand. Kyoko's elegant range of scarves are now in at Stockroom, perfect for those chilly days.

Meet Your Maker: The Brothers Butterworth

Daniel Butterworth. Matthew Butterworth. The Brothers Butterworth. Two great artists that just happen to be brothers. I've been intrigued about the Butterworth boys for some time as they come with a bit of a reputation. Everyone loves them. When I told people they were exhibiting there was a truly palpable sense of excitement. I get people coming straight up to my desk to ask - 'So, where are the Butterworth paintings?' - even before they walk into the gallery spaces. When I sent out the media releases I got one email straight back from a magazine that said something along the lines of 'Wow, I love these guys - tell me more and we'll let everyone know about it'.

So with a lead-up like that, you know there's something amazing on the way. And true to form and expectation - bang! They delivered. 

I've been shooting emails back and forth with both artists individually, probing them on aspects to their practice and ideas, and brought it together in the following interview, for your enjoyment. With the same passion that's poured into their art, they turned out some great insights for us.  

Daniel Butterworth, Pile up

Kent:
Hey Matt and Dan! First, I wanted to ask about the way in which you guys exhibit as a pair. The work we have at Stockroom is a big, bold painting show and there's some relationships across the works, but there's also a sense of individuality for each of you. Daniel, you've got a series of still-lifes using crushed cans that envelopes the space and borders on the figurative - as if the cans are standing in for human subjects. And Matthew, you've got an epic landscape painted on panels, propped up at the far end of the space, drawing reference from Australian art-history while being painted in a much more contemporary style and presentation. How do you go about planning, arranging and curating your shows as a pairing of artists?

Daniel:
Matt and I know each other very well and have always trusted each other in the choices we make. When we first got together with the Stockrooms and it was decided that we would have an exhibition, had you said that the human form would not be seen, I would have laughed at you. Matt phoned me one night and said that he might do some landscapes for the show, and I replied with the idea of wanting to paint some still lifes. From there it grew into what hangs on the walls at the Stockrooms. Matt and I have always complemented each other with our hangs. I believe that it is because we understand each other and when all is said and done we are very similar people.

Matthew: "I have no idea what Dan has written, hopefully the complete opposite to me to really mess your editing process. I've just packed my pipe full of tobacco, poured a drink and rested my glass on a first edition copy of Hardy's 'Tess of the Durbervilles', now question one, let me see (thinking pose.....)."
This is probably the first show whereby Dan and I have not seen each others work prior to the hang.  In the past we have either worked together on the one body of work (painting on the same images), or worked separately and kept each other in touch with our own progress.  We've never said we would remain committed to anyone of these approaches, we just do what we need to to get an awesome show up- hopefully we have done this time around.  I must say, i really enjoyed the mystery around this show-(a throw back to my ScoobyDoo days) I loved not knowing what Dan was up to, I mean I knew he was painting cans but I hadn't seen them (I wondered if he was using this term as a breasts reference, I was wrong), and he hadn't seen my stuff.  We would talk on the phone, but hey not like seeing the stuff first hand.  I think for our next show I just might copy all of Dan's work, just to mess with buyers and stuff, people love to compare our work (it's only natural) so this would just mess with them.

Matthew Butterworth, Bush Burial (detail)

Kent:
You've both used unusual foundations for you work - brown paper and door panels. Could you tell us why you're drawn to these materials to paint on?

Daniel:
Working on paper has always been a love of mine. When I stumbled on the paper I am currently using it worked for me. When paint was applied it didn't suck the oil out and the application of the paint was smooth and fast.But what I really enjoy about the paper is that I no longer feel precious. When I painted on canvas it could of been up to a week preparing and making it, so before I had put any oil on it at all I had committed so much time to it. Now I enjoy when I am so psyched I can keep painting, just rip off another length and keep going. So it is the instantaneous   and availability that it brings to my work that attracts me to it.

