Viewfinder Exhibition tonight

The Second annual Viewfinder exhibition opens tonight at Nine Lives Gallery in Fortitude Valley. I love the community feel of this show, the fact that works don't have artists names on them, how everything is smaller than a 6x4, that it is open for all to submit and that all works have to be film based. What results is a gallery filled with hundreds of tiny images all mixed in together almost like a real live Flickr site where viewers can pick and choose what they like. Works are very affordable at just $10 each which, you might realize, barely covers the cost of the prints. However, I just love to be a part of it so I've submitted five of my Polaroid images.

These images were taken in 2008 and are part of a larger series of Polaroid's that explore chance and synchronicity in the everyday. I guess at the time I was questioning what it means to exist and wondered about fate vs. chaos and the possibility that magic (or that feeling of it) could exist. I never showed the series because I never found the answers but when I recently came across it again while going through my archives I was quite surprised by the darkness and sombre mood in a lot of images. They are certainly a reflection of the soul-searching I was doing at the time and while I didn't see it at the time I think the process of creating the images answered a lot of questions I had. I think this is a series that I will be returning to and expanding on.

The works are 5x4inches in size (including the white Polaroid edge) and will only be at the above price at the Nine Lives Gallery. However, I am making another five signed copies of each available for only $20 per print and only until the end of April. Contact me for further information.

Frankie, I Love You

Today I heard my landlord place something against my door. He'd already delivered the days firewood and coal so I knew exactly what it must be. I flew to the door and immediately began ungracefully tearing open my package. My Frankie Photo Album had arrived!!!


Yes, Lara and Louise I do love, love, LOVE the Frankie Photo Album!!!


The experience of a book such as this can only be improved with a cup of tea such as Peppermint or in this case Chamomile.

Aha! Here I am on pages 70-71. My image looks pretty good I think!

The book is simply darling. Words I would use to describe it are: uplifting, inspiring, melancholic, funny, sad, quirky, sweet, odd, endearing, nostalgic and lovely.

With images from artists all over the globe it evoked a sense of connectedness that I haven't experienced in a photo book in quite a while. I was impressed by the careful curation by the editors with the images on each page working together wonderfully and a range of emotions experienced in peaks and falls throughout the reading of it. It is the kind of book I can come back to over and over and still find enjoyment, peace and inspiration.

I settled in with a cup of tea and went through each page slowly, taking in the artists comments on each image. The book feels nice to touch too which is always important for me. It adds to its overall deliciousness. When I finished reading it I let out a deep sigh of contentment, got up, picked up my camera and went outside and started photographing.

Now that is a good book!

I believe there are still copies of the limited edition book available here though I hear they are selling very quickly.

Here is the image that made it into the book:

Published!

Exciting News! One of my Field Polaroid images is featured in the just released Frankie Photo Album.

"Designed to inspire anyone who's ever picked up a camera and delight those who just like looking at pretty pictures."

It is the first photo book Frankie magazine has published. It has been a long time goal of mine to get some photography between the Frankie magazine pages so to be in their book is simply wonderful.

The limited edition frankie photo album features the work (and thoughts) of over 100 photographers from around the world. If you like, you can buy it online at

http://www.frankie.com.au/subscribe for $29.95AUS

Field Polaroid #2: Influences

This is the second Polaroid out of seven to be released in the lead up to the Archimedes' Field exhibition in July. It was taken on the first afternoon just after the sun set. The balloons were full and bouyant and moved in unison with the slightest breeze. It was beautiful to watch.

Leading up to the shoot and even after it I did a lot of research into other artists who were exploring similar ideas to my own or who's work interested me. Eva Hesse and Andy Goldsworthy were key influencers in the development of my ideas.

Eva Hesse is of particular interest to me because of her minimalist creations and use of non-mechanical repetition. This is one of my favourite works:

Repetition Nineteen III, 1968 (click to view)

Apparently, she was not particularly happy with this work because she found it too beautiful and against her search for a “non” aesthetic. Despite this, I love the simplicity and repetition of the circular cylinders and the hand-made aspect of the work. I love the imperfect nature of it.

Most of her work was not made to last- she often used materials such as latex which she knew would deteriorate. She said her work was about ‘the process’, ‘a moment in time, not made to last’. I like that she see’s the impermanence of her work as an attribute rather than a flaw.

"She seems, in fact, to have been incorporating an anticipation of aging and, especially, the unknown into the creation of her art.” Elisabeth Sussman (curator of Hesse’s only solo show before she died).

