Isness : Winter is Coming

Winter is Coming - AIR group exhibition

At the end of my residency at SIM all the participating artists showcase their work in a group exhibition.  

Within the Isness is where your experience lies.  

During the residency I was exploring digital media and created the above animation. Isness is inspired by my time in Iceland: the Northern Lights and the vastness of the winter skies. Music is created by John Kennedy in response to the imagery.

Together there were 13 artists who participated in the group show. We are an international bunch coming from all corners of the globe, working in a variety of different media. Participating artists included: 

Adam Sébire : https://www.adamsebire.info/#contemporaryart
Anna Emilia Laitinen : www.annaemilia.com
Catherine Canac-Marquis : catherinecanac-marquis.com
Daniel S. Streck
Gabriel Gold : www.gabrielgoldmusic.com
Jonathan Lipkin : www.jlipkin.com
Kate Ward : www.kateward.com.au
Katrin Keller http://katrinkeller.ch/
Kim Mirus : www.kimmirus.com
Lisa Rosenmeier : www.lisarosenmeier.info
Marcel Tarelkin : www.marceltarelkin.de
Richard Spiller
Sigbjørn Bratlie : www.sigbjornbratlie.com

Detached Objects: live footage at CFAT

Detached Objects was a light art animation that was projected upon sheer fabric into a courtyard space on a snowy Thursday in February 2017. This footage captures the mood evoked using 3 projectors and combining the imagery of the Detached Objects files. The project was compiled using Isadora.

Detached Objects at CFAT

Detached Objects is an investigation into stone and its human-lithic relationship with the development of the human mind. 

Heavy physical ceramic objects that resemble stones or asteroids were animated, distorting our perceptions on their size, scale, and weight. The title refers to comets that inhabit the distant regions of the Solar System, and it is theorised by scientists that the impact upon the Earth of one or more of these objects may have been the catalyst for life as we know it.

The screening of the five scholars work: Jeighk Koyote (Mentor: Sam Decoste),Tamar Dina (Mentor: Becka Barker), Todd Fraser (Mentor: Lukas Pearse), Ryan Josey (Mentor: James MacSwain) and myself, Kate Ward (Mentor: Susan Tooke) took place on a snowy stormy night last Thursday. A big thank you to all who braved the conditions to attend.

My work was screened from 3 projectors which projected Detached Objects simultaneously onto sheer fabric in the central courtyard space. The snow enhanced the effect, dancing in the projected light, and shimmering on the fabric. Each of the detached objects had a sonic audio personality which appeared as each of the objects appeared in the dark. 

For more images of the event visit the CFAT Facebook page.

A big thank you to CFAT for such an amazing experience. I really enjoyed my time , and the experience of the scholarship surpassed my expectations. I learnt so much and met so many wonderful and talented people - it truly has been the most marvellous experience! 

I was super impressed by everyone's project - I thought they looked incredibly professional which demonstrates the wonderful knowledge that has been shared with us through the workshops and mentors. Being paired with an amazing mentor (Susan Tooke) is such a great experience and I couldn't have achieved what I did without her support. Lukas Pearse was also incredibly helpful offering his time so that I could catch up on the missed sound workshop and he also shared his passion and knowledge for Isadora with me - its definitely a program I would like to learn in more depth once the dust settles!

Id also like to say a SUPER big thank you to CFAT staff Tori, Tom and Sally for all their amazing help with the lead up to last night's exhibition. It takes a lot of hard work, time and dedication to have such a successful show. 

xxx

Out of the Centre - CFAT Scholarship Screening

Join me and the rest of the CFAT Media Arts Scholarship gang at the screening of our works on Thursday 9 February 2017. The evening commences at 7pm.

I was awarded the scholarship in August of last year and have been participating in a series of workshops where we have been taught digital editing. As part of the mentorship, each of the scholars is paired with a mentor. I have been very lucky to be working with Susan Tooke, a prominent painter and media artist (and all round lovely person). 

The digital work I have been creating is a continuation of my MFA thesis work, where I was exploring the physical relationship between stone and human memory. In the CFAT scholarship I continue this in a metaphysical realm where the objects, when devoid of their physical presence, become weightless and float in space.

Detached objects is a philosophical investigation about stone and its human-lithic relationship with the development of the human mind. Heavy physical ceramic objects that resemble stones or asteroids have been animated, distorting our perceptions on their size, scale, and weight. The title is a play upon the meaning that is associated with comets that inhabit the distant region of the Solar System, and it is theorised by scientists that the impact upon the Earth of one or more of these objects may have been the catalyst for life as we know it.

Coptic Binding

Something I have wanted to try for quite some time was to make a book using the coptic binding stitch technique. I have wanted to learn this technique since I saw it at the Tasmanian Art Fair in 2010. The Third Door had some beautiful examples of coptic binding and I was entranced by how they lent themselves to draping and that the opened flat which is perfect for a sketch book.

Coptic binding

Coptic binding was used by early Christians in Egypt and examples can be dated back to the 2nd century AD. It is a method of joining sections of parchment, papyrus or paper using chain stitch linking across the spine.

I had some spare time recently so I decided to teach myself the technique. Using some fabric scraps, I created a cover that alluded to what the content of the book will be (this will come at a later stage).

Fabric embroidered cover

 For those who have been following my blog you will recognise Kochira the Cat Kelly (in the style of  Australian artist Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly, the famous Australian bush ranger) who features in my animation, The Drive.

The decorative binding

I really enjoyed making the book, and plan to make a few more when I have some more spare time.

If you would also like to give this a try I found the following sites very helpful:
- Coptic binding directions illustrated by pictures 
- Coptic binding tutorial on Youtube. 11 mins long.

The Drive: Animation

Well, here it is.....

the final version of 'The Drive'..... my animation project that combines a whole lot of animation techniques including stop animation (using frame by frame hand drawn images) which was inspired by some of the three dimensional sculptures I created using antique kitchen utensils; and rotoscoping (creating a moving image by drawing directly over the top of existing moving footage) which were then collaged onto some footage I had captured on a foggy drive to work one wintery morning.

Set to the tune 'Love Like a Sunset Part 1' by Phoenix I also blended a whole lot of different sounds (thanks to www.freesound.org - a great website where you can download and use sounds for free) to further animate my hand drawn creations.

The creation of animation has been described as 'moving at a glacial pace' and I have to agree that it is very time consuming. It is also a lot of fun, and no doubt I will be incorporating more animation in my future art projects.

Kochira the Cat Kelly Animated

Ive been teaching myself the basics of some of the Adobe Creative Suite animation software programs such as Flash and After Effects.

Based on some footage I took whilst driving on the highway between Sydney and Canberra I have included the iconic Ned Kelly imagery by Sidney Nolan. However, Ned Kelly has been slightly adapted to be Kochira the Cat Kelly using Photoshop.

Heres a little snippet of what I am currently working on.

The snippet comes from a larger piece that I am working on. I couldn't wait for the entire piece to be finished (its over 5 minutes long which is an eternity of work in animation terms), so I thought I would share just a little bit with you.

It is a work in progress and not entirely polished yet.

Animated kitchen utensils

Over the past couple of weeks I have been learning the basics of stop animation.

You may remember my post from last week about the vintage kitchen utensils, well, my sketches for them have become the basis for my very basic stop motion animation.

The fun thing is they have all developed personalities of their own. Cheeky things!

This one above / and below, is based on an egg cup I designed in metal. Im in the process of making it! When flipped on its side it turns into a squid. Neat huh!