spectrescope

cloak and dagger

2007-11-23T03:03:00.002+11:00

I confess to being the worst blogger ever. Sorry. Had a really lovely time in Nowa Nowa, and i'm going back for the Long Now weekend, and the launch of Open For Inspection. Come along if you are in the vicinity. I am excited to see the house, my work was the first to be installed so i can't wait to see what everyone else has been up to.
Here are some photos of what we did in the community room.

Some more photos of my time in Nowa Nowa here.

Photos of the final work will have to wait till after the launch, as it's all top secret till then! Special curtains were made to keep it all under wraps.
Speaking of top secretiveness, i've had some clandestine meetings with these sculptures in Sydney and Canberra.

Well not quite 'cloak and dagger' but it felt a bit that way. One of these encounters was for the Ergas Collection media launch, which was in an amazing old building in Sydney. The sculptures looked as though they just sort of grew out of the floor. It was lovely to see them in that environment. Unfortunately i did not take the good camera so have no decent photos. Photo above is an old one, taken at Silvershot in Melbourne last year.
I hurt my back when putting them back together, which did seem sort of appropriate given their contorted appearance. I was hunched over for a while there too.

inspections

2007-09-26T23:26:00.000+10:00

I am still alive. For quite a while there I was very busy doing things so extraordinarily mind numbingly banal and tedious that i will not speak of them anymore, except to say that they involved cleaning, real estate agents, excel spread sheets and tax. These are a few of my least favourite things, needless to say.

The exhibition at Gallery 9 really went extremely well, to my amazement, with most of the work finding good new homes. Some is even going to London.
It was so nice to have my work in such a beautiful space, and to work with such good people. I have lots more photos here, including works-in-progress pictures. And i have added added some to my website, too, and will add more when i get a chance.

I am off to Nowa Nowa tomorrow, in East Gippsland, for two weeks, as The Long Now resident artist. I'll be doing an installation in part of an unoccupied house as part of Open For Inspection, in collaboration with the local community (hopefully!), and my sister Rhiannon, too (she is very good with paper and things, and a very good artist). I am really looking forward to actually getting there, rather than just preparing; there has been lots to pack, and organise, and think about. Some more about what i'll be doing here.

And here is Open For Inspection the blog

return and recover

2007-08-10T01:21:00.000+10:00

It's been a while. I got back from sydney on the weekend, and have had lots of emails and stuff to catch up on. I stayed a week, to install my show, go to the opening and whatever. It wasn't strictly necessary to stay in Sydney, as it is under two hours on the train from where I live. But i'm very pleased I did stay up there, as it was very hard work! I'm still recovering. Actually maybe it was necessary.

I'm very pleased with it and the way it all went, and very relieved that it all went to plan. I will write more about it very soon. For now I am recovering. And catching up on emails. These are some photos of the show. I've got a whole lot more, but they can wait.

invited!

2007-07-28T23:49:00.000+10:00

Opening 2nd August at 6.
9 Darley Street, Darlinghurst. Continues till the 25th August.

filling space 2

2007-07-25T12:50:00.000+10:00

Here are some photos of the new studio. I really love it. Probably I would live there if I could.

It kind of boggles my mind that I actually have two studios at the moment. Not much more than a year ago I was borrowing Lauren's spare room and garage while she was between flat-mates.

I'm not really using the old studio right now, though. But it still has an awful lot of my stuff in it.

I am too tired to write any more, it was a long day in the studio. The show in Darlinghurst goes up next week, i'll be taking my work up saturday, to install monday and tuesday. Here are a couple of the things that will be in the show (in the new studio, of course).

filling space

2007-07-12T23:40:00.000+10:00

Here are some more photos of what i'm making for the show in August. Not long to go now!

Got the keys to my new studio at the gallery on Monday. I had planned to wait till after the Darlinghurst show to really move my stuff in there, just because of the time involved (i need all the time i can get right now!) but yesterday i caved. I just couldn't resist all that empty space.

Also, i was a little frustrated by the lack of space to put the sculptures together. They take up quite a bit of room when assembled, and so i was having to take them apart at the end of the day because they made it difficult to get in and out of the studio. But, thanks to my dear Mother and her car, i've got the space to set them up, and leave them that way for as long as i like.

It felt a bit ridiculous driving from the old studio to the new one, they are only a block apart, perhaps 150 metres. But it would have taken me hours to move all that stuff on foot (what i really need is a shopping trolley. Not those little ones you can buy, but a full size supermarket one! But then i'd have to put that somewhere) It still took a while, though; there are stairs at both ends.

I'm looking forward to showing some works on paper along with my sculptures, it's often just been the sculptures that i've shown in recent exhibitions. Often in group shows there's far more space in the middle of the gallery than on the walls.

And here is a photo of a crazy tangle of sculptures in my studio (the old studio, that is; will have pictures of the new one soon).

sculptures in residence

2007-07-02T00:17:00.000+10:00

I got some exciting news on Thursday. I am the new Resident artist at Wollongong City Gallery. Amongst other things, this means I get the use of a studio for a year, money for materials and a show at the end. I have not really begun the residency yet, Anita Larkin, 2006 resident, is in the process of moving out.

Anyone in the area should really go check out Anita's show, it is really something very special, the work is quite extraordinary.

I am really looking forward to having the opportunity to work toward a show for a whole year. And I know i'll really enjoy doing my work within the gallery, I love the people there, staff and volunteers. In fact, I am there already quite a bit. I'll enjoy a few more visitors, too. Now my fabulous artist-friend Lauren has gone to London i don't get that many. I share my studio, but unfortunately for me Shivaun works very hard at her job in Sydney.

It'll also be great to have a show where i've hardly got to move the works any distance at all, especially because I am planning to make some pretty big stuff. Though it does have to fit through the studio door. Another good thing is I could certainly use some practice when it comes to talking about my work.

The work I'll be doing is specific to the gallery itself, in a sense it will be site-specific. I'll post plenty more about my plans later. For now I am busy with the sculptures and stuff for Gallery 9. I spent a couple of days taking photos earlier this week. It's tricky with stuff this big. It was difficult to get my piece of white backround paper high enough for the tall sculptures. Some are over 2 meters. For the taller ones I had to stand on a chair to avoid getting the edges of the paper in the shot, and there was no chance of getting the whole thing, bottom to top, in the frame.
I'm pleased with the way it's all coming along, though i've still got plenty keeping me really really busy. The pictures in this post are some of the sculptures i'm making. More photos of the work here.

working and waterlogging

2007-06-19T02:55:00.000+10:00

This is some stuff i'm working on at the moment, in my studio. I'm making them for a show in Darlinghurst, Sydney, opening August 2. It will be the first show i've had 'all by myself' that is not in wollongong.
Some of the sculptures will be pretty big, maybe larger than any I made before. As well as this i'll have drawings and smaller objects and whatever. Hard to say exactly at this point...
I am, of course, working like mad.

The place is Gallery 9. It's pretty new, set up just last year, and a rather lovely space. This is a photo of the entry/ hallway. There are three gallery rooms off this bit.

On a rather more mundane note, part of my bathroom ceiling caved in today. It was waterlogged, and has been threatening collapse for a few days now. At least having a shower won't be quite so risky now. Supposed to be a plumber coming tomorrow. The block of flats I live in seems to have constant plumbing 'issues,' a while ago we had a 'weeping wall'.
It might sound like something worthy of pilgrimage, but believe me, it was really just a big pest.

maths and masquerades

2007-06-09T02:30:00.000+10:00

Sorry i've been making more calculations. In the last two posts I tagged 17 people. With that as the starting point I figured in only 7 rounds of tagging ( only if everyone actually did the tagging, of course!) 410 338 673 would be tagged. In eight rounds, it would be 6 975 757 441, or six billion, nine hundred and seventy-five million, seven hundred and fifty-seven thousand, four hundred and forty-one. Crazy!

That's enough maths for now.

In the post before last (confessions x 12) I posted some pictures and said I would tell you what they were.

They are the decorations made for the Project fundraiser masquerade ball, FABULEAUX, last month. The ball ended up being lots of fun, and it rose money that Project really needs. There were some awful moments before it got underway when it looked like it might be a total disaster. I won't go into detail about that.

We had a lovely Bollywood-style dance troupe, marvelous drag performances, great music from The Fast Falling Fortunes, as well as incredible acrobatic wombats and some spectacular two-headed hula hooping (the hoops, of which there were many, at least 20, i think, were actually 'hulaed' around where the two heads met, the second neck, if you will; the extra head was on top of the usual one) courtesy of Circus WOW.

And there was musical chairs, of the fund raising variety. We fined people as they got out. There was a good prize, though.

And of course, hanging above it all were my decorations. There were a lot of them, unfortunately i did not get the chance to take photos of them all. There are a few more photos of the decorations here.
Not long after I began hanging the decorations, one by one, I was struck by a brilliant idea. Well maybe not genius, but it saved me an awful lot of time fooling around up a ladder. I tied the decorations onto sticks, a few on each stick, which i then placed between the beams of Project's industrial-style open truss ceiling.
Some folks liked the decorations. I liked the sticks.

thinking (with multiplication) ?

