LIFE LIFE STYLE: November 2009

Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison, 'A key to help make your own world visible'

Inspired by Hermann Hesse’s classic novel Der Steppenwolf Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison present a new collection of artist books, fine lithographic offset prints and other works on paper.

In Der Steppenwolf the ‘Magic Theatre’ is a hallucinatory, parallel world controlled by saxophone player, Pablo: “I can throw open to you no picture-gallery but your own soul,” he tells the suffering protagonist Harry, “All I can give you is the opportunity, the impulse, the key. I help you to make your own world visible. That is all.” Taking its cue from Hesse’s surrealistic landscape, A Key to Help Make Your Own World Visible presents a series of hidden interior topographies; worlds existing somewhere between the pain and beauty of things past.

Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison have worked collaboratively for the past ten years, chiefly using paper as their medium. From carefully constructed limited edition artists’ books to works on paper, they record, deconstruct and rebuild miniature worlds. Graduates of RMIT, they have exhibited together both locally and abroad. They were awarded the Australia Council for the Arts, New Work for Emerging Artists grant in 2000, and the Freedman Foundation Travelling Scholarship for Emerging Artists in 2002, and their work is represented in the collections of Artspace Mackay; Bibliotheca Librorum Apud Artificem; Ergas Collection; Melbourne, Monash, RMIT and Charles Sturt Universities; UWE Bristol; the State Libraries of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland; Print Council of Australia; Latrobe Regional Gallery, Burnie Regional Gallery and Warrnambool Art Gallery and various private collections.

Postcard collages

Installation view

Gracia and Louise's exhibition in Gallery 2 was on from 23 October to 28 November. During this time, they also CLOG's esteemed guest bloggers (thank you ladies!). To view their posts, click here.

Don't forget to also check out their beautiful website + respective blogs (click here for Gracia's, and here for Louise's). It's a comprehensive collection of their work, publications and interviews.

To view more images from their recent exhibition, click here.

Photography by Richard Brockett

Karin Findeis 'sampler'

With our last round of exhibitions de-installed, packed up and out of CVHQ, we hope you managed to drop by when they were still on. In case you missed it, over the next few days we'll be posting installation images from each of the exhibitions. How nice are we!

Entomoid, 2008, 37 brooches, silver & paint

First up is Karin Findeis' exhibition sampler. Reflecting upon the exhibition's exploration of the history of collection, Karin presented her work in rows of archival boxes mounted on the walls of Gallery 3 at hip length (or waist length if you're my height... but seriously, I'm not that short).

And here's Karin's artist statement:

In her latest exhibition sampler, Karen Findeis uses the intimate environment of jewellery to investigate the history of collecting.

Findeis positions herself as a contemporary explorer, the jewellery she makes reflecting the environments within which she lives and travels. Findeis’s process references the collecting practices of the Enlightenment era where diverse elements were drawn together and categorised to create a semblance of order; the ‘real’ and the ‘ideal’ reconciled through representation and reinterpretation.

Karin Findeis has been exhibiting since 1987, both in Australia and internationally. Her practice focuses on the effects that collecting, classification and museology have had on the relationship between objects and memory in both private and public domains. She has undertaken studies at Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam and recently completed her doctoral studies. In addition, Karin has held the position of Chair of the Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia, NSW since 2006. After living in Europe for several years she is now based in Sydney and heads the Jewellery and Object Studio at Sydney College of the Arts.

For more images, click here.

Keep an eye out for an upcoming interview with Karin... coming up... very soon! We promise.

Photography by Richard Brockett

Up she goes, down she goes

Especially for you, a collection housed.

A view gleaned through looking-glass.

A concept favourable or perhaps not, we’ll leave that up to you, either way, what took two days to install took but two leisurely hours to take apart, pack up and leave gallery space bare, signage and all.

We so enjoyed our time in beauteous confines of gallery two. Equally so our time spent here. Thanks for having us. We have enjoyed having a lend of your ear.

G & L

Introducing... James Roberts

We're a couple of days late on this one, but here is this week's interview with Shoe Show exhibitor James Roberts. Along with a friend, James is currently working on a new project called 'Captains of Industry' located in inner city Melbourne (Somerset Place off Little Bourke Street to be precise). Very exciting indeed! Set to open in mid-December, we can't wait to visit Captains of Industry - it sounds right up CVHQ's alley. Congratulations James and Thom!

