VISUAL SOUNDS
Faridah Cameron uses art and music to explore the way we see ourselves in the natural world
W hen Hobart artist Faridah Cameron was preparing works for next month’s Biennale of Australian Art she was struck by how much her first painting resembled a strange form of musical notation.
So the 69-year-old approached Dr Maria Grenfell, director of Hobart’s Conservatorium of Music, and asked if anyone would be willing to respond to the painting in music. The result was a major project for students who have composed music inspired by Cameron’s paintings, which visitors to the prestigious biennale in Ballarat (which opens on September 21) will be able to listen to while they view Cameron’s works in the main gallery.
The event is regarded as the largest showcase of work by living Australian artists.
“There are lots of other big art shows but they’re usually bringing things in from overseas,” says Cameron (pictured).
“This one is giving Australian artists the focus … I feel very honoured to have been chosen to represent Tasmania.”
The festival’s artistic director, Julie Collins, saw a piece of Cameron’s work at Handmark Gallery when she visited Hobart early last year. She was impressed by what she saw and invited Cameron to be part of the biennale.
Originally from Melbourne, Cameron studied art in Darwin in her 30s but painting took a back seat as she was busy caring for her children and working in theatre and events management.
She later completed a masters degree while living at Maleny, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast hinterland.
And she put the focus back on art after moving to Tasmania 14 years ago, setting up a studio in an empty space at the old Hobart High School in Letitia St (home of Turnbull Family Funerals), where the civil celebrant painted in between conducting weddings and funerals. Although she is not now working as a celebrant – preferring to concentrate on her art in the lead-up to the biennale – she remains in the same studio, which is where the conservatorium students viewed Cameron’s work and later crafted their musical compositions.
Cameron uses art to explore the way we see ourselves in the natural world. And she has always been a lover of music.
So bringing the two together for the biennale, in an exhibition she’s called, The music of what is, seemed logical.
“I approach my work intuitively so I’m never quite sure what’s happening until I’m in the middle of it,” she says. “I knew I wanted to do something related to music which is an important part of my life. And when I finished the first painting, it looked like an unusual form of musical notation.”
Students created 16 pieces of music based around four of Cameron’s paintings. “They’ve all responded wonderfully,” she says. “I had no idea what they would come up with, but I love every piece. They’re very different from one another, and they all complement the work very well.”
A 42-minute loop of music will play in the gallery throughout the exhibition. “It’s something that adds interest and gives it a different dynamic,” Cameron says of merging her painting with music. “In arranging the paintings, the whole exhibition might be seen as music. Each painting might be a note, or a verse, or a musical phrase. Colours might be sounds. The placement of paintings might indicate a pace or melody line. The whole room might have a discernible rhythm and a harmony. I hope it will.”