2007-05-27T02:03:00.000+10:00

Okay now here's the second tagging post. Only this is not called tagging. It's got the rather grandiose title of 'the thinking blogger awards'. Much easier than the 'tagging' - no random facts or confessions. Here's the little thingamy that i'm sposed to put here-

and the obligatory link to the origin of the whole thing.

By the way, the picture up top has nothing to do with anything, but I gotta have a picture.

Firstly it was Arlee Barr of Albedo Design that 'awarded' me, then it was Helle of Gooseflesh, and then Marion of My Art Grows Around Me. Thankyou. So does that means I've got 15 awards to give? I'm not sure.Of course it is my own fault, I should just have done the 'awarding' when Arlee awarded me. But, as usual, I was slack and took my time....

Anyways I was thinking about tagging and stuff, and about how quickly 'the tagged' (or 'awarded') would multiply. So I did the sums and it's all slightly disturbing in an amusing sort of way. Well I think so.

Now, remember these numbers only work if everyone tagged actually does the tagging. And i'm sure they don't. They couldn't. But the potential is there. I should mention maths and that sort of thing is not my strong point by any stretch of the imagination, so perhaps I went about this completely the wrong way....

Each number listed on the left is each stage of tagging, i'll call it a 'degree'. For example, 1. is the people I tag, 2. is the people they tagged and so on. I've left out the sums after number 4, but you get the idea.

1. 1x5 = 5
2. 5x5 = 25
3. 25x5 = 125
4. 125x5 = 625
5. 3125
6. 15,625
7. 78,125
8. 390,625
9. 1,953,125
10. 9,765,625
11. 48,828,125
12. 244,140,625

So, by the time a tag has separated 12 degrees from its originator, over two hundred and forty four million blogs/bloggers have been tagged. Yes that is right. Unless of course i've gotten something very wrong. Which is entirely possible. I guess it works well for whoever starts these things, at least when they get you to link back to their blog....

The blogosphere report of April 07 (most up to date relevant info I could find) says technorati is tracking over 70 million blogs. Even double that and every single blog would be tagged within 12 'degrees' of an individual initiating a tag or whatever. No wonder I got the award three times, eh?

And only 36% of blogs are in english. 37% are Japanese. Not that tagging is limited to blogs in the taggers language. I have tagged (last post) at least one blog that is not in english, though i knew that the blogger was proficient in english (after all, it does seem that people whose first language is english are less likely to be bi-lingual, so there could be lots of 'inter-lingual' tagging).
While Babelfish is a great thing, it is a long long way from being perfect! Much as I would like to stick a babelfish in my ear, it is, after all, a towel that is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Not a babelfish. Sorry, very bad joke. Anyway I would think that the tendency would be to tag blogs in your own language.

Not that i think it would be bad if every blogger got tagged or awarded once (or even occasionally), but at the potential rate that these things multiply, we could all end up doing posts that are just tagging....
There are 120, 000 new blogs created every day (according to blogosphere) but i dunno if that's gonna be enough!?! Depends, i guess; if everyone is as slow as me when it comes to tagging we might be okay.

So, in light of this little investigation I have decided i'd better just give 5 awards. I'll try to avoid those I tagged in the last post as well as folks I know already have one. But probably i'll mess up.

So here are my 5 thinking blogger awards-

1. First has got to be Lauren of She Sees Red. Partly just to get her back. Just kidding, actually it's because Lauren really is a thinking blogger. And a thinking artist, too.

2. Then there is Mandy the Feltbug. I love Mandy's work, and her blog too. I just noticed Mandy was tagged and then was too thoughtful to tag anyone back, just listing some blogs she likes, including this one. When I first read the post I thought Mandy was tagging me. Luckily that was not the case, otherwise i'd be hassling even more bloggers. Sorry Mandy, I am not so considerate as you, but at least this one is 'non-confessional'. And please ignore this if you like, or take five or six months (see last post!). That goes for all of you.

3.Next is Shula of POPPALINA. Shula makes fabulous things, and does some extraordinarily thoughtful blogging.

4. Jan of In My Spare Time. Just to get her back. No, really the blog is great, very thoughtful! And marvellous work, too.

5. Fiona Long. I've known Fionas work through flickr for quite some time but somehow missed the blog/website for a while there. Anyways the artwork and blog are both very thoughtful, and altogether wonderful.

Apologies to anyone already awarded. You can completely ignore it. Fine by me, it's probably for the best. And you can ignore it even if you have not been previously awarded, that is also more than fine by me. Bound to come back round and bite me on the bum anyways.

confessions x 12

2007-05-24T00:43:00.000+10:00

These pictures have nothing to do with what follows but I don't like to do a post with no pictures. I'll tell you what it is some other time. No space here for that!

This was going to be complicated and somewhat confusing. For me as well as you. It is my own fault, i do let little things pile up sometimes. Instead I will divide the tagging and the thinking blogger awards into two posts. First the tagging. It may still be a little confusing. Sorry.

So now i have to confess. My dear friend and fantastic artist Lauren of She Sees Red 'tagged' me ages ago. When i say ages i mean around five months ago. Maybe six. Yes i am bad. Didn't realize it was quite that long. I guess i'm not really the tagging sort (whatever that is), I feel a bit funny about it all. Oh well.

The idea is i have to tell you 5 things you wouldn't know about me (probably). And then tag 5 bloggers. See Lauren's original post for more details.
So here they are -

1. I have a bit of a problem with collecting too much stuff. One day i will be (literally) suffocated by it. Or else great piles of it will fall on me on crush me to death. Probably you already knew that. If not, I'm sure you suspected.

2. Also i carry around too much stuff. Mostly things i'm making.

3. With my work, i have trouble stopping. Often there is no clear point at which I can say 'this is finished now'. It could just go on and on...

4. I am afraid of the dark. Sort of. Not in the usual way, i am not scared of the things that could be there that i can't see. I'm just scared not to see: in the dark i cannot do my work or read or anything. I spose i'm scared of boredom more than the dark. I like to be doing things.

5. I really like drinking ice. Or eating it. I'm not sure of the correct term. I freeze water in plastic bottles and smash it with a hammer. And then eat / drink it rather noisily (it cracks and rattles etc).
It can be very irritating to those in my vicinity.

I am going to try not to tag people that I know have recently been tagged. However I am bound to fail. So i'm sorry if you've been over-tagged lately. Maybe we'll call it tag fatigue. If you like just ignore this, or perhaps just wait 5 or 6 months. Anyways i'll tag -

1. Selflesh,

2. Amanda Watson-Will

3. Judith Hoffman

4. Mais Pozinhos

5. My Art Grows Around Me

This next tagging is thanks to the lovely and awfully clever Jan, of IN MY SPARE TIME.
I am supposed to reveal 7 random facts about myself or something.
So some more things to confess-

1. I am a vegan. Well I do eat honey. Also I eat stuff that says on the packet 'may contain traces of dairy or eggs' etc, but not stuff that says it does. Subtle but important difference!
I don't actually object to eating meat or other animal products, but I prefer not to participate/support the industry because things just aren't done the way i'd like 'em to be. And I don't find it difficult, or only very rarely anyway. It's been 10 years now. And plus it's bad for the environment.

2. I stay up WAY too late.

3. My fridge is covered in silly cute stickers.

4 I am prone to over-research things I am planning to buy. Especially technological sorts of things. Stuff like my laptop, cameras etc etc. I should probably just buy them and not read so many reviews or compare so many prices. Probably not worth the trouble. I should just read more blogs.

5. I really need to clean out my bag more often. You know, get rid of all the little bits of crap that accumulate down there. Also my wallet. Sometimes I can't shut it and believe me it's not because it's full of money.

6. I don't shave legs or under-arms. I like to pretend this is on principle but really I just can't bear to spend time doing things like that. It's dull. I get bored. Also I never wear make-up.

7 I suffer from a similar affliction to Jan. Stationery obsession. I do have to think before i spell it though. Otherwise i wouldn't be getting anywhere. Sorry very bad pun.

So i'll tag

1. Cally Creates

2. Red Red Day

3. Handmaid

4. Under Secret Door

5. Ruby-Crowned Kinglette

6. Screaming Lulu

7. Littlefish

Phew! Well I think it's all over. At least till I do the next post. Though it could be the one after that. We'll see.

window sill

2007-05-08T20:12:00.000+10:00

It's been a while between posts. A variety of things have been keeping me occupied, including a new macbook. I've never really used OS X before so I've had to learn to do stuff a bit differently. Just little things. I really really like it. So far anyway. Nothing has broken yet.

It's lucky i got it when i did because my desktop PC decided to ignore its CD/DVD drive. Not good when you've gotta send a CD of photos (last post!).

