Dear Plastic's Next Adventure

 

Yumi & Taka from Dear Plastic

Everyone, my dear friends Yumi and Taka from Dear Plastic, are planning their next big project and they need our help!

They have been accepted into The Takehara International Art Exhibition + Residency, taking place in a historic town of Japan. The two week residency is a great opportunity for them to develop new work, hold workshops and participate in the Bamboo Festival for two weeks in April and May this year.

They are amazing an amazing independent team based in Melbourne and are the hardest working and passionate artists I know. We are very lucky to have quite a few of their pieces in our home and I can't wait to see what comes from this next period.

Yumi & Taka have just started a Pozible campaign that will hopefully allow them to get to Japan. You will find out more about their plans at the Pozible site. They have some fantastic rewards to thank their friends for their help. I can't say enough how energized one feels after pledging to such a great project!

Dear Plastic's floating mini crystal mobile.

Dear Plastic's floating mini crystal mobile.

Dear Plastic's Craft Victoria window exhibition Jan 2013: Mountain God + Crystal Queen.

Mountain amulets from our Mountain God + Crystal Queen exhibition, Jan 2013.

Matsuzaka Tei, Japan.

All images from Yumi & Taka's Pozible Campaign Page.

 

Alex Falkiner: Textile Maker and Colour Connoisseur

If you are in Sydney in the coming weeks and require an injection of joyful colour and texture, I prescribe a visit to any of these exhibitions or workshops Alex Falkiner (aka Alfaky) is involved in. Or if in need of a quick top up, go over to her website and Instagram feed as soon as possible!

Alex Falkiner's felt, crochet & grosgrain necklaces. Photo by A. Falkiner.

Alex Falkiner's studio and baskets. Photo by A. Falkiner.

Alex Falkiner's rope and felt necklaces. Photo by A. Falkiner.

Alex Falkiner's Baskets. Photo by A. Falkiner.

Prescriptions can be filled here:

 

The Curio Collectors Cabinent, Gaffa Gallery
281 Clarence St, Sydney, NSW
7th - 18 March 2013

Knit | Knot | Weave, Gallery Lane Cove
164 Longueville Rd, Lane Cove, NSW
4th March - 1st April 2013
* A few of my talented friends - Paula do Prado and Brook Morgan are also in this show!

Workshop: Knot and Twist: Fabric Necklace Creations with Alex at
85 Dunning Ave, Rosebery NSW
Saturday 6th April

 

Textiles Meet Up

Happy New Year Friends! I'm finding the days whizzing by already and it's only January.

My year spent in midst of my Masters of Design has resulted in lots of thoughts and ideas percolating, ready to be put into making action over the next couple of months. Another splendid outcome is a small arrangement of textile-inclined people that I've begun to spend time with. I've always wanted to be part of a textile collective - and this one is of the highest calibre.

Yesterday was the first catch up of the year, which was planned around a visit to the Dank St Gallery in Sydney, and supplemented by excellent coffee and cake. Our conversations floated around possible future collaborations, making-tips and other odds and ends, and left me feeling ready to tackle some creative problem-solving.

Alex lives here. Paula lives there. And I'll have to find out where the others reside and update this list.

Here are a few shots of Bridget Kennedy's work that we stumbled upon - a beautiful collection of beeswax rings available to peruse and take home for a small donation. Mine now reside on my glove-mould.

 

The Depot GalleryJust help yourself why don'tcha 23 January - 2nd February 2013An installation of 10,000 rings by Bridget Kennedy. 

Materials - zinc, silver, lead, coal, gold in beeswax

 

Hello Singapore!

Well, it's actually 'so-long Singapore' as I write this post. Battling against bleary jet-lag may mean a bit of rambling today... The couch feels like it's moving underneath me, but I will persist!

Our five day trip had three purposes - having some tailor made shirts and suits stitched up for NP, to eat good food and to relax. All were accomplished, along with some sight-seeing ta'boot.

Highlights included our stay at The Fullerton Bay Hotel (the breakfast was a-mazing), The Little Drom Store, Supermamma, the Perikanan Museum and The Gardens by the Bay.

Some photos to illustrate:

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

COFA Exhibition Announcement: Art, Design, Textiles, Sculpture, Ceramics and More!

In two weeks I will be showing my work in progress at the COFA Half-A-Desk group show. It is the first time my small samples of felt and small drawings will be shown outside of my studio in the flesh.
It's also a great chance to see the work that goes on at The College of Fine Arts as there will be 59 other students with half a desk to fill with their creations.

Consider this your official invitation. Hope to see you there!

Wendy Sharpe Exhibition

Wendy Sharpe

Self Portrait with St Marks 2009

One of my high school art teachers did a great job at introducing powerful female artists, one of which was Wendy Sharpe. I don't think I appreciated this education until later... ie. today... when I saw Sharpe's exhibition at the S.H. Ervin Gallery at Observatory Hill, Sydney.

The above image isn't in the exhibition, but it expresses so many aspects of her art that I now love. The riotous glowing electric colours glinting off jewellery, buildings, faces. The fantastic wardrobe (stockings, tu-tu's teemed with trainers, floral vintage dresses). And the feeling of wanting to be more deliciously voluptuous rather than less (a rather novel feeling in this culture where willowy and lithe bodies are revered).

