The SculptorsSociety Bulletin March - April 2012 Anita Larkin Gunship Photo: Courtesy of Bernhard Fischer www.sculptorssociety.com
2 2 Reminders Gateway Exhibition 5th - 30th March 2012 Forum & AGM 15th March 2012 Exhibition at Chifley Tower & Governors Phillip & Macquarie Towers Entries close Friday 30 March. Entry form is available from our website: www.sculptorssociety.com Competitions that might interest you HIDDEN: A Rookwood Sculpture Walk 2012 Call for artists open until 23 April Exhibition: 1 Sept - 14 October 2012 See: www.rookwoodcemetery. com.au/hidden-2012 61st Blake Prize Fri 27 July: Entries close Thurs 8 Nov: Award Announcements Fri 9 Nov Sun 16 Dec: The Blake Prize Exhibition at the S.H. Ervin Gallery See: www.blakeprize.com.au Royal Sydney Arts Show Entries are closed. Arts Preview night: 3 April 2012 Exhibition dates: 5-18 April www.sydneyroyal.com.au/arts Swell Sculpture Festival, QLD The free to the public outdoor sculpture exhibition will be staged along Currumbin Beach from the 14th - 23rd September 2012. Entries close: 15 March 2012 See: www.swellsculpture.com.au Have we got your email address? Make sure you don t miss out on receiving notices and information from the Sculptors Society via email. If we don t already have your email address, please contact Eva at: info@sculptorssociety.com Important Notices Forum & AGM: Thursday 15th March, 6.30pm North Sydney League s Club 12 Abbott Street, Cammeray Please join us at our first Forum for 2012. We're looking forward to some great presentations. And it is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with your fellow sculptors. 6.30: Drinks and finger food. 7pm: AGM 7.45pm: Presentations by Paul Trefry and Rod McRae Paul Trefy Gladis always knew Arthur was late Paul Trefry is a Sydney-based model maker and sculptor with 24 years in the film, television and advertising industries. His work is focused on hyper-realistic sculptures of people and animals. Rod McRae is a sculptor and installation artist. Using his interest in taxidermy, his sculptures often deal with the environment and climate change debate. Rod McRae Crying out loud in the age of stupid Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2012 Call for artist submissions This year will be the16th annual Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi which is being held from 18 October - 14 November 2012. Last year over 500,000 people attended the exhibition during the 3 week exhibition period and over the last few years roughly 30% of the outdoor works have sold. The deadline for submissions is 6pm, Tuesday 10 April 2012 Submission documents can be downloaded from their website: www.sculpturebythesea.com Hidden 2012: A ROOKWOOD SCULPTURE WALK 2012 Call for entries EXHIBITION - 1 SEPTEMBER - 14 OCTOBER 2012 ROOKWOOD NECROPOLIS SCULPTURE AWARD THE GROUNDSWELL PROJECT PEOPLE S CHOICE AWARD ARTIST AT THE ARMORY AWARD PEACOCK GALLERY RESIDENCY AWARD Applications close 23 April 2012 For more information call Cassandra Hard Lawrie on 0425 327 590 or visit www.rookwoodcemetery.com.au/hidden-2012 Mt Buller Sculpture Award and exhibition The Mt Buller Sculpture Award will create Australia's first mountain-top Sculpture Park. Australian and international contemporary sculptors are eligible to enter the inaugural $100,000 acquisitive Mt Buller Sculpture Award and Exhibition. The acquisitive Award and Exhibition will be staged biennially. An Exhibition of the 20 finalist sculptures will be presented on Mt Buller during the summer and autumn period. The inaugural Exhibition will be open to the public from Saturday 15 December 2012. In addition there is a Mt Buller People's Choice Prize of $10,000 Entries close 25 May 2012 www.mtbuller.com.au/summer/events2/mt-buller-sculpture-park-award
Sunshine Coast Art Prize Contemporary 2D & 3D art prize. $15,000 acquisitive prize plus four week residency Exhibition runs 16 August - 7 October. Closing date for entires 31 March www.scap.org.au Valé Anna Cohn 1921-2012 Anna Cohn with Blue Balls, fibreglass and resin, taken at Gosford Bicentennial Sculpture Park (Gallery 460) in 1988. Photo courtesy of Henry Talbot, Mosman. Towers Exhibition Entries Congratulations to Jacek Wankowski In addition to mailing us photos with your application for entry for the Towers Exhibition, could you please email an image of your work to: info@sculptorssociety.com We require a digital photograph of your work so that we can promote you on our website and Bulletin. Congratulations to Jacek Wankowski on his selection in the Montalto Sculpture Prize. The Montalto exhibition runs until 29 April 2012. www.montalto.com.au It is with sadness that we report the death of our good friend, Anna Cohn at age 90. She had the rare distinction of being an honorary life member of the Sculptors Society. Anna served for 24 years in many roles on the Committee of the Society, including being President from 1985 to 1988. A lively force in the sculptural world, Anna