November 10, 2011
November 3, 2011
October 29, 2011
Jae Rhim Lee: My mushroom burial suit | Video on TED.com
Here's a powerful provocation from artist Jae Rhim Lee. Can we commit our bodies to a cleaner, greener Earth, even after death? Naturally -- using a special burial suit seeded with pollution-gobbling mushrooms. Yes, this just might be the strangest TEDTalk you'll ever see ...
Are we underestimating the humble mushroom......
Jae Rhim Lee: My mushroom burial suit | Video on TED.com
Are we underestimating the humble mushroom......
Jae Rhim Lee: My mushroom burial suit | Video on TED.com
October 16, 2011
Small Tools
Some good friends of mine gave me these small tools the other day. They are about 150mm in length. So far I have stripped them of the paint, patinated them and burnt the handles black. Still working on what to put on them but even by themselves they are pretty cute!
October 14, 2011
More pieces for the show in November
Cast elements in silver with paper green leaves. Blu tac very handy
Now the leaves are made with glass. No blu tac....
October 7, 2011
Green Spiky Spade
Another piece for the show. Made from copper which I have patinated with copper nitrate.
October 5, 2011
Making invites
For our invites for the show at Prospect Gallery we decided to make seed packets. The information we printed onto stickers and inside we have a mixture of seeds for people to plant, grow and enjoy.
Beer and pizza was involved....
Piles of invites. It was a little tedious as we had to do 700 of them but worth the effort I think.
Finished!
Beer and pizza was involved....
Piles of invites. It was a little tedious as we had to do 700 of them but worth the effort I think.
Finished!
October 3, 2011
Pitchforks
I got these pitchforks at the markets a few weekends ago. They are going in the group show 'Room for Growth' I am in which opens next month.
Hay consists of many different types of grasses. This particular grass is called Bermuda grass. I have made them out of brass and them sandblasted them. Havent glued them in yet, still relying on the masking tape....
This pitchfork I have fungi growing out of it. Made from copper and I have just kept the colour from the heat used to make them. I keep making more and adding to it. So this is where I am at now. When do I STOP!!!! will I keep adding to it forever.....
Hay consists of many different types of grasses. This particular grass is called Bermuda grass. I have made them out of brass and them sandblasted them. Havent glued them in yet, still relying on the masking tape....
This pitchfork I have fungi growing out of it. Made from copper and I have just kept the colour from the heat used to make them. I keep making more and adding to it. So this is where I am at now. When do I STOP!!!! will I keep adding to it forever.....
September 23, 2011
Another Gripe
So today I had a call from a certain gallery I stock with, (will not name but will delete from my stockists....) basically telling me that the reason why my work is not selling is that it is too expensive. What the......
They have had my work for a few months and have not really sold much in that time. Which is fine and I know that sometimes the work doesnt sell everywhere but giving me a reason of too expensive is outrageous. My collection of works have a range of jewellery items ranging from a retail price of $120. So that means I am selling my work for $60. How can that be too much, what IS TOO MUCH is their god damn commission.
I was told that they know my work is handmade but maybe there are different processes to making this work. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!
Dont tell me how to make my work...Puuuuulllllease! who the hell do they think they are. Now I am not going to go on about what the work is they are talking about. Lets just say that it is definitely selling in other galleries around Australia.
I did defend the whole scenario by mentioning that its not just price, but display, location, selling skills and a whole mixed bag of things, not to mention this new global slump we are heading towards... I was met with a a defensive; 'oh we pride ourselves on our display' etc etc and we have talked to other people about pricing and there was even a bit of name dropping about fellow successful jewellers. I just couldn't be bothered with the whole conversation so I cut it short but I am kinda wishing that I had gone on a bit more about stuff.
I don't mind the fact that my stuff doesn't sell in certain shops, that's reality but I think its a bit rich telling me my work is too expensive. Especially when it is selling elsewhere, its made of precious metals, where prices have skyrocketed in the last 12months, and my work is hand fabricated.
