Artists illustrate the extraordinary power of transformation

Posted on 12 August, 2019

The extraordinary power of transformation–of materials, pattern, artistic practice and culture–is at the heart of three exhibitions currently on display at Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre.

Artists’ engagement with change, both radical and subtle, is seen throughout the exhibitions. The visual manipulation of form and perspective combines manual craft practice with digital fabrication in exciting new sculptural work by designer-maker Gilbert Riedelbauch.

Al Munro’s distortion of mathematical patterns on textiles and paintings reveal beautiful but at times unexpected aberrations and slippages in colourful geometry.

The changing nature of materiality in Japanese object-making culture is central to a group exhibition featuring some of the most acclaimed names in contemporary design.

Shifts in Japanese Materiality features work by leading Australian and Japanese designers and artists–Guy Keulemans, Julie Bartholomew, Kyoko Hashimoto, Liam Mugavin, Rui Kikuchi, Bic Tieu and Yusuke Takemura–who explore contemporary design practice and the changing nature of materiality in Japanese object-making.

From lacquerware and ceramics through to jewellery, the works explore the changing creative practices and material landscape born out of cross-cultural dialogue and transnational influences.

Rui Kikuchi, Pet Series (installation shot). Photo: 5 Foot Photography.

Curator and artist Bic Tieu has selected diverse works to explore a contemporary narrative of Japanese materiality from traditional clay and lacquer to consumer waste: PET bottles have been transformed into floral forms; kintsugi (a traditional repair technique used in Japanese ceramics) is used to articulate notions about repair and environmental concerns.

Bic Tieu, Mapping Floral Imagery, 2017. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.

Pattern Translation presents a new body of work by Canberra-based artist Al Munro which examines translated and distorted mathematical patterns on paintings and dresses created from digitally printed fabrics.

Al is known for her colourful sculptural and 2D work in textiles, print and painting which reinterpret the relationship between textiles structures and mathematics.

Al Munro, Red Blue Weave Disturbance, 2018. Photo: Courtesy of the artist and May Space.

In Pattern Translation Al has explored how aberrations and slippages can occur as a pattern, like a spoken message, and are then translated from one ‘language’ to another.

Textile patterns have been translated into painted forms then manipulated through the process of repeat fabric design, creating a relationship between the two-dimensional paintings and the three-dimensional outfits.

Al Munro, Pa kao ma Weave Disturbance, 2018. Photo: Courtesy of the artist and May Space.

Form Follows Fold is a solo exhibition of an exciting new direction by Canberra-based contemporary designer and maker Gilbert Riedelbauch, whose acclaimed work is held in the National Gallery of Australia and the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.

Gilbert’s new sculptural works combine manual craft practice with digital fabrication to explore geometry and symbols. He has created a series of boldly coloured and strikingly graphic wall pieces.

Gilbert Riedelbauch, Form Follow Fold, 2019. Photo: 5 Foot Photography.

Playful exploration plays a key role in this exhibition through his use of repeating elements that have been displayed in varying ways that create a sense of endless geometric possibilities.

“One of the most exciting aspects of contemporary craft and design is its captivating and contradictory power,” explains Rachael Coghlan, CEO and Artistic Director of Craft ACT.

“It is both dynamic and enduring, entrepreneurial and respectful of tradition, uniting time-honoured techniques with contemporary interpretations built for the future. Works featured in our new exhibitions illustrate the power of art, craft and design to inspire and to change the way we see and understand. These are exhibitions not to be missed.”

 the essentials 

What: Shifts in Japanese Materiality, Pattern Translation and Form Follows Fold
When: Showing until 31 August 2019
Where: Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre Gallery
Website: craftact.org.au

Feature image: Al Munro, Pattern Translation, 2019. Photo: 5 Foot Photography.