Architiect Peter Moeck on Collaboration with The JamFactory

We caught up with architect Peter Moeck at the Strathalbyn Library where he worked together with the JamFactory Furniture Studio to create the reception desk and other pieces for the building. Peter discusses the nature of his ongoing relationship with the JamFactory and the proccess of collaboration.

Q&A With Contemporary Artist Steven Carson

Tell us about yourself, how did you become an artist?

My initial creative interest was in ceramics; as a high school student I thought that I would become a production potter.  I completed my undergraduate degree in ceramics, but throughout my early training I was more drawn to sculptural works with clay, with the first couple of solo exhibitions of my work comprised of hand-built sculptural clay and mixed-media works.  As a result of my study and early career working with clay, or perhaps in-keeping with this, I have been very focused on investigating materials and form, and have always valued the hand-made.  Certain limitations of working with clay led me to explore less conventional methods of construction and materials and this also permitted me to explore colour as I could gain a greater control over the palette of colours I chose to work with.

Which craftspeople, writers, artists, musicians, anyone do you find particularly inspiring and how have they influenced your approach to making?

I have been influenced by such a vast range of creative practices that I can’t identify single artists, however I have a enduring interest in contemporary visual arts, outsider art and marginal creative activities including handicrafts, the work of untrained makers and amateurs and DIY activity.  I am interested in pattern and ornamentation and find many craft and handicraft objects as well as mid 20^th Century Geometric Abstraction of interest.      

Steven Carson, Casting and Weeding series. Loose Weave.

 

 

 

Are there any specific quotes, ideas, places that influence this current body of work?

The current body of work is influenced by many of the areas of practice that I have indentified above, but principally explores the presence of creativity in many forms from a range of amateur and professional contexts.   

Welcome us to your studio - where is it?

Currently I am working between studios in Adelaide SA and Hobart TAS.

The work for the exhibition: Can you describe the specific themes reflected in this body of work?

I have been interested for some time in a perceived hierarchy of materials and this derives from my early craft-based work and my consistent use of craft and handicraft materials. 

The works continue my exploration of the use of non-traditional materials and simple fabrication techniques to make colourful geometric abstract paintings. Within the framework of hybrid and interdisciplinary practice the work seeks to question the dominance of certain art forms through the use of unconventional materials, the fabrication processes and a rejection of discipline-specificity or traditional technical expertise as a fundamental indicator of artistic integrity.  

Steven Carson, Casting and Weeding series. Loose Weave

Describe your method of production in this current work?

The source material for the works in my Casting and Weeding series is a PVC film commonly used in the sign-writing industry.  In its manufacture liquid vinyl is cast into thin sheets of workable plastic.  Weeding is the sign writer’s process of peeling away unwanted areas of computer-cut vinyl prior to its application.   The title of the series seeks to find connections between the industrial context and creative art, craft and design contexts with an emphasis on making.  

The works on exhibition at the Jam Factory specifically seek to establish a connection between painterly geometric abstraction of the Mid-20^th Century and the process of weaving, jointly a craft and manufacturing technique for producing textiles, and utilize industrial materials which are not traditionally associated with either of these production contexts. 

The cast PVC film – the palette for these paintings - was initially sourced as off-cuts from digitally produced signs, many of which have been created for retail and fast food industries, although I have since sourced the material in larger quantities to ensure a greater control of my colour palette.  At the outset of the series I considered that specific colours suggest the corporate identities of a range of businesses: for example the pink colour used is reminiscent of the signage from a popular ice-cream franchise, and other colours suggest a range of consumer products from unleaded petrol to confectionary.   Whilst these are not the primary ideas that underpin the current works in the series I believe that some of these ideas are still present.  

The tacky plasticity of the adhesive vinyl refers to the synthetic quality of acrylic paint, and this is a specific reference to Mid-20^th Century geometric abstraction.  Acrylic paint was itself a new commercial, manufactured material used by artists of the time and many artists since.  The choice of cast vinyl in the works can be seen as a critical alternative to both oil and acrylic paint as the medium for these paintings and asserts a connection between art, craft and industry but purposefully avoids finding too comfortable a position in any one of these contexts.

At close range the method of construction, materials and evidence of the handmade becomes apparent. The handmade gesture is evident in the exaggeratedly wonky scissor cuts and marks left by the hand-trimming of the sign writing film on its aluminium support.  These traces reveal the hand of the maker within the artwork and also highlight and shift the cast vinyl material from its original industrial context.  The vinyl used in the works has not been digitally cut nor planned using the digital software common to both visual arts and sign writing trades.  Instead intuitive combinations of colours have been overlayed and then cut by hand, making subtle allusions to craft processes as well as to spontaneous decision-making as a signifier of artistic creativity. 

