Borderline : Sampling the Edge | Exhibition
Lobethal is about to become an arts destination. Fabrik Arts & Heritage now resides within the iconic red brick buildings of the state heritage listed Onkaparinga Woollen Mill. During SALA 2019, 4 fabulous exhibitions, involving 70 artists will unfold at Fabrik. You may have to meander around the Mill to find the gallery spaces but you will be very glad you did.
The 'Showcase' Exhibition
Fabrik Director, Melinda Rankin, with her commitment to curatorial excellence has drawn together an exceptional group of exhibitors. She has juxtaposed the traditional with the experimental, the conceptual with the practical in the showcase exhibition, 'Borderline: Sampling the Edge'. The stripped back, industrial gallery space of building 20 accommodates the work of 18 artists who are exploring the edges of textile practice with passion, commitment and skill.
the textile virtuosos
Aunty Alice Abdulla | Troy Anthony Baylis | Bev Bills | Christine P Bishop | Cheryl Bridgart | Jane Bowden | Catherine Buddle | Lucia Dohrmann | Di Fisher | India Flint | Jelina Haines | Kay Lawrence | Russell Leonard | Aunty Ellen Trevorrow | Linda Marie Walker | Sera Waters | Robert Wuldi |
As you enter the main gallery space, you'll be greeted by the Mimi Spirits, fairy-like beings of Arnhem Land in the folklore of the Indigenous Australians of northern Australia. The Mimis are thought to be generally harmless but on occasion mischievous. The Mimi's at the Mill have been meticulously knitted by Troy - Anthony Baylis, a descendant of the Jawoyn people from the Northern Territory and also of Irish ancestry. Troy - Anthony is the recent recipient of a new $50,000 Guildhouse Fellowship to enable a mid-career artist to travel overseas and create a new body of work.
Indigenous artists are well represented by Aunty Alice Abdulla; Aunty Ellen Trevorrow; & Robert Wuldi. Expect to see fabulous Ngarrindjeri weaving, presented with both traditional interpretations and taken in exciting, contemporary directions. Aunty Alice & Aunty Ellen have worked in collaboration with Jelina Haines to craft traditional weaving materials into unexpected new forms, whilst Robert Wuldi has created a traditional 'sister basket' form using non traditional materials.
Stitched
Kay Lawrence, formerly Head of the South Australian School of Art, is now Emeritus Professor at the School of Art Architecture and Design and supervises postgraduate students undertaking the PhD in Visual Art, the Master of Visual Arts, and the Master of Design. Kay has a particular interest in mending with stitch and has crafted a piece with significant stitching detail. Her fabric piece is accompanied by a small hand written book, her 'Day to Day Diary', an intriguing journal documenting the stitching process.
Textiles Designer, Russell Leonard, is best known for his range of funky screen printed tea towels featuring vintage images however on this occasion he is exhibiting very different works. He has immersed himself in stitch as meditation and created a series of intricately stitched pieces, with colourful, repetitive patterns.
Wearable
Of course, a textile based art exhibition would not be complete without the presence of wearable art pieces.
Phyllis Williams takes knitting to a new level, with intricate costumes knitted in 2 ply. Phyllis has been commissioned on a number of occasions to create garments for both film & stage productions, having spent 18 years teaching the 'Costume for Performance' Course at Adelaide Tafe.
On occasion India Flint has created costumes for dance & theatre. Clients have included Leigh Warren & Dancers, the West Australian Ballet Company and Miji Dance. She is the creator of sustainable handmade clothing, a highly regarded author and is represented in museum collections in Latvia, Germany, Australia, Iceland and the USA. India is best known for her highly distinctive eco prints, using an ecologically sustainable botanical contact printing process which she is exhibiting in woven form.
A master practitioner of Fine Art Freestyle Machine Embroidery (FAFME) Cheryl Bridgart creates portraits, fantasy pieces, animals and landscapes. Cheryl has exhibited, taught and has works in collections in UK, USA, Asia and throughout Australasia. She is also internationally recognised in the Art to Wear Movement.
Whilst only one item fits the description of 'art to wear', the intense colour and vibrancy of the four pieces Cheryl has in the exhibition will make your heart sing. An entirely different genre of stitch.
Royal South Australian Society of Arts (RSASA) Director since 2010, a founding member of the Textile Arts Collective (Tarts), and past president of the Handspinners & Weavers Guild of SA, Bev Bills was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2013 for Services to Visual Arts & Textiles. Look out for her exquisite woven shawls.
Jewellery designer/maker and owner of Zu design, Jane Bowden has been producing and exhibiting work for 22 years, locally, nationally and internationally. Jane's woven jewellery is absolutely beautiful but it is her colourful, miniature teddy bears, intricately crocheted from cotton threads that will steal your heart.
Embroidered
If you are a fan of embroidery, you will be delighted to see the work of 3 incredibly skilled embroiderers who are conserving traditional techniques of the past and engender stitch with story.
Christine P. Bishop has studied embroidery and lace in Cyprus, Athens, England and Italy, and completed the Embroiderers' Guild of South Australia Inc's Certificate Course. Christine teaches mainly white work techniques and is constantly researching and developing classes to ensure the continuity of almost forgotten techniques and styles. Her three pieces capture thread work of the past and reflect the evolution of her practice over time.
Curator of the Embroiderers' Guild of SA Museum, Di Fisher is the creator of intricately decorated fabric. Di is an avid researcher of how stitches have been constructed through the ages and her academic research is reflected in her work. Inspired by 17th century Elizabethan techniques, her sampler will intrigue you.
