Net Works Australia

NETs meeting 2nd November 2011

2011-11-05T23:14:00.000-07:00

Present: Lynne Johnson, Rosina Wainwright, Valerie Kirk, Nancy Tingey, Wendy Dodd, Monique van Nieuwland, Catherine Dabron, Marli Popple, Gabriella Hegyes, Helen Martin.

Discussion

The role of the group:

1 2 future exhibitions

2 It is a networking group which may not always have as its subject nets.

3 What will happen to our relationship with the two overseas groups who were originally involved?

Rosina is looking for a female model, please contact her if you know someone who may be interested.

1 We currently have three blog sites. It was decided that Valerie will contact Belinda Jessup to decide on a site and put a message on the two sites we are not using directing people to the site in use. Belinda will also be asked if she would mind training the people having trouble posting on the site.

2. Valerie then gave a review of the symposium (which turned out to be a non-event) in Finland using the slides she had taken.

3. Review of Casting the Net:

Finances to be sorted out in the next few days– is there enough money to cover the catalogues?

Refreshments for the opening: Rosina said there weren’t enough glasses which meant her husband spent the evening washing them. Rosina recommended the following three things for any future exhibition.

1 Someone needs to stay beside the food

2 Someone needs to be designated to wash up

3 Someone needs to be designated to assist the VIPs

Everyone agreed Chris Bourke had done an excellent job of opening the exhibition and had obviously done a lot of preparation. We will send him a thank you card.

Thanks were given to Gabriella, Nancy and Paula for all their work for the exhibition.

Everyone agreed the hanging looked great.

Did anyone see anything in the newspapers on the exhibition?

Nancy will speak to Leah about compensation for the disruption caused by the renovations during the exhibition.

Watson was suggested as another good exhibition space.

4. Janet de Boer has suggested we might have an exhibition at the Geelong Forum next year. This would be a joint exhibition with Angie Wyman’s group from Cumbria University as Angie will probably be teaching a class at the Geelong Forum.

The two exhibition spaces at Geelong were discussed and it was thought that the top space was better. Lynne has some images of the space which might help our decision.

Valerie will liaise with Janet and Angie.

We will need to decide on the exhibition name and costs, how to get the items there. Dates? 23^rd to 29^th September 2012.

It was considered that this is an excellent opportunity for our work to be seen more widely as the forum open day also attracts visitors from Geelong and Melbourne.

5. We have been approached by the Belconnen Arts Centre to exhibit from17th August to 2^nd September.

It was suggested that it should be new work so the items from the BAC exhibition could then go the Geelong as the dates are so close together.

We need to set the dates for meetings next year – the first will be on Saturday 18^th February at Belconnen Arts Centre. Gabriella will contact Jackie at BAC for a preliminary meeting to see whether the cost will be the same as this year’s schedule and sound Jackie out to see whether she would curate the exhibition.

Valerie suggested we might be able to tour this exhibition in which case we would need to apply for funding.

Gabriella has applied for a residency at Strathnairn in 2013 and we could have an exhibition there at the same time.

6. Balba has suggested she could take a billum tour of New Guinea. It would be in September next year at the time of the Goroka Show. This may clash with our exhibitions. Nancy will keep in touch with Balba and send out information to the Basket Makers.

Spiders in Pakistan

2011-11-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

"The spiders went crazy after the flooding in Pakistan. Quite surreal"

This image and quote from Aly de Groot,

Nets Exhibition at Strathnairn Gallery

2011-10-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

Anita McIntyre and Dr Christopher Bourke

Dr Christopher Bourke and Nancy Tingey

Dr Christopher Bourke, Gabriella and Nancy Tingey

Rosina

Nets exhibition ANU Foyer Gallery

2011-10-25T03:13:00.000-07:00

Images from Top

Images 1-6 Wendy Dodd

Images 7-9 Bev Thomas

Images 10- 14 Nancy Tingey

Images 15-20 Helen Martin

Images 21-24 Mog Bremner

Aly De Groot (NT) GHOST NET BASKETS

2011-08-19T00:14:00.000-07:00

Image via Collect (Object Gallery Sydney) blog

Vol 3 (2011) Sustainability in Craft and Design

2011-08-15T23:52:00.000-07:00

The Craft Australia Research Centre announces the publication of the third volume of craft + design enquiry, its open access, peer-reviewed, online journal, interrogating discourses surrounding craft and design practice.

