18 July 2017

Three artists mix their media at ANCA

| Paul Costigan
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Walking in on an artist’s install of their exhibition can be an interesting way to learn more about an artist and their work.

This is what happened when I called by ANCA (Australian National Capital Artists) on Wednesday afternoon to see progress on the exhibition The Meeting Place (opening that night).

Colin White and his wife Gemma were totally engaged in the delicate task of suspending from the gallery’s ceiling Colin’s one hundred slumped glass and cast aluminum pieces. Thankfully they are both really friendly people and were happy to answer questions – and smile – while also continuing the balancing act of installing.

Colin’s’ career is a fascinating one. Besides teaching arts/photography to RiotACT’s photographer, Jack Mohr, he has completed an arts degree in printmaking/drawing and has moved to working in glass and metal.

The works on exhibition were created with the guidance of Kirstie Rae who has a major exhibition on right now at CMAG.

The wonder of this form of artwork is that the artist is not only installing the work, but is also creating the whole piece for the first time.

As Colin was weaving the fishing lines through each of the one hundred pieces, he gradually saw what he had conceptualised – having had no opportunity to see it fully installed before this exhibition (and when I saw him – he had just a couple of hours to go!)

Once created, the audience will be able to walk through a corridor in the centre and experience the cloud like/water droplet creations floating above, below and beside them.

The theme of clouds, landscape, and experience is the common thread for this exhibition.

For those who do that naughty thing of walking into the hanging glass pieces (you are not supposed to), they will have the extra experience of hearing a quiet ringing – as the metal insert brushes up against the glass enclosure.

The work is beautiful – and I recommend you take it in during a quiet time. I am not sure that those attending the opening will fully appreciate it – so hopefully they will revisit to have their own individual meditative experience with Colin White’s work.

Tamsin McLure has created a series of watercolours and oils that draw you over, and it is then that you appreciate that some of the textures you are puzzling over are actually threads sewn into the canvas. There’s always more to landscapes than first meets the eye.

The photographs are by Rebecca Worth. She has used the technique of double exposures to bring about the combination of portraiture and landscape; again you pick up the theme of clouds, people and landscape.

The blending of the portraits with clouds reminded me of Greek myths – and the very meditative experience of watching passing clouds.

As the world deals with climate and environmental issues – some of them getting very urgent – it is great that these three artists have created three experiences whereby people may consider our environment and our place in it.

Such matters are definitely worth considering – and this exhibition is well worth the time to visit. Allow yourself to free-associate and recover that child-like joy of staring into the clouds.

And thanks again to Colin and Gemma for being so polite and talking to me while they were hanging Colin’s ever so fragile and beautiful artwork.

The Meeting Place, ANCA Gallery, Rosevear Place, Dickson till Sun 30th July.

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Below are scenes from the opening with photographs by Jack Mohr


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