I've been spending way to long downloading and changing icons around. I have so many icons now, i have three sets of insect icons. One is specifically bees. Another set is internal organs, and another is little felt characters. I think they're called felt critters, funnily enough.

This is not all I've been doing, of course. I have also been doing some studio rearranging. Firstly it was minor change, the things on my windowsill got rearranged. Some of the things that were there i put in a little show (at project, artist run space where i do stuff). I also got some little things back from Wollongong city gallery. The photos are of my rearranged windowsill. And then i did some bigger changes, made a mess, and cleaned it up (mostly).

The exhibition is an open entry type thing, it was a last minute (well night before) decision to go in it, swayed by director-chairperson Sara. She is very persuasive. I am actually vice-chair, though i feel something of a fraud. Sara's never missed a committee meeting so I've never had to fill in.

I did help hang the show, though i didn't work as hard as some other people, as i had an urgent thing to finish that i don't really want to talk about.

Plus hanging other peoples work drives me a little mad sometimes. The other folks hanging will vouch for that because they had too listen to the cursing and swearing. And i don't usually swear that much. Actually, hanging my own work drives me mad too. But somehow not quite so mad. At least most of my stuff isn't in straight lines, i think that makes things easier. And of course i know which way round it goes. Most of the time anyway.
And if i put a d-hook (not that i really ever have a need for them) in some ridiculous spot that made my work jut out at 90 degrees from the wall i would only have myself to blame.

And then of course there's sitting the gallery, which the participants in the exhibition do. For the most part this works out fine. But occasionally someone doesn't show, and the gallery is not open when it should be. And you only find out about it later when someone gives you (and the gallery) crap about it. Obviously it is the absent person they should be so very irritated at. But of course they don't know who they are (or why they aren't there) so you're the next best thing.

Not that ARIs aren't good fun too.

horsehairy photos

2007-05-01T19:45:00.000+10:00

There's been a change of plan. I still have the MECHANICAL EQUITANT and will have it for a while yet; I'm taking the photo for the catalogue now. Actually i've taken it. Many of them, i'm sending a CD full and that's just the good ones.
It's taken me quite a while to get pictures i'm reasonably happy with; details are easy enough but along with close-ups i was asked to send pictures of the whole thing. Partly that is a challenge because i lack the space, but also has to do with technicalities associated with not having quite the right equipment, and i won't bore you with those. But eventually things worked out okay, i think. Though only after rather a lot of trial and error, and the purchase of a big roll of paper (which i'd wanted anyway) and 500 watt halogens (very cheap) and a second visit to bunnings to get a replacement globe cos i must have accidentally touched one of the globes which you can't touch.

The lights came only after hauling all the gear (camera, tripod, sculpture, giant paper roll etc) in the rain down to project artspace (it was maintenance week) and building a wall of plinths that was really rather dangerous. And then rebuilding it, and then a flat battery.

I confess i'm a bit of a 'pixel peeper,' it really gives me a thrill to be able to zoom in on a photo that's really clear and sharp. I've been doing an awful lot of peeping in the past few days.

I think part of the problem was that i've had photography done for a catalogue before, in a photography studio by a professional photographer. And those photos are so good!! Very close to perfect, i reckon. Proper equipment, studio, and most importantly expertise and experience makes a huge difference. The quality of my photos doesn't really even approach those, but i think they'll do. I hope. Maybe i'm too fussy. But these photos actually look pretty sharp when viewed at 100% which is about a metre tall (vertical orientation). Or at least a lot of them do, at least on-screen. Previously i've had trouble getting that when it comes to pictures of big stuff, so it feels like a real accomplishment. Of course it's likely that no-one else will notice....

So these are some of the pictures, though i've sent many more than this. Easier that way.

It has been a real learning experience, i'm all set for next time! As long as it's not summer - i don't think i could bear the 1500 watts of heat.

horsehairy

2007-04-21T23:25:00.000+10:00

This work, THE MECHANICAL EQUITANT (in these photos it's not quite finished yet) has been commissioned for BLOODLINES: ART AND THE HORSE AT Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, which will open 1st of August (of course!). I'll be sending it on it's way this week, in time for catalogue photography. The show is curated by Peter Fay, there'll also be new commissioned works by Charlie Sofo, Slim Barrie, Jo Boag, Stephanie Hicks, Simon Scheuerle, Linde Ivimey, Martin Mischkulnig, and Tom Moore, as well as existing works by artists Noel McKenna, Nicholas Chevalier, Arthur Boyd, Ken Whisson, Albert Tucker, Fred Williams, Sam Fullbrook, Harold Cazneaux, Pro Hart, TV Moore, Sidney Nolan and, i believe, quite a few others.

THE MECHANICAL EQUITANT has undergone many changes and revisions as i've been making it, many parts were created that didn't end up getting used. The photos HERE show many of these parts. They'll all come in handy for something else. It seems i have a very inefficient way of working. Sometimes i think it would be nice to know exactly what it is that you're doing, and know it will work. But maybe it wouldn't be so interesting that way.

Will do another post on this work. Maybe when it's on its way and i don't have to look at it any more.

malleable fiction

2007-04-15T21:43:00.000+10:00

Some odds and ends sitting on the window sill of my studio. Lots of them use the crumpling i've been doing a lot of lately, combined with papier mache. I called them FICTILE MEMENTOS. I like the word fictile, it sounds to me like it means 'fictional' but actually means 'malleable' or 'formed of a moldable substance' and is often used in relation to pottery. These two meanings aren't so different really, both imply a constructed entity, one of them , perhaps, a little more tangible than the other.

Some of these pieces were in a group show at FIELD in Newcastle a little while ago -

fits!

2007-04-09T20:22:00.000+10:00

Hurrah! Now i can fit a decent size photo in landscape orientation in a post. Not being able to do that was a nagging irritation to me. Lucky i didn't have a fit.

Still a few very minor changes to make. Probably it'll only be me that notices.

changes

2007-04-09T19:33:00.000+10:00

Making some layout changes to Spectrescope, so things may look a little weird for a little while. Of course, i may not like them and end up back where i started.

This is a book thing that's going to be part of a bigger thing.

'I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
So the days flow through my eyes
But the days still seem the same...'

not talking about it

2007-04-08T23:06:00.000+10:00

The main thing i'm working on at the moment is something i really don't feel like talking about. Probably because it's driving me a little nuts. But it's under control. I think.
So instead here's a couple of other things.

Above is a new drawing. Ball point pen, pantone letraset markers and white ink.

This is a drawing installation i'm working on. I plan to make it pretty big. It's in early stages, and is 'installed' rather roughly on the wall of my studio. There are many possibilities for different arrangements of the parts. And there will be many more parts before i'm finished with it.
I started it when at Bundanon, slowly it is growing.

It is larger than the photos show, but i have no decent photo of the whole thing. Which reminds me, i'm getting a new lens soon. I actually got a new camera the other day, just a 'point and shoot' digital. Unfortunately a DSLR is not that great to carry around. At least when you're like me and are always carrying a heap of stuff anyway. It is great for documenting artwork, though.

My new camera fits inside a soapbox, with which i have made a case for it (i added some padding etc). Unfortunately the memory is yet to arrive, i can only take about 5 pictures with the supplied SD card. Hopefully Tuesday.

very very small

2007-03-31T02:37:00.000+10:00

I made these sculptures for a weekend exhibition where everything had to be under 10 x 10 x 10 centimetres, strangely enough called 10 x 10 x 10.

That is even small for me! A lot of my work is almost that small...

They are made of paper, thread, wax, wire, ink, glue, coffee and a wooden skewer.

white ink

2007-03-26T01:44:00.000+10:00

From a small series of small drawings i've been working on, white ink and other things on paper. I 'discovered' white ink fairly recently and it's really nice to use on a dark surface. Used a nib for these.
Only problem with the white ink is that the pigment seems to be very heavy, so you've gotta really shake the bottle really really well, much more than with other inks, at least that i've used.
Maybe this varies among brands. I don't know, it's the first bottle i've ever had.

These are actually on decent quality drawing paper (nothing flash, but it's not bad). I have this weird thing where my drawings often turn out better on crappy paper. Maybe the better quality is intimidating or something, I really don't know.
But i quite like these, at least for now. Though i'm not sure that they are finished. Often i don't know if something's finished till it comes time to show it or part with it or whatever.

shredshredshred

2007-03-21T22:41:00.000+11:00

Got a hand powered paper shredder a while back. I love it! Well worth 8 dollars. The photo above is from the series of small sculptural installations, THE PAPER GARDEN. This one was at Bundanon.

The great thing about the hand shredder (sounds dangerous!) is that it's easy to shred half a page, so it's good for making books like those below, and the one in the first photo, too.

These photos were taken in what was my Bundanon studio, except for the first picture, which was taken in my usual studio.

on their way!