Matthew:
I've painted this work on 3 door panels for a few reasons, unfortunately most of them pretty practical ones.  I love Jim Morrison, and see him as the messiah, hence the three reference ... ha ha!
Primarily I love the surface, pre-primed board, slick and ready to paint. They are cheap and perfect proportions for this piece. I love the way they just lean against the wall, like a Richard Serra only not rusted metal and extremely masculine and dangerous.
In saying this I never limit my materials to a limited number of choices ie: canvas, paper and board. I let the idea dictate the execution, if I think I should paint with coloured sand, or letters written to my hot school-teacher when I was in year seven, then that's what I will use. It's just that in this case these door panels really suited my needs, and hey, in the end I could renovate my house with them.

Daniel engaging an enthralled audience

Kent:

There's a palpable sense of energy in both of your painting styles. A freshness of brushstrokes, a freedom in the application of the oils and acrylics, a vibrancy. What is it about the act of painting, and the choice to use painting as an artistic medium, that keeps you motivated and keeps you striving to produce new works?

Daniel:
Having the paint slide around on the paper, understanding what will happen when I put that colour on top of that. When I nail a painting, paintwork is a big factor. I have always painted wet into wet. Knowing it could all turn to mud in a second is exciting and it also pushes me to work faster. I very rarely get the need or want to explore different media but when I do, I feel that the idea would be better had I used oils on paper.

Matthew:
Why paint? This is a hard one to answer, there's just something unbelievably seductive and inviting about paint.  I guess the best way to describe it is that I get lost in it, I love that feeling when I make a mark (a painted mark) that works I feel amazing, makes me sound like a wanker but it's true.  When I paint the figure, I love the way you can play with flesh in paint, oil lends itself to the rawness, the colour changes and feel of skin.  I love under painting in acrylic, I work fast, bold and more recently I under paint with a shock of colour, then work over the top in oil and see what under painting remains.  I'm really interested in my subject matter (a figure, the landscape etc) and I'm interested in how to use paint as a vehicle (I've forgotten where I was going with this, Michael Jackson is on tv and he distracted me - bloody Jackson and all that moon walking) any way - I love paint and expect to do it for as long as I live, even if I went blind, I would still paint - it's is so sculptural you could just manipulate it with your hands.
Hmmm... Maybe I should paint a portrait of MJ? What period though - Off the Wall for sure.
"Ok now to question 4:
I started painting when I was 4 years, 3 months and 2 days.  I remember catching a glimpse of a Caravaggio at the Louvre, we were in Paris on a family holiday, on our way back to Italy. We went there every spring to catch the change of colours on the outskirts of Rome.  I remember we ate pate and drank sparkling rainwater, my sister commented that it tasted like the sweat of angels ..."

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Ha ha! What a treat it was to interview Matt and Dan. Their work is on the walls of Gallery 1 at Stockroom until 8 July, so if you haven't swung by yet, please come on down and see what all the fuss is about. And support the arts and the artists - buy a piece!!

Meet Your Maker: Grant Nimmo

Wild forests, floating neon orbs, voodoo skulls by candle light and drum sets collapsing into the grass. Is it 'Newage' or is it 'New Age'?  I've been captivated and intrigued by Grant Nimmo's work for some time. His gallerist - Anna Pappas - was around the corner from where I lived in Prahran and a rare jewel on the south side of the Yarra. I saw his work there a couple of years ago and it's been in the back of my mind ever since. This winter he's brought a body of work to Stockroom and it's contemporary painting at its best. Original, expertly crafted, layered with meaning and eye-ball throbbingly gorgeous. I had a chat with Grant and threw some questions his way about his work.

a smorgasbord of drawing and painting power in the Project Space at Stockroom

Kent:
Hey Grant. I love this weird mix of Romanticism and vaguely dark psychedelic hippy-ness that you have in your work. What draws you to this sort of imagery and these themes?

Grant:
I guess it's a combination of things that happened that draw me to these images. I grew up in the outer suburbs of melbourne, there aren't a heap of galleries out there, maybe even none. Or at least none that i knew of. So my early education in art wasn't through looking at art hanging on walls or even in books, I knew of a couple of artists that I looked at in school (I liked Goya) but that was it.

