Ten of the island’s visual artists are bringing ‘ mainlanders’ a glimpse of the isolation and inspiration of island life in Island to Inland: contemporary art from Kangaroo Island, an exhibition project in development scheduled for the Flinders University City Gallery during SALA Festival 2017 and then toured by Country Arts SA, subject to funding.
Islands are by nature isolating, and that isolation coupled with majestic natural surroundings can be inspiration galore to the creative soul.
Thus the symmetry of Kangaroo Island: 4500 square kilometres, half of it natural ecosystems and, 4500 residents, half seemingly artists in some form.
Ten of the island’s visual artists are bringing ‘ mainlanders’ a glimpse of the isolation and inspiration of island life in Island to Inland: contemporary art from Kangaroo Island, an exhibition project in development scheduled for the Flinders University City Gallery during SALA Festival 2017 and then toured by Country Arts SA, subject to funding.
The artists are creating new works on the theme of ‘isolation and inspiration’ for the exhibition, curated by Eleanor Scicchitano, Visual Arts Coordinator, Country Arts South Australia and Celia Dottore, Exhibitions Manager, Flinders University Art Museum and City Gallery.
In the next few months on this blog we’ll meet the ten artists and follow their creative adventure in developing works for this exhibition.
Artists:
- Audrey Harnett
- Caroline Taylor
- Deborah Sleeman
- Indiana James
- Janine Mackintosh
- Kenita Williamson
- Maggie Welz
- Quentin Chester
- Ria Byass
- Scott Hartshorne
19. 02. 2017
Revisitation
It’s a writing joy to be part of the Island to Inland project, to observe the artists in their studios and environments, to witness the creative process and making of the artworks, and to report on them. I unashamedly admire artists, their creative sparks and realisations of their ideas. All ten artists of the Island […]
16. 01. 2017
Elemental
Immense populations occupy Deb Sleeman’s thoughts: ‘When there are a lot, they are forced to move’. Each spring 23 million Short-tailed Shearwaters, come to summer breeding grounds in southeast Australia from summer feeding grounds in the Arctic. They take more than a day to pass points on the south coast of Kangaroo Island as they […]
19. 12. 2016
Still life: perpetual motion
How still is a still life? The environment that inspires still-life painter Ria Byass, that surrounds her home, is, like Ria, never still, even on days of intense calm. Ria lives at the apex of D’Estrees Bay where the Southern Ocean has taken a bite out of coast that once belonged to mainland Australia. She […]
05. 12. 2016
Fine print
‘I am working with this idea of journeying, moving into the unknown, letting go and then the reinventing in that process.’ Audrey Harnett has come to value isolation. She knows that she can take it – she has put herself through that tough test – but she also knows that it’s her choice to be […]
16. 11. 2016
It’s personal
For Kenita Williamson her art has always been integral to her life. From making animals in her room as a young girl, to being an art teacher, to pouring her heart and soul into her free-ranging pieces for Island to Inland, art is healing and strengthening. Not that she wants to tell those who view […]
25. 10. 2016
Perfect imperfection
‘Found object sculpture’ – the very notion of the medium conjures up ideas of rough approximations to the subject, especially when the objects found are rusted metal rods, car parts and road signs. For the sculptures of Indiana James, nothing could be further from the truth. The finish of his works of native animals of […]
08. 09. 2016
Creative surge
Art gushes out of Maggie Welz in a torrent of creative energy. It is as though a lifetime of experiencing and learning and thinking and contemplating has gathered to a well-spring that is releasing in sweeping, fluid strokes of beauty and emotional intensity. Now in her seventies, Maggie creates art for herself. She does not […]
04. 07. 2016
Commodification
Narrow-leaf mallee stands, kangaroos and a profusion of bird life are the background to Scott Hartshorne’s daily life in the centre of Dudley Peninsula – the ‘head’ of Kangaroo Island. They are a source of endless fascination and inspiration for this realist painter who is known for his ‘herbarium specimen’ renditions of eucalypts and other […]
13. 06. 2016
Plating up
Two Island to Inland projects focus on photography but the shutters opened on each 111 years apart. In October 1905 an Australasian Ornithologists Union expedition arrived at Middle River on Kangaroo Island overburdened with gear. Just the photography gear was enough to make a heart sink – cameras, glass plates and tripods, enormous and unwieldy. […]
30. 05. 2016
Death and life
Announcement: Transmission of Janine Mackintosh’s mesmerising artforms is about to be disrupted. But don’t panic – the signature circles, natural forms and repeating elements remain, just differently. Janine’s ‘loosening of her tight aesthetic’ for the Island to Inland project tells a compelling story in both deed and theme – of the corrosive force of salinity […]
