A virtual reunion

 Ex Votive Offerings, (RHS above), recently seen in In the company of Morris at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, is reunited here with its companion pieces, Ladies Glisten and Spillage, if only digitally. All three works were created for the 2002-2003 Arts Victoria Touring Victoria exhibition Common Thread that also featured works by Catherine Pilgrim and Shane Jones - a happy and rewarding exhibiting experience if ever there was one.

Originally intended as linocuts, the prints were transferred onto silk screens by Rebecca Mayo after the size in the Chinese silk rejected the block printing ink. 

L-R top:
Ladies Glisten, 2002, Screen print, artificial pearls, hand stitching on sized Chinese silk laid onto interfacing, 120 x 40 cm. Collection: Art Gallery of Ballarat;

Spillage, 2002, Screen print, buttons, hand stitching on sized Chinese silk laid onto interfacing, 120 x 40 cm. Collection: LaTrobe University, Bendigo;

Ex Votive Offerings, 2002, Screen print, needle threaders, hand stitching on sized Chinese silk laid onto interfacing, 120 x 40 cm. Collection: Art Gallery of Ballarat.

Rehang at the Art Gallery of Ballarat

The Art Gallery of Ballarat has just done a major rehang of its permanent collection. It was great to discover my works Ladies Glisten (2002, screen print with artificial pearls on sized Chinese silk) and Ex Votive Offerings (2002, screen print with needle threaders on sized Chinese silk) are part of the new display. The purple reflections in the above photograph are from the wonderful Euan Heng neon installation in the room directly opposite (see the following two images). As a mentor who has become a treasured friend and whose work has long been an inspiration, it's entirely appropriate that Euan's works should be reflected in mine. 

The sign pictured in the image above gives some context to the contemporary collection. It reads as follows:

HUGH D. T. WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION GALLERY AND OLIVER FAMILY ROOM

Australian Art

1985 to the present

This room houses a selection of artworks from the ‘coalface’ of contemporary Australian art, a period of great diversity, when artists have looked back to past eras for inspiration but also looked to the future often with a sense of disquiet.

It also shows some of the Gallery’s comprehensive collection of indigenous art, including Top End bark paintings.

The room is named after the Hugh Williamson Foundation, established by Ballarat-born banker and philanthropist Hugh Williamson which has contributed significantly to this Gallery.

The Oliver Family Room is a place of rest and reflection, named after the Olivers, a Ballarat business family which has been a generous supporter of local causes.

Pictured above: Euan Heng: E is for elephant (2007) Snail (Momento) 2007, Elephant (2007) and Dove Descending (2007)

Pictured above: Deborah Klein: Ladies Glisten (2002) and Ex Votive Offerings (2002)

As the following photo shows, my work is in fine company:

Pictured above (on walls, clockwise): Deborah Klein: Ladies Glisten and Ex Votive Offerings (both 2002), David Noonan: Villa Balthus 1 (2004), Godwin Bradbeer: Man and Eclipse (2008), Melba Gunjarrwanga: Kun-madj – dilly bag (2008), Bronwyn Kelly: Ngalyod – Rainbow Serpent (2008), Emma van Leest: All matter that exists (2009), Tony Cran: We’ve come for what’s ours (2007) Rick Amor: Study for the Dry Season (2003). Sculptures (L-R): Bruce Armstrong: Tyger (1984) Peter Blizzard: Ponte timeless coast (circa 1989).