My real early education in art came as a teenager taking the day off school and looking through record covers in record stores in the city, like Augogo and Missing Link. This was great because I loved punk and folk music and browsing the album covers tied in with my love of drawing and of the visual side to making things. So it was a really exciting thing for me to see that these things seemed to just naturally belong together. At the time I worked in the local supermarket and I would spend some of my money on records. At that point a 7 inch vinyl was about $5 so if I was looking through the singles and I saw an album cover that I thought was great, or an album title that I thought was cool regardless of whether I had heard the band, I'd just take a chance and buy it.

So for me music was basically what art was. So then my early education to music was through my dads and my uncles records.. Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix etc.. 60's and 70's stuff. So I guess that's where the psychedelic thing started for me. I guess I have moved away from this now and I don't really listen to those old records that much but it seems it was so influential to me that it just sort of stuck. I guess that music is pretty romantic and it kind of leads to other avenues, listening to led Zeppelin I ended up reading the lord of the rings, cause they seemed to like it. And on it goes. I think I look at it like anything anyone makes is just a reflection of where you happen to be standing at any point in time. An artist just looks, learns and re directs.

Kent:
I want to delve into this underlying sense of unease that sits just below the surface of the works. There's upside down mountains, for example, that evoke a sense of imbalance, of inverted gravity. And maybe because there's hints of the new-age and commune culture, and we all know that kind of dream for a utopian society with a connection to nature pretty much failed for anyone who tried, for me there's this really captivating feeling of ... 'forests, sunshine, freedom, oh my god i wish it was summer right now... oh, wait ... did that tree just talk to me? holy fuck i think the rainbow is turning black and is coming to strangle me.'

Grant:
Turning a painting upside down is always unsettling, seeing anything turned upside down is always a bit unsettling. I think it’s unsettling because it opens a slightly different perspective and just that slight slip can actually be a bit horrifying. It reveals that you had no idea what you were looking at all along. Especially if it is something that you have stared at intently for a period, something that you feel like you know quite well. All of a sudden you are re looking at it and you no longer trust what you have experienced. That element of anxiety is always an important part of it. I do always want things to be poetic when i am making work, and for anything to become a beautiful poem the anxiety of reality has to be in there, but of course it has to work in some kind of harmony with everything else, like any cultural attachments the image might have. It’s needed in order to feel excited about not knowing what is going on. I think confusion is a good starting point for anything.

Kent:
There's so much nature going on in your work. But it's a filtered nature, as if seen through binoculars or the distortion of lysergic acid or through nostalgia. And there's a strong northern hemisphere representation of nature - perhaps a representation of an ideal of nature. What's your feeling about our engagement with the environment, of mountains, forests and streams (at least in so far as dealt with in your work)?

Grant Nimmo, Eat Your Skull, 2011

Grant:
Obviously people on the whole are pretty accustomed to not dealing with nature on a day to day basis, aside from the basics. Everything is accessible without even stepping outside. There are people who despise this and there are others that couldn't care less. I have spent a lot of time alone just camping or fishing or whatever, hanging out in the bush and I like this, I like doing that sort of stuff, but at the same time I know it's pretty boring. And i cant do it all the time. I think the thing I like about it is that there is for me this idea that something could happen. It sort of ignites my imagination a bit. I like to think about ghosts or witches eating children to try and scare myself a bit. I kind of see how a lot of folklore could just be made up by people sitting around with nothing to do. Which I think is great. I like to think about that being away from everything when I am in the city sometimes.. Because its just more boring at times than the alternative.. But it's harder to think there in the city.

So I guess the idealised nature in the work I make is really just a symbol of wanting to think and wanting silence.

Kent:
So, what's ahead for the rest of the year and beyond?

So the next show planned is the Melbourne art fair with Anna Pappas in August, where I'll also be giving a talk on Martin Kippenberger in a forum on post-conceptual painting. After that I'll be back in the studio for a while.

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The exhibition runs until 8 July.
Grant is exhibiting with us courtesy of Anna Pappas Gallery - a great venue in Prahran, showing some amazing artists.

Meet Your Maker: Tightology

With Winter sweeping in thick and fast, we thought it was most appropriate to chat with Vera Havari about her Victorian based label Tightology. 

cirque tights in copper marle

S: First up, could you tell us a little bit about your background? What path led you to what you do now?

VH: With background in graphic design, I started Tightology to satisfy a personal desire for a unique pair of tights that are good for your legs, good for the environment and very very good to look at.