2007-03-19T21:12:00.000+11:00

A few weeks ago I finished some large sculptures for a private commission. They just left my studio today. It has taken me a really long time to get them ready to send to Melbourne. It's not so much the packing that has taken so long (though it did take quite a while) it's fact that there are 21 parts that need to be reassembled into 5 sculptures, with 11 'legs' that don't look that different yet all must go into a specific hole. And i'm not gonna be there to put them back together again. If i was, it would be easy, but making it easy for someone else to put them together - that's hard.

First there's a checklist of the parts. then there's a guide to what all the tags mean (each sculpture has a number, each leg and hole has a letter etc etc.) Then there's instructions for the way that the top part of each individual sculpture attaches to the legs (they are all different). And then there's a guide to the cd of photos i've included. Much more complicated than i'd expected.

The sculptures are called GHOSTS IN MACHINES (DESOLATION ROW 2) and are paper, textiles, wax, wood, wire and other stuff like glue and ink.

fine sticks

2007-03-15T02:27:00.000+11:00

I love Staedtler sticks. The fine ones. They are my favourite pen, definitely my favourite ballpoint. Fortunately they cost about 65 cents each, and are even cheaper if you buy them by the dozen. I love to use them in my moleskines (below) and on 'rough manila paper.' That's what this drawing is on (above), at least that is the way it is described on the cover of the pad.

I really like expensive pens, too. I got some letraset pantones for Christmas and they are lovely. But mostly i use them with my stick. My fine fine stick. Or at least one of the 30 or so i've got. Nothing beats a nice ballpoint.

Do you know how to pony

2007-03-08T23:27:00.001+11:00

These little horses (yes they are horses, maybe when they are finished they will be more identifiably horses) sitting in my studio are going to be part of a larger sculpture that will be in an exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery later in the year. At least that's the plan.

(how much fits between the eyes of a horse?)

newly crumpled

2007-02-27T03:21:00.001+11:00

A new way to crumple! Well new to me. I am sure serious crumplers know all about it. I have found very little instructional information so it's an assumption, but a pretty safe one i think.
It involves turning the thing inside out repeatedly and creating a fold each time. These ones are made with sewing patterns, and wax.

Previously my crumpled things had all been variations on the technique used for the piece in my last post.

exchange (Bundanon)

2007-02-19T22:11:00.000+11:00

Hisako was very interested in the origami crumpling i was working on at Bundanon. She gave me some of her calligraphy that she said was 'practice' or 'mistakes' to make 'something new.' So i dyed the paper and made it into a crumpled piece. Had no wax (or saucepan for the wax) at that point.

We ended up deciding that some workshops for one another would be a good idea. Hisako taught us about calligraphy (shodo), which, i discovered, is extraordinarily difficult,though very enjoyable. Sunanda and Dhaneshwar gave some cooking lessons. And i did origami crumpling. Which was a bit of a challenge because i'm still learning.

In my Bundanon studio; Sunanda Khaduria, Dhaneshwar Shah, Hisako Tsuzuku and Hiroshi Tsuchiya. Unfortunately i didn't get any close-ups of the pieces that we made, but you get the idea.

It took me a few days to figure out exactly what it was i was doing when crumpling. I showed everyone how to make a simple 4 pointed form, like this -

The fewer the points, the easier; four is also visually effective and often looks better than eight or sixteen. But it's enough to be interesting, and the structure can stand on its peaks, or in the outer 'arms,' like the one above.

By that stage i had found an old saucepan in Sunanda's studio and had bought some wax during one of our weekly trips to Nowra, so we dipped the pieces in wax, and i assisted with the shaping as the wax hardened. I was very impressed with everyones work, and they were all rather pleased with themselves, and i was quite pleased with myself, too!

Hisako became quite devoted to crumpling, this is one of the pieces she made later on, with a bit of help with the wax -

I was very taken with this one, so took a few photos.
Hisako's enthusiasm was quite a thrill for me, I had the feeling that maybe, just maybe, i had played a part in another artist (one i greatly admire) finding a new way of working, a new avenue to explore.

I am still working with Hisako's 'mistake' calligraphy, she was very generous! Some as collage,
some 3d things. At some stage there'll be pictures.

sketchbook slideshow

2007-02-18T22:47:00.000+11:00

dirt paint

2007-02-17T00:59:00.000+11:00

Bundanon is very sandy. A nice grey sand, though sometimes red. I collected some to mix into a kind of paint, with a bit of paste and glue and sometimes a bit of gouache. Made a nice texture.

For this book i used some of my 'dirt paint'.

The photo below sort of shows the sand, peeking through river stones and casuarina needles.

the paper garden

2007-02-11T13:24:00.000+11:00

Something i enjoyed doing while at Bundanon was a series of temporary miniature sculptural installations in the bush, THE PAPER GARDEN, made of paper (of course). I would have liked to do some more of that sort of thing, but had other stuff i needed to work on. I would like to do something similar in an urban setting, so i'm keeping an eye out for good spots.

the real world

2007-02-10T12:42:00.000+11:00

I'm back! Had a fantastic time at Bundanon and now i'm exhausted. I think this is a problem when you take so much stuff.

This is one of a group of sculptures completed during the residency.

One of the best things about the experience was being there with my fellow residents, it was all much more sociable than i had expected. Living together in quite an isolated spot you spend quite a bit of time with one another - there are shared meals, afternoon tea (often lemon tea - yum!) lots of walks, studio visits and an occasional DVD on Hiroshi's laptop.
I was fed a lot, mostly by the two artists i shared a kitchen with, Dhaneshwar Shah and Sunanda Khaduria, from New Delhi. Not only talented artists, but very good cooks. And very good makers of lemon tea.

The other visual artist was Hisako Tsuzuku, a calligrapher whose work was wonderful. We did a workshop with Hisako, after which i developed an even greater respect for what she did; japanese calligraphy is very difficult!

From the left - Dhaneshwar, Sunanda, Hiroshi (Hisako's partner) and Hisako.

This photo was taken the day before Dhaneshwar and Sunanda left. They had made us some delicious semolina, and Hisako provided some lovely green tea.

More to come about Bundanon.

away

2007-01-23T00:25:00.001+11:00

., originally uploaded by me-jade.

Things will be quiet here for a little while. I am doing a residency at Bundanon. It is wonderful except for the horridly slow computer. Possibly this will be my only post while I am here. I shall return in February with lots of pictures and new work. I am afraid that the thought of trying to upload my photos with this contraption sends chills down my spine. But my studio is quite amazing.

This is an unfinished piece, made from book pages and wax.

outgrowths

2007-01-14T03:18:00.001+11:00

., originally uploaded by me-jade.

New drawing / monoprint. More on website.

float

2007-01-11T03:38:00.001+11:00

,, originally uploaded by me-jade.

New drawing - collage .

crumpling

2007-01-06T04:46:00.000+11:00

I have been trying out some ‘origami crumpling’ – I saw some images of pieces made using the technique, and found a youtube video showing the process. I had to try it! Have a look at the video. I wish I could crumple like that guy. I find it more difficult than the usual origami – much more awkward and unwieldy. But I will keep practicing.

There is very little information on the net about the processes and techniques involved. At least I found very little, considering the wealth of information about origami generally. There are lots of amazing photos though. Google origami crumpling! Have a look at the work of Vincent Floderer.

This piece is made from an old sewing pattern. Tissue paper or something similar is needed for crumpling, so patterns are perfect. Not sure yet what i am going to do with my crumplings. They may develop into some sort of sculptural pieces.

2007-01-01T03:11:00.000+11:00

Just a little book, around 4cm high. Machine stitching, correction fluid, fabric, paper.

website!

2006-12-27T19:49:00.000+11:00

I have a website! Besides Spectrescope, of course. Needs a bit of work, but it will probably always be a work-in-progress. And here's a sketchbook page, just because a post with no picture is no good!

in progress, in studio

2006-12-27T02:08:00.001+11:00

sculptures in studio - work in progress, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Studio, with some work in progress - probably for the commission mentioned in my last post.

work - in - progress

2006-12-22T02:46:00.001+11:00

spectral monsters (from the omnibus) : work - in - progress, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Some sculptures that will most likely be part of a group of commissioned pieces that i am currently working on.

more secretive spectres

2006-12-16T01:15:00.001+11:00

spectral monsters (from the omnibus), originally uploaded by me-jade.

More from saturday evenings semi-secret and rather devious 2 hour exhibition i had with Lauren Brown sheseesred.blogspot.com/2006/12/guerilla-girls.html

decay and breakdown

2006-12-13T21:53:00.001+11:00

from 'the decay and breakdown of formal structure and its reinvention', originally uploaded by me-jade.

Detail from a series of works on paper 'The Decay and Breakdown of Formal Structure and its Reinvention.' Collage, acrylic, ink, correction tape and fluid, pens, pencils, machine stitching etc.

secret show

2006-12-10T21:14:00.000+11:00

From saturday evenings semi-secret and rather devious 2 hour exhibition i had with Lauren Brown.
That's some of Laurens work on the walls in the frames.

stuffed drawings etc.

