IDENTITY
PODspace
in association with the Disability Network Hunter presents its first pop up
exhibition for 2015 with ‘Identity’ at Newcastle Art Space from 16 April - 3
May.
‘Identity’
explores this universal theme - what defines who you are? What makes you tick?
How do you express that?
(from PODspace)
Each of
the artists has responded in a uniquely personal way. Some, like Tim Johnston,
Jordan Haitsma, Dane Tobias, Maree Hopkin and Nathan Dunne have explored what
is important to them in their lives and in the world around them.
Dane Tobias states that
“My paintings are based on autobiographical
drawings which reflect the past and present suburban environments and intimate
spaces of friends and relations”. Janelle Gardner has experimented with the Van Dyke photography
process on an image of herself as a young child to create a positive experience
of her childhood memories.Others
like Dom Freestone and Kerri Shying
have sought to explore and even confront in a highly revealing way what it
means to experience disability or mental illness.
Dom Freestone explores his identity a lot through his art. He
feels that “...having a disability has forced me to undergo a rethink of
exactly what my identity is”. Kerri Shying poses three questions in her work: What is your birth identity? What identity
are you choosing to display today? What environment do you negotiate your
identity in? She believes that “Identity, the art of belonging in our lives, is
the basis of all my work. Identity is performative and dependent upon whom we
are surrounded. We send signals that we hope our world will decode.” Melaynie Mills also poses questions for the viewer around
perceptions of identity and the inner struggles we all face to work out who we
are.
For
others, the process of their art making is in direct response to their experience
of disability or mental illness.
Black Crow Walking’s work portrays the way she has
sought to recreate herself following a work accident, moving through the chaos
and the tangled events into a better space. Similarly,
Daniel Oxenbridge is working towards
establishing who he is, post major brain surgery. His creation of Native Nut
Folk was an important part of his initial rehabilitation that made connections
between his passion for being in and preserving the natural environment and
fond childhood memories.
Lynette Bridge, in reflecting on her own experience of anxiety
and depression, states that the series of work exhibited in Gallery One, “...began
to have a life of its own.............I wanted to transport the image through
time by photographing it with a slow shutter speed whilst the form would
undergo metamorphosis but still keep the essence and purity of form".
Jay Muldoon explores the idea that in
life we go through many cycles that make up who we are. He has represented this
with the more dominate geometric shape of the circle while the organic shapes
and patterns represent growth inspired from nature.
Robert Higginbottom loves painting and has observed that the colours
he uses vary depending on how he is feeling. Mackenzie Feighan also expresses her feelings through colour and her
paintings include her personal world: scary zombies, Mum, Dad, Zoe, dogs,
flowers, spiders, cockroaches, shoes, ice-creams and funny babies. Frazer Berwick is an abstract artist and mark maker whose art reflects his writing.
Superheroes inspire him.
We invite you to reflect on your own identity, and
how it has been shaped by your life experiences. (PODspace)
Some images from this exhibition below:
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| Dane Tobias - Walking through the cyan window |
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| Janelle Gardner - Ulladulla |
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| Kerri Shying - Criminals are Cleanshaven |
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| Kerri Shying - Tarry Tarry Night |
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| Tim Johnson - Earth Core Rig |
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| Lynette Bridge - Yoke |
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| Nathan Dunne - Star Shine
If art is about exploring and considering themes about personal
identity and if art is about understanding what it takes to create work
directly out of the experience of identifying as a wonderfully simple
and complex human being, then this exhibition is about making art.
Standing at a distance from the work and the space and reading some of
the titles and statements the artists have written about themselves,
this holds together as a personal and professional collection of work. (Blogger comment)
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