I love illustrations and I love ink. I never saw myself as an illustrator, but I loved what I created so I had to go with my gut feel. The initial designs were quite different to what you see now. I had to tone them down slightly and think retail. I love the balance of our creations.
 

S: Where did the name Tightology come from?

VH: Tights + ology,  a combination of words used to depict the "study of tights". Made up one night over a glass of wine.

Raindrop tights

S: Tightology tights are renowned for avoiding current trends and opting for unique designs that are unlike any other! What guides your design process and how do you keep your palette so darn original?

VH: I have never been one to fall for trends, more of a spontaneous type. I love patterns and architecture so with each of our collections you will find a fair bit of  Deco and Art Nouveau inspired detail. I sometimes think for days about what I want to design next. Then I change my mind and start thinking afresh again. But what I do know is that I like it when the designs speak to me. I certainly never find myself browsing blogs or magazines for ideas on trends or on what the others are up to. Maybe just a little bit lately on Roy Lichtenstein… 

S: Tell me about the materials you use – it is so rare to have natural blends in tights. Apart from being remarkably soft, why do you use organic cotton, bamboo and merino rather than the stock standard nylon? I am amazed that these tights never seem to ladder – WHAT is your secret?

VH: They are made mostly of natural fibre, therefore they feel better in warm and cold days. We believe in reducing our impact on the environment so we use environmentally friendly methods. Our tights are made from organic cotton, bamboo and wool blend using 100% recycled paper packaging and environmental inks for printing. I think we all have tried those nylon tights that may last longer than natural fibres, but they sweat and not comfy.

WHAT is the secret? I think you will find that the secret is in the care you take. Handwash and watch your beautiful nails. Watch out for those boot zips too.
 

S: All your pieces are manufactured in Victoria. With so many Australian countries now having products manufactured overseas, why do you choose to produce Sands Made in Australia? What challenges/triumphs have you faced keeping your production local?
 

VH: It has been a little bumpy at times and certainly you have doubts about making your product locally. There have been loads of headaches and some tears too. The hardest thing for us so far has been manufacturing locally and meeting our expectations. We are now growing and meeting our demand has been somewhat disappointing. I remember this buyer telling me once that if you want to grow, you have to take your business off-shore.

But being able to meet and deal with all involved in making this business function is something that we appreciate. Knowing that you are supporting the local industry feels very rewarding.
 

Pop tights

S: Could you give us a bit of insight to the way Tightology functions as a business? Do you have a team of staff working with you or do you fly solo? How does the day-to-day operation of Tightology work- what would a typical day involve for you?

VH: I used to function solo initially, but these days I have two girls that work with me, Jenny and Danielle. Greg helps too whenever he is needed. We can usually manage just the three of us. The day to day operation goes a bit like this:
Coffee
Read emails. Reply to emails.
Organise couriers.
Jenny or Danielle arrive at 9.30 - 10.00. They are both working mums so we will cover briefly kid issues.
Work, write invoices and return calls.
Lunch
Work, write invoices and return and calls.
Pick up kids from school
Turn computer off at 5.30 and dine with the kids.
 

S: And lastly, which Tightology tights are you currently sporting?
 

VH: Empire for me in copper marle.

Thanks Vera! It's so good to hear the energy that is put it to create gorgeous local products. Just in time for the cold front, we have just received a hearty new collection of Tightology tights in store at Stockroom - you should check out the 'pop' tights. They are actually wild. And the wooly socks. They are divine. DIVINE!

Meet Your Maker: Sands Made

You may have seen our new collection of Sands Made products kicking around Stockroom the past couple of weeks. Using gorgeous combinations of sustainable woods, Sands Made paddles and boards are simple, functional and classic pieces of craftsmanship. Recently I was lucky enough to spend some time asking founder Robbie Sands a bit about the way the business operates.

S: Stockroom are stoked to have recently discovered Sands Made – how long have you been kicking around (and how come it took us so long to find you!?)?

RS: Great to hear! Our products have actually been used in Australian kitchens for over ten years now. In the past, most of our home ware products were sold direct through word of mouth, usually in tandem with furniture sales. Since the creation of the Sands Made brand last year, we've been working hard to make our product range more accessible to a larger audience. One of the most important steps for us at the moment is getting the word out there and meeting great retailers such as yourselves.

