network exhibition

 

Net Work: the TLF exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat

December 2010 / January 2011

One forum. Thirty-eight artists. Over 100 pieces of art.

Net Work: the TLF exhibition is an exhibition of the work of 38 artists who are members of a private online forum for professional contemporary visual artists, “The Littlest Forum” (TLF).

Curated by Amanda van Gils, Net Work showcases the diversity of artists who utilise the Internet as a vital tool in their artistic careers, if not directly in their artistic practice. The Internet is having a profound impact on artist’s practice as well as providing new opportunities for artists to establish much needed connections.

The artists in this exhibition are connected through a need and willingness to communicate and interact with other artists, forming in the process an “artistic community” without geographical, social or economic boundaries.

The artists in Net Work are:

Kim Anderson / Aliey Ball / Jan Berg / Kate Bergin /Sue Beyer / Louise Blyton / Dave Brayshaw / Claire Bridge / David Coles / Simon Collins / Jacqui Comer / Dagmar Cyrulla / Chris Delpratt / Andrew Ensor / Robert Fenton / Dianne Gall / Michelle Giacobello / Minka Gillian / Erika Gofton / Debbie Hill / Robert Hollingworth / Kez Hughes / Julie Keating / Siobhan Kelley / Glenn Locklee / Vito Manfredi / Deb Mostert / Ilona Nelson / Beth Norling / Steve Rosendale / Mark Stewart / Jim Thalassoudis / Merryn J. Trevathan / Joanne Turner / Amanda van Gils / Steve Warburton / Irene Wellm / Darian Zam

 http://www.networkexhibition.com/index.htm

Selected for The Duke Gold Coast Art Prize

 This work has been shortlisted for the 2010 Stan and Maureen Duke Gold Coast Art Prize. The exhibition opens 4th December at the Gold Coast Art Gallery.

Plastic Dolls Shoes and Novelty Key ring   102 x102 cm oil on canvas

I have been wanting to do a painting using these cast off Barbie/ Brats doll shoes and have combined them with a circa 1970’s kitsch key ring of an African female child. 

As always I find objects can be quietly powerful containers. Thoughts about child slavery and human trafficking become the disturbing contents. The abhorrent trade in human lives is a growing industry in our world. 

I’ve read that every 26 seconds a child is sold or lured into sexual slavery. In the West we give our young girls highly sexualised toy dolls to play with, yet in so many nations children have no shoes and are lured or forced into the slave trade.

So often things that seem worthless and abject are at the same time, precious and valuable and still have the quiet power to contain our memories, reflect our emotions and become metaphors for important issues.