Her anticipation of the unknown is an element I can relate to in my own work.

Andy Goldsworthy: I love the impermanent nature of the majority of his works and how they (often quickly) succumb to nature. This particular piece by Andy Goldsworthy captured my attention in the way the beauty of nature is documented and played with:

Extract from Rivers and Tides (click to view)

This scene in his documentary ‘Rivers and Tides’ is similar to what I hoped I have achieved in the Archimedes' Field installation. Goldsworthy spends many hours creating a beautiful dome of sticks, just next to the tide line. The documentary then shows an aerial view of the dome as the tide comes in and lifts and breaks apart the dome he has just created. In his documentary he talks about how his work is about the transience of life. He fights it by not trying to make permanent things but rather to accept and enjoy this transience.

Field Polaroid #1: How it came to be...

Let us start at the beginning:

Several years ago I had a vivid dream about a red inflatable mattress floating in the air outside my parent’s home – the place where I spent my childhood. A pink sunset lit up the sky and I remember just watching this mattress hover, weightless for a long time. The dream perplexed me and I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

Last year, while studying, the opportunity to create an installation work presented itself. I wanted to recreate the surreal feeling I experienced in the dream so I decided to create a floating bed.

I spent a lot of time trying to make a pretty pink child’s bed that could be held up by helium balloons. Calculating the weight of the bed compared to how much the balloons would lift, then working out how many balloons I could actually afford and then how I would attach them and then photograph the bed without the balloons or strings visible was a very time consuming process that kept me awake long hours at night.

By then I knew I wanted to capture the rise and fall of the bed to illustrate the temporal nature of childhood dreams. However, something wasn’t right with my concept, it was too cynical and simple, trite and a little patronizing.

I wanted to express something about the impermancy of human life and dreams but combine it with a celebration of the constancy of nature.

I kept working away at this silly bed, then one day it just clicked, as these things often do, that a field of balloons would be a marvellous way to recreate that magical feeling I’d experienced in my dream. I had found a way to express my ideas in a more refined and subtle way.

However, when it came to the installation day, nature and science turned my concept into something more complex and much more beautiful. I had allowed for the unknown, even welcomed it but the results were totally unexpected…

To be continued...

Related posts : The Doing Girl

Seven Weeks. Seven Images.

To celebrate the upcoming exhibition of my Archimedes' Field work I am pleased to be releasing seven never before seen images taken over the course of that weekend. One image will be released online - on my blog and webpage - every week during the lead up to the exhibition with the final one released the day after the opening.

It was little known by anyone that in addition to the medium format film and digital images, I also shot Polaroid's. In contrast to the high quality of the original images these Polaroids, reproduced as prints, are soft, grainy and otherwise technically flawed. This lo-fi approach enhances the dream-like feel of the field- almost as though my original vision was scooped directly out of my unconscious brain and placed onto paper in all it's unrefined and messy glory. I love this and especially like the way they compliment and add to the original images and video work.

With the release of each image I will also be providing additional insight into how Archimedes' Field came to be and the thought processes behind it.

The first of the Polaroid prints are going as gifts to collectors and some very special people in my life (often these people are one and the same). The rest will be made available for collecting as they are released. If you would like to acquire one of these Polaroids (or any image from the series) please e-mail me. The Polaroid's are available in two small limited edition sizes:

| 8x8inch - 30 only | 5x5inch - 30 only (+2 artist prints of each size)

But, of course, you will want to see them first so please do return soon.

Archimedes' Field opens at the QCP on the 18th July 5-8pm. I shall be very pleased if you would attend.

Reminding Myself

SUCCESS IS

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Images: These Polaroids were taken only one moment apart on a day where I remembered to enjoy such simple things as fresh morning air, a roof over my head and the sublime beauty of nature. Too often I'm rushing around trying to complete my 'to-do' list. It's nice to pause and breathe.

View Finder

I have submitted four polaroids and one print from a polaroid to tonight's exhibition: ViewFinder.  It is quite an unusual exhibition as anyone can submit provided their images are film based and no larger than 6x4inches.  Each image sells for $10 and the artists name is only displayed on the back of the print.

With almost 500 images in the exhibition I'm sure it is going to be a visual feast and something I'm excited to be a part of.  I'm looking forwarding to collecting a few images as well.

The exhibition is at Nine Lives Gallery, 330 Brunswick st, Fortitude Valley.

It runs until 4pm Sunday.