S: Could you tell us a little bit about your background? What path led you to what you do now?

RS: My background has always revolved around creating and designing, starting in my father's wood workshop as a child. University led me to study industrial design followed by multimedia design. Since then I've worked in advertising, web design, usability design, and product design.

S: Are you a sole practitioner, or do you have a team of makers that create Sands Made wares?

RS: Sands Made is made up of a team of skilled woodworkers including my father, Peter Sands who has been producing timber furniture for over 40 years.

S: How about the day-to-day operation of Sands Made - what would a typical day involve?

RS: The day to day operation depends largely on the time of year, jobs change weekly. The following list covers most of it though:

• Production – Making the products is the most intensive part of running Sands Made. The old adage "measure twice, cut once" comes into play every day, as mistakes are hard to recover from.

• R&D – Developing new products and refining existing products happens every day, successful ideas are usually tested for about 6 months before we offer them for sale. Products need to be tested thoroughly, often this involves destroying a lovely chopping board by soaking it in water or running it through the dishwasher several times. No product wants to end up in my kitchen.

• Sales – Connecting with great retail spaces and new customers takes a lot of time, we also like to stay in touch with our customers when possible to hear how they're using our products, people often provide feedback through our facebook page.

• Marketing – We'd like our products to be approachable to new customers. Currently we're working on adding more in-store and online product information (such as care instructions), we want customers to feel confident about their product choice long after the original sale.

S: All your pieces are manufactured in Victoria. With so many Australian countries now having products manufactured overseas, why do you choose to produce Sands Made in Australia? What challenges/triumphs have you faced keeping your production local?

RS: Currently we produce in relatively small batches when compared to import markets. This gives our business a strong advantage of being very agile, if a product is not performing we can cut it from our line with few losses. If a product is working well, we can explore options and meet demand quickly. As a young company with a small team, Australia is a great development environment for us.

As demand for our products grows, so do the challenges of producing locally. We're currently in discussions with a Japanese run workshop in Indonesia which specialises in precision woodworking with sustainably farmed timbers. We're hoping to have a few of our popular products made there by the end of the year. Our customers opinions on overseas production are split into two main concerns: 1: Product Quality & 2: Harmful logging practices used in South East Asia. We share these concerns and we think we're heading in a good direction for our customers while addressing these problems. We're keen to hear feedback on this decision, feel free to send us an email.

S: Tell me about the woods you use – some are commonly known such as Tasmanian Myrtle, though you also use some more left-field woods such as Celery pine and American White Oak. What guides your choice in materials, or what makes for a perfect cheese board?

RS: Wood selection draws on three important considerations:

1 Environment: where did the wood come from? 

We source all our timber from sustainably managed forests or recovered logs. Sustainability is achieved through compliance with the Australian Forest Practices Code and Regional Forest Agreement, or the Forest Stewardship Council in the case of US sourced timbers.

2 Performance: how suitable is the wood for the job?

Celery Pine (for example) is a very special close grained wood from Tasmania. We find Celery Pine has just the right characteristics of durability, density and stability, which make it perfect for long term use as a chopping surface.

3 Appearance: what aesthetic are we aiming for?

The look we generally aim for is modesty and subtle contrast (we generally steer clear of garish fluoro-coloured products). Black walnut and celery pine give a wonderful contrast to many of our products and age beautifully too. For a more traditional appearance, such as our Cheese Paddle range we like to use a timber closely associated with the product's heritage, Oak in this case.

S: And lastly, what Sands Made product(s) is currently sitting on your kitchen table?

RS: Actually, the dining table is a Sands Made product, I'm not sure if that counts though... We've just finished testing some 10mm thick Cheese Paddle No.5s, we usually produce these at 15-17mm but we want to cut the weight to make them easier to handle. The first prototype is sitting on the dining table at home.

Thanks Robbie! You can view more Sands Made products on their website, or visit Stockroom for more information. Stockroom has a glorious range of Sands Made boards and paddles in store - better get in quick before they run out!

