New Materiality

June 16, 2019

Considering the inherent relationships between artists’ and their materials, New Materiality draws from materials and their context as each work asks the viewer ‘To what purpose is this material’. 

This residency cycle places materiality as the central influence of aesthetic and metaphor. To consider the object in its rawness as ‘matter’, each artist engages in processes of inspection, deconstruction, analysis, and reconstruction. 

The chosen materials, context and purpose is varied, with materials ranging from fabric to concrete, video to plastic. Many of the works have sourced materials from the site and neighbourhood of House Conspiracy, including local beeswax, discarded construction and curb-side trash. Plastic features strongly with associations to sustainability and cycles of material purpose and repurpose

SHOWCASE DOCUMENTATION

Click through to view event and artwork documentation

Photos by Joseph Lynch, Perception Productions

MEET THE ARTISTS!

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: TIANA JEFFRIES

Tiana Jefferies is a Brisbane based artist working with discarded objects and casting techniques to form sculptural installations. Spaces inside, around and between objects are cast in an attempt to grasp the place where an object’s affect resides. By casting these spaces in concrete, plaster and wax, Tiana aims to engage and manipulate the object’s affective qualities deemed abject. Original and cast objects are intertwined in installations to form semi formalised and semi familiar relationships. Tiana is currently completing her Masters of Philosophy in Experimental Creative Practice at the Queensland University of Technology. In 2018, she completed a Bachelor of Fine Art at the Queensland College of Art with a Griffith Award for Academic Excellence. In 2017, she completed a study exchange at Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland.

PARTNER ARTIST: ALANNAH DAIR

My name is Alannah Dair and I am an interdisciplinary artist based in Brisbane. I recently graduated from the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University after completing my Fine Art (Honours) degree with a major in painting. My artistic practice exists as a combination of painting, sculpture and installation based work which explores issues regarding women’s health and chronic illness in order to challenge the societal and cultural systems that govern our bodies.

The impetus for my work comes from my experience with endometriosis, a painful gynaecological condition. To convey the experiences I have through my body I approach my work through the lens of expanded painting as I link this medium’s reflexivity and hybridised nature to that of my own self- dissection and the fluctuating nature of chronic illness; which places one in a liminal state between health and illness.

My current practice allows me to articulate my experience of chronic illness, with the resulting work acting as a response to the social and medical frameworks that govern my body. It is my hope that through my practice I can create discussion and awareness about gendered health issues that affect the broader community.

FEATURE ARTIST: MERRIN PRATT

Merrin is a multidisciplinary artist who utilises textile techniques of making throughout her practice. Quilt-making and embroidery techniques are at the forefront of her investigations. Exploring geometric form and repetitive composition, she examines meditative processes and traditions of ‘doing’ and making that underline many forms of human expression. Large scale drawings and installation works are part of this exploration that marry textile processes with patterns and the concept of continuity.

FEATURE ARTIST: RACHEL APELT

My practice has two parts, a before and after, straddling life events that demanded time out from making and exhibiting. I majored in painting at Queensland College of Art and practiced across the disciplines of painting, textiles and installation, often in collaboration with visual artists, choreographers, writers and musicians. In my first phase of emergence, I was introduced to critical Latin American discourse which proposed creative socio-political engagement. This was and is a cornerstone of my practice and my early work focused on social-ecology and feminisms. Re-emerging, my work distils these themes at a more reflective level. My current body of work concerns solastaglia and re-knitting connection in the face of rapid socio-economic and environmental change. Sometimes my work shifts into artivism, other times I position it in gallery spaces. I work to engage my local suburban community in creative processes as a deliberate strategy and use life drawing as the sneaky vehicle. Highlights in my practice include collaborative projects in Mexico, Singapore and an Asialink Residency in the Philippines. I have exhibited in Queensland, interstate and internationally, and my work can be found in private and institutional collections, including QAGOMA and the National Gallery of Australia.

FEATURE ARTIST: KAYLEE GANNAWAY

Kaylee Gannaway works with found synthetic materials like soft plastic, acrylic paint, and waste thread to create wearable art that pushes the boundaries between virgin and waste material. By wearing these materials on the human body, Gannaway blurs the line between traditional, synthetic fabric, and plastic waste, commenting on the relationship between the organic and the constructed.

FEATURE ARTIST: FLORIAN MODEL

Meandering between curating and artistic practice, Florian Model is interested in the influence of everyday technology onto our daily lives and society as a whole by approximating the consequences of these complex systems. He codirects the nomadic nonprofit organization anorak, together with Johanna Markert and Lukas Ludwig. Recent group shows include MADE IN CHINA at MAB Society Shanghai (2013), »soft nepotism« at Bar Du Bois Vienna (2014), »Expectations« at Composing Rooms Berlin (2015), »Zunfthaus der Künstler« at Cabaret Voltaire Zürich and »the route of friendship runs into a big beautiful wall« at Ladrón Gallery Mexico City (2018).

CREDITS:

Click on Names for Profiles

Artist in Residence: Tiana Jefferies

Featured Artist: Alannah Dair

Featured Artist: Merrin Pratt

Featured Artist: Rachel Apelt

Featured Artist: Kaylee Gannaway

Featured Artist: Florian Model

Showcase Writer: Claire Tracey

Creative Director: Ellie-Lea Jansson

Documentation Photography: Joseph Lynch

Production team: Ella Callander, Joaquin Gonzales