BIRCH-WOOD SCULPTURE

At the end of January I posted some photos from the exhibition "Found and Gathered" at NGV Australia at Federation Square, showing the work of Lorraine Connelly-Northey and Rosalie Gascoigne. Both artists have used found objects as their principal material. Connelly-Northey in particular uses weathered metal and wire extensively, to reference traditional objects from her Aboriginal heritage. With these materials she "...addresses history and race, and the importance of safeguarding traditional knowledge..."  (The National. New Australian Art. #NationalAU)

When I visited the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery three weeks ago I was delighted to see some of her smaller work for sale. The objects were referencing traditional 'string bags', or narbong, but in this case made from weathered metal and rusty wire.

I have hung the narbong in the living room niche and placed some Dwarf Nandina domestica and Honesty, Lunaria annua, in the small bag.  

The colour and texture of the weathered metal is beautiful, and is complemented by the botanical materials

On Friday I participated in an ikebana exhibition that has been organised by my colleague Emily Karanikolopoulos in the All Nations Foyer at the Box Hill Town Hall. The ikebana works are by Emily, her students and some other colleagues who have attended master classes conducted by Emily.  This link to Emily's blog includes a flyer at the bottom of the post with details of the exhibition and demonstrations on the next two Saturdays.

Because I was in the first group to set up at the exhibition I can only include a couple of photos.

This ikebana by Emily is one she described to me as her signature style. She has made a structure creating a surface composed with stems of Umbrella grass, Cyperus alternifolius, and added two stems of Crucifix orchids as focal points.

Vicky Kalokathis' ikebana featured the wandering lines of bean pods and dwarf Nandina as the focal points in two matching conical metal vessels.

Mary's ikebana is a student exercise from the curriculum: Taking into account the shape of the vessel. The materials are Umbrella grass and Lisianthus, Eustoma.

Emily asked me to make two ikebana works for the exhibition. The first of these is in a a large Shigaraki storage vessel.

I have used a large piece of weathered Moonah, Melaleuca lanceolata, and some Nandina domestica from the garden, the tips of which have started to turn red with the coming of autumn. What is not visible are two stems of white Phalaenopsis orchids which are at the back of the ikebana. However, they are visible in the mirror behind the work when the viewer stands directly in front.

In this view the backdrop blocks out the mirror but now the orchids blend in to the white of the backdrop.

The second work was made to be shown in a tall, narrow glass case. I was keen to protect the thin-walled vessel made by the Echizen ceramic artist, Yutaka Nakamura. The dimensions of the glass case made it necessary for the structure to be narrow.

 

I created this structure using mostly straight lengths of Silver Birch, which I have doweled together. The photo above is of the finished structure taken at home. For the exhibition I added a small mass of red dwarf Nandina and three lines of Coastal Sword Sedge, Lepidosperma gladiatum for the sense of freshness that the green material gives.

 

This is a close up of the finishing touches in the glass case. It was impossible to photograph the full ikebana work satisfactorily because of the multiple reflections in the glass display case.

Greetings from Christopher

24th April 2022