* Images from top to bottom: Trivets, Ahno Board, Asterix, Mote Board 3

 

Meet Your Maker: Pandarosa

Collaborative art groups are an increasingly fascinating development in contemporary art circles. Consisting of partners Andrea Benyi and Ariel Aguilera, art/life duo Pandarosa traverses graphic design, fine art, education and communications media. Hailing originally from Hungary and Chile, respectively, they have travelled extensively and have developed a unique visual language that reflects their many experiences living and working across the globe. Currently based in Melbourne they are lecturing at university level and pursuing creative work in a variety of fields. Their work has been featured in magazines like Frame, unMagazine, Tokion and Artichoke, and with exhibition experience in Spain, Germany, the US, Italy and England (amongst others) they've delivered a fresh new body of work to the growing artistic hub that is Kyneton, Victoria.

The many wigs and disguises (detail), 2012

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Kent:
Pandarosa is a collaborative entity and I'm really interested to know how that came about.

Pandarosa:
The collaborative nature of Pandarosa began well before we decided to start our little venture at University where we first met. I guess there was a kind of 'gravitational pull' towards odd ball students who, to a certain degree, were 'anti-institutional' and wanted to think/create outside the somewhat strict outcomes of traditional Graphic Design doctrine. Luckily 2 of those happened to be us.

Kent:
How do you find working together, is there a blending of your approaches/skills, do you take turns to build something, or is there a system you've developed?

opening night perusals

Pandarosa:
Working together while also being a couple can at times be challenging, but we've learned to manage each others strengths over the years so we're both able get the best out of one another.

Our approach varies, sometimes it will be Andrea who takes over a project or vice versa, it all depends on what is most suitable towards that outcome, conceptually or visually. At other times we'll work together on a singular outcome, swapping with each other over the process of creating a singular image.

For our artistic projects (exhibitions, etc.) our collaborative approach takes on a more conceptual level, usually creating works independently but always under a single theme/thought, with most of the 'hands on' aspects (installation pieces, hanging) coming together from both our hands.

I guess after spending so much time together we've learned to recognise what is most suitable quite quickly, while at the same time being able to give each other critique/advice about what we're doing from beginning to end.

Kent:
For 'More or Less Concrete' there's a real sense of condensed time and place. How have you found the impact of travelling around the world on your work?

Pandarosa:
The work created for the show can probably be best described as 'fragments' of memoirs once lived: shapes, images and individuals we encountered either in fleeting moments or in deep meaningful ways. The title is, in many ways, a play on words which best describes our state of mind towards important solid decisions we must soon make such as where to call 'home'.

Taking these aspects into account, the biggest impact travelling has created on us, both personally and artistically, is hindsight and the ability to observe similarities as well as differences, not only within people but also structures, skies, soils and visions.

35mm photographs

 - - - -

Thanks Pandas! You can check out more amazing work by Andii and Arial on their websites -
     pandarosa.com.au
     pandarosa.net

The exhibition only has one more week to run, so if you haven't popped in to see it, best get your skates on!

Ends May 6.

Meet Your Maker: Debra Goldsmith

Working with a space the size of Stockroom's main gallery can be overwhelming. It's a pretty big room to deal with. This month we have some large scale oil paintings by Debra Goldsmith that seem to just be custom made for it. They work perfectly on the warehouse scale. Surrounded on all sides by the organic imagery of trees and forests, its easy to feel lost in another world. I put some questions to Debra about her work and she kindly offered up some very interesting insights into her art.

 Debra in front of her painting, Ghost

 - - - - 

Kent:
So, Debra, standing in the middle if gallery one is like being in the middle of an eco-system. Part environmental, part psychological. What has drawn you to focus on trees for this body of work?