Anyway that is my rant for now. A little more disillusioned about the whole gallery shop scene than before and definitely disillusioned about the people who run them. I am not sure that they realise that the person they are talking to is a struggling artist trying to make a living out of it and working part time at shitty jobs to make ends meet.
Its not easy being an artist but this is my chosen path with which I will continue to pursue. I just think that sometimes we all need to know what is going on to be able to change things. Especially where things have been taken advantage of. Just a little food for thought......
They have had my work for a few months and have not really sold much in that time. Which is fine and I know that sometimes the work doesnt sell everywhere but giving me a reason of too expensive is outrageous. My collection of works have a range of jewellery items ranging from a retail price of $120. So that means I am selling my work for $60. How can that be too much, what IS TOO MUCH is their god damn commission.
I was told that they know my work is handmade but maybe there are different processes to making this work. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!
Dont tell me how to make my work...Puuuuulllllease! who the hell do they think they are. Now I am not going to go on about what the work is they are talking about. Lets just say that it is definitely selling in other galleries around Australia.
I did defend the whole scenario by mentioning that its not just price, but display, location, selling skills and a whole mixed bag of things, not to mention this new global slump we are heading towards... I was met with a a defensive; 'oh we pride ourselves on our display' etc etc and we have talked to other people about pricing and there was even a bit of name dropping about fellow successful jewellers. I just couldn't be bothered with the whole conversation so I cut it short but I am kinda wishing that I had gone on a bit more about stuff.
I don't mind the fact that my stuff doesn't sell in certain shops, that's reality but I think its a bit rich telling me my work is too expensive. Especially when it is selling elsewhere, its made of precious metals, where prices have skyrocketed in the last 12months, and my work is hand fabricated.
Anyway that is my rant for now. A little more disillusioned about the whole gallery shop scene than before and definitely disillusioned about the people who run them. I am not sure that they realise that the person they are talking to is a struggling artist trying to make a living out of it and working part time at shitty jobs to make ends meet.
Its not easy being an artist but this is my chosen path with which I will continue to pursue. I just think that sometimes we all need to know what is going on to be able to change things. Especially where things have been taken advantage of. Just a little food for thought......
September 17, 2011
September 8, 2011
What..No Fungi......
Yes I know its true... In this up and coming ( all too soon) garden show I am in, I have made some pieces that are not about fungi. Dont worry there is still some fungi pieces too.
This particular piece has flowers which are made from copper and just heat treated. Some fallen petals lay by the wayside.
This particular piece has flowers which are made from copper and just heat treated. Some fallen petals lay by the wayside.
August 27, 2011
Work in Progress
Some experimentation with the garden implements for 'Room for Growth' exhibition. Its in November but its looming fast. I am using the tools as a base for the growth of fungi and other plants....
August 9, 2011
Installation
Photos taken and produced with owners permission
Last week I went to Melbourne to install this piece in a lovely couples home. They had been looking for a while for a piece of artwork to go in this particular space. I am very happy they chose my artwork and it goes great with their furnishings and style of house. They have large windows surrounding this room bringing the garden into the house. The green colours compliment the artwork and make it a part of this space. I think this piece has gone to a good home and I hope that they will forever enjoy it.
July 6, 2011
Room for Growth
I am in a group show in November of this year with some friends of mine. It is about gardens, gardening, plants etc etc. It will be held at Prospect Gallery in Adelaide.
I am thinking of doing some things with these little babies. Though I would like to go out and find some more, possibly larger implements.
Thats the plan for now anyway......
July 5, 2011
May 24, 2011
Underfoot Overhead
This post was take from Collect Blog.....
Five Australian makers have come together in Object Gallery's Project Space to showcase work that is evocative, unexpected and yet familiar. Each artist embraces the opposing forces inherent in the natural world - of degradation and transformation; healing and death; sublime beauty and harsh reality. These makers inhabit a strange space...