Edited by Dr Kevin Murray, Sustainability in Craft and Design explores how craft and design responds to the challenge of global warming by facilitating social change. The six papers published in this issue by Rod Bamford, Matthew Kiem, Peter Hughes, Mary Loveday Edwards, Sharmila Wood, Emilia Ferraro, Rehema White, Eoin Cox , Jan Bebbington and Sandra Wilson examine issues of sustainability in relation to aspects of craft and design practice in Australia, the United Kingdom and India

Volume 3 online

craft + design enquiry
Call for Papers Volume 5: website

Image: Simone Le Amon, Lepidoptera chair 2008, stainless steel, polyurethane, polyester, 110 x 85 x 70 cm Collection of the artist, Melbourne © Simone Le Amon

Networks Meeting 13 August 2011

2011-08-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

Village Hall Strathnairn, 10am till 12 noon

Lynne, Ola, Marli, Nancy, Mog, Barbara and Helen met to talk about Nets then all except Barbara and Helen adjourned for a convivial lunch at the Homestead.

Work for the Casting the Net exhibition by Mog and Barbara was stored in Nancy’s Strathnairn studio.

Discussion centred about textile seminars, sources of inspiration and how the Nets project evolved.

Lynne offered to take over the job of distributing the Nets photographs taken in Sharon’s studio last year by copying images onto separate CDs for each artist. The photography copyright name is Leise Knowles.

Nets Exhibition at Barometer Gallery 30 July to 14th August 2011

2011-07-31T04:54:00.000-07:00

Barometer Gallery website

Exhibition meeting at Strathnairn 13th August 2011

2011-07-31T04:24:00.000-07:00

The final meeting before our Casting the Net exhibition will be held at Strathnairn on Saturday 13th August from 10 til 12. Afterwards anyone who would like to, can join us for lunch at the Strathnairn Homestead Cafe.

There are a few final details (such as the roster for minding the exhibition) and some finished work to be presented, so we hope you will come along.

Casting the Net Exhibition Planning Meeting at the Village Hall, Strathnairn, Saturday 16 July 2011

2011-07-31T04:19:00.000-07:00

16 networkers turned up with their work to compare notes and discuss plans for the exhibition - Wendy, Rosina, Ola, Valerie, Bev Thomas and Bev Moxon, Katherine White, Maryann, Lynne, Sharon, Barbara, Marli, Jenny, Belinda, Gabriella and Nancy.

Liz Jeneid also sent in her exhibition piece. Gabriella will contact the other members of the group who for one reason or another couldn't be at the meeting to find out what they have in mind to be included*.

It was wonderful to see so much new and exciting work. This bodes well for Casting the Net to make a strong statement.

Thank you everyone for your enthusiasm and commitment.

Most networkers have paid the exhibition fee of $30, thank you. This will cover the hire of the galleries $240 and some catalogue printing costs and incidentals.

Jenny Manning has agreed to write a short catalogue essay which could also be used for publicity. For this she will need everyone's artist statement so please get these to Gabriella as soon as possible.

Gabriella will do the labels (Maryann to help?) also the art work and the cover for the catalogue. She plans a page about each artist so please make sure you have all catalogue details (see below), including statements, in by the deadline, Sunday 7 August. Email to Gabriella ( I am not putting her email on the blog as it is open access and she will be spammed with Junk) Email my self of Nancy if you don't have Gabriella's email.

Artist name:

Title of work:

Medium/technique

Size: height x width x depth in cm

Artist statement: max 250 words

Own art practice statement; max 250 words

Contact details - mobile/email/website for enquiries about your work from the public

Images of work - high resolution (up to 2 MG) I detail and I overall

Price or NFS

Please note that there is a 20 per cent commission payable to Strathnairn Association. And there is no insurance cover.