The body of works that most excited me were titled "Model Red and Green Light Series" 2010. They are on small linen canvases portraying beautifully rotund women reclining and relaxing in the most technicolour hues. Sadly I couldn't find any images online to share with you, but hopefully this might encourage a trip to the gallery to see them for yourselves...

I hope this portrait shines some light to those friends in Japan during this scary time. Thinking of you muchly.

Cecilia Heffer: Lace Narratives

Hello Friends,

You may have noticed this blog has been a little on the thin side in terms of any substantial writing... sure, a few music suggestions here, some hipstamatic shots there... but I think we can all agree this makes not for a particularly interesting read!

(Please tell me otherwise... perhaps you'd rather me short and sweet?)

Tonight despite an avalanche of University marking that is cascading from my inbox, I feel it is deeply important that anyone in Sydney over the next 3 weeks make a concerted effort to get to this exhibition.

I'm assuming that you who read Feeling Fuzzy? are quite keen on art, textiles, craft and the importance of beautiful things in life, yes?

I think you will appreciate at least 20 minutes gazing at the incredible textiles of Cecilia Heffer hanging in the beautiful Damien Minton Gallery in Redfern.

Exhibition Details:
Wed 28 July to Sat 14 August 2010
61-63 Great Buckingham St Redfern
02 9699 7551
Opening Hours: Wed-Sat 11am-6pm


PS. Number 46 is coming home with me!

Images 1 & 2: Feeling Fuzzy?
Images 3 & 4: Damien Minton Gallery

Yumi's Exhibition!

I am very proud to announce Yumi Takahashi's new exhibition, opening on the Thursday 9th July at 8pm and running for 2 weeks at the Kaleidoscope Gallery in Paddington, Sydney.

Yumi is my lovely and talented friend - we collaborated last year on our Souzou project and she was inspiring to the end!

She would love to see lots of people at the opening so tell anyone you know that might be interested... I will be there, enjoying the beauty of Yumi's dreamy and contagiously beautiful artwork.

xx Emma

COFA Annual 2009

NP and I popped along to the preview of the COFA graduate exhibition tonight. Ive been teaching a class of Fourth Year Design students and it was great to see all their hard work on show.

I have to say that the sculpture department was a highlight this year, in particular Rosie Deacon's work. An amazing little world of creative hoarding!

The Annual is on until Sunday 29th November at the COFA Campus - Cnr Oxford Street and Greens Road, Paddington.

Hello Melbourne!

Yumi and I have a somewhat spontaneous trip to Melbourne coming up this weekend. We are very lucky because we are staying with one of my favourite families in Fitzroy. Hurrah!

I'm also looking forward to visiting:

The John Brack Exhibition at the NGV...

Some of the State of Design programe (especially Emma Davies exhibition at Craft Vic!)...

And we'll definitely be checking out the lovely Sign Says Open blog for tips for places to visit (shown below is Galerie Montmartre... what fun!)

If any of our Melbourne friends have any other tips we'd love to hear them!

xEmma

Soft Sculpture & Knitta Please...

Soft Sculpture is ending on July 12th so I'm racing down to Canberra this weekend with my friend Emily to see and feel my way through this good looking exhibition. There is even a Joseph Beuys piece - my absolute felt hero... I've never seen anything of his in person so I'm quite excited!

And as luck would have it, Magda Sayeg, founder of Knitta Please is giving a free talk at 2pm... wonders never cease! 

"Magda Sayeg, Knitta Please founder and yarn-bomber, discusses the curious convergence of knitting and graffiti, exploring the social implication of street art in our urban environment."

There are lots more related activities on over the next week too - go here for more details.

Soft Alphabet, 1978, Claes Oldenburg.

Eichnomchen (Squirrel), 1969, Meret Oppenheim.

Fashioning Felt - Cooper Hewitt

I'd do anything to get to this exhibition happening right now in New York - I've loved felt since a fateful University textile class where I was taught how to magically make wool into fabric.

Since then I've been smitten with the possibilities of this versatile technique. An honours paper tracing the historical and contemporary application of felt followed,  and my own felt vessels made up the practical component. These little fellows have been rolling around our apartment for the last couple of years, and I thought it might be nice to share them with you today...

As well as the video above, Martha Stewart explores the exhibition here, so you can see a bit more of the lovely felty things! Bliss...

xEmma

Yayoi Kusama Exhibition

If you were to go to only one exhibition this year make it Yayoi Kusama's Mirrored Years at the MCA in Sydney... it's like a trip to Disney Land - rooms filled with dots, spots and lights - you can't help but smile, clap your hands and jump up and down!

xEmma

Re New Lace

For the past two years I lectured and taught Second Year design students at the College of Fine Arts. It was a great time - I love seeing the freshness and un-commericialised minds come up with such diverse solutions to design projects. And researching for the lectures each week kept my own learning about the design world rolling along.

One of my favourite projects of the year was Re-new Lace, where students were inspired by traditional pieces and then applied recycled materials to create contemporary lace. Part of the project was to visit the Lace Study Centre at the Power House Museum. There are some lovely ladies who volunteer their time with a wealth of experience, passing down their skills to the next generation. It's almost like adopting a grandma and learning from her.

I'm not teaching this year, but I received an invitation to the Re-New Lace exhibition from my friend Sylvia, happening on the 4th November. Let me know if you're interested and we can go together!