11 – 29 August 2010

Exhibitions opened  by Miranda Lawry, artist and Senior Lecturer, University of Newcastle, at 6.30 pm on Thursday 12 August.

High In Fibre
CURATED BY ZOE ALLEN, EMILY COUTTS AND CARLIN MCLELLAN


NERIDA ACKLAND    ZOE ALLEN    CHRISTINE CHESTERSON   
EMILY COUTTS    MADDISON DAVIES    HANNAH ESCANO   
RUTH FEENEY    MEGAN HURD   DANIELLE MCALPINE   CARLIN MCLELLAN 
TARYN RAFFAN   LOUISE REALPH    DIANE SCORSE

High in Fibre  is a survey show of current fibre works from students at the University of Newcastle that is comprised of an eclectic range of mediums from fibre and paper to soft materials and sculpture.
This exhibition focuses on a range of styles, materials and construction methods and exemplifies both the quality and variety of works produced by students this year.  High in Fibre is sure to provide a healthy, wholesome dosage of fibre and give you a taste of some of the delicacies being produced by some of Newcastle's finest emerging artists.

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Annous Artis
CURATED BY AMY HILL AND TODD FULLER

TIM FERGUSON   ALUN RHYS JONES   ALEX KACKSON WYATT    ANDY SUSSMAN 
HARRIE FASHER   SOPHIE WOLFSON KEELING   SANDY BLIM    ANNA HEROLD POLA      nas

RACHEL IRELAND   BREONY DELFORCE   HELEN ACKLAND   DAVID HAMPTON 
NERIDA ACKLAND  LEASHA CRAIG   JAYDE NICHOLS   HANNAH BRIEN     uon

Annous Artis is a collaborative exhibition of works by Fine Art students from the National Art School, Sydney and the University of Newcastle. While only two hours separate the two institutions, they embody two differing approaches to art-making. Curated by Amy Hill and Todd Fuller, Annous Artis seeks to highlight the strengths of each school, and show that there might be more common ground than we think.

On Painting
EMILY RAY

My work aims to explore the impact of painting. I am constantly overwhelmed by the infinite possibilities of painting, even more so in an age where painting is often deemed obsolete – particularly in comparison to constant technological advances of photography. During recent travels I was able to view works of many great modern painters such as Vincent Van Gogh, Edward Munch, Gustav Klimt, Pablo Picasso, Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Robert Rauschenberg. Seen in person one is able to gain a greater understanding of the intense physicality of painting: the colours chosen, the way the paint is dripped, slashed, blended, layered, thinned, smudged and splattered. Part of the thrill of viewing a painting comes from observing these elements and how they rest precariously on the edge of success or disaster.    Emily Ray

Fur Again and The Little Dancer Escapes
MARK MASON

In Fur Again  the Trickster is an entity who belongs nowhere and has no permanent identification with any race or culture - hence his ability to be absorbed into any situation, often as an incompatible element of that situation.
The artist Degas created a sculpture out of wax called The Little Dancer. A mould was taken and several brass copies were produced while the original wax of Degas's Little Dancer dreams of a world beyond her podium. In The Little Dancer Escapes it's a rainforest with birds calling and slow running streams and here also she becomes real. While immersing herself in this world her mould is making more of her in the real world and while they move further and further away so does the Little Dancer in her travels.

By The Seaside
FIONA HEARD

Nowhere is the ephemeral nature of our environment more apparent than at the point where land meets the sea. In a continual state of flux and living a precarious existence these tiny ecosystems provide insight into the fragility of our own survival and the shifting nature of time and reality on a cosmic scale. We look for certainty and solidity in life and yet we are no less transient than the tiny molluscs living by the seaside. In this body of work I hope to evoke something of the ephemeral nature of reality.  Fiona Heard