sculpted actively into her late 70 s, staying involved, lecturing, giving slide shows, and writing prolifically, and occasionally controversially, well into her 80 s. She had many articles and letters published in various publications, including the Sydney Morning Herald, and she helped promote sculpture to the wider community. Anna s sculptures can be found in many public galleries including the AGNSW, the MCA, and the Queensland Art Gallery. Her works are in some prominent universities as Macquarie Uni and UNSW, and also in public spaces including the Sydney Town Hall and the Wolper Hospital, Woollahra, and many other places besides, being privately collected too. Always interested in new materials and innovation, she was an excellent role model for younger sculptors, her works in metal and mixed media becoming increasingly contemporary with time. We will miss her. Rest in peace, Anna. Written by Sally Zylberberg & Christiane Conder Anna Cohn with some of her metal sculptures in the background, including one chosen as the trophy for the Qantas Business Woman of the Year Award, 1988. Photo courtesy of Henry Talbot, Mosman. From the PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Our Gateway exhibition is looking wonderful - a big thank you to everyone who is participating. If you have not had a chance yet, drop in and have a look. Gateway is just across from Circular Quay at 1 Macquarie Place and the show runs until the end of March. The year is already racing by. We are now planning our second show in Chifley Tower and Governor Phillip & Governor Macquarie Towers. Entries for this exhibition are due by 30 March this form was sent with the last Bulletin and can also be downloaded from our website. With this Bulletin we are including the entry forms for the Look advertisement/darling Park invitation and also the entry form for Sculpture Darling Park. For those of you who are new to the Society, the Look application form is to select 25 images to use in our advertising for Sculpture Darling Park. The Darling Park form is the actual entry form. So if you send in a Look entry, please remember that a Darling Park entry is also needed (though this is needed later than the Look one). Please come along to our first Forum for 2012 on 15 March. We are looking forward to two very interesting presentations by Rod McRae and Paul Trefry (see notice on page 2). And this meeting will also be our AGM we promise that part will be brief! The forums are also a great opportunity to catch up with your fellow sculptors. I hope to see you there. As I am standing down as President at the AGM, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members of the Committee who do such a great job behind the scenes. And to thank all of you for your support and friendship over the past five years. Jenny Green 3 3
Anita Larkin Workshop January 22nd-23rd 2012 Review and photos by Eva Chant During January early this year, Member, Anita Larkin, conducted a 2 day weekend workshop at The Shed at Ingleside. Most of us had never attempted to create artworks using mixed media before, so expectation and excitement were high in our group. Anita began by taking us through her philosophy and the processes she uses in her own creative efforts, including a suggestion of the types of materials she finds useful as well as the methods she employs to piece everything together. Apart from our personal stash of recycling junk which we brought with us, we were supplied with a good variety of tools including a rivet gun, screw drivers, drills, hammers, etc, plus some very useful small sand bags supplied by Anita which I found are handy for shaping metals and as a support. After a brief demonstration we set to work attempting to make something new and creative out of what were simply just bits of rubbish and throw out materials. We had all gathered our bits. Scraps of wood, old toys, wires, parts of machines, knobs etc... Things we could take apart and re-assemble. Over the two days we all managed to complete enough of our project to give us a feeling of satisfaction. At the end of our time together we had a general critique and agreed we had all benefited from this new and exciting approach to sculpture making. If you are used to sculpting from a live model then it takes some time to conceive a sculpture from pieces of unconnected found objects. You probe your imagination for an outcome. Quite difficult to begin with but then you have a feeling of freedom as you are not constrained by a model. And your imagination is on a rampage and aesthetics kicks in. All of us were more than happy with the outcome and knowledge gained from Anita over this enjoyable weekend of artistic exploration. Jennifer Fisher with Anita Larkin. Maree Prior Work by Margaret Spagnol (Bear's head made from aluminium vegetable steamer). Anita with workshop group at The Shed. 4
Anita Larkin has been making and exhibiting sculpture and felt forms since graduating from Sydney College of the Arts in 1993. Her work is featured in private and public collections. Represented by Defiance Gallery in Sydney since 2002, she continues to exhibit with them regularly in group shows and their Annual 6 Miniature Sculpture show. Larkin has held numerous solo exhibitions, including Wollongong City Gallery and at Defiance Gallery in 2009, as well as featuring in other exhibitions around Australia, such as Sculpture by the Sea, The UWS Acquisitive Sculpture Prize, The Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award. Anita Larkin Gunship Photo by Berhard Fischer Anita Larkin "Wollongong Air" Photo by Bernhard Fischer. I transform the collected object into sculptures evoking a human narrative, revealing a strange beauty within the forgotten and discarded. The works display a wry sense of wit and humour, and play with the suggestion of physical movement or a practical function for the hitherto inanimate object. Anita Larkin 5
Gateway Exhibition 2012 A review by Angela Morrell Willem van Stom Horse Found metal automotive parts In Van Stom s work the sculptural strategy of assemblage is finely executed combining mechanical parts. Horseshoes, cogs, wool bale handles, metal grips and a motor piston etc. have cleverly been recycled into this expressive equestrian form. Welding found metal parts together takes its own set of skills, but it can be a cost effective way of producing powerful animated pieces. The Horse has charisma, strength and masculinity as it rears up on its hind legs. Henrikas Teris Sea Dragon Polyurethane on Wood The sea dragon is an extremely beautiful creature that has delicate colouring and fine leaf like appendages projecting from its body. Maryann Nicholls Baby on Board Bronze Despite its formidable name, it is incredibly engaging in shape with delicate colouring and its camouflaging gives it a fragile appearance that is like drifting seaweed. Teris has been inspired by the Sea Dragon s intriguing form transforming it into that of geometric abstract sculpture with parallel appeal. Baby on Board is a hyper realistic sculpture of a baby whose arms stretch out pleadingly. It is in some part remarkable and yet ordinary, engaging and yet disturbing. Nicholls has explored the human condition and psyche conveying the feeling of vulnerability and alienation. The baby has the persona of a being that has been here before; in part it has the facial and bodily expression of a mature man. We are left to explore our inner person when we do not return the embrace of those who are in the greatest need. 6
Lee Blattman Pop 2 Recycled steel Pop 2 is a straightforward title for a seemingly effortless and lighthearted sculpture. It takes the mind of an innovator of good design to create such a simple statement that communicates its thought so well. Repeating curved steel rods with caps on their tips suggest a staccato sound with recurring reverberation and persistence. Bright yellow is most attention getting which can create agitation and frustration. Blattman has chosen this colour to project his Pop objective. Irene Carroll Rockon Mosaic Carroll enjoys experimenting with different media. In this instance she has used as her starting point a guitar. She has then chosen to embellish it with tiles to communicate her joyful Rockon message. By working with her highly honed artistic instincts she has created harmony, vibration and rhythm. Brightly patterned and plain tiles of differing sizes are used as symbols, giving ornamental structure to the basic form. Carolyn Rendle Mini Bag Powder coated aluminium, recycled automotive parts An artist that can transform car parts and a Mini logo into a work of abstraction with the spirit of Elvis Presley has got my attention immediately. Chrome, bold paintwork and common materials have been combined in an uncommon way. The choice of colour speaks of chequered flags and the finishing line, the sound of metal and old love affairs. This is a work to transport the young at heart. 7
Kay Donaldson On the Inside Wood, fabric, Perspex, mirror Donaldson challenges us with her distinctive visual language that she uses to describe the sanctity of the home. A basic box frame with a Perspex pitched roof has wool tapestry walls. These have been sourced from Op. shops and have images of picture perfect homes in soft pastel shades. The base of the home has a mirror that reflects a bird of peace that is drawn onto the roof of the house. There is a deliberate lack of finesse to outside of the structure, which suggests all is not perfect. On piers that support the house are letters that make up the word BOOZE. Cathie Alexander Lady Grand Recycled Teak, stainless steel, Perspex Lady Grand is a work that endeavours to connect with the sensual flow of music. Alexander uses a simple well-crafted stylization of a grand piano as her starting point. Its lid is covered in feather-like shapes suggesting the image of a bird s wing and flight ready to transport us. It