2006-12-06T01:33:00.000+11:00

To make these stuffed drawings i put fabric in an embroidery hoop, draw on it with various things - pen and ink, other kinds of pens and pencils and ink washes. Then i cut the shapes out, sew on a backing and stuff them and sew some more.

I like the way they make the drawing tactile and 3D - like some kind of toy. Making things can be a lot like playing a game or solving a puzzle.

The little origami box has a piece of origami stitched inside. The top left piece is cardboard and collage etc.

moleskine monster

2006-12-05T00:28:00.001+11:00

sketchbook detail, originally uploaded by me-jade.

little drawings together

2006-12-04T01:05:00.001+11:00

drawings, originally uploaded by me-jade.

most of these started as monoprints. The drawing is mostly biro, some pencil and some correction fluid.

kind of new studio and monoprint drawing

2006-12-04T00:18:00.001+11:00

monoprint drawing, originally uploaded by me-jade.

This is a monoprint with biro, pencil, correction fluid. I have really been enjoying monoprinting lately, after not doing any for quite a while.

A week ago I took over the lease on the studio I have been sub-leasing, in order to avoid losing it altogether (with about 3 days notice – I was very anxious about it all for a while there ). I am so pleased with how it has all worked out – I have more space now, and it seems to me much more like a proper studio. I have been painting the walls white (they were a green colour which wasn’t that bad but not so good for a studio) and rearranging things. And I got a little fridge! Such luxury…

I loved my studio before but I really really love it now. It is funny that small things can make a big difference.

I will post some studio pictures soon.

little monster

2006-12-01T12:24:00.001+11:00

little monster drawing, originally uploaded by me-jade.

My computer was broken for about a week, which drove me nuts. Now i am going nuts trying to catch up on everything, especially on flickr.
Some programs need reinstalling, and a lot of my stuff is in strange new places....but i am so happy to have it back. And my USB ports now work - hurrah!

This little drawing is biro and correction fluid.

lazy little monster drawing

2006-11-21T00:53:00.001+11:00

sketchbook drawing detail, originally uploaded by me-jade.

I'm kinda working on a little book of drawings like this - might make it as an edition. Probably it will take me a while, other things keep getting in the way. I might even lose interest before it is done...

Click on the image to see things more clearly...

oscillium asylum omnibus 4

2006-11-21T00:21:00.001+11:00

oscillium asylum omnibus, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Just another picture of a spectral monster. I'll write something about them sometime.
I think this one should be called the 'horn-headed monster.'
Looks like it might make an awful noise.

collage drawings

2006-11-13T19:06:00.000+11:00

Click on the pictures for decent images.

The pieces are A4 size.

book standing up

2006-11-13T19:03:00.001+11:00

book standing, originally uploaded by me-jade.

a little folded book with some machine stitching

new sketchbook page

2006-11-13T00:11:00.001+11:00

from sketchbook, originally uploaded by me-jade.

From a new sketchbook - a squared moleskine. I've been using a bit of grid paper lately.

oscillium asylum omnibus 3

2006-11-11T23:31:00.001+11:00

oscillium asylum omnibus, originally uploaded by me-jade.

OSCILLIUM ASYLUM OMNIBUS: SPECTRAL MONSTERS OF USELESS WORDS.

oscillium asylum omnibus 2

2006-11-04T00:28:00.001+11:00

oscillium asylum omnibus, originally uploaded by me-jade.

oscillium asylum omnibus

2006-11-04T00:26:00.001+11:00

oscillium asylum omnibus, originally uploaded by me-jade.

oscillium asylum omnibus - finally

2006-11-04T00:24:00.001+11:00

oscillium asylum omnibus, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Finally I have some photos of my sculptures at 4A. My computer is still not fixed (though I’m hoping it will be soon) , so instead I begun the tedious and slow process of burning them onto cds – tedious and slow because the other computer I have to use is very slow and the burning program keeps crashing on me. But at least I’ve got them. Well I’ve still got another lot to go, but I’m nearly there. It has made me appreciate my own computer, aside from those rotten USB ports. And by the way Canon ‘support’ still hasn’t contacted me. Slackers!

Anyways the name of the work is OSCILLIUM ASYLUM OMNIBUS: SPECTRAL MONSTERS OF USELESS WORDS. They are made from various types of paper, including shredded documents from my local council as well as fabric, thread, wire, plant materials, spakfilla and latex surgical gloves. Some of the paper is folded, some is papiermache.

technical trouble insanity

2006-10-29T00:06:00.001+10:00

sketchbook page, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Yes it's another bloody sketchbook page.

I finally got my fancy camera and my stupid computer won't recognize it. After buying a card reader, and having that not work, we realized it must be a problem with my USBs.

And now my printer and scanner aren't working either, my computer will not recognize any USB devices. It is all driving me a bit insane. I just want my camera to work and i want it to work NOW.

I am glad it's not the camera with the problem, because it is the most expensive thing i ever bought in my whole life.
Anyways i've got my Uncle coming round tomorrow, I am hoping he can wave some magic wand.....

If it still doesn't work i'm just gonna have to take the photos of my stuff at 4A and download them onto my sisters computer (camera is fine on that) burn a cd and put them on my computer. And i was thinking having my own camera would make documentation much easier. So much for that idea.

Oh yeah, from my experience so far, Canon Australia's online customer support is CRAP. Okay, it is not actually a problem with their product, but i didn't know that at the time, and they still don't know that, and do you think they got back to me within the 2 working days as promised? Of course not. And none of the pages of info or downloads relevant to my camera actually work on their website. Fair enough it is a new product, but they have the links there as though there is something actually there. And it was so hard to find any way of emailing them! I had to work my way through a maze to find their Canon online support query form. Not that it did me any good because of course they have not responded.

another one.

2006-10-22T00:30:00.001+10:00

sketchbook page, originally uploaded by me-jade.

sketchbook drawing.
Ball point pen, pencil, correction tape, texta.

open fancy train

2006-10-22T00:10:00.001+10:00

sketchbook page, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Opening night went really well, and next week i'll be getting my fancy schmanzy new camera, so photos of the show will be coming soon! But for now just another sketchbook page. Ball point pen, texta, correction tape.
It has been very nice to not have to catch the train to Sydney today. I am tired.

installed!

2006-10-19T23:24:00.001+10:00

sketchbook page, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Finished hanging my work at 4A today. Well actually this evening. It has been 3 days of work! Hanging stuff from the ceiling is always a bit tricky, and there were about 60 pieces to hang (not sure exactly), so I spose it is no wonder it was a lot of work.

Today was mostly doing stuff like lighting and labelling, which is a big job in itself. All those dangling sculptures really get in the way when you're moving a ladder around to adjust the lights , not to mention labelling, which, due to the nature of the work had to be on the ceiling. I am kind of suprised we didn't pull anything down.

It is a relief to have it all done. Now i just have to get through the opening night. Back to Sydney for the 4th day in a row. Once again it seems there will be little chance of getting home before 10:30. Oh well.

It is strange to be in such a public place when installing, and even to have my work in such a space. It's not the usual for me. The front of the gallery is just about all glass, and the street is so busy! The Gallery (in Hay street) is between Pitt and George Streets, two of Sydneys major cbd thoroughfares, and a few minutes walk from central station. A lot of people stop and peer inside, and the work is visible even when the gallery is shut. Certainly an odd though pleasing experience for me.

Still no photos, so instead we have another sketchbook page, which is not unrelated to the sculptures. Ball point pen, pencil, collage, correction tape.

more sketchbook scribbles

2006-10-16T23:23:00.001+10:00

sketchbook page, originally uploaded by me-jade.

pen, pencil, correction tape

Show at 4A

2006-10-16T23:08:00.001+10:00

invite to show, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Here’s the invitation to the show I’ve been working so hard for.

Opening date: Friday October 20th, 6 till 8pm

Venue: Gallery 4a, 181 Hay St City, betw.
Pitt & George Sts
Ground floor and 1st floor galleries.

Artists: Susan Norrie, Laurens Tan, Anita Larkin, John Massingham, Luis Trujillo, Jade Pegler, Joanne Handley, Iain Whittaker, Megan Sproats, Aaron Hull, May Barrie

Curated by the lovely ladies of liminality Lauren Brown and Moira Kirkwood.

I’ll be using the whole ground floor of the gallery for my work (I won’t bore you with details about why) which will be a whole lot of sculptural pieces that will hang from the ceiling. I think they will be a little scary.

It’s the stuff I’ve been making with the shredded paper. Using this particular space only arose as a possibility about 5 or 6 weeks ago (I think), and it’s a pretty decent size so I’ve been working very hard (so not much blogging)

For an image of the sort of thing I’m showing look in the September archives for OSCILLIUM ASYLUM.

Invitation design by the Vicious Cycle.

Anyways gotta go to sleep so i can get up early and set up my stuff.

another sketchbook page

2006-10-08T23:38:00.001+10:00

sketchbook page, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Too busy with the sculptures i'm doing for much blogging, Sydney show installs next week, details coming soon!