The aluminium used as the support for the works suggests a connection to manufacturing plants and hardware suppliers and as paintings the works on aluminium are unconstrained by traditional frames or other conventions of painterly production and presentation.  

Thankyou Steven Carson for sharing this insight into your work.

Steven Carson joins with Adelaide based furniture designer/maker Senkki in an exhibition exploring each artist's unique approach to form, design and colour.

The exhibition can be experienced in the CollectorSpace at the JamFactory 

from 20 April - 16 June. 

Q&A With Locavore Curator Wayne Mcara

Wayne Mcara is a Second Year Associate at The JamFactory Ceramics Studio and he is also curator of the upcoming JamFactory exhibition Locavore, which brings together outstanding established and emerging local artists to produce functional bowls and dinnerware. The design of each piece draws upon rich and varied locally sourced foods. 

Locavore is part of Tasting Australia and will run from 20 April – 7 June in the Showroom, located on the first floor of The JamFactory. 

Curator, Wayne Mcara

What is Locavore?

Well, the word Locavore means to eat locally.

Tell us about the exhibition Locavore.

The exhibition brief was for artists to respond to local south Australian food or food regions. Some artists have chosen a particular experience; some of it is stretched to include wine. But the emphasis is local-something particularly relevant to South Australia.

Mixed Dozen, Tom Moore

Gather and Share, Sunshine G B March

How are some of these themes conveyed, for example, in the ceramics images we have with us here today?

Well, Sunshine March has made a series of pieces that respond to a local food swap that she’s involved in where people in her immediate community share excess produce on a weekend where they sort of give and take depending on their own needs, which I think is really cool.

Other artists have responded to their experiences at the Central Markets and the various ways we engage with local produce.

Angela Walford

Looking again at Sunshine March’s ceramics and the garden swap, can you tell me more about these pieces?

What I know is that each dish, or palm plate I think she’s calling them, will have a colour and the colour will respond to the type of fruit or vegetable being traded, and she’s also decorating them with a sgraffito or a relief pattern whether it be a leaf, or I think I saw one that had a cross section of a chili with seeds and they're really expressive and beautiful! I can’t wait to actually see them.

Gather and Share, Sunshine G B March

Angela Walford

Mixed Dozen, Tom Moore

I have to ask about this fantastic image of Tom Moore’s glassware. How do these amazing goblets fit into this exhibition?

I think Tom’s rationale was that each character could represent or reflect a particular characteristic of wine, or a variety of wine, or an experience of wine, so I guess that’s the idea behind the Mixed Dozen. It is a dozen glasses and they do sort of represent a full dozen or a case of wine. I think it’s titled Mixed Dozen. I’d have to check. I think it’s an awesome idea too.

I understand that in addition to being a ceramist, you are also a fully qualified chef. Has this background in all things food helped you curate this food-focused exhibition?

I think it’s enabled me to offer insight, especially to people who are not local to South Australia and guide them towards what is available around the state. I think I have food knowledge and an understanding. I’m always trying to use what’s in season and try to cook with that ideal in mind where I can.

Tell us about the Artists you’ve involved in the Locavore Exhibition.

I think we’ve got twelve artists in total. We have (indigenous) work coming from Ernabella where two sisters share a family story so the motifs and the iconography are very similar even though stylistically they are quite different. Jane Burbidge is producing work that examines the insects that share the food with us as they are growing in her local garden. Caren Ellis is making a butcher’s block, so she will be bringing wood work into the show. 

Angela Walford

Who is Locavore for?

I think anyone who has an interest in food will find something interesting here, and anyone who appreciates beautiful things! It will be interesting to read what the artists and designers see in their own work and how it fits the concept. Everything in the exhibition will be available for sale, and I’m looking forward to seeing a really interesting and diverse collection on display.

Gather and Share, Sunshine G B March

Locovore runs from 20 April - 7 June in The Showroom, first floor of The JamFactory.

Q&A with Jewellery Designer/Maker Anna Davern

Anna Davern recently participated in a Group Artist Talk held at The JamFactory where she presented along with Roseanne Bartley (featured in last week's blog) and Melbourne based artist Penny Byrne. Both Anna and Roseanne have works on display in the touring exhibition, Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor, while Penny Byrne's Art of the Possible is also showing at The JamFactory. The three of them together made for a very interesting and enjoyable afternoon. Anna answered a few questions for us regarding her art and her practice.

Tell us about yourself, how did you become a jeweller?

I’ve been practicing as a jeweller for over 15 years now and so many different choices have led me along the path I have travelled. When I was at school, I was good at science and maths and so when I went to uni I thought this was the direction in which I should go. But after 3 years of study and no achievement of a degree I realised that that path wasn’t for me.

