Saturday, July 23, 2011

Transformation. An Exhibition of Contemporary Textiles
Curator: Helen Lancaster

Reviewer: Marie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
The ArtCloth diptych - "Flames Unfurling...Life Returning" - was exhibited at the "Transformation: An Exhibition of Contemporary Textile" (see below) as well as in several other exhibitions. For you convenience I have given a link to the post below:
Flames Unfurling...Life Returning

Deborah Segaert, the editor of one of Australia’s exciting new magazines for fibers, yarns and textiles, “Down Under Textiles” magazine invited me to write a feature article for the Gallery section of the magazine.

The article, “Melding Landscapes”, has been published in the June 2011, No. 5 Issue of Down Under Textiles. It discusses my background, my textile art practice and philosophical approaches, plus the history of and technical information about my signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) technique employing disperse dyes that is the basis of the diptych.

The magazine is available from specialist outlets and is also available via subscription. There are of course a lot of other interesting articles and artists included in the issue.

You can also see more images of Marie-Therese’s MSDS ArtCloth works and those of her students by typing - MSDS Disperse Dyes - in the "Search" panel on this blogspot.

The following is a synopsis of the other invited artists and their artworks, which featured in the “Transformation” exhibition.

For your convenience I have listed below posts on this blogspot that featured the artistic output of Helen Lancaster (my dear friend who passed away on the 11th February 2020).
Cane Toad Narrative (Exhibition - ArtCloth: Engaging New Visions)
Transformation. An Exhibition of Contemporary Textiles Curator: Helen Lancaster
Floating: Art Exhibition @ Purple Noon Art And Sculpture Gallery
Celebration
The Barrier Reef Corporate Wall [1]: Art Cloth Panels
Helen Lancaster's - The Great Barrier Reef


Transformation. An Exhibition of Contemporary Textiles
"Transformation. An Exhibition of Contemporary Textiles" was curated by Helen Lancaster and exhibited at the Fairfield City Museum and Gallery, Sydney between the 20th May - 3rd July 2011. Helen invited over thirty contemporary textile artists from all over Australia to interpret another challenging theme, “Transformation”.

A conceptual environmentalist and an articulate and passionate artist, Helen reminisced about recent transformations that have occurred in her catalogue address:
“Natural disasters, monetary problems, return of diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, refugees fleeing so many dictatorships, and of course climate change, seem just a few of the things affecting the world with gloom.

A Royal Wedding with all its traditional pageantry has presented us with a fairy tale. Wonderful new discoveries such as restoring sight, one day hip replacement with key-hole surgery, exploration of the oceans (with literally millions of creatures never seen before) etc. will help to restore the balance.”

With such wide-ranging topics, interpretations of the theme varied widely both conceptually and in the media chosen. As a result, the exhibition showcased the strength of the contemporary textile art movement in Australia. Employing a plethora of techniques such as knitting, felting, paper, plant or chemical dyes, hand and machine stitching, embellishing, etching, woodcuts, recycled materials, printing, gluing, painting, wrapping and manipulation, the artists pushed their individual interpretations into exciting, contemplative and thought provoking works. The exhibition included a variety of art forms including installation, sculpture and two-dimensional works.

The images below feature one selected work from each of the artists’ in the exhibition catalogue. The catalogue includes a preface by Jan Birmingham who gave the opening address, Curators address, images of the works, artists’ statements, size, techniques and materials of each work respectively.


The “Transformation” Exhibition Images

Transformation exhibition curator Helen Lancaster with her piece, The Wedding Cake, at the opening.

General view of the exhibition.

General view of the exhibition.

General view of the exhibition.

General view of the exhibition.

Margaret Barnett, Simply Transformed.
Three meters silk satin, orinui shibori, dye.

Margaret Barnett, Simply Transformed. Detail View.

June Bennett, Pegasus.
Carved wood, machine applique, felt, recycled doilies, knitted and crocheted pieces glued, dyed with tea and coffee. Mounted on granite plinth.

June Bennett, Pegasus. Detail View.

Judy Buist, New Galaxies: Supermassive Black Holes & Quasars.
Knitted garment sleeve, wool, fiber board, canvas, paint, tulle, fabrics, glass beads, knitted and stitched.

Judy Buist, New Galaxies: Supermassive Black Holes & Quasars. Detail View.

Carolyn Cabena, Time and Tide.
Plant dyed recycled fabrics, hand stitched.

Carolyn Cabena, Time and Tide Detail View.

Lyn Castle, Window on Kakadu.
Plain and printed cotton, silk, thread, embroidery threads, oil sticks, fabric paint, silk ribbon, gloss varnish, wadding. Fabric collage, hand painting, machine and hand stitching, scissor sculpting, hand embroidery, silk ribbon work, padding and moulding.

Lyn Castle, Window on Kakadu. Detail View.

Christine Cox, Hidden Treasures.
Wire and metal, paper pulp, recycled fabric strips and cord.

Christine Cox, Hidden Treasures. Detail View.

Charlotte Drake-Brockman, Good and Bad Taste.
Recycled 1930’s elbow length glove cardboard box, crazy quilt from waste materials courtesy Pauline and Grant, tissue paper, PVA, ribbons, bling, glitter, sequins, artificial flowers.