Shoe Show ended yesterday (Saturday) and we hope you managed to sneak a peek before it closed. If you weren't able to, fret not as we will be posting photos of the exhibition sometime next week.

James

Could you tell us a bit about yourself, where you grew up, what you studied at school?

I grew up in Melbourne and studied hard sciences – Maths/Physics/Chemistry – all through High School and University. In Uni however I branched out to study History and Philosophy of Science also, and that was my main creative outlet I guess.

You've mentioned that you were about to commence your Masters in Chemistry before deciding to change your direction. What prompted the move towards shoemaking? Was it something that you've always been interested in, or was it more of a spur-of-the-moment decision?

I was doing a Masters in the History of Chemistry. The main idea was to recreate some early chemistry experiments as accurately as possible to find out more about early techniques, their accuracy, purity of materials etc... It turned out to be too hard to do in Melbourne and I had to put it on hold. The historical side of chemical practice led me to really appreciate old techniques, practices, tools, apparatus machinery etc. Shoemaking wasn't something I'd ever really considered before then. I saw a course in the CAE guide for shoe making run by Brendan Dwyer. I did a couple of his courses and then started teaching myself from then on. I'm still an absolute amateur. There is so much more to learn.

The first shoe James made

Do you think your background in chemistry has influenced how you work with shoes in any way?

I'm sure it has. But I still think it is coming out slowly. I really like colouring my own leather and would actually like to make my own dyes and glues, waxes, threads etc in the future.You've been making shoes for a couple of years now... any plans for the future in terms of developing your practice? What do you hope to achieve? I have a long way to go yet and most of it is learning. I'd like to be able to make some historical reproduction shoes and perfect a bespoke fitting in the near future.

You share a studio with a shoemaker as well as a few other creative types working with a diverse range of mediums. How does this affect the way you approach your artistic practice?

Working with other people is incredibly helpful. Steve (the other shoemaker) and I have both had problems with different things in the past and it definitely helps to talk through them with other people. Having other artists around is good too. Feedback and sharing ideas are very important, especially when your starting out.

Do you see shoes more as 'fashion' or 'art', or both?

I can certainly see that they occupy a place in both those worlds. But shoes are also very practical. You wear them every day. Maybe they are in that elusive realm between science, art and craft. Modern shoes can also be put in the category of technology they are so far from being handmade.Personally I'm not a couture shoemaker. I like to make simple shoes based on classic styles and techniques with my own twist.

And finally, “if I were a shoe I'd be...

…Hopefully on someone's feet. I'd hate to be a pair of shoes stuffed in a closet full of other shoes.

Photography by Richard Brockett

Recalled

Taken Easter 1979 in St Arnaud (Victoria) with Dixie. I am almost four years of age.

It is the layout I remember first, the long passageways created. When I think of my grandparents’ garden in St Arnaud, it is a garden laid out in three long rows, allowing you to walk the length of the bed from either side, picking peas or hoeing turnips. A grapevine that ran the length of the three sides framed the garden whole, a neat belt to its green corridors. It may not have been so. It may not have been quite so long. For that you will have my memory to take. I recall it thus; it was thus. Memory is not for the factual reliance when it comes to any book stored in the mind.

There was sun suspended perpetually high above. There were plants taller than my height of five years lived, stretching the length of their wooden stakes, giving all the appearance of puppets pulled from high. Green beans grew and strawberries could be surreptitiously picked by hand. There were no leaves brown or laced with holes. It was an immaculate functioning garden and it belonged to Frank and Thelma. By their hand, it flourished. Cauliflower, carrot, potato and tomato, they were all there, vegetable peel from the kitchen, and tealeaves too, a composting role to play.

Seems this Thursday I am thinking of things past. Soon also to be relegated to halls of memory, our show at Craft Victoria and our artists’ books on display as part of the 2009 Geelong acquisitive print awards. The former draws to its close this Saturday come 5 pm, the latter the following day.

In a cabinet in the Geelong Gallery they sit, two concertina bindings of ours unfurled at full length, three fanned in shape of a star.

We pop in to turn the pages once more, and will miss doing so come next week.

