Layering Dreams

I am excited to share the news that I am taking part in a group exhibition at Brunswick Street Gallery called Read What You Look At, which opens this Friday night, and runs for two weeks.

Although it is not my first group exhibition, it is the biggest one I’m showing in, with fourteen pieces of my ‘random poetry’ mixed-media collages on view. The series is entitled Layering Dreams, and is – you guessed it – all about dreams, sleeping, and waking.

Here is an abridged version of my artist’s statement:

From a very young age, I was captivated with telling stories through both words and pictures, often drawing and writing on found paper. At art college after studying the Dadaists, I became interested in writing poetry by reassembling random words. Recycling my magazine collection, I created a pool from which I could pull words to compile into ‘random poems’.

Always interested in dreams, and the surrealism intertwined with hidden meanings, this method of writing poetry appealed to me. Naturally, I choose words that I find appealing, but sometimes I deliberately choose ones that I don’t. This strange combination contributes to the elusive mood of Layering Dreams, often with unexpected results.

Sometimes a poem just starts with two or three words, and I slowly build on those. The poems are engaging and easy to read not only because of their brevity, but because of how they look. The fonts and colours culled from so many different sources interact with one another visually, encouraging the viewer to also ‘look at what they read’.

Returning to my roots of acquiring used paper (I’d pinch my sisters’ papers from their school folders!), I’ve sourced antique papers from the late nineteenth century to the 1950s, to use as supports for the collages. As well as traditional (hard copy) collages using only words, I also create digital works, combining scanned words and images cut from magazines with digital ink.

These many layers of ephemera, words, and pictures combine to evoke the otherworldly nature of dreams.

If you happen to be in Melbourne, I’d love for you to come and check them out in person!

In Like a Grizzly Bear

November calendar imageSo highly anticipated, and now almost over: this was spring! These calendar pictures of spring are all wonderful, but my favourite is definitely the October image of New York in autumn.

Autumn has long been my favourite season, such a glorious and colourful time of year (although summer’s charms are almost equal). This month’s picture is also inspiring—I’ve always wanted to go to Africa on a safari (I’ve been to Morocco in the north of the continent, but that is quite different, obviously).

October calendar imageOnce, when I was about 14, I went with my parents to visit a small safari park in New South Wales that had plenty of wild and exotic animals roaming free. There were certainly lions and bears I recall, for I got up close and personal with one of them!

Dad was driving our car through the park when one of the grizzly bears decided to come and make a closer acquaintance with me. He must have liked the look of my little face peering out of the back seat window. He came right up to the glass, and his head filled the entire space—I got a very intimate view of his wild eyes, and slobbering jaw filled with enormous teeth that looked like they enjoyed crunching things, such as the bones of teenage girls. I can assure you I scooted over to the other side of the car pretty quick smart! One of the park rangers saw our predicament and distracted the bear by throwing an apple at it. Later dad was most concerned with the scratches the giant claws had made on the duco.

Surprisingly, the incident has not put me off visiting a game park one day!

Well, you know what they say: spring comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb—except that Melbourne is very changeable all the time. Enjoy the last of the season before summer (or winter as the case may be).

September calendar image

The Promise of Spring

Leonard lens // Daydream film // No flashWho doesn’t love a cherry blossom? The sight of a fruit tree (cherries, apples, apricots, plums) festooned in pink blooms is surely enough to delight everyone – after all, it heralds the promise of spring. The sun shines more brightly and the birds sing more happily.

Last week I spotted this tree in a side street in the midst of a concrete jungle, and it drew me unerringly. I made a positive beeline (ahem) for it. Isn’t it pretty? Spring is coming! Hurrah!

Here are some more pictures (click to jump through) to make you smile.

And there are birds!

In My Dreams

How nice to gaze upon pink hibiscus in the depths of winter. And to dream of exotic holidays on foreign beaches. Sadly that’s the only chance I have of going to Bali in the near future – in my dreams! I am, however, looking forward to a spring break, although I will be staying a little closer to home. It won’t be warm enough for lying on beaches, but I can certainly start daydreaming of cherry blossoms.

I must say I am very much enjoying this Rifle Paper Company calendar and Anna Bond’s illustrations this year, not only for the inspirational subject matter, but for the lovely quality of the paper and printing. Those things are important to a graphic designer! Hope you are having a wonderful August, whatever weather you’re having.

Summer Daze

This is one of my favourite pages in my calendar this year. Not just because of the gorgeous subject matter, but for the vibrant colours of coral. Anna Bond has really captured the mysterious beauty of the reef in her stylised shapes and brilliant hues.

I can almost feel the warmth of the water – which is a real compliment to the illustrator because I have never been that far north in Queensland (although one day I would like to go). Whenever I think longingly of beaches and sultry heat though, and contemplate travelling up there, it is always the wrong season for stingrays, and I am put off. I should start planning my holidays now! (This topsy-turvy travel calendar has had me daydreaming all year of seasons quite the opposite of what I am experiencing.)

I hope you have a wonderful July, whether freezing your footsies or sunning yourself.