Artists rise to group challenges
ART groups encourage likeminded people to pursue their creative interests.
They give participants the opportunity to share skills, learn new ones, and to just ‘have a go.’
Dedicated art groups are important additions to the community because they provide welcoming, inclusive places of social interaction.
The Lockyer Valley Art Gallery, Lake Apex Drive, Gatton, is hosting Pushing the Limits, an exhibition by members of the Gatton Quilters Art Group.
From its humble beginnings in 1983, the group has expanded, not only in its membership, but also in the scope of its practices that include applique, art quilting, embellishment, embroidery, patchwork, and quilting.
Fun, friendship, and laughter underpin the meetings in which skills and techniques are discussed in a convivial and creative atmosphere.
Workshops, skill days, exhibitions, and an annual, three-day art retreat all contribute to the overall enthusiasm.
Group-project activities keep alive the ancient crafts such as needlework.
Ever since fibres were twisted into cloth there has been a shared history between needlework and textiles.
Joining together pieces of cloth for warmth, protection and later for ornamentation and ritual, necessitated the development of sewing.
Interestingly, the exhibition pays homage to the Japanese tradition of ‘boro’, in which beauty is found in the mending and patching of old fabrics and garments using ‘sashiko,’ a practical, but decorative running stitch.
The works Boro Quilt and Sashiko Quilt by Meryl Blair ably demonstrate the processes.
Group challenges threw down the gauntlet for individual interpretations of themes such as Anthropomorphism exemplified in Ava’s Dinner by Cornelia Payne.
The Brown Paper Bag Challenge, in which 12 random items in a bag were turned into an artwork resulted in amusing and inventive resolutions such as those by Veronica Weier and Marilyn Whereat.
Quilts, wall works, journal covers, samplers, purses, scrolls, and felted vessels attest to the variety of interests explored by some 32 artists.
There is a particularly rewarding series of small works, developed from the Postcards from Around the World Challenge, with highlights being Shirley Manley’s flags, and the mixed media postcards by Cornelia Payne, Helen Saxby, and Marilyn Whereat.
The Arts Gallery at the University of Southern Queensland is presenting Spatial Eclipse, an exhibition of three-dimensional works by students and emerging artists exploring site, space, and sensory experience.
Jennifer Baker’s wire, rust, wax, and rice paper reflect on water and survival in the natural habitat.
The carved wooden bonnet and bootees by Chris MillsKelly speak of cultural difference and discrimination.
Alyson Baker’s banner of knitted breasts references both male and female victims of breast cancer.
Jemma White uses clay and natural dye to affirm the potency of nature.
Ellie Coleman’s bejewelled bird skull is a memorialisation that honours the rites of passage.
Rebecca Maclean uses video and found objects in tributes to mother nature.