Until next time,
G

Studio visit: James Roberts

This week, here's a peek at Shoe Show exhibitor James Roberts' old studio in Carlow House which he shared with a large group of other artists including Dani M and Felicity Jane Large. They've all since moved due to a rent hike (boo) and James has now relocated to a top secret, top notch new location which will be revealed all in good time...

James operating some heavy machinery

James also shared his workspace with another shoemaker Steve Phillips (who is also the very lovely Dani M's husband!)

Illustrations by Max Blackmore, done with a soldering iron

xo shoe, part of the Shoe Show exhibition

Full-length interview with James coming up soon...

In the meantime, Shoe Show is in its last days. Ending this Saturday 28 November, make sure you drop by and pick up a catalogue while you're here!

Photography by Richard Brockett

Last days... PAN Gallery Award

The inaugural PAN Gallery Award exhibition ends tomorrow, so our hot tip for the day is to catch the 1 or the 8 tram, get off one stop after Brunswick Road, cross the road and go halfway down Weston Street where you'll find Northcote Pottery Supplies/PAN Gallery (they're in the same building).

Be sure to check out Katie Jacobs' winning entry...

Katie Jacobs, Weeping Willows, PAN Gallery Award winner (photo courtesy of PAN)

I lied on a rental application. I said I was an avid gardener because my dream house had a massive and superbly overgrown garden and I wanted to live in it.

These bottles are cast from the remains of two silver birch trees. During the summer before last they died outside the Northcote dream house where I now live. Due to water restrictions I didn’t water them enough, not even with recycled water, and so their death is on my not-so-green thumbs. Casting them is an attempt to honour their memory by making them solid again, except I imagine these porcelain vessels as white lingering ghosts of the former trees, berating me from beyond the grave.

Katie Jacobs, 2009

Congratulations again Katie!

While you're in that neck of the woods, why not check out a few of our friends. There's SMALLpieces, Northcote Pottery Supplies' new retail section featuring yep, small pieces of contemporary Australian ceramics. You might like to trot down to Monkhouse Design to check out their Spring/Summer arrivals (and also their new design identity, worked on by no less than Ortolan of which former CV lady Liz Wilson is now part of), and then amble down to Small Block for the best coffee under $3, topping it off with a visit to Five Boroughs. Makes us wish we had tomorrow off!

If you're stuck at work like us, then click here to read the catalogue essay written by curator Kim Brockett and take a virtual tour of the exhibition by clicking here.

Chicks on Speed theremin update

If you're going to be in Wolfsburg, Germany this Friday 27 November, you should make your way down to Kunstverein Wolfsburg to see Chicks on Speed perform with the tapestry that was woven earlier this year during their solo exhibition at Craft Victoria. Best of all, it's eintritt frei! (free entry)

The tapestry was woven by some very nimble fingers at the Victorian Tapestry Workshop and then turned into a theremin using a high-tech theremin transformer at the Theremin Institute in Moscow.

In the meantime, here's a video of the theremin tapestry in action.

Introducing... Emma Greenwood

Following on from yesterday's post, today's Introducing... features the full-length interview with Shoe Show exhibitor Emma Greenwood.

Long-time readers of CLOG may remember an interview we did the Emma sometime last year. It was one of the first interviews we ran on CLOG and it's great to interview Emma again almost one year on!

Emma also has a blog filled with updates, projects, news, the occasional ultrasound update (congratulations Emma!!) and even a link to her talented son Leo's Lego blog. He is only four years old and he already puts most of us to shame with his mad Lego skills...

Happy Friday everyone!

Could you tell us a bit about yourself, where you grew up, what you studied at school?
Growing up in Adelaide I was a very academic lass until Year 12, when the pressure got too much and I discovered the art department. After that I did a four-year Visual Arts degree, majoring in printmaking, but then in my final year discovered sculpture and became hooked on three dimensions.

Upon completing your Visual Arts degree, what prompted the move towards shoemaking? Was it something that you’ve always been interested in, or was it more of a spur-of-the-moment decision?
Once I graduated I worked as a bike messenger for almost three years. When I felt the urge to study again, a friend and I wanted to start a street wear label, so we signed up for Apparel at TAFE.

There was also a handmade footwear course, which piqued my curiosity so I enrolled in both fields, thinking that the apparel would be full time and the footwear part time. The enrolment was bungled; I ended up doing full time footwear and completely fell in love with the sculptural process.

