If there is one exhibition that I am really proud to be a part of it is ‘Open House - the Third Tamworth Textile Triennial’.
When I was just a budding baby artist, back in art school, the Tamworth Textile Biennial (as it was known at the time) was touted as the pinnacle of textile art in Australia. Only the best Australian Textile artists were included. It was an exhibition to aspire to. To work towards. To dream about. So that exhibition has been on my artist-bucket-list since early on.
But, I never applied to be considered for it.
I am not sure why. Probably due to a serious case of imposter syndrome. I didn’t think my work was good enough, or conceptual enough. So every time expressions of interest for this exhibition opened up, I pushed it aside.
And then, in 2014 something awesome happened. The Tamworth Regional Gallery asked me to exhibit some pieces of my work in their foyer space. They wanted a textile artist’s work on display to coincide with the second Tamworth Textile Triennial exhibition, which was on display in their main gallery. Wowsers! So I happily went and installed my work in their foyer, including the largest single embroidery I have made to date, my Scribbly gum Leaf. It was an honour to have my work in the vicinity of the triennial, even if I wasn’t a part of it.
Following that display I had great feedback about my work and the gallery even purchased my Scribbly Gum Leaf for their permanent collection. It was the confidence boost I needed. So when the next triennial exhibition was announced and expressions of interests opened - I applied.
And I got in!!!
So now I had to this wonderful opportunity to make a new work for the exhibition. Something bigger and better than I had ever made before. Up until that point most of my work was made to be framed (and sold). They had to be made within certain size and depth limitations. So the opportunity to make an artwork without those limitations was exciting and if I am being perfectly honest, pretty daunting. But I threw myself into the challenge and happily researched ideas and concepts for a few months.
Then I found out I was pregnant.
This was great news of course, but it threw a bit of a spanner in the works because the timing landed bub’s arrival right in the middle of when the triennial work was due for delivery to the gallery. I would have to juggle the making of this new work, my already busy exhibition/workshop schedule, as well as pregnancy and a newborn baby. Gulp.
So, instead of making a single embroidery, which would have put a lot of pressure on that one piece, I planned to make an artwork that consisted of many small pieces that would be displayed together to form a large installation. This was a very conscious decision. I figured I would just make as many pieces as I could, while juggling my new motherhood status, and the size of the final installation would just relate to as many pieces as I could make within that time. My goal was to make an installation at least 1 meter in diameter. I wanted it to look impressive and not get lost on those massive gallery walls.
Luckily I got a baby that slept a fair bit (during the day anyway) and didn’t seem to mind the sound of a sewing machine. Phew. So I managed to stitch over 400 pieces for the installation. Most of these pieces I had managed to make before my daughters arrival, but I was able to add another hundred or so to the final tally after she arrived.
The 412 embroideries that made up the artwork ‘The New neighbours’ were pinned directly onto the walls of Tamworth Regional Gallery for the first showing of the exhibition. You can read my artist statement about this piece at the bottom this post. It took me two days to install this 1.3 meter diameter piece onto the gallery wall. I found a few shots from that install which I have shared below. As you can see my daughter was the quality control officer during the install and a very cute one at that.
Open house (Curated by Glenn Barkley) showcases the work of a range of practicing Australian visual artists as well as several groups of community-based makers. It truly is a wonderful, varied and rich exhibition and I am immensely proud to be a part of it.
Following the initial exhibition at Tamworth Regional gallery, all of the individual embroideries that make up ‘The New Neighbours’ were carefully taken off the wall and returned to me so that I could re-install them on a great big circular board. This board and it’s custom made traveling box is something that the wonderful staff at Tamworth Regional Gallery created for me. My engineer hubby then helped to develop a system so the artwork could be secured to the back of the box so it would be safe in transit and nothing would touch the front of the artwork and crush the fragile embroideries. It is really rather brilliant. Apparently my artwork is now one of the easiest pieces to install in the whole show because you simply hang the board on the wall like a standard painting.
The New Neighbours, now safely secured on it’s custom board, has travelled around various regional galleries and art centres as the exhibition has toured the country over the last three years. I was lucky enough to see it again in person at Coffs Harbour in early 2019, but haven’t been able to catch any of the other shows in the tour. I hope to make it to the next (and final) display of this exhibition which opens early next month in Sydney!
The Third Tamworth Textile Triennial National Tour is almost finished! There is only one more stop on its itinerary; Australian Design Centre, NSW 9 June – 29 July 2020. Make sure you check out this wonderful exhibition while you still can. It’s worth it!
‘The New Neighbours’ installed at Tamworth Regional Gallery, 2017.
About the exhibition:
Tamworth Textile Triennial, held every three years, showcases the best of textile art from across the country, attracting artist participation from all states in Australia. The 3rd Tamworth Textile Triennial has been curated by Glenn Barkley using an Open House theme.
“Open House: Tamworth Textile Triennial celebrates the open-ended, porous nature of textiles practice today. It introduces a group of artists who have not previously exhibited in the triennial.
All are linked in some way to a sense of broader engagement with things outside of themselves and their studios. Many celebrate the process of belonging that comes from working with other artists, while others take on wide-ranging issues such as the landscape and the environment, and the artist’s place in a world beset by environmental, social and cultural upheaval.
Bringing it all together is a kind of openness that comes through exhibiting, talking and creating which can involve both artist and viewer as equal participants. The making process is equally as important as the works themselves, and the conversations while creating and showing create an open house where all ideas and responses are welcome.”
Click HERE to read the curators essay about the exhibition.
This exhibition opening was a major milestone for me. It was my first ‘arty outing’ since the birth of my daughter Charlotte (she was around 4 month’s old here).
National Tour Exhibition Dates:
Tamworth Regional Gallery, NSW 13 October – 10 December 2017
Maitland Regional Art Gallery, NSW 28 July – 14 October 2018
Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, NSW 16 November 2018 – 28 January 2019
Artisan, Queensland Craft and Design Centre, QLD 23 February – 27 April 2019
Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, NSW 10 May – 7 July 2019
Murray Bridge Regional Gallery, SA 20 July – 8 September 2019
JamFactory at Seppeltsfield, SA 21 September – 24 November 2019
Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery, VIC 6 December 2019 – 26 January 2020
Town Hall Gallery Melbourne, VIC 1 February – 15 March 2020
Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, NSW 28 March – 10 May 2020
Australian Design Centre, NSW 4 June – 29 July 2020
My Artist Statement;
The New Neighbours
Polyester embroidery thread
Dimensions variable
2017
Coral reefs are under stress due to rising sea temperatures.
It has been predicted that 90% of the world’s coral will be dead by 2050.
In the face of this devastating statistic I cant help but wonder what the world will be like without coral reefs. What will these beautiful, fascinating and important ecosystems look like after climate change has destroyed the majority of them? Will they become barren wastelands or will the reefs evolve into a new kind of ecosystem, with new dominant species? While many species will perish under the impending harsh conditions there will always be those that are able to adapt, survive and even thrive in the face of change.
‘The New Neighbours’ explores a possibility of what the transformed reefs could look like after secondary colonisers have moved in. The embroidered forms that make up the installation are inspired by a red Discosoma species, from the order Corallimorpharia. Colonies of Corallimorphs have been known to rapidly cover empty spaces in a reef, like a living carpet over coral rubble. Species from this order are hardy, fast growing organisms that are resistant to pollution, water acidity and temperature changes, making them potential survivors of the impending reef destruction.
I like to think that life will find a way and this is some small comfort in the face of the changes our planet is facing.