There will also be a folder with plastic sleeves available for you to add extra information in the gallery space.

Please also note that we are only doing an electronic invitation. This will be distributed two weeks before the Opening by Strathnairn and media links. We'll also ask The Mutton Family to send it on their textile network.

Nancy will receive work in the Strathnairn Homestead Gallery on Monday 22 August 2-4 pm. Please note that you will be asked to help fill in a roster for minding the exhibition. As there will be 18 sessions of 3 hrs each you will probably only have to sign for one slot.

The opening times will be 10-4.30 Friday Saturday Sunday from 26 August until 11 September. Please collect your work or arrange for others to do it on your behalf on the last day between 4 and 4.30. As Nancy will be overseas by then we need a volunteer to supervise the dismantling process. Any offers?

Casting the Net Opening 4pm Saturday 27 August

The Opener will be Dr Chris Bourke MLA Member for Ginnindera. He will be introduced by Anita McIntyre, President of Strathnairn Arts Association. Rosina will be coordinating catering for the Opening. Please note that everyone is asked to contribute food and drink to this event.

NB The 16 July meeting went so well we got the impression most people didn't need the meeting planned for 13 August. Also several people will be away then, some helping with the Barometer exhibition in Sydney. Please let us know by return if you have a problem about us cancelling the 13 August meeting.

Meeting at Strathnairn 15th July 2011- Nancy Tingey

2011-07-31T04:06:00.000-07:00

Works for Barometer Gallery Sydney.

Meeting at Strathnairn 15th July 2011- Barbara Jackson

2011-07-31T04:01:00.000-07:00

Works for Barometer Gallery Sydney.

Meeting at Strathnairn 15th July 2011- Gabriella Hegyes

2011-07-31T03:59:00.000-07:00

Works for Barometer Gallery Sydney.

Meeting at Strathnairn 15th July 2011- Marlie Popple

2011-07-31T03:56:00.000-07:00

Works for Barometer Gallery Sydney.

Meeting at Strathnairn 15th July 2011- Bev Moxom

2011-07-31T03:49:00.000-07:00

Works for Barometer Gallery Sydney.

Barbara Jackson

2011-07-26T18:43:00.000-07:00

My net is cast using recycled copper wire. It began its life linking us to power and telecommunication. The knitted copper has a delicateness that translates to the exchange of memories.

This body of work looks at likeness, with the graphite reflection of the knit, a fragility in the delicate knitted vessels and a familiarity with the multi needle knit. The patina of the two vessels has been changed. This represents an added degree of fragility of our exchange of recollections.

The sculptural piece with ‘needles’ has a supplementary significance as it links to the transference of craft expertise from me to my daughter in law and from her back to me.

Barbara Jackson graduated from the National Institute of Art, ANU, with a Bachelor of Visual Arts. She has a Graduate Diploma and Masters Degree in Education from the University of Canberra. She is a published author and regularly exhibits her art, photography and textiles. Her last solo exhibition was in 2010 @ Strathnairn Gallery titled ‘vessels of affinity’ a mixed media exhibition. Some group exhibitions in 2010-2011 were Nets, Foyer Gallery Canberra School of Art, Mexico and Barometer Gallery in Sydney and Belco Bizarre at Belconnen Arts Centre, The Book is the Thing, Tuggeranong Arts and ‘out of the box’ Strathnairn Gallery.

More details of her work can be found @ www.barbaraj.com.au

Meeting at Strathnairn 15th July 2011- Liz Jeneid

2011-07-18T02:03:00.000-07:00

Works for Barometer Gallery Sydney.

Report on NETs meeting Saturday 18th June

2011-06-25T21:13:00.001-07:00

Present: Monique, Katherine White, Catherine Dabron, Nancy, Wendy, Bev Thomas, Lynne, Ola, Rosina, Sharon, Valerie, Maryann.