It immediately felt like an extension of my fine art training, an opportunity to refine and apply lateral thinking, and most of all an excuse to use hand and power tools, transforming raw materials into practical, sculptural pieces of art.

The shoes that you make are quite theatrical in design. Could you please tell us a bit more about where you derive your inspiration?
Well I’ve never been a minimalist and do tend to research my designs more in terms of key features. I’ve been drawn to costume books from history and film and really enjoy all the details, techniques and character design. Lately I’m obsessed with a Star Wars costume book, from Episodes 4 – 6 - to work on a project as vast as a three-movie period would be an amazing experience.

My other inspirations are diverse, including royal and military regalia, decorative patterns from many cultures, art and history, and both pop and hip hop culture.

Using traditional textile arts such as crochet, embroidery and knitting, and combining these skills with leatherwork in a contemporary way is something I enjoy seeing evolve. I’m big on technique, and often teach myself new methods just to get the look right.

You’ve been working with shoes and exhibiting for over 12 years now. How do you think your practice has evolved in this period of time?
The first 7 years of my career resembled an informal apprenticeship, as I worked in established studios making shoes by hand in Adelaide, Sydney and finally Melbourne. During this time I was able to hone my skills, experiment with many different materials and styles, and learn about small business.

Since embarking on my own I have introduced an accessories range and concentrated on my shoemaking in a very specialised sense, making exhibition and experimental pieces, alongside more commercial bespoke work for clients, friends and family.

I used to prefer to make handmade sneakers, customised for graffiti artist pals, and over the years have got this down pat. Lately I feel a bit more like a grown up, so I’m making more refined styles, not entirely girly, but with more feminine details. That said, I am currently working on a pair which are pink and gold, really not my colours, but my sub-conscious is commanding me to make them!

In comparison with the other Shoe Show exhibitors, you are the only shoemaker who works on their own. How does this affect the way you approach your artistic practice?
I do envy the cross-pollination of ideas that working with others can bring, plus being able to share machinery must be a bonus, but I can be a bit of a control freak! As a shoemaker I have mostly worked alone, occasionally sharing spaces with others; jewellers, graffiti artists, and musicians. Shoemaking is quite grubby though, generating a lot of dust, noise and stink from the glues, so I’m now working in a customised home studio.

I love working from home, previously having a studio outside the home meant that the time spent travelling and the extra expense just never added up. I like being able to walk out into the backyard with a cup of tea, having put the laundry on, and do a few hours at the workbench. Also my son is not yet at school, so when he’s at home it’s easy for me to grab a bit of time in the studio.

Do you see shoes more as ‘fashion’ or ‘art’, or both?
They can, of course, be both, but in my practice I like to create them as art. I don’t get much satisfaction from producing a run-of-the-mill style with minimal flair, I’d much rather imbue my work with thorough attention to detail, in terms of design, materials and construction.

There are so many stages in the production of handmade footwear, and each process is tailored and time consuming. The skills involved take so long to master, and are art forms themselves, often there’s a need to re-invent processes for particular styles. There is a huge amount of problem solving required, as well as patience, persistence, maybe even a certain pathology!

One-offs are easier to produce as art, such as the pieces I’ve made for Shoe Show, inevitably once you get into production runs a little bit of the magic can be lost. I generally sample something outlandish which satisfies my more-is-more ethos, but then I’ll refine it and offer a less embellished version. It can be a fine line between creative indulgence and commercial survival.

And finally, “If I were a shoe I’d be…
…a transformer shoe, which could morph in-between states: from a smart, stylish and highly customised sneaker, to a hand-carved platform geta with embroidered tabi socks, which then folded out into an elaborate yet elegant golf brogue with quilted tongue flap, then to a sleek high heeled lace-up piece of brilliance with tartan details.

Honestly it is too hard to name one shoe, I would have to be a shape-shifter!

Photography by Richard Brockett

Studio visit: Emma Greenwood

This week, here's a look into Shoe Show exhibitor Emma Greenwood's Coburg studio, conveniently nestled in her very own backyard.

Check out the Open Bench Residencies label! Remember when that happened? It feels like an age ago...

A shoe last

Extra large work table for extra large creative outputs, custom built by Sam (Emma's partner). Pictured on the table is Shoe Show work 'Tron' - it was just a work-in-progress back then.

This is what it used to look like: