Artistspeak program 2011

Julie Blyfield worked from Gray Street Workshop, contemporary jewellery collective, in Adelaide, South Australia for 23 years (1987 - 2010). In 2010 she has since established her own independent studio overlooking her garden environment. Julie exhibits her work nationally and internationally and is showing her jewellery and vessel work at New York SOFA and Chicago SOFA in the United States of America. As part of her practice she regularly mentors younger, emerging jewellers to share her knowledge, skills and professional guidance. She has lectured and presented jewellery workshops at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Indiana University in Bloomington and San Diego University in the United States of America.

Julie Blyfield's talk (mp4)

Highly celebrated German fine art photographer, Sascha Weidner will talk about his art, book publishing and exhibitions. The illustrated lecture will also include his shortfilm "9:48" Sascha Weidner works within a radical subjective pictorial world. This world is greatly influenced by the perceptions, longings and dreamed images of a generation whose credo can perhaps be best described by the slogan NO FUTURE - MUCH PRESENT. Sascha Weidner's photographs are like songs. Their poetry soaks up memories and longings and creates real /unreal images of resonating beauty. Life is a film, and every image stands for longing.

Sascha Weidner's talk (mp4)

Brenda is a member of the Gurindji/Malgnin/Mudpurra nations from Kalkaringi/Daguragu in the Northern Territory, From 2002-09 she was Senior Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, curating the inaugural National Indigenous Art Triennial, Culture Warriors, among other national and international exhibitions and projects. Brenda Croft has been active in the arts and cultural sectors since the mid-1980s as an artist, administrator, curator, writer, lecturer and consultant. As an artist she has exhibited extensively since 1985, in numerous international exhibitions and residencies, with her work represented in major public and private Australian and international collections. In 2009, Brenda received an Honorary Doctorate in Visual Arts from the University of Sydney in acknowledgment of her contribution to contemporary indigenous art and culture.

Brenda Croft's talk (mp4)

Christian is a highly respected painter whose practice draws on a fascinating blend of concepts and disparate materials combine both traditional painting techniques as well as the use of resin based resources.

Christian Lock draws much of his imagery from the surfing culture that is central to his life on the south Australian coast. He completed his Masters in Visual Arts at the SA School of Art in 2004 and in 2008 was short-listed for the prestigious Wynne Prize for Landscape Painting. He has exhibited widely throughout Australia and his work is held in collections including the Art Gallery of SA and Artbank. He is represented by Greenaway Art Gallery in Adelaide and John Buckley Gallery in Melbourne. 

'One Sheet of Strawberry Fields, One Black Caravan, One Last Coffin Ride' 2007

James Dodd has exhibited widely across Australia in artist run, publicly funded and commercial spaces.  His work traverses the boundaries between visual street culture, alternative use of urban space and existing gallery conventions.  Primarily his work revolves around the use of found text such as graffiti.  Dodd principally works as a painter however he often experiments with the construction of objects to paint on for the purpose of large-scale installations.  James has recently completed a Masters of Visual Arts by Research at the South Australian School of Art.

He is represented by Ryan Renshaw Gallery, Brisbane, Lindberg Gallery, Melbourne and Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide.

Dr Anne Marsh of Monash University will be launching her new book: LOOK Australian Contemporary Photography since 1980

Look represents over 150 artists with more than 400 colour plates of photographic artworks exploring themes such as: identity, life, experiment, space and environment. Each image is accompanied by a short explanatory text with details of the artist's preoccupations and methodologies. The book is the result of many years of research by its author, who is recognised for her work in this field. The second part of the book is dedicated to a series of scholarly essays tracing major developments in the art of photography.

Anne Marsh's talk (mp4)

Prue Venables has established an international reputation as one of Australia's leading contemporary ceramists. Prue is motivated by a search for simplicity and as a result her elegant, hand-thrown pieces contain a core stillness and serenity which set them apart. Her apparently simple porcelain objects disguise the laborious making process involved. As Prue explains, "I enjoy the contradictory nature of the pieces, where the sprung tension of the throwing remains clear, but the origins of forms are uncertain." She has a particular interest in functional objects, and 19th Century industrial English pottery styles are juxtaposed with more familiar references to modern metal and plastic objects and vessels. 

Prue Venables' talk (mp4)