Art Space on the Concourse and Foyer Exhibition Space

Art Space on the Concourse, 409 Victoria Ave, Chatswood NSW 2067

Foyer Exhibition Space, Willoughby City Council, Ground floor 31 Victor St Chatswood NSW 2067

Retracing

An exhibition curated by Cassandra Hard Lawrie for Willoughby City Council

Retracing explores the influence of the local area on artists connected to Willoughby City. Presented as a craft and design based exhibition in Art Space on The Concourse, an accompanying digital exhibition traces the objects through their artistic sources, history and hidden creative processes. Each artwork is experienced through both the context of gallery presentation, and through the space or creative action that informs the artwork; within the landscape, the community or the artist studio. The relationship between the static display of objects and their other life in the hands of their creators reveal artistic traces embedded within the natural and urban landscape of the Willoughby area.

A Sydney Craft Week event, the exhibition also includes artists Sally Aplin, Reid Butler, Sarah Fitzgerald, Jane Guthleben, Pamela Leung, Denese Oates, Stefania Riccardi, Cathe Stack, Alma Studholme (with Brett Studholme), Joanna Williams, and Sairi Yoshizawa.

The works I’ve developed are based on Walter Burley Griffin architecture in the suburb of Castlecrag. Two artworks are shown: in the gallery (Within Without) and the foyer space (Out of Frame), in addition to a filmed work (Materialisation: Linescape), showing on screen in the gallery for the duration of the exhibition. I was thrilled to be permitted to film the work in the absolutely magical garden of the Fishwick House.

ABOUT WITHIN WITHOUT, 2020

While the strong presence of Walter Burley Griffin architecture is obvious, the geometry of the window designs struck me as particularly unique. The starting point for this work was the window design of the Fishwick house in Castlecrag. Overall, the work offers a sense of the structure and texture of the building, while referencing the original interiors and the period of its construction.

With special thanks to Stuart McCreery.

ABOUT OUT OF FRAME, 2020

This work evolved from the focus on Walter Burley Griffin-designed windows in Castlecrag (specifically the Fishwick and Guy houses). Pieced in Korean pojagi-style, it is stitched together combining the two window designs. The work floats gently in the breeze, providing veiled glimpses of the garden and the house, reinforcing the idea of a window but from an altered perspective.