MELBOURNE’S CREATIVES 2017
Six artists reveal the passion and methods behind their chosen forms
Six artists reveal the passion and methods behind their chosen forms across the spectrum from textiles to painting, woodwork, sculpture and ceramics. By Bonnie Vaughan Photographed by Justin Ridler Styled by Ella Murphy
If you hang your umbrella on one of Anna Varendorff ’s ethereal brass sculptures, she won’t be offended. “It happens all the time,” the artist says with a rueful laugh. “I called this collection Objects of Free Use, so I invited it!” Varendorff has always encouraged tactile engagement with her work: at ACCA’s New 16 exhibition in Melbourne in 2016, her large-scale geometric brass-and-wood forms resonated in various pitches when you touched them. This interactive approach is an extension of her jewellery making, a practice Varendorff was drawn to after completing her Masters of Fine Art at Monash University in 2015. “I enjoyed the basic forming with my hands,” she says, “as well as the transition of the object from maker to wearer.” Varendorff favours brass so she can apply jewellery-making techniques, such as hand fabrication and soldering. And, of course, for its vulnerability to fingerprints. “I feel that by leaving a marking on the sculpture and allowing the skin of it to change and breathe, you get more of a sense of your own ability to move and touch it,” she says, “and it’s less intimidating.” When interior designer Crystal Thomas moved back to Melbourne in 2015 after spending three-plus years in the Northern Territory, she wanted the world to see what she’d fallen in love with: the rich, evocative hand screen-printed textiles created by local Indigenous artists. “I was inspired to use them in interior fit-outs, to make dresses or to exhibit them,” she remembers. “But they were only available within Darwin. So I wanted to create a vessel to show these textiles to a broader audience.” This sparked the idea for North, a homewares brand that empowers Indigenous artists and helps keep them thriving. Thomas’s collaborations with the remote community arts centres introduced her to Jenna Tipuamantumirri, also based in Melbourne, whose grandmother, Cornelia, is one of North’s artists. The pair became friends, and Tipuamantumirri is now a board member. “I’m so proud,” Tipuamantumirri says. “It’s really nice to be involved with something my grandmother does and to give back to the community.” Beyond championing the artists’ prodigious skills and the works that tell stories of Indigenous culture, North’s mission is to facilitate a flow of communication between the artists and their audiences. “We want to create more opportunities to keep everyone connected,” Thomas says. Tipuamantumirri quickly concurs: “Opportunity is the key.” Visit northhome.org.