I did some short courses in life drawing and jewellery making while attempting to pursue a career in film and television and pretty soon worked out that my desire to make ‘things’ outweighed my desire to make films, although an element of story telling still informs my practice.

I did my undergraduate degree at Sydney College of the Arts in Jewellery and Object Design and then completed my postgraduate studies at RMIT in Melbourne.

Which jeweller, craftspeople, writers, artists, musicians, anyone do you find particularly inspiring and how have they influenced your approach to making?

My teachers and mentors over the years have been very inspiring to me: Margaret West, Rowena Gough, Carlier Makigawa, Robert Baines, Louise Weaver, Manuel Vilhena… They taught me to think about jewellery in different ways, they taught me to enjoy making and they taught me about how art and jewellery can communicate.

Are there any specific collections, museums that you have found inspiring and why?

I loved the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. They have this incredible collection and I was there in late winter so there was hardly anyone there and you can get really close to these artworks that you’ve been looking at in books for years. When I was there, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a contemporary jewellery exhibition and got to see some jewellery that I’ve been looking at in books for years.

Welcome us to your studio - where is it?

I’ve recently been involved in setting up a new project in Melbourne called Northcity4. We’ve rented a large warehouse in Brunswick and have spaces available for permanent tenants as well as an access workshop and spaces that artists can rent for short term projects. We are also setting up a school where we will run classes and workshops for beginners as well as masterclasses for established makers. We will also run a series of seminars and artist talks and provide resources for Melbourne’s jewellery community. It’s very exciting and it’s starting to get busy with the tenancies filling up. You can check out our fabulous new website here.

Anna Davern, Brooch For Madame Brussels, 2011

The work for the exhibition: Can you describe the specific themes reflected in this body of work?

This is my artist statement for the Madame Brussels brooch:

"Imagine life as a woman in late 19th Century Melbourne. Do you do as is expected of you and follow your husband to become a policeman’s wife in isolated rural Victoria? Or do you see an opportunity… take a risk… go it alone… perhaps call in a favour or two… and find your independence as a successful business owner in the only business that is available to you as a woman.

What would I have done? Was she brave? Or was she desperate? Was she Machiavellian? Or was she fair and honorable in her enterprise? It’s not possible to answer these questions but one thing is certain, her choice gave her a level of independence that was not afforded to her female contemporaries."

Describe your method of production in this current work?

The Madame Brussels brooch is constructed from collaged sublimate printed steel with a copper backing. Sublimation printing is a very simple technique of transferring dye to plastic using heat. In this work, electronic files of images were printed and then transferred to plastic coated sheet metal using a heat press. The images are then cut out and connected using traditional jewellery techniques.

Anna's Brooch for Madame Brussels can currently be seen at The JamFactory as part of the Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Exhibition.

You can visit her website at www.annadavern.com.au

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor runs at The JamFactory until 14 April.

An accompanying symposium featuring Leading Women of South Australia will be held Saturday 31 March at Nexus Multicultural  Arts Centre to be followed with drinks and nibbles in GalleryOne at The JamFactory. Entry to this event is free. Come along and celebrate 100 years of International Women's Day. Visit our website for details.

www.jamfactory.com.au

 

Q&A with Jeweller Rosanne Bartley

Roseanne Bartley will be exhibiting alongside 100Australian Jewellers who have created 100 brooches to represent 100 extraordinary Australian Women at Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor, which will show at the JamFactory GalleryOne from 24 February - 4 April.

Roseanne will also speak at the Group Artist Talk: Reconsidered, Saturday 25 February, 2:00 pm, GalleryOne, JamFactory.

We asked Roseanne a few questions about herself and her work:

Tell us about yourself, how did you become a jeweller?

I began with a short course taught by Danial Clasby in the 1980’s and began renting a space in his access studio, which was located in Auckland, New Zealand. This was during a period in New Zealand jewellery recently defined as the Bone Stone and Shell movement.

Which jeweller, craftspeople, writers, artists, musicians, anyone do you find particularly inspiring and how have they influenced your approach to making?

Hmmm too many to mention, I love looking at art and hearing people talk about what they do – so anyone who is passionate with an interesting outlook on life. I read broadly, philosophy and theory, of craft, art, anthropology, etc especially while I am camping – reading outdoors around a campfire is both favoured and savoured.

Are there any specific quotes, ideas, places that influence this current body of work?

The material I work with is mostly collected from around my neighbourhood, and I am interested in exploring the idea of what locates us in place and time. Although I made the work for this exhibition in my studio, I also create work outdoors and involve other people in my process.

Are there any specific collections, museums that you have found inspiring and why?

Even though I have been fortunate in travel and visited a few museums I wouldn’t say any have directly inspired me. Although I have a current fascination with the earliest form of jewellery discovered, a series of perforated cowrie shells, which would have been threaded on a string.

