Installation view photo courtesy of the gallery
Gallery wall, image courtesy of the gallery
Group exhibition “Heroine” at MContemporary gallery in Sydney now showing until the 24th of March.
Meet me in the labyrinth
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embroidery
Ready, steady….March and you are invited!
Art portfolio- my work, Studio news/blogI am delighted to invite you to two groups shows in which I am participating this month! One is in Australia and the other Cape Town….
First up:
HEROINE at MContemporary in Australia:
Frida Kahlo had it – a defiance and confidence that made her the twentieth century’s first ‘selfie superstar’. Georgia O’Keeffe had it – a brazen and innovative palette that confirmed her as the ‘Mother of American Modernism’. Tracy Emin has it – her frank and provocative art exposing an inventory of unconventional womanhood. The ‘it’ is boldness – a determination to speak, without fear or fancy, of the power of the female voice in public discourse.
In celebration of the dynamism and influence of this conversation, .M Contemporary announces the inaugural Heroine Exhibition, to take place in Sydney from March 7th to 24th, coinciding with International Women’s Day 2019. The Exhibition brings together emerging and established Australian artists with a series of renowned international names, each a daring and adventurous identity in women’s art.
OPENING
ART MONTH – Art Night Paddington
Thursday 7 March | 6 – 8 pmOFFICIAL OPENING
Tuesday 12 March | 6 – 8pmEXHIBITION RUNS
7 March – 24 March 2019Gallery will be closed
Friday 8 Marchto request a catalogue contact louise@mcontemp.com
and shortly after that:
BLOODLINES: IMAGINED HISTORIES at Deepest Darkest in Cape Town:
For the bloodlines: Imagined Histories I was inspired by two vintage photographs which I found at an Antique shop in Stilbaai, Western Cape. I do not know the people in these photographs or their history. I gave them a face-lift so to speak by replacing their unfamiliar faces with familiar ones from popular culture, in this case The Incredible Hulk, and renamed him The Incredible Hunk. I also used a lace-skull stitched unto rubber to resemble Rip van Winkle, who fell asleep and woke up 20 year later. I imagine them as family members, and wonder what my life would be like if I knew them personally.
So on that note…I’ll leave you with this quote by Oscar Wilde:
“Two men look out the window. One sees mud, the other see stars.”
Available work
Art portfolio- my work, Studio newsDear friends and patrons of the Arts…
Lately I have received a lot of interest in my work (through various channels and social media); which I am of course very pleased about. Thank you!
Currently I do not sell directly via my studio, since I am hard at work for upcoming exhibitions….
So, I decided to write a short update with images of available work through various galleries and their contact details… (in no specific order):
Herewith some, not all examples, of available work and gallery details: please contact them for a full list and more info…
*MContemporary gallery in Sydney, Australia- contact louise@mcontemp.com
( works include Meet me in the labyrinth, Hang in there, Right of admission reserved and Mediatrix)
Titles:”Meet me in the Labyrinth” and “Hang in there”
Titles: “Right of admission reserved” and “Mediatrix”
next…
* Millenium gallery in Pretoria contact Ronel van der Vyfer: ronelvdv@gmail.com (Fuck perishableness and Ugly thing rearing its head)
Fuck perishableness/ Fok vergangklikheid
An ugly thing rearing his head/Lelike ding wat sy kop uitsteek
Next…
*99 Loop gallery in Cape Town: contact gallery@99loop.co.za for works eg:
(Until death do us part and It’s not over until the fat lady sings)
Until death do us part 2018
It’s not over until the fat lady sings 2018
next:
*Everard Read gallery in Franschoek: contact karla@everard.co.za for works like “(k)not of snakes” and “In warm water”
(k)not of snakes 215 x 108 cm cotton thread and rubber 2018
“In warm water” 2017 Cotton thread, doillies, and rubber 63 x 128 cm
and last but not least:
*Rossouw Modern gallery in Hermanus, contact info@rossoumodern.com for a list of available works ranging from sculptures to portraits etc:
Fountain of youth, 63 x 48 cm Cotton thread, batting, rubber and wood- framed (photographer Kleinjan Groenewald)
Hungry Eyes 45 x 23 x 45 cm fabric, found objects, cotton thread and rubber 2017 (Photographer JP Hanekom)
Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or head over to my contact page should you wish to send me a private message…
Best wishes
xxx
Anthomania/Anthophobia
Art portfolio- my work, Studio news/blogI stumbled upon a new word recently which I would like to share with you this month:
anthomania :
Excessive or passionate enthusiasm for flowers.
“Meet me in the Labyrinth” detail
If i think back, it probably started in 2017 already when I prepared a body of work for a show called “Incognito” :
“Forget-me-not” (Myositis arvensis) 64 x 51 cm Cotton thread and rubber 2017
For the Incognito, solo exhibition at MContemporary I was inspired by flowers with interesting common names. By combining flowers with self-portraits and animal skulls I felt that they became like masks, concealing the true identity.
So two years later..and now I am even more obsessed with flowers. Real and imaginary. and I am happy to say that I have some new work on its way to Australia again:
“Right of admission reserved” Cotton thread and rubber 85 x 60 cm (2019)
Maybe my so-called ‘anthomania’ started way before 2017…when I was 7years old. My mother was a florist back then…only for a short while.
I remember vaguely how she went for a course in the art of flower-arrangement. Unfortunately I was too little to really appreciate it.
After her death in 1996, I only liked dead things, and decaying flowers. One could say i was “Anthophobic”. When I was studying art, I thought that flowers were too pretty, and decided then to never use them in my art. I didn’t like pretty things.
Well, never say never…
So these days I embroider fantasy blooms on smaller pieces of rubber, arrange them in a collage-like manner and I’ll admit it gives me much joy doing this.
I am expanding my interest to “floriography” (The language of flowers)
Gifts of blooms, plants, and specific floral arrangements were used to send a coded message to the recipient, allowing the sender to express feelings which could not be spoken aloud in Victorian society. Armed with floral dictionaries, Victorians often exchanged small “talking bouquets”, called nosegays or tussie-mussies, which could be worn or carried as a fashion accessory. -wikipedia
this interest is probably due to my ‘anthomania’ and fascination with codes as well as these manuscripts (which is still would like to ‘read’):
Voynich Manuscript
Codex Seraphinianus
But for now I’m just happily stitching away at rubber-flowers. Let’s see where this takes me.
Hang in there (detail)
Greetings from the studio…2019
Studio news/blog
Yikes, already 11 days into the new year, but for me the ‘new year’ officially starts when the children goes back to school. It allows for some quiet contemplative time in the studio.
Usually I try not to make new years resolutions, but with that said, this year I aim to spend more time in the garden,
“Om grond te eet is goed vir sooibrand/ eating dirt is good for heartburn” Embroidery on rubber – Private collection
and focus on cultivating a good posture while working. Also to practice more yoga and to breathe deep.
“Vanity is becoming a nuisance; I can see why women give it up, eventually. But I’m not ready for that yet” – quote from the book Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood
I wish you all a prosperous 2019!
and remember:
“Your craziness is another’s reality” embroidered rubber – Private collection