Debra:
I started with one tree and it just grew from there! With each tree I paint, I see more in them to inspire me and the desire to paint them increases. I see trees in such a completely different way now to when I first started painting them. I have always felt a strong connection to the earth and the older I get the more important I feel it is that we, as humans, understand the importance of this. Because of our largely urbanised population and technology driven lives, this connection is becoming increasingly tenuous or non existent to the point of nature phobia. One of the reasons trees inspire me is because they are a major element in wilderness and natural environment which can be commonly appreciated due to their inclusion in the urban environment of city parks, backyards and street scaping. The tree paintings are also a continuation of my interest in combining a sense of stillness with feeling/intensity and I want the paintings to be experienced via this duality of feeling. The balance of opposites has always interested me as I believe this to be an integral and constantly challenging element to our human experience. As with all my work there are multiple layers of symbolism/narrative that develops subconsciously. I would say that although I never think of labelling my paintings as such, there is a feeling for me that these paintings are actually closer to portraiture than landscape in some way. Having said this, while I was painting these trees, the surface of the tree felt more like an abstracted landscape to me than as simply bark. Through art there is the possibility to communicate that which is beyond words, beyond the limitations of the conscious mind and can be understood by seeing and feeling. I feel very passionate about trees, forests and the natural environment, in particular wilderness. I hope that through these tree paintings I can also give a sense of humanity and the feeling of the human presence in the natural environment.

 opening night drew a great big crowd

Kent:
The scale of these paintings really put you 'inside' the space of the image. How do you go about painting at this size?

Debra:
Trees are big so it just seemed right to paint this size. If it was at all practical I would paint bigger, however, storage and moving big paintings is always an issue. Having spent much of my working life painting big spaces (scenic art for film, designing and painting restaurant and nightclub interiors, murals etc.) I enjoy working on a large scale and I also prefer to work without knowing what the finished result will be. I feel very relaxed about not knowing where a painting is going to take me. I always work directly on the canvas. rarely using any preliminary drawings. although drawing itself has always been very important to me and in particular life drawing because of the immediacy, energy and time restrictions. I take heaps of photos of trees but if I use them for reference it is only at the very beginning of the painting. The painting has to develop a life of it’s own. The feeling of being ‘inside’ the space of the image is not just to do with the size but is also because of the balance of opposites I referred to in the Q1. Contrasting light and dark, simplicity and complexity create space in the image. I need to have a level of of harmonious tension! If you are following this you are doing well...I really prefer to let my painting do the communication!

Kent:
Do you find that your location (in Taradale, central Victoria) impacts or feeds into your work in different ways to other places you've lived and worked (say, St Kilda for example)?

Debra:
I lived in St Kilda and Elwood for many years, but I did grow up on a farm near Leongatha in South Gippsland and always maintained connection with the country and natural environment even while living in the city. Living in Taradale I have spent many, many hours walking and riding horses in the bush which I would say has definitely had an impact on my work. Simply spending time in the stillness of the bush on a regular basis, being surrounded by varied horizons has an affect on perception. I have lived here for 13 years now and never had any interest in painting trees until 2003. I travelled to Europe in 1991 and that trip influenced my subsequent work. I have been inspired by real trees that I have seen and particularly love the eccentricity of the many varieties of eucalyptus. I like to spend time in different types of wilderness areas and have a particular pull toward Tasmania where I have had experiences which have impacted me spiritually, psychologically and creatively. Another thing about living in Taradale that has impacted my work is the prolonged periods of working in isolation I have experienced here. It can be challenging but it also meant I have felt a sense of total freedom that grows from that isolation.

 taking it all in

Kent:
This series has been put together over a period of years, what's next on the horizon for you?

Debra:
I’d love another trip to Tasmania in the not to distant future. I am overdue for a dose of Tasmanian wilderness! There is much more that I need to do in terms of trees/wilderness/natural environment inspired paintings, although I can never know what shape these will take until it happens. The connection/disconnection between humanity and wilderness is something I want to explore further. My paintings are always shaped by my life experiences, although more in a symbolic than literal sense and it is always a surprise to me how this evolves. Painting is something I have always needed to do and it has been very difficult for me during the times when I haven’t been able to paint as a result of the circumstances in my life but I have learnt not to fight it. When I have returned to painting my work has changed because of what has happened in my life. Then I am back and I just love walking into my studio and being hit by that intoxicating smell of linseed oil and gum turps. It just makes me feel so good!

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Big thanks to Debra for taking the time to share her thoughts with us. The exhibition runs until 3 June, so come on in if you haven't already and experience the works. This is very gallery director-esque of me, but for work of this intensity and scale, they are priced incredibly well too!