Adelaide Central School of Art, Art History and Theory Lecturer, Dr. Sera Waters specialises in black work, characterised by repetitiveness & pattern. Her embroideries and hand-crafted sculptures speak of Australian settler colonial histories, the home-making practices of women and her own family history. Her little house on the wall will call to you.
Woven
Warp and weft are the two basic components used in weaving to turn thread or yarn into fabric. Lucia Dohrmann & Linda Walker have both utilised warp and weft in unanticipated ways.
Lucia Dohrmann is a relatively recent graduate of Adelaide Central School of Art Bachelor of Visual Art (Honours), Lucia's work was selected for exhibition in the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art’s (PICA’s) Hatched: National Graduate Show 2018. Hatched is a significant exhibition on the Australian visual arts calendar, presenting an annual survey of work by top art school graduates from around the nation.
Lucia has painstakingly deconstructed and reconstructed her painted canvass to create an amazing woven work.
Dr Linda Marie Walker, is currently a Senior Lecturer at the School of Art, Architecture and Design.
As a writer, artist, and curator, she has interests in conceptual and minimalist art practices, experimental writing practices, electronic thinking, spatial-relations, bodies, and movement. She was previously Director of the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia and editor of its magazine ‘Broadsheet’.
Linda's weavings visually represent 6 stages of the recently held Commonwealth election.
Final words
And finally the creator of the work represented on the exhibition marketing materials ... A member of Well Made & Guildhouse, Catherine Buddle has finely hand stitched a story using cotton thread on cotton fabric. The story is... in Braille.
Swatch | Exhibition
An artist's community
This year is the first time SALA exhibitions have been held at Fabrik however SALA events have been held at the Old Onkaparinga Woollen Mill since 2015, when the inaugural SALA exhibition at the Mill was organised by local arts advocates group, h.ART. The group had a vision for an arts and heritage facility to be established within the State heritage listed buildings of the old Mill, which are owned by Adelaide Hills Council. In pursuing this vision, Fabrik was born and a community of artists gathered. Many of the artists represented in 'Swatch' exhibited at exhibitions coordinated by h.ART and were staunch supporters.
'Swatch: a small sample that demonstrates the look of a larger piece'. Good things come in small packages. The thirty eight artists in this exhibition have responded to the challenge to represent their favoured style, technique or subject matter on a small scale. A cosy, intimate space within the larger gallery has been created through the use of moveable walls. The use of a salon style hang has created a coherent collection of works through the use of carefully considered groupings. The artists represented come from a variety of backgrounds & have presented work in a diversity of mediums. Sweet.
Andrea Przygonski | Andrew Barr | Anna Mycko | Barbara Millward | Bev Southcott | Callum Docherty | Carole Bann | Carolyn Corletto | Catherine Hewitt | Chris Bowden | Christine Beardsley | Dijana Komad | Ervin Janek | Gary Sauer-Thompson | Gaynor Hartvigsen | Hazel Green | Indigo Eli | Jan Brown | Jenny Dupont | Judy Parham | Julia Wakefield | Kendrea Rhodes | Kerry Rochford | Kirsty Emery | Leanne Gardner | Lisa Grapentin | Pat Ingram | Peter Surguy | Rae Szkolik | Ros McDougall | Rowan Reynolds | Sally Caston | Sally Graham | Suzie Fagan | Tammy Pahl | Valerie Grapentin | Vanessa Kiermeier | Veronica Oborn- Jefferis
About a Wall | Exhibition
A Community of Practice
The activities of h.ART also supported the emergence of other new initiatives at the old Woollen Mill and so Mill TAG came into being. A network for textile artists, the group aims to foster connections, promote textile arts, and encourage the sharing of skills & expertise.
Deirdre Bruen | Sue Butler | Dianne Downer | Hazel Green | Barbara Hahesy | Barbara Millward | Veronica Oborn-Jefferis | Janene Overton | Ann Riddle | Marjorie Schultz | Moira Simpson | Jan Strachan | Mary Williams
The hallway of Building 14 (Fabrik offices) has been transformed into a small gallery space and an adjacent office into an Aladdin's cave of textiles. In this small exquisite exhibition, 13 Adelaide Hills textile artists, and members of Mill TAG, interpret photographs of a beautifully textured, weather-beaten old mill wall and a studio inspired space accommodates demonstrations of their work. The exhibition illustrates the nature and diversity of contemporary textiles as practiced by members, including weaving, felting, natural dyeing, machine embroidery, art quilting, printing, mixed media, surface embellishment and fabric manipulation. Mill TAG meet monthly at Fabrik.
Soft Vessels | Exhibition
An Artist of the Community
Anne Griffiths
As you enter building 20, you'll find yourself drawn to the right into the welcoming space of an open studio exhibition of Anne Griffith's hand felted vessels (nests, wombs, organs). Consideration of the natural, the physical and the spiritual self underpins much of Anne's art. Her current work is a continuation of an exploration of natural cycles. Anne will also be present on two weekends to demonstrate felting techniques and encourages her audience to 'have a go'.
Meet Anne during the following times:
- 11:00am - Saturday 10 Aug & Sunday 11 Aug
- 11:00 am - Saturday 17 Aug & Sunday 18 Aug
Anne holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts (S.A.C.A.E) and a Diploma of Education (Flinders University). She is a Primary School classroom teacher and art specialist but also coordinates larger art projects such as murals and exhibitions with community groups. Anne was one of the five founding members of the h.Art group, established in 2014.
Pop Up Art Shop
Don't forget to browse the textile focused pop up store, thoughtfully curated by Rene Stohmayer, of Little Sunshine Van fame. Rene has drawn together a fabulous collection of jewellery, bags, cushion covers, soft toys, eco dye, homespun wool, stitched cards and other textile goodies that you are just going to want to take home. Enjoy!
