Solomon Islands

In 2014 I held a studio in the Solomon Islands as part of an Art Haus Residency at the National Gallery of the Solomon Islands. This country (which is made up of hundreds of islands) is a truly remarkable and mysterious place. Despite my westernised view of the exotic, the experiences I had there have only re-inforced my view of the magic and astounding beauty of these Melanesian Islands.

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Rock n' roll walking stick

carved iron wood and shell inlay

110 x 19 x 9 cm

This is a collaborative work with Solomon Island artist John Seda. John is an important figure in the Solomon Island art scene, he has work held in major museums and is often exported for the international market. He works primarily in wood carving.

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detail

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detail

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John Seda and Joel Gailer

lino-cut on paper

35 x 35 cm

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As well as collaborations I also produced some solo studio work.

Attainment #6 (Paradise bird), 2014

acrylic on canvas

200x100cm

Attainment #7 (Ed's Island) unfinished

acrylic on canvas

90 x 200 cm

This is one of the lovely ladies who showed me how they use printing processes in the Solomon Islands to make the Lava Lava

A typical banana leaf hut

A roadside market in SI with my host family

Performprint: Fremantle Print Award

Peformprint statement:

Bearings, beauty and irrelevance talks about the inconsequential nature of art, text, and performance. In this work we are trying to highlight the aesthetic and ephemeral qualities of such activities through the combination of printmaking and skateboarding.  The performance of skateboarding and the art of text are two activities whose agencies are inherently purposeless though this is also their strength, their beauty. Bearings, beauty and irrelevance is an attempt to articulate this duality – the meaningful and the meaningless.

Logistics:

The work is performed within the gallery directly on the floor. A circular ink (thick ink) bed should be prepared in the centre of the 3mx3m performance area. The ink should be applied directly onto the floor with a spatula and rolled out using a print roller. We have supplied a circular stencil and ink for the ink bed, four carved skateboard wheels (which the skateboarder will have to mount onto his board in any formation) and an indemnity contract (in the form of a wearable T-shirt) which the skateboarder will have to sign with white ink and wear during each performance to clear Performprint and FAC of an liability. The T-shirt becomes the property of the skateboarder.

A skateboarder will ride through the circular bed of ink repeatedly for 10-20 minutes generally keeping within the square area creating the work. When the ink has sufficiently spread across the square the performance is finished and the print vestige is left.

BLACK MARK - Melbourne Art & Culture Critic