Points of View, 2010, ARTIST PROFILE Issue 11, pp. 102-103
An exhibition of new works by young, unrepresented artists is under construction at Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne. The gallery, usually host to some of the nation’s most respected and lauded artists, has invited a group of 6 young artists to participate in an exciting new group show. All in the throes of building their careers, curator Olivia Radonich has asked for their “points of view” and to create a new body of work ready for this novel exhibition, which aims to give “important exposure to people at the beginning of their careers as artists”.
The bodies of work forming this exhibition are based “around the artists’ current practices”, says Radonich. While there is no theme to the show, the works in their own ways, “explore what it is to be human, human connections, those ordinary everyday moments” and this is what ties the individual works together. In presenting these new, up-and-coming artists, Radonich feels it is important to show not only their work but represent “their practices as a whole”.
RILEY PAYNE works in the medium of drawing. Largely self taught, Payne grew up surrounded by drawings made by his graphic designer father and landscape architect mother.
Tell me about what you’ve created for Points of View.
I’ve created a series of 15 drawings, the majority of which have plant-based images drawn around coloured text, with the exception of 3, which have no text.
Can you tell me your views on the currency of drawing in contemporary art? Do you see the medium surviving the digital age?
There are always going to be people on either side. I’m no good with computers so I do stuff with my hands and make mistakes that I have to erase and scrunch up—other people prefer the excitement of advancing technology and have good brains and patience for all things digital. For me it’s not so much an argument for either side as it is a personal preference and inability to think in a digital way. I think drawing will be fine.
What has been one significant challenge you have found in this process?
Learning how to self-edit from too many ideas at the same time as being out of ideas, and moving forward without forcing anything. I’ve never made as large a body of similar works before.
CONOR O’BRIEN is a photographer, whose work acts as a portal into ambiguous times and places, giving the viewer access to an undefined world. His works are drawn from an instinctive process of looking and watching the world around him.
Tell me about what you’ve created for Points of View.
My photographs are about the recognition of feelings and emotions and express those ideas visually. They can hint at possible meanings and narratives but leave the interpretation open for the viewer.
Take me through your practical process for this work from concept to art making.
It’s a very instinctive process that comes down to visual thinking more than pre conceptualization. I always have my camera with me, so I’ll see something, take some photos, then put it away and go back to what I was doing. Over the course of time more good pictures stand out and they start to create narratives and form a body of work.
Can you tell me your views on the currency of photography in contemporary art?
There are a lot of grey areas [around] art making using photography and what people generally experience as photography. My work is completely self-initiated and is an outlet for me to express myself without compromise.
DAN MOYNIHAN works sculpturally and, in his words, turns “misfortune and bad jokes…into what appear as haphazard assemblages”. His sculptural forms use the installation space to tell a story and recreate a moment in time.
Tell me about what you’ve created for Points of View.
My work for Points of View visually recreates the reminisce of a sincere gesture that didn’t go down too well. ‘After the laughter comes tears’ (the title of the work), portrays the emotion of what goes down and what remains when the lights came on.
What has informed your artistic development over the years?
Too much cinema, inappropriate texting, bricks, driving a shit car, bad habits, taking things too far, renting, Magic 1278 radio ‘the greatest songs of all time’, other people, Bunnings Warehouse, not going far enough, and eating alone in restaurants.
What has been one significant challenge you have found in this process?
The main challenge has been to scale down and be more direct and tactful with the way I punctuate the work. Wrestling with a fine line between novelty and sincerity.
JAKE WALKER is a New Zealand born artist who unpacks his artistic curiosity through the acts of collecting, drawing and painting. He searches for discarded works by hobby painters and gives them his own twist.
Tell me about what you’ve created for Points of View.
I have been working with naive landscape paintings acquired from various second hand shops in Australia and NZ. I adjust the original and make new works based on or inspired by them.
Take me through your practical process for this work from concept to art making.
The first stage in the process is finding paintings to work with and from. I am fussy about what I’m looking for in these paintings. The most important factor is they are one-offs created by a hobby artist. I live with the painting for a while and work out what I’m going to add. The addition will usually be a symbol of the New Past Painting Group (a fictitious group of my invention) or some text. The text I use is designed to help with my anxiety by reminding me of simple truths: ‘things change; have a go; help others’. The next part of the practice is making work copied from and inspired by the found paintings, this serves as a way of better understanding the mind of the stranger.
Can you tell me your views on the currency of painting in contemporary art? Do you see the medium surviving the digital age?
I think painting will survive the digital age. It managed to survive the Iron Age, middle ages and the 80s. The landscape in art is really a way of experiencing our existence and mortality. Its permanence reminds us of our vanishing. And we’ll still need something hanging on the wall behind us whilst using Skype.
BRENDAN HUNTLEY is a potter and painter, who creates three-dimensional works that sit alongside works on paper. For Huntley, his art is his way of expressing his thoughts and observations.
Tell me about what you’ve created for Points of View.
I’ve created a series of sculptures and works on paper. The sculpture is ceramic-based, placed on a series of plinths that resemble bedside draws. The concept is based on human behavior and my general observations of life and our many emotions.
Talk to me about the duality of your practice. What comes first? Are they related?
I’m lucky enough to work out of two spaces, one is my Mum’s shed in Frankston where I make most of the sculptures and the other is my studio in North Melbourne where I make the works on paper. The actual concept for the work is the same. It just [develops] differently when it comes in contact with the medium being used. Sometimes the sculptures come first and sometimes it’s the other way around. Because I have two separate practices, I find it helps them bounce off one another.
What have you gained from the experiences of preparing for this group show?
Because it’s my first major group show and Tolarno has to consider the whole group within the space, I’ve had to be pretty organised with my work and communicating with them.
ANDREW LONG is a self-taught photographer whose background stems from street and skateboard documentary photography. His works have developed from self-published zines to digital, moving videos.
Tell me about what you’ve created for Points of View.
The piece is a looped digital video, an intimate moving portrait of the male youth. The subject is shot close-up and out of focus, concentrating on the eyes. The lack of sound or colour in the video strips it back to the very basics, forcing the viewer to concentrate on the subject breathing, blinking, and living. Reflection of light on the subject’s eye create noticeable ring formations that appear when the subject is looking into the light, disappearing when he blinks or looks away. Unlike the majority of my still photography, this video was a ‘constructed’ shoot; however it was captured in a single take so the spontaneous element still remains. The results were natural human expressions that run through cycles of happiness, awkwardness – and moments between moments.
What has informed your artistic developments over the years?
Initially just the satisfaction of capturing moments and editing them was what drove me. Aside from any sort of art marking, I wanted to document my life. Later on being in contact with creative people and paying attention to what they’ve been doing has pushed me to develop a lot.
PDF: Points of View, 2010, ARTIST PROFILE Issue 11, pp. 100-103
Points of View was a Tolarno Galleries exhibition, which showed 13 May to 26 June 2010
Level 4, 104 Exhibition Street, Melbourne