Stitching keeps traditions alive
TWO local exhibitions celebrated NAIDOC week with vibrant colours and patterns, while two regional presentations use surface and texture in different but fascinating ways.
THE ARTS GALLERY
at the University of Southern Queensland is showing the NAIDOC exhibition Voice, Treaty, Truth, part of an on-going series that explores Australian Indigenous cultures.
The exhibition takes its title from this year’s NAIDOC theme, the three key considerations for reform as expressed in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
The works by Indigenous artists from local and regional communities look at history and culture that connects to Country and an understanding of Country.
The formal, tradition-based paintings by Anthony (Boy) Turnbull sit well with the more relaxed patterning by Maurice Woodley and Megan Bartman.
The subtle repetition used by Robyn Heckenberg finds rapport with the symbolism in the painting and the ceramic “totems” by Macarlya Waters.
Photography documents a sense of community in the Cunnamulla series and highlights individuals in the sequence by Vivienne Cleven, while Irene Ridgeway’s images become metaphors marking moments in time and space.
ST. VINCENT’S HOSPITAL
Entrance 2, Scott Street is hosting a NAIDOC display of bright, bold paintings many by teenage members of the Wightman Family.
Crisp colours and attention to detail and design emphasise the skill of these emerging artists.
Other works of particular interest include the paintings by Daniel Blades and Deena Dodd, the shields by Dom Calanca, the Dream Catcher by Gary Hopkins, and the decorated didgeridoo by Darryl McCarthy.
THE CROWS NEST REGIONAL ART GALLERY
is featuring In Between, a collaborative exhibition by Carolyn Drought-Leblang and Peter Osborn.
Paintings, collages, artist books and ceramic objects explore the liminal space of transformation.
In Osborn’s paintings, textures cling to the surfaces and enigmatic symbols vie for attention in transient landscapes of shifting perspectives.
Chaos is given a suggestion of discipline through the precise geometry of measuring sticks.
Drought-Leblang’s sensuous ceramic helix shapes are stilled in the act of unravelling, poised on the threshold of becoming another form, another entity.
THE ROSALIE GALLERY
is presenting Craft of the two hands, its 2019 exhibition by emerging artists.
The exquisite embroidery has been created by Doreen Nauschutz and fourteen of her students.
Domestic craft-based textile practices have often been dismissed because they are governed by tradition and the reproduction of existing patterns and specific stitches.
This supposed lack of innovation and originality was fundamental to the tired art/craft debate.
However, inspiring tutors like Doreen Nauschutz and institutions such as the QCWA are ensuring that the social and cultural importance of what was once an everyday skill is not lost.
The precision of the stitches and the discipline required, which see parallels in mathematics and music, are elevated to a decorative form of meditation.