Just another sketchbook page; ball point pen, pencil, collage, correction tape. Oh yes, i just 'discovered' correction tape, lovely!

Also just 'discovered' spakfilla, but can't really scan anything i've been doing with that, so we'll just have to wait for the photos.

sketch sculptures

2006-10-05T00:57:00.001+10:00

sketchbook page (detail), originally uploaded by me-jade.

Still no photos of the sculptures i'm currently working on, but the good news is i'll be getting my own superduper (not the technical term) digital camera soon and there'll be photos coming out my ears when that happens...my sister will be happy i am sure when i don't have to pester to borrow her camera. But for the moment we are stuck with scans.
Anyways this sketchbook drawing shows the sorts of things i am making with that shredded paper. The sculptures will hang from the ceiling.

Grey Areas part 2

2006-09-29T01:43:00.001+10:00

whether the weather, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Some more thoughts and theories on the greyness of my work…..

Sometimes others (and sometimes me, too, just to make life easier) refer to my work as monochromatic. But I don’t think about it that way at all, to me all the colours are there. Just in a very toned down, washed out form. You just need to look closely.

The lack of colour provides visual relief from the multicolours we are bombarded with in everyday life……so many colourful things compete for our attention!

My feeling is that art almost always involves the past, and is an act of preservation. It is the product of an actual event, the remains of an experience or process, somewhat removed from ‘real life.’ By using the colouring that I do I feel I am amplifying the sense in which the viewer is seeing the remnant of a living thing. Probably this idea needs a whole post on its own.

It is both organic and industrial, just as many of my forms suggest body and machine.

It makes things look old, a bit jaded, I like this play on the meaning of my name. (I am only half joking) So it is a signature colour scheme…

shredded paper handmade paper

2006-09-26T01:49:00.001+10:00

book detail, originally uploaded by me-jade.

All that shredded paper would be really good for making handmade paper, you've got to kind of shred it anyways....
This picture is from a book i made with handmade (and other) papers.

shredded paper picture

2006-09-26T01:01:00.001+10:00

shredded paper work in progress, originally uploaded by me-jade.

shredded paper art

2006-09-26T00:35:00.000+10:00

I’m making some stuff using the shredded paper I used for packing ‘Desolation Row’ for its journey to Melbourne. Silvershots bins were full, and even though the artworks have all gone to Canberra the crate needed to come back to Wollongong City Gallery anyway, as they generously loaned it to me. So I sent the crate back full of packaging materials, spare parts and assembly equipment.

Of course being the paper lover that I am, it was going to be difficult to throw out all that shredded paper. So, instead I am making art with it. Sometimes I wonder if my primary motivation in making things is to avoid throwing things away.

The paper, sourced for me by the lovely John Monteleone (a.k.a Mr Monty) is from the Wollongong City Council, so there might be some top secret documents in there; how could I resist?

I am bundling it up and dying it to look rotten and decayed, the bundles are a bit like coccoons. Some will be used for pieces along the lines of OSCILLIUM ASYLUM, others will just be bundles, I think. My plan is to create a kind of installation with the parts, expanding upon the ideas behind the OSCILLIUM ASYLUM pieces, which will probably be included in the final set up. The shredded council documents work so nicely with the ideas behind the pieces.

I don’t have photos of the work in progress, so instead I have scanned some of the smaller bundles. Maybe soon I’ll have some photos.

stitched assemblage

2006-09-24T04:19:00.001+10:00

stitched assemblage on canvas, originally uploaded by me-jade.

This is cardboard, handmade paper, paperbark and mixed media handstitched on a canvas stretcher, it needs a bit more stitching on the bits not in the picture.

from The revolving theatrum

2006-09-23T22:36:00.000+10:00

from The revolving theatrum, originally uploaded by me-jade.

This little piece (about 12cm high) was in my show at Wollongong City Gallery last year......and is now in the collection of the very lovely Vivian Vidulich (i can't emphasise enough just how lovely)

paper plate

2006-09-23T12:21:00.001+10:00

collage drawing on paper plate, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Collage, drawing, fabric, hand and machine stitching on paper plate.

grey areas

2006-09-21T23:40:00.001+10:00

diorama thing, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Often I’m asked about the limited colour I use in my work. I have many explanations for why it interests me, I am unsure if any are really true, maybe it is just personal taste.
But then I do like many artworks that use strong colour, I just don’t like to use it myself. I tend not to wear it, but I much prefer to wear it than to use it…..

Anyways here are some thoughts and theories;

I often work in a way that is detailed, even elaborate. Lack of colour is a counterpoint to this, it makes things simpler.

It looks like the work has been subjected to the natural processes of aging and decay, yet it is a selected and contrived appearance. I love a bit of paradox.

Lots of stuff I make is vaguely festive in form…….it is much more interesting to have the counterpoint of sombre colouring, otherwise it might be a bit, well, yuck, if you know what I mean….just too nice and pretty and that’s not what I’m interested in.

I enjoy tricking people. It’s true! I like the way that from a distance my artworks can look like some old relic, an outmoded device or aged ephemera, but on closer inspection it is clear that they are products of the present. Often my work uses recycled materials, so something old becomes new…..but is made to look even older. Tricky, huh? Or maybe just baffling…

I see my work as exploring the meaning of the phrases ‘shades of grey,’ and 'grey areas' etc. Ambiguity interests me.

Part 2 coming soon!

another sketchbook doodle

2006-09-21T23:11:00.001+10:00

sketchbook page, originally uploaded by me-jade.

drawing book

2006-09-21T00:37:00.000+10:00

sketchbook page, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Another moleskine doodle, mostly ball point again. Also some pen and ink, and a bit of colour pencil.

In the drawing you can see the kind of sculptural shapes i'm working with. I don't do much planned preliminary drawing for sculptures, but i find the two are often kind of heading off in the same direction, apparently.
Oh yeah, ignore my whinge about my image looking crap on blog ('unfinished' and 'doodle' post ) i put it back to normal size once it moved below all
the side bar text, so now it's all ok.......i know you must be feeling a great sense of relief for me...

oscillium asylum close-up

2006-09-20T03:11:00.000+10:00

oscillium asylum (episode one), originally uploaded by me-jade.

A close-up to illustrate what i'm currently working on (see last post)....i'll be making a few kind of like this....

oscillium; work in progress

2006-09-20T03:04:00.000+10:00

oscillium asylum (episode two), originally uploaded by me-jade.

This sculpture is finished, but i'm in the process of making a little 'flock' of these, if all goes to plan they'll be in a show at Gallery 4A in Sydney next month, i'll post more details about that soon.
I don't have any photos of the ones i'm making, they're a bit like this, and a bit like the desolation row sculptures, except they dangle from the ceiling. See my post 'oscillium asylum'

Desolation Row part 4

2006-09-20T00:59:00.000+10:00

desolation row @ silvershot, originally uploaded by me-jade.

This is a continuation of my previous Desolation Row postings, so it’ll probably make more sense if you read those first…then again maybe not. You’ll have to scroll right down to find them.

The Cinderella of ‘Desolation Row’ seems to be Cinderella before her transformation into glamourous ball-going princess. ‘The only sound that’s left after the ambulances go, is Cinderella sweeping up on desolation row.’ The aftermath of some sort of festivity gone wrong?

And so we are back to the carnival. It seems that originally this referred to a period of excess preceeding the austerity of Lent, which of course preceeds Easter. This seems to link nicely with the suggestions of the hanging being some sort of carnival, with Easter being a celebration of crucifixion.

‘And the good samaritan, he’s dressing,
He’s getting ready for the show,
He’s going to the carnival tonight
On Desolation Row’

Another textile reference. I think my sculptures resemble the leftover, faded paraphernalia from some sort of unknown ritual celebration, or a cast of characters in suspended animation, decaying carnival remnants, petrified puppets.

‘They’ve nailed the curtains,
they’re getting ready for the feast,
the phantom of the opera,
a perfect image of a priest
they’re spoonfeeding Casanova
to get him to feel more assured,
then they’ll kill him with self- confidence
after poisoning him with words’

Nailing the curtains? Crucifixion as theatre? It seems to fit with ‘postcards of the hanging’ And then there’s that play between soft and hard again and, of course another reference to textiles.

My sculptures respond to this through their tortured puppet appearance. I find the ‘hanging as theatre’ idea especially interesting (and a little amusing) when we refer to the act of installing artworks in an exhibition as hanging, ie ‘hanging the show’.

Afraid I think there’ll be more to come on Desolation Row.

doooooodle

2006-09-19T13:10:00.000+10:00

sketchbook, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Well i am rather annoyed at how badly the image in that last posting came up, it looks much better on flickr, so click on it at have a look at it there if you can be bothered.
This is just another dooodle in my moleskine sketchbook, in ball point pen, of course.

unfinished

2006-09-19T01:39:00.000+10:00

unfinished ink drawing, originally uploaded by me-jade.