is propped open with a transparent, ethereal female arm. Legs on the piano tilt the piano to create imbalance. The sharpness of its stainless steel interior completes the surface effect creating a metaphor for perfect resonance. Sasa Scheiner Spiral Ceramic Stoneware Scheiner has created a perfectly formed shallow spiral out of ash glazed stoneware. The glaze is spotted and feline in effect giving vitality and movement to the form. Many ash glazes are made from wood ash but some ceramic artists make their own recipes from a wide variety of plants. Firing at high temperatures is normally required so that when heated high enough, the ash melts into a glaze separating itself into spots on the surface of the clay body. Scheiner has used this technique to great advantage giving a leopard-like finish to her abstract sculpture. 8
Sculpture at Scenic World Scenic World in the ancient rainforests of the Blue Mountains, Katoomba, presents sculptors with an unparalleled venue to display their work. The topography within the area awards us with one of the largest protected natural areas in NSW. This year is the first year that this exhibition has been held and I am convinced that it will prove to become increasingly a very big draw card for both sculptors and the public. Sculptors were encouraged to create sculpture, which may or may not be site specific but all to be sympathetic with the landscape in which they are displayed. On the beautiful Summer s evening of the opening, exhibitors and guests were given a free ride in the exciting mountainside cable train down into the rain forest. We then walked along a well-constructed wooden pathway through the rain forest with sculptures displayed in strategic positions in this fabulous terrain. It was a most enjoyable walk in every sense. Later, during the presentation ceremony we were offered wines and finger food. This is an Acquisitive competition with a 1st prize of $20,000. An artist friend who lives in the area alerted me to the opportunity to show work there. She told me that they had an excellent support crew to help with installation. I recommend that Sculptor Society members consider seriously the possibility to exhibit their work in future Scenic World exhibitions. Scenic World Exhibition runs from 16 February 11 march 2012 Written by Angela Morrell Terrance Plowright Exploration of Avian Exuberance. Photo: courtesy of the artist. Emphatically suggestive of both bird forms and their movement in flight, Terrance Plowright s Avian Gesture 3, melds the abstraction of the implied figurative into a magnificent exploration of visual energy. The dramatic, fluid, curvilinear sweep of the intersecting wings of this biomorphic abstraction, economically expresses the power and beauty of flight through form. The stylized feathered metal sheets swiftly slice space and air, their repetition visually mimicking movement over time as produced in stop motion animation and also recalling Marcel Duchamp s (1887-1968) Futurist painting, Nude Descending a Staircase #2 (1912), where the illusion of movement was devised through the presentation of a sequence of still frames overlapping and interleafing. In modern western sculpture, Plowright s piece arguably inherits an aesthetic that evolved from a sculpture by Italian artist, Umberto Boccioni (1882-19161), a colleague of Duchamp. Boccioni s Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913) effects the striding of a human form through the use of multiple planes, broken and repeated Plowright achieves a similar result with equal dignity. Perched within the rainforest, Avian Gesture 3, is ready to take flight. Page 12, catalogue note for Sculpture at Scenic World 2012, by Leonard Janiszewski, Judge of Sculpture at Scenic World, and Curator, Macquarie University Sculpture Park. 9
Mould Making & Casting By Michael Vaynman www.michaelvaynman.vpweb.com.au Ph: 0439 9517 33 or 4325 1709 Email: mvaynman@bigpond.net.au Silicon rubber moulds All types of casting:- Hydrostone Bronze and Stainless steel Acrylic and synthetic resins We welcome the following new members to the Sculptors Society: Jenny Green Beautopia...the quest for beauty in steel & bronze 3-24 May 2012 Margo Chinnick - Student Member Vera Robinson - Full Member Sevim Akcin - Full Member Ella Szpindler - Full Member Simon Kessel - Full Member Robyn Sharp - Full Member Beautopia will be opened by Anne Maria Nicholson, ABC TV Refreshments, appetisers and live music on opening night Please RSVP for opening to info@trafficjamgalleries.com traffic jam galleries Beautopia, Painted Steel, 105cmx225cmx70cm 41 Military Rd, Neutral Bay NSW 2089 Open Daily 10am-6pm Ph: 02 9953 3831 Email: info@trafficjamgalleries.com web:tjg.com Opening: Thurs 3 May 6pm Artist talk: Sat 5 May 11am Latham Australia Pty Ltd 14 Tennyson Rd, Gladesville, NSW 2111 Ph: 1300 LATHAM (528426) Web: www.latham-australia.com Email:sales@latham-australia.com For over 30 years Latham s have been supplying the stone industry, amateur and professional Stone Masons, Sculptors, and Marble and Granite users. We continue to support the Sculptors Society with the annual David Latham Memorial Award for Outstanding Work in Stone. Our range includes Cuturi Pneumatic Hammers, hand and machine Tungsten Carbide Chisels, nylon mallets, bitch picks, diamond blades, grinding wheels and disks. Sealers, polishers, waxes, cleaners, mastic and epoxy also in stock. Either drop into our showroom or contact us today for assistance. 10