Five Australian makers have come together in Object Gallery's Project Space to showcase work that is evocative, unexpected and yet familiar. Each artist embraces the opposing forces inherent in the natural world - of degradation and transformation; healing and death; sublime beauty and harsh reality. These makers inhabit a strange space... 
Michelle Kelly's striking installation Basidiomycota, 2007-2011 engages us in the regularly overlooked 'Fifth Kingdom' of fungi. By magnifying these forms the artist gives us a rare and intimate experience of the organisms that contribute so significantly yet thanklessly to the working order of the earth. This photo is just a peek at the work that really does need to be seen in its entirety, occupying the gallery wall. As Kelly's practice centres around architectural works both for space and also for the body, to coincide with this exhibition Collect has brought in a range of Michelle Kelly's gloriously crafted, organic jewellery for a limited time- definately not to be missed!
Repulsed? Beguiled? Indeed What Did You Expect, 2010 from Juz Kitson will arrest you at once. A curious assemblage of viscera meets science fiction, where an alternate nature is presented. By collecting and borrowing from nature, these extraordinary and evocative pieces have been born and delicately placed out of context-the array of manipulated skulls, bones and vertebrae once decayed and lifeless are given a new chance and a new history. 
At first glance Still Life: The Food Bowl by Ken & Julia Yonetani appears to be no more than a pure appropriation of the still life genre. Of course upon deeper contact we discover that this traditional display has been superbly crafted entirely from Australian groundwater salt and this realisation elevates the work to a whole new level. By using the salt, a noxious agricultural by-product, along with drawing on the still life genre, the artists are commenting on the current agricultural practices developed to bring new food produce to the table of a rising European bourgeois class. In fact 550, 000 tonnes of groundwater salt are pumped out of the Murray Darling basin alone each year.... Wow! Now we see the themes of consumption, luxury, vanity and mortality emerge...tres chic!
Natalia Milosz-Piekarska's whimsical wearable pieces celebrate the 'spirit' within objects. The fantasmagorical series Immortal Morsels explores the mysterious world of food and its uses as a medium for worship, healing and protection. The artist uses a veritable apothecary of materials to create this collection of weird and wonderful charms and artefacts. Wacky and delicious all at once!
Emily Valentine-Bullock's work prompts us to consider how we classify animals - as pet or pest? In Mynah Squardron, 2011 the artist uses feathers as paint to create a colony of aeroplanes that stimulate us with the uncomfortable nature of the feather. Have we perhaps changed our contemporary view towards wearing bird parts because of fashion? Or are we more caring towards animals today? These are the questions that this body of work begs us to consider.
At first glance Still Life: The Food Bowl by Ken & Julia Yonetani appears to be no more than a pure appropriation of the still life genre. Of course upon deeper contact we discover that this traditional display has been superbly crafted entirely from Australian groundwater salt and this realisation elevates the work to a whole new level. By using the salt, a noxious agricultural by-product, along with drawing on the still life genre, the artists are commenting on the current agricultural practices developed to bring new food produce to the table of a rising European bourgeois class. In fact 550, 000 tonnes of groundwater salt are pumped out of the Murray Darling basin alone each year.... Wow! Now we see the themes of consumption, luxury, vanity and mortality emerge...tres chic!
Natalia Milosz-Piekarska's whimsical wearable pieces celebrate the 'spirit' within objects. The fantasmagorical series Immortal Morsels explores the mysterious world of food and its uses as a medium for worship, healing and protection. The artist uses a veritable apothecary of materials to create this collection of weird and wonderful charms and artefacts. Wacky and delicious all at once! Emily Valentine-Bullock's work prompts us to consider how we classify animals - as pet or pest? In Mynah Squardron, 2011 the artist uses feathers as paint to create a colony of aeroplanes that stimulate us with the uncomfortable nature of the feather. Have we perhaps changed our contemporary view towards wearing bird parts because of fashion? Or are we more caring towards animals today? These are the questions that this body of work begs us to consider...................................................................
Curated by Kate Ford Underfoot Overhead is showing until 19th June along with Annual Manual: A Guide to Australian Design Now in the Main Space
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