This is from a series of works on paper that i'm currently working on. I kind of thought it would be interesting to post an unfinished thing and then post in various stages of development. That's the theory anyway. It's quite possible that it will be put aside for a few years and become something completely different (maybe origami!) and i'll completely forget to post it again.......oh well.

The drawings reference instructional diagrams, which i love. I'm not completely sure why that is, but perhaps it is something to do with my interest in the processes involved in construction, but who can say. Maybe it's just because they're pretty.

Detail machine.

2006-09-17T18:22:00.000+10:00

Detail from VARIATIONS ON THE UNDERLAY AND THE OVERPLAY, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Detail showing the quilted anaesthetic machine mentioned in my last post.

the Underlay and the Overplay

2006-09-17T12:49:00.000+10:00

from 'variations on the underlay and the overplay', originally uploaded by me-jade.

some more bits from 'Variations on the Underlay and the Overplay'

soft scissors

2006-09-17T01:51:00.000+10:00

from 'the underlay and the overplay', originally uploaded by me-jade.

This little piece is from a suite of constructions called 'Variations on the Underlay and the Overplay.'

It sort of illustrates my aforementioned interest in making hard things soft. The scissors (in the upper frame bit) are tranformed into a little cushion sort of thing, their destructive/ constructive powers become comforting....or perhaps negated.

The piece that hangs down is also a quilted drawing on fabric....a drawing of a piece of surgical equipment, used for anaesthetizing. So it is something that prevents discomfort.

in the collection of the Wollongong City Gallery.

another page...

2006-09-16T03:34:00.000+10:00

sketchbook drawing, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Another moleskine page. As you can see i really do like those biros.

excercising restraint

2006-09-16T03:30:00.000+10:00

sketchbook drawing, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Got some moleskines at the national gallery of Victoria bookshop a few weeks ago when i was in Melbourne....i had never seen one in real life before.
I am using my first one as a kind of excercise in restraint.....most of my work tends to be very textured and heavily worked, so i am keeping it kind of understated, at least for now....
After the large scale complicatedness (is that a word? i spose it should be complexity but i think that is not complicated enough for the meaning) it is nice to be doing something simple and basic, and, well, small. It is a bit like having a little holiday...i have been doing a lot of doodling.
Also, it is not the proper sketchbook moleskine, it's the notebook type
(they are cheaper, and anyway i like the lighter paper, and you get more pages, too) so the paper is no good for heavily worked stuff.

Mostly i have used ball point pen, pencils and a little bit of watercolour in this first moleskine. I really like biros...the fine ones.

Oscillium Asylum

2006-09-16T00:20:00.000+10:00

oscillium asylum, originally uploaded by me-jade.

This little piece is called OSCILLIUM ASYLUM (EPISODE 1).
It’s made of papier mache, various fabrics and threads, wood, wire, pages from printed books and mixed media, maximum depth 36cm.

It was one of my pieces in a show at Project Artspace, (in Wollongong) LIMINAL PERSONAE, which is going up to gallery 4a in Sydney next month. The exhibition was/is curated by the lovely Lauren Brown and Moira Kirkwood……Laurens blog, She Sees Red , is really really excellent, (and she is an awfully good artist), so have a look! When the details of the show are completely definite, I’ll post’em.

In case you’re wondering, the word ‘liminal’ means ‘of the threshold.’

I was making the piece at the same time as making the Desolation Row sculptures, so it kind of fits with them, in terms of the processes and techniques used, and the ideas that informed its creation.

An 'oscillium' (in latin) was a mask (of Bacchus) hung in a tree in a vinyard to bring luck / a good harvest. It would swing in the wind, and this led to the word 'oscillate', which seemed appropriate, as the piece hangs from the ceiling….if there was a breeze, it would swing!
This also seemed to fit with its puppet-like appearance, as well as having an interesting link to the origins of the word 'personae' which, in its original form, referred to the masks used in ancient Roman theatre. So there is a definite theatrical theme.

I also feel that the work had certain paradoxical qualities….the wheels are immobilized, and so useless. It looks like it might like to fly away, but it is tied up with string, so it can only go round in circles, or swing too and fro. The piece is playful, but slightly ominous.

This is the statement I submitted for the publication accompanying the show;

‘Vacation or evacuation, fight or flight, sanctuary or suffocation, suspended animation, an atrophied acrobat.
It could swing either way. Who is pulling the strings?’

The ‘asylum’ bit seemed appropriate for its rather paradoxical associations. Supposedly meaning sanctuary, the experience of a mental asylum generally being anything but a pleasurable escape (or at least thats what i'm told..haha). And the same is often true in the case of asylum seekers….a detention centre is hardly a sanctuary, or a safe haven.
And so you cannot tell if the sculpture is happily floating, or ‘strung up’, unable to escape.

The piece seemed to fit nicely with Liminality, too. It looks like it could be in some kind of transitional state, neither here nor there. Sort of like it might metamorphose at any moment.

double bind?

2006-09-14T00:31:00.000+10:00

round the double bind, originally uploaded by me-jade.

I came across a strange thing the other day whilst googling myself to see if SPECTRESCOPE came up (it didn’t). On the second page I came across a ‘result’…. somebody elses blog…so of course I have a look, and find a picture of an artwork that had won me the Meroogal Womens Art Prize last year, ‘Round the Double Bind.’ (illustrated above) This in itself was not especially strange, the prize is run by the Historic Houses Trust of N.S.W and the piece is now in their collection, so it is easy to find a picture of it on the net.

What was strange was that it was that the blogger was a Christian man from Nashville (his blog is WonderDawg); his blog had nothing to do with art, the post my work was illustrating was titled ‘Double Binds of Men’ and was about mens issues in relation to the Church. I imagine he had googled ‘double bind’ and lo and behold, found a picture to illustrate his blog! It is a little ironic as it won a womens art prize and I am certainly not religious in any way, shape or form! He has acknowledged me as the artist and given it the correct title, so I will not complain ….it was just such a strange thing to find! And coming from what is, to me, such a far-flung kinda place.

I suppose he never expected that I might come across it…I suppose he will never read this, but then again....i came across his post, so you never know.
I have a habit of linking odd things together myself, as any readers of spectrescope would probably realise, so it seems only fitting, I suppose, that this strange linking has occurred with my work, despite me!

desolation row photo

2006-09-12T23:56:00.000+10:00

desolation row @ Silvershot, originally uploaded by me-jade.

just an illustration for my last post. This is one of the tallest of my sculptures.

Desolation Row (part 3)

2006-09-12T19:56:00.000+10:00

There are quite a few references to textiles within the Desolation Row lyrics; some overt, others implied.

Of course there is the hanging, mentioned in the first line...and you can't have a hanging without some rope...or something like rope...at least not that i'm aware of. Then, a couple of lines down, we find '..the circus is in town, here comes the blind commissioner, one hand tied to the tightrope walker, the other is in his pants':- two there! (and that's if you don't count a circus tent) Perhaps the hanging rope and the tight rope are not so different? It seems to me that Dylan is drawing a subtle analogy here...the hanging is like a circus?

Then there's a verse on cinderella. Now in the story of Cinderella that we all know, Cinderellas ball gown, bestowed by her fairy godmother, is a key part of her transformation. But not so important to the story, of course, as those glass slippers. And of course that is a soft thing (slipper) made into something hard (glass). And i reckon this is an interesting parallel to Ophelias 'iron vest,' mentioned in the song.
I am sure by now you will think i am mad, but i considered it my duty not to make my desolation row sculptures illustrations of the song, and i am always finding what are, to me, strange and interesting connections between things...i suspect everyone has there own.
Anyways, this was kind of relevant to the sculptures because of the way i used textiles and paper, layering them with glue to form something quite hard. Often in my work i am making hard things into soft things, like little fabric stuffed scissors, so this seemed a logical step. And there is an interesting play (in the song) between the forces of authority and restriction, and what we could call poetic or creative realities, for want of any better terms.

Anyways, there'll be more to come on Desolation Row...it is a long song, but it is also a whole world, or three.
And there's plenty more textiles and paper to talk about yet!

spectrescope 2

2006-09-12T10:05:00.000+10:00

spectrescope, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Spectrescope from a different angle.

book book book

2006-09-11T03:00:00.000+10:00

another book thing....this one is made by 'splicing' two concertinas together, and adding a few bits. (sounds a bit like genetic engineering, eh?)

honeycomb book detail, originally uploaded by me-jade.

spectrescopic playtime!

2006-09-11T02:30:00.000+10:00

spectrescope in use, originally uploaded by me-jade.

The spectrescope in action! Opening night of 'Liminal Personae' show at Project Artspace, Wollongong, curated by Lauren Brown and Moira Kirkwood.
The show will be travelling to Gallery 4a next month, i believe.

