This work is now named "Last Gasp" - after the 17th C German/Dutch artist Maria Sybilla Merian, and in these last days of Spring, which feel like winter petal #5 has been pinned and the tail of a dragonfly appears in the left hand corner, but this is for a separate work. Day 14 - the 6th petal is almost complete. "Last Gasp" is also shown with the original painting by Maria, c.1670. This is the most complex and time consuming reinterpretation I have undertaken in the past 3 year 'Sanctuary' project, there are so many tiny pieces (I estimate at least 700 fragments of embroidery and lace and many more pins - it's like textile surgery). As the books she published of her flower paintings were for others to "copy, embroidery or enjoy" and to allow her to make a living, I wonder would Maria Sybilla Merian be happy that i am reinterpreting her work - I hope so? (The last photo is by Marcel Aucar - Vogue Living).
Sanctuary - in the Andrew Myer & Kerry Gardner Project Gallery at Heide Museum of Modern Art from March - July 2012
Photos of my installation Sanctuary at Heide Museum of Modern Art have arrived. Below left to right - 1st photo: Cabinet of curiosities filled with needlework and natural history treasures, including my 1937 edition of Audubon's "Birds of America" and above the cabinet are "Elvis, 2011" (after Sir Hans Sloane's 1750's Rhino hornbill skull); "Carolina on my mind, 2011 - after John James Audubon, 1825" and "Queen Billie #2", 2010 (King parrot skull). 2nd photo: also shows "Lucy's Kite, 2011 after John James Audubon 1829"; 3rd photo: "Queen Billie, 2010 - after Sarah Stone 1790"; "Madiera's Lyre, 2010- after John William Lewin, c.1815; "Major Tom, 2010 - after John & Elizabeth Gould, c1848"; 4th photo: also shows "Ellis' Paradise, 2011 - after Ellis Rowan, 1917"; "Flaming Flamingo, 2011 - after JJ Audubon, 1838"; 5th photo: "Black Prince, 2011 - after Louisa Anne Meredith c1850"; "Maria's Saturn, 2011 - after Maria Sybilla Merian, c1700";"Halcyone & Ceyx, 2010 - after Lilian Medland, c1930" and "Right Place, Wrong Time, 2011 - after Maria Sybilla Merian, c.1700" (Photos Copyright Heide MoMA)
Unearthing the past #1
In the process of setting up this website I was drawn back to my early days at art school - Canberra School of Art in the early 1980's and RMIT in the early 1990s. I discovered in the archives of my studio a folio of small drawings and photographs of lost paintings. Not worthy of a gallery within the main website, but worthy of documentation none the less, I have decided to post some of the images here in three journal entries. The interesting thing for me to remember is that my engagement with the domestic, with a sense of home, goes back a long way. It has transmogrified over the years but, it is there as a constant thread. This first journal entry shows drawings in pencil and charcoal from a group house in Canberra and an abandoned farmhouse on the outskirts, in the early 1980's.
Unearthing the past #3
This journal shows drawings and paintings made in the 1980's in both Canberra and Melbourne. I acknowledge the influence of artists such as Susan Norrie and Max Beckman. Sadly the lipstick, shoes and nude paintings have been lost and all that remains are the photos.
Unearthing the past #2
This journal shows works on paper in pastel and oil stick, made in Melbourne in the early 1990's while completing my Bachelor of Fine Art at RMIT. The drawings were made around the Yarra River, close to the city where I was living at the time. I acknowledge the influence of artists such as Mark Rothko and Peter Booth.