Callemondah Sculptors invite you to an open studio exhibition... Participating sculptors are May Barrie, June Bennett, David Parker, Robyn Rumpf, Jan Shaw, Jules van de Stande 24th March - 1st April 10am to 4pm Callemondah, Calderwood Road, Albion Park, 2527, NSW SCULPTORS SOCIETY Membership OVERDUE! If you do not renew your membership now, this will be the last Bulletin you will receive. Classifieds Limestone Boulders Freshly quaried dense limestone, excellent for carving and takes a polish. Also, marble & sandstone sales Mobile: 0415 525 015 www.mylesraine.com.au www.sydneystonemerchants.net.au President Jenny Green Ph: 0414 994 971 Box 357, Seaforth, 2092 jenny@jennygreen.net Vice President Babette Gomme Exhibitions & Mailouts Ph: 9486-3438 Fax: 9450 1410 311 Weemala Rd, Terrey Hills, 2084 Vice President (Exhibitions on Web & Publicity) Feyona van Stom Ph: 0408 226 827 feyona@vanstom.com Honorary Treasurer Feisal Ramadan Ph: 9945 0261 46 Kooringal Ave, Thornleigh, 2120 EXHIBITION DATES FOR 2012 Gateway 5th - 30th March 2012 Chifley Tower & Gov Phillip & Macquarie Towers 7 May - 1 June 2012 Darling Park MLC/Australia Square CALENDAR Sunday 4 March Thursday 15 March Friday 30 March Sunday 1 April Friday 27 April Sunday 6 May Sunday 3 June Thursday 14 June Friday 15 June Sunday 29 July Tuesday 31 July Sunday 2 September Friday 7 September Thursday 20 September Sunday 7 October Sunday 4 November Thursday 6 December Set up Gateway Exhibition 30 Jul 1 Sept 8 Oct 2 Nov AGM & Forum at North Sydney Leagues Club - supper and bar open Entries close Towers exhibition Dismantle Gateway exhibition Entries close for LOOK magazine (Aug edition) Set up Towers exhibition Dismantle Towers exhibition Forum North Sydney Leagues club - supper and open bar Entries close Darling Park exhibition Set up Darling Park exhibition Opening Party Darling Park exhibition Dismantle Darling Park exhibition Entries Close Australia Square & MLC centre exhibition Forum North Sydney leagues Club supper and open bar Set up Australia Square & MLC double exhibition Dismantle Australia Square and MLC double exhibition Christmas Party at North Sydney Leagues Honorary Secretary (Membership, Website Coordinator & Email Enquiries) Eva Chant Ph: 9481 9060 Mobile: 0418 250 456 10 Corang Rd, Westleigh, 2120 info@sculptorssociety.com Bulletin Editor Claudine Tucker Ph: 0410 459 266 editor@sculptorssociety.com Bulletin Assistant Editor Christiane Conder cconder@bigpond.com Publicity Members News on Web & Forums Organiser Gary Grant: 9785 4686 gdsgrant@optusnet.com.au Liaison Officer Sally Zylberberg Ph: 9909-1799, Fax: 9908-1275 zylberberg@bigpond.com Assistant Mailouts Jolanta Janavicius Ph: 9939 2180 Exhibitions Reviewer Angela Morrell Ph: 9498 6341 www.sculptorssociety.com ISSN 0728 1293 The Sculptors Society Bulletins provide information, and topical news and views considered to be of interest to our readers. Nothing written here is intended as a substitute for professional advice, and no liability arising from our publications is accepted. Articles and reviews submitted may be edited at the discretion of the editor, and no correspondence in this regard will be entered into. All material (images, graphics and writing) appearing in this publication is subject to copyright interests claimed by The Sculptors Society and should not be copied or transmitted to electronic memory or otherwise without the previous written consent of the said Society. Copyright The Sculptors Society 2012. This publication was printed by Forestville Printing Sydney 02 9451 9665. 11 11
PLINTHS MADE TO ORDER ROGER FENTON ST. IVES, NSW TEL: (02) 9488 8628 FAX: (02) 9440 1212 MOB: 0417 443 414 Designed for structural integrity Light weight Affordable Plinths Also for Hire Other Sculptor Societies: Victoria: www.sculptorsvictoria.asn.au Queensland: www.sculptorsqld.org.au The Sculptors Society is now on Facebook. Please like our page to be kept up to date with the latest Sculptors Society News & Events! www.facebook.com/sculptorssociety www.sculptorssociety.com Our members are reminded that the website is there for their benefit and helps to promote their work and personal information. All new information from artists can be included onto their webpages but we need this feedback regularly. As well, our website fees require annual renewal and the form is found on our website under Forms. Fees are now overdue and prompt payment would be greatly appreciated. 12