Thankyou Joanne Handley for the photo! (Jo is in the show, too)

close up book

2006-09-09T16:47:00.000+10:00

book detail, originally uploaded by me-jade.

this is some detail from a book. Salvaged book pages and various papers have been haphazardly woven together and then machine stitched.

the Tidal Bind

2006-09-09T16:40:00.000+10:00

'the tidal bind' book detail, originally uploaded by me-jade.

this is a 'spread' from one of my books. It's made of printed books, handmade paper, machine stitching, and other bits and pieces.

folded paper on fabric collage thing

2006-09-09T14:48:00.000+10:00

folded paper on fabric collage thing, originally uploaded by me-jade.

this is kind of a test posting from my stuff on flickr.....the picture is a scan of a little textile piece, with folded paper.

i like drawing

2006-09-08T18:57:00.000+10:00

I love drawing....i use paint a lot, mostly on paper; i am not a painter! Often my drawing incorporates collage and stitching, and sometimes i draw i on fabric.
This is a drawing on fabric.

this is some drawing/collage detail from a sketchbook, larger than life.

some more drawing collage detail ...

a drawing with some collage...

I've got more drawings and stuff on flickr, just click on the link!

collecting: hunting and gathering

2006-09-07T15:24:00.000+10:00

I have a terrible habit of hoarding too much stuff....i think because i use heaps of recycled stuff in my artworks everything seems useful.....and i do hate waste!

And then i've got lots of books....i love art and craft books, and magazines, too. There are the books for reading and looking at, then there are the books i use as material for art-making, then there are the books i make....as well as all those art diaries.

There is so much paper in my house, and i am always getting more. I have many different kinds....i got a couple of pianola rolls from reverse garbage a while ago, they are lovely! I am using them for collage. Paper plates, cup cake cases, cardboard, hand made papers, joss papers, .....serviettes are excellent for papier mache.

I like little toys and ornaments, i have too many of those! I collect rabbit things, and all sorts of miniature stuff.

The photo shows some of my hoarded oddments, and some of my work.

I am always trying to get rid of stuff, but it never seems to make much difference to the mess.

books books books

2006-09-07T02:55:00.000+10:00

I make lots of books.....books to look through, book sculptures, book toys. There's a lot of stuff i like about books and about making them. The books i make tend to fit into the category of artists books.....some are books to look through and touch....others are more sculptural. I make 'one of a kind' books, though i have plans to make an editioned book....or two or three...

The meeting of public (or published) knowledge and private intimate experience is something especially interesting about books and paper, i think. To 'make a booking', bookeeping and 'on the books' seem to imply something official.... Yet the diary, sketchbook and journal are books, too, and are all very intimate personal things....and books are generally read alone. And of course books are circular (at least the traditional western codex is), or that is the shape they make when opened, the pages radiating out from the spine. This fits nicely with the book being a medium for circulating information.

I first started stitching paper about 6 years ago...it was by hand then, i only got my sewing machine around 2 years ago. Binding books often involves stitching paper, and that's how i came to add the stitching as part of the drawing, if you know what i mean. The text transformed to textile.

I like how it makes the flat surface textured and 3d, for a long time i have been fascinated by other peoples fascination with the illusion of depth given to a flat surface...i think i like making 3d collages partly for this reason.

Lots of my books are like toys...things to play with, or like puzzles....Sort of reflecting the 'problem-solving' process of making and 'reading' art, or something like that. Textbooks and literature are 'pulled apart' and reconstructed as something playful and tactile.

Spectrescope

2006-09-07T01:30:00.000+10:00

A piece i made, completed a few months ago, i called SPECTRESCOPE...it is a kaleidoscope on a stand (from which it can be removed) with a wheel that can be spun to change the view when you look through the eye piece.
The name of the piece came about through kind of simultaneously discovering that the word spectre has the same origin as the word spectacle, and that there is such a thing as a spectroscope...more on all that in another post, i think.

It is made of cardboard, paper, machine stitching, fabric, wooden skewers, acetate, ink, acrylic, glue and stuff.

I found making the kaleidoscope both quite easy and difficult at the same time....a kaleidoscope is a simple thing, yet i found making it required a bit of precision and careful handling; not strong points for me. The mirror system is made with clear plastic backed with black cardboard...the mirrors need to be kept very clean, and need to be quite precisely lined up and cut...then to test it is right, everything needs to be temporarily held in place, which can be kind of tricky.

I have plans for more scopes...maybe one on a tall stand like my desolation row sculptures, or perhaps suspended from the ceiling.

Desolation Row (part two)

2006-09-07T01:21:00.000+10:00

The arabic bible(new testament)i mentioned in desolation row part one seemed particularly relevant for a few reasons....of course for the biblical references in the song, (though most are old testament, except for the good samaritan...and there are veiled references to crucifixion, well i think so anyway) but also for the sense of displacement. The arabic seemed interesting to me in light of current world events, and for the sense it which the characters in the song are 'outsiders,' perhaps rejected by the mainstream.
In my mind it kind of fit in with the stuff like 'praise be to Neros Neptune, the Titanic sails at dawn......which side are you on?' partly because of the history of the book itself (see part one)and even the line 'painting the passports brown'....connecting to the issue of asylum seekers,(where identity and official papers are all-important) and even stuff like David Hicks in Guantanamo bay (and becoming a British citizen)........so of course we are back to the boats, at least if you can follow my train of thought!

Desolation Row (part one)

2006-09-06T23:28:00.000+10:00

The references to the carnival within the song DESOLATION ROW were particularly interesting to me....there is the suggestion that the hanging ('postcards of the hanging')is a kind of carnival. This worked nicely with the appearance of theatrical decay that is often visible in my work.

There is a whole cast of characters that Dylan has 'collaged' together...Romeo, Noah, Cinderella, Casanova, the Hunchback of Notredame, Ophelia, the Good Samaritan and more...most of them literary, or from books anyhow (the biblical references were especially interesting in this way...coming from what is known as the book).

As Dylan says, he 'had to rearrange their faces and give them all another name'. This made my habit of ripping up old books (often they are falling apart)especially appropriate for this work, i thought. There are pages from any books used in my 'desolation row,' the words and pages are layered to form my 'cast of characters.'

Pages from a 'A Century of Ghost Stories'and 'Teach yourself Dutch' seemed particularly appropriate...the ghost stories because the Phantom of the Opera is another character in Desolation Row, and because of the sense in which Desolation Row is itself a kind of ghostworld, partly in this world and partly in the other. And the origin of the word spectre (same origin as spectacle) fits nicely with the carnival thing (more on spectre later!)

'Teach yourself Dutch' was good for the Dutch association with things naval...there are a few references to that kind of thing in the song, and i made parts of the sculptures quite boat-like (a bit more on that later).
Another thing was that phrase 'double dutch'...certain parts of the song refer to a sense of confusion (ie 'right now i can't read too good' and 'you're in the wrong place my friend') and there are also a few references to language itself ('off sniffing drainpipes and reciting the alphabet').

Also, I read somewhere that the Dutch are known as Dutch (by English speakers) because (a long time ago) english speaking people mistook them for German! (ie Deutsch) So this fitted with 'Painting the passports brown,' and of course with the name of the show, ITS PAINTING SO IT MUST BE GERMAN, haha!

Another book i used is a little book in arabic that i picked up a few years ago, when it was thrown out because it was damaged by 'the great flood of wollongong' (you'll see why i like call it that when i tell you about the book, i think!)

Although the book is in Arabic, i managed to find out a suprising ammount about it....it was published by Cambridge university press, originally purchased in Marseilles, France, and that it is a copy of the NEW testament (people seem to find it suprising that it is a new testament...but it's not really, if you think about it). And then somehow it made its way to wollongong uni alumni bookshop...quite a journey.

more melbourne stuff

2006-09-06T15:06:00.000+10:00

Well that was a bit of a test post...it's quite a learning process this blogging business.
The artists in the show are Simon Yates, Michelle Hanlin, Simon Scheuerle, Stephen Freiberg and of course me, Jade Pegler.
I was very impressed with everyones work, so thankyou all, and it was great to meet the other artists.
Peter Fay curated/ co-ordinated the whole thing...so thank you Peter! Peter has been so lovely...he took us out for dinner after opening night, and is sitting the gallery, and lots more, too.
My work has mainly been shown in Wollongong, so it is has been quite exciting to have it go to the big city! And without any problems...organizing the freight (thank you Wollongong City Gallery!) and getting myself there (thankyou NAVA grant!)not to mention making the work (larger in scale than my usual, very hard to do in my little flat....thankyou Lauren Brown for your generous space-sharing! And feeding me a lot, too! Otherwise it would have been all instant noodles!)has made for a big project, it is a relief that it all went so well...and i don't have to bring any of the work back, which is very lucky, because i got nowhere to put it!
The sculptures i made for the show are called DESOLATION ROW....Peter gave me the words of the Dylan song to work with. It is not a place that i would have thought to look for text to work with, but i was quite amazed by how perfectly the words fit with my work.