Welcome us to your studio - where is it?

My studio is a bessa brick shed in my back-yard, I tend to keep it a private space as it’s often an organized mess, so I probably wouldn’t invite you in, sorry. I am also working on projects outdoors, so am more likely to arrange to meet you on the street and invite you to participate in one of my projects. If you are interested in finding out more you might like to look up http://seedingthecloud.blogspot.com.au/

The work for the exhibition: Can you describe the specific themes reflected in this body of work?

I wanted to convey a sense of time and place, a representation of Australia ‘now’.

This work was created in response to the criteria Miles Franklin established for the literary award in her name “the highest literary merit and which must present Australian life in any of its phases”. I am not sure what Ms Miles would have made of Australian cultural life in its current phase, I view it as the best of times  and… …..

M is For, 2011. Found Plastic,925 silver and stainless steel. Part of  Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Exhibition.

Describe your method of production in this current work?

I have been exploring different methods to represent mass or amassing and for this work I bound together a number of takeaway plastic remnants and fused them together using my iron. Once bonded together they were set with a plastic lid that had been cut and heat formed.

Be sure and see:

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor at the JamFactory, 24 February - 4 April

Group Artist Talk: Reconsidered with Artist Penny Byrne(The Art of the Possible), Anna Davern, and Roseanne Bartley (Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor).

Symposium: Leading Women, Saturday 31 March, 2:00 - 5:00pm at Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre, Cabaret. Join a diverse group of South Australian women who are leaders in their field. Speakers include artist Sue Lorraine, Leaders Institute of SA Niki Vincent, Kojo CEO Loewn Steel, Professor Emirata of Gender Studies Margaret Allen and fashion designer Liza Emanuele. 

Q&A With Tamara Hahn: Connections 19 January - 19 February

The work of South Australian ceramic artist and JamFactory alumnus Tamara Hahn celebrates fertility, motherhood, and family. Hahn’s nested vessels formed with deliberate imperfections create a mutually supportive family of objects.

Tamara’s latest exhibition, Connections, can be seen in The JamFactory Atrium Gallery from 19 January – 19 February.

Tamara was kind enough to do a brief Q&A with The JamFactory;

Tell us about yourself, how did you become a ceramic artist?

I first touched clay in year 8 and was instantly in love. Supported by some really good art teachers I went on to try out a few different mediums and finished year 12 with top marks in art.

But ceramics was always my passion. After school I studied for 4 years at North Adelaide School of Art (Ceramics), took 11 years off to have a family (5children), before completing a Bachelor of Visual Art (Ceramics) at UniSA in 2007. In 2008 I was accepted into the JamFactory and have gone on from there. 

Which ceramics artist, craftspeople, writers, artists, musicians, anyone do you find particularly inspiring and how have they influenced your approach to making?

I love a lot of different artists work, Picasso being one of my favourites, but the people who have mostly inspired me have been everyday people in my lives who have a passion for their work, be they art teachers, or lecturers (Kirsten Coelho) or anyone who shows enthusiasm and commitment. I love it when people are passionate about their work like I am.

 

Are there any specific collections, museums that you have found inspiring and why?

 Most recently I went to the Tutankhamen exhibition in Melbourne. What inspired me most was the amazing craftsmanship and skill of these people. Everything was made with amazing attention to detail and adorned beautifully. Today we make a lot of things so cheaply and designed just to be practical and last such a short time. These works were not only functional, but beautiful, amazingly so, and have also lasted so long. Very inspiring. 

Welcome us to your studio - where is it?

In August 2011 I moved to a purpose built studio at my home in Clovelly Park -'ChocolateBox Ceramics Studio'

When we purchased a home in 2010 I could finally follow a dream of setting up my own studio. It has been wonderful working in a shared studio environment and I have learnt a lot from other artists, but this was the right time to set myself up and have my own space.

The work for the exhibition: Can you describe the specific themes reflected in this body of work?

This exhibition follows similar themes that follow through a lot of my previous work. My family is always around me and has influenced this theme of connected; we need each other and yet are independent. We are alike and yet all unique. Having 5 boys I am always amazed how seemingly having used the same formula we have created 5 completely different children, and yet they are obviously brothers and connected. My process of making reminds me of this, using just two clays and two different glazes and just playing with altering 'form', the possibilities seem endless. No two pots are exactly alike, but are connected by materials and the same process of making.

Describe your method of production in this current work?

Like most of my work to date, these pieces have been created by hand on the potter’s wheel (wheel thrown) and then altered. Mostly I use porcelain clay, but have recently also been using some stoneware. They are fired in a gas kiln to around 1300 degrees in a reduction firing. 

Connections can be seen at The JamFactory 19 January - 19 February