Anne Foy, Force of Nature.
Wet felting, needle felting, inkjet printing on cotton. Merino wool and silk fibers, cotton stitching, industrial felt backing.

Anne Foy, Force of Nature. Detail View.

Lois George, Going Going Green.
Base cape - fine woven wool twill. Layered fabrics, chiffons, satins, cotton voiles, lace, acrylic and polyester materials. Crocheted trees in wool and acrylic, sequins, beads, cording, hand stitching.

Lois George, Going Going Green. Detail View.

Diane Groenewegen, Fragile Forest.
Raw silk and black organza. Screen-printed and foiled.

Diane Groenewegen, Fragile Forest Detail View.

Jennifer Hawkins, We Used to Live in Trees.
Fiber optic stalks, feathers, Perspex.

Jennifer Hawkins, We Used to Live in Trees. Detail View.

Helen Lancaster, The Wedding Cake.
Machine embroidery, fabric manipulation, embellishment. A variety of materials have been combined on a box structure.

Helen Lancaster, The Wedding Cake. Detail View.

Maureen Locke-Maclean, Transition No.3.
In Japan Polygonum tinctorium is an annual or biennial herbaceous plant known as “dyer knotweed”, Chinese or Japanese indigo belonging to the large family of Polygonaceae. Indigo is a vat dye.

Maureen Locke-Maclean, Transition No.3. Detail View.

Elizabeth Low, Of the Seasons.
Thick and thin embroidery threads, wool. Wrapping on cardboard, knitting, embroidery.

Elizabeth Low, Of the Seasons. Detail View.

Karen Macpherson, Techno Sapiens.
Plastic discards which include perming curlers, toothbrush ends, cable ties, safety pins and round stalks.

Karen Macpherson, Techno Sapiens. Detail View.

Helen McGavin Smith, Caged and Endangered.
The organically friendly ensemble is hand dyed, knitted, crotched and fuelled from wool, mohair and mercerized cotton.

Helen McGavin Smith, Caged and Endangered. Detail View.

Irene Manion, Death and transfiguration.
Digitally developed image based on photographs and watercolors of the lorikeet. Dye sublimation print onto polyester fabric. Hand and machine embroidered using rayon threads.

Irene Manion, Death and transfiguration. Detail View.

Shirley McKernan, Rouge.
One ply pure wool yarn and One ply silk/stainless steel yarn. Hand knitting and felting.

Shirley McKernan, Rouge. Detail View.

Gloria Muddle, Coastal Sea Glass.
Frosted glass mounted onto foam core board, painted and sealed with acylic sealer. Background painted with acrylic paint onto cotton, free machined with some hand sewing.

Gloria Muddle, Coastal Sea Glass. Detail View.

Caroll Pichelmann, River to Range.
Padded layers of hand dyed silk organdy. Black velvet shadows, 98% running stich combined with French knots, fly stitch and other embroidery. Hand writing and newsprint sealed and mounted on fabric border.

Caroll Pichelmann, River to Range. Detail View.

Judith Pinnell, Beyond the Surface.
Silk “paper” substrate – dyed pure silk fibers manually formed into “fabric” similar to paper and felt. Overlaid organza strips, free machine stitching using various weights and colors of threads adds color changes.

Judith Pinnell, Beyond the Surface. Detail View.

Lesley Rippon, The Eye has it.
Cotton sponged with darker blue acrylic, painted vleisofix background. Salmon material satin stiched. Yellow material layered with painted material and satin stitched and adhered together. Thick and thin wool sewn on by hand representing the nerves in the eye. Sewn braid representing computer printouts on salmon area. Rickrack braid used for the circles on the printout and hand sewn onto background. Beaded salmon rectangles sewn onto background to represent the drops I will always have to put in my eyes. Project hand sewn onto a round frame to represent the eye.

Lesley Rippon, The Eye has it. Detail View.

Chris Rose, The Lililn Quilt.
Black silk, organza Japanese vintage materials. Layering of dyed, stitched and collaged silk, metal thread and shim.

Chris Rose, The Lililn Quilt. Detail View.

Elizabeth Roberts, Shasta.
Silk fabric thread and silk tops. Needle-turned rouleau, fabric manipulation.

Elizabeth Roberts, Shasta.  Detail View.

Barbara Rogers, Multistripe 2011.
Silk organza, silk charmeuse. Shibori resist dye techniques. De-colored, azoic dyes.

Barbara Rogers, Multistripe 2011 Detail View.

Barbara Schey, Remembering Pike River Mine.
Lame. Miura shibori.

Barbara Schey, Remembering Pike River Mine. Detail View.

Carolyn Sullivan, Seven Views 2.
Hand embroidered over hand dyed fabrics.

Carolyn Sullivan, Seven Views 2. Detail View.

Kirry Toose, Infinite Solace.
Metallic silk/synthetic, assorted silks and synthetic fabrics. Polyester tubing, memory wire. Piping and rouleaux, handmade roses, machine digitising.

Kirry Toose, Infinite Solace. Detail View.

Wendy Wright, Then Came the Rain.
Panel 1 - Before the Rain
Panel 2 - During the Rain
Panel 3 - Desert Transformations
Silk. Dying, painting, machine and hand embroidery.

Wendy Wright, Then Came the Rain. Detail View Panel 3 - Desert Transformations.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

beautiful works of art. but not much on the artists themselves.