Sunday, May 23, 2010

Bad, Bad, Blogger am I.

Mr Poophead with Exploding Flower and Gokko-Neko (Make Believe Cat), Ceramic, Turf, MDF, 2010.


BLUE: Banished to the Blu Land, Ceramic and Video Projection, 2010.







GREEN: The Woods Have Eyes. Ceramic, LED Lights, Plastic, MDF, Food Dye. 200 x 200. 2010.


(Detail)


Pulling at the Heart Strings, Ceramic, 2010.


RED: The Lure of the Huldra, A Norwegian Nightmare. Ceramic, LED Lights, Plastic, MDF, Food Dye. 200 x 200. 2010.


Blogging has taken a back seat lately. I am a moody blogger and still struggle to publicly air my thoughts freely on the net. Although I do hope to ease into the role a little better this year and discipline myself to do so. The images above are from my Postgraduate Examination which was held at the end of March, 2010 at Sydney College of the Arts. A new piece titled Pulling at the Heart Strings was made for the installation and I modified the colouring of the background walls. I also created a new portal for Mr Poophead and Gokko Neko, as seen in the first image.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Sydney College of the Arts Postgraduate Degree Show 2009

My installation titled Gokko Rando (Make Believe Land) Part I, exhibited in the SCA Postgraduate Degree Show 2009. I technically finish my MVA in March (due to an extension) but luckily got to test run the install and set up at the end of year show. It was a great experience and I received a lot of feedback. Thanks to everyone that came to see it, and many thanks to Mark Scott Johnson for taking the time to help me with the lights and photography.





Gokko Neko (Make Believe Cat), Ceramic, 2009.








RED: The Lure of the Huldra: A Norwegian Nightmare, Ceramic, Mixed Media, LED lights, 2009.

Once upon a time there lived an alluringly amorous young wood nymph. She lived on a small island off the coast of Japan and drank red wine with adzuki beans every day. She also had an appetite for inquisitive young men. So much so that the adventurous sailors that dared to visit her island to view her beauty were often eaten up after their encounter with the Huldra and their body parts lay strewn across the island as evidence of her passionate hunger.

One day a Spacecat from an other universe landed on her island and found himself strangely attracted to the Huldra. The Huldra knew that she could not mate with this hybrid creature from outer space. Her salacious nature got the better of her and their relationship was consummated resulting in the birth of the Spacecat Spirit.



This tablaeu titled BLUE: Forbidden Love - Banished to the Blu Land, references the Norwegian myth of the Blu Man. In my scene the mutant cats that have evolved from the space cat and Huldra's encounter, have been banished to the harsh cold Blu Land of frost and ice. Frozen to the core, they no longer pose a threat to the wood land creatures.






Entrance view to Gokko Rando (Make Believe Land) Part I






Mr Poop with Exploding Flower, Ceramic, 2009.

















RED: The Lure of the Huldra - A Norwegian Nightmare



GREEN: The Woods Have Eyes


The Tree Spirits witness this travesty and banish the Spacecat Spirits to an icy cold island situated at the top of the world.



BLUE: Forbidden Love - Banished to the Blu Land


This is a little vid of the installation. The project titled Gokko Rando (Make Believe Land) Part I is a living sculpture that morphs and grows throughout the exhibition period. Porous ceramic elements are installed in wet diorama habitats. The ceramic pieces slowly absorb the coloured dye that they sit in, slowly moving up the body of the piece. The dye not only colours the pieces but also reacts with the ceramic material to form coloured crystals that sit on the surface.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Postgraduate Degree Show 2009




My cast of characters are slowly assembling, waiting patiently in the wings for their last costume rehearsal. Some of the little spacecats are suffering from anxiety and perhaps stage-fright while the other larger felines are prancing around with confidence.

It's been a long time coming but I'm just in the process of putting a few finishing touches to the last pieces, and of course there are a few more creatures still emerging from the slip bucket in my studio. I'm currently planning the installation and have set myself an ambitious goal to create shelves that will hold and retain liquid (with lighting).

I would love to see you all at the show, so if you're in the area feel free to mosey on down to check out my 'Fractured Fairytale' Series.

The opening is on Wed 9th Dec, 6-8pm at Sydney College of the Arts, Balmain Rd, Rozelle, Sydney.
It runs to Wed 16th December.
Monday - Friday, 11-5pm
Sat - Sun, 11-4pm.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

I love bad things: the dark side of creativity


Stumbled upon this site while researching the work of Michael Doolan. Worth a look if you are attracted to the darker side of life. www.ilovebadthings.com


Friday, August 7, 2009

Unbearable Sydney Design 09

I managed to piece together the fragments that survived the long trip from Norway for a display in this years Sydney Design Utility Exhibition titled 'Unbearable'. I also began work on a new display shelf made out of acrylic to hold liquids. I wanted to experiment with the porosity of the ceramic pieces and the contrast in textures. The piece is titled 'The Lust of the Huldra: a norwegian nightmare' and is based on the Norwegian myth of the woodland temptress, the Huldra, who lures men out of their homesteads with her beauty to steal their sheep and milk.







Thank you Mark for taking all the lovely photos.