Meet Your Maker: Larry Parkinson

Larry Parkinson is a wonderful artist, a lovely chap and a stalwart of the Stockroom scene (if such a thing could be said after only 2 years!). His work has proven extremely popular here and it's easy to see why. It's got visual intensity; it crosses boundaries between print, painting, drawing and graphic design; and it tugs on elements of symbolic meaning that resonate with our contemporary lives. I recently had a chat with Larry to find out more about his current exhibition, Dressing up for the devil, and he generously divulged some of the ideas permeating the work ...

People were drawn to Larry's work at the opening, often spending a lot of time with each piece.

The rich layering reveals hidden secrets and spatial depth with extended viewing.

- - - - - 

Kent:

So, Larry, 'Dressing up for the devil' is the title of your show - which evokes both a playfulness and a risk. Dressing up implies preparation for fun, but the devil is dangerous. Can you give a bit of insight into why you chose this name?

Larry:
Well Kent, the playful aspect is a major element and it is a playful title. We all need to make sure our shoes have been polished and our hair is brushed (I will just wear a tie!) as we prepare ourselves for a willful destiny. It's more like a Breugel meets Johnny Cash album!

It is about you and an idea and the seduction of making and the moving from the personal to the publication - dressing up for the devil - and as you say, playfulness and risk.

Larry Parkinson, Imp (detail), 2012

The title also refers to the duality in the works, not exactly a good and evil morality battle but more a subtle physical line between two or more ideas, possibilities, existing in one work and the hierarchy of these. We do not make snap shots of our worlds but are always processing many layers of meaning.

So in this way the title is more poetic than literal.

Kent:
You utilise a lot of erasure and stripping back in your painting process. What's the motivation for that technique?

Larry:
This way of working serves my process in a couple of ways, one of which is about incubation and sometimes procrastination, having to prepare or find the boards and make layers of under-painting takes time, and I find this helps in the forming of ideas - I guess I am playing.

The influence of having made etchings and using a process of scraping to reveal the image or as a means of correction that exposes the history of the plate intrigues me, but I can just as easily be seduced by the different layers of paint when sanding my weatherboards before putting my contribution on top.  So it is this idea of covering and recovery that became the starting point for this technique. It's also hard to control the results, there is a certain physical resistance in the process, an unpredictability that I enjoy.

Of course this process produces a unique mark, that is quite different from the drawn or rendered and I really like how the two interact within an image. In this body of work the resulting mark has often been the element that sets the image, so I mean the colour or the shape reminded me of an object, a bit like a Rorschach thing.

Even though the process of erasing can be brutal to an extent, I'm not interested in making heroic statements or marks with power tools - but using it more of a reverse drawing technique. I like to interrupt the narrative of the image with this idea of erasing and stripping back until there is a new cohesion. It seems to be working at the moment - we'll see how this process evolves.

 Larry Parkinson, A mortal tale (detail), 2012

Kent:

Could you tell us a bit about how you go about choosing the particular subjects that appear in your work? They have a very symbolic, almost iconic, feel about them.

Larry:

The images or subjects in these works are very much like a catalyst and so in this way can create the thread through the works. This means rather than choosing a particular subject there is an evolution of an idea and concept. Thematically the work has been dealing with duality or a parallel possibility, the idea that one belief or activity could be masking another.

I suppose that I could choose to illustrate this in a more direct or concrete way but I feel the work should be seductive and act as a lure into the idea and become an ornament to this idea rather than just being didactic.

I have combined found images, some are a substitutes for the human form, like tools (sourced from hardware catalogues) that are designed to be used for extending the body like ladders, wheelbarrows, objects to be used in toiling, -  'idle hands makes the devil's work'. In this way they could be seen as symbolic - but played off with a decorative decoy of a halo of gold 'coins' does become almost iconic but slightly ironic too. 

- - - - -

Big thanks to Larry for taking the time to chat about his work. It's so nice to hear all the research, all the ideas and all the thought that goes into the creation of these beautiful artworks. It reminds me of that feeling you get with books on bookshelves, that locked inside each cover is a whole world of imagination. What better way to adorn your world than with the power-packed wonder of art!

Dressing up for the devil runs until 3 June.