Apologies: Belinda, Bev Moxon, Jenny, Gabriella.

Meeting Dates: 16^th July, 13^th August

Name of exhibition: Casting the Net

Requirements for meeting 16^th July.

All work must be taken to the July meeting at Strathnairn.

With the work you must have the title, medium, measurements (height x width x depth in cms), artist statement (max250 words) and $30 for hire of gallery.etc (Wendy & Lynne will collect money) price if item is for sale.

Gabriella has kindly offered to design the invitation and email it to everyone and to design the catalogue and make the labels. We will need good quality photos of your work and others can be taken at the July meeting. Nancy will talk to Leanne (Canberra Secretarial Services) re help with the catalogue using Gabriella’s design. Nancy, Gabriella and Wendy will put together an introductory paragraph describing the background to the exhibition. This statement can be used as a media release. The invitation and catalogue will be discussed further at the July meeting.

Opening: Saturday 27^th August 4pm (Chris Bourke will be asked if he can open the exhibition).

Everyone is asked to bring a plate of food ready to serve plus a bottle of wine or soft drink. Rosina will be responsible for keeping the table replenished.

Selectors: This is to be an inclusive exhibition. Everyone in the group is given the opportunity to exhibit at least one piece. If artists submit more than one item and if there are space restrictions Nancy and Gabriella will choose which pieces fit best in the exhibition. Items from the ANU exhibition will not be shown; however other work from those artists will be accepted.

Roster: Volunteers are needed to sit the exhibition on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Set Up: Bev, Nancy and Ola will hang the exhibition on 23, 24 & 25 August. Offers of more help welcome.

Exhibition dismantle: Artists should take down their work from 4pm on Sunday 11September, or pick up the work from Leah Molony at Strathnairn on Monday or Tuesday 12^th and 13^th September.

Liz Jeneid at Marianne Newman Gallery

2011-06-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

Networks member Liz Jeneid has an exhibition at the Marianne Newman gallery.

Entre-deux - Wire constructions and prints by Diana Brennan and Liz Jeneid
3rd to 19th July 2011.

Liz Jeneid, Pavement Shadows 2011, collagraph, woodcut & lino print, 33 x 24 cm

Marianne Newman Gallery

Sue Ryan and the Ghost Net

2011-05-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

Moa Island puppet show. Artists with shark puppet, 2010. courtesy Karen Hethey, Ilka White and Dujion Newie GhostNets Australia.

Sue Ryans page on right way
Sue Ryans photos on right way

Networks meetings

2011-05-26T02:06:00.000-07:00

Netwurk News 27 May 2011

As you will see from the blog http://networksaustralia.blogspot.com some serious Netwurking was going on here in Canberra last weekend with the Bilum workshop. We also had a chance to catch up with each other briefly about the follow up exhibition Nets 2011 scheduled for Strathnairn 26 August.- 11September.* This exhibition may provide an opportunity for the pieces in the 2010 Exhibition to be shown again as well as other pieces not included in that exhibition and new works made in the interim.
We also discussed meeting again during the coming months and have made bookings for the workshop rooms at Strathnairn on the following Saturdays: 18 June, 16 July and 13 August.
On these days we will be scheduling times for Exhibition discussion/planning as well as having time for doing workshops or some such. At this stage The June meeting has the following schedule:

Saturday 18 June

10.00am-12noonExhibition discussion/planning. All interested in being part of the Nets 2011are encouraged to come if you can.
12.00-1.00pmLunch bring your own - tea and coffee provided
1.00pm-4pm[Still to be confirmed] Bilum workshop with Balba and Nelson to learn the next steps in making our bilums using the ‘mouses’ that Nelson is ordering for some of us. Unfortunately Balba cannot make it on 18th so the afternoon could be for knitting discussions so bring your wool and needles!

Saturday 16 July

Workshop details and meeting time to be decided at the June 18 meeting

Saturday 13 August

Workshop details and meeting time to be decided at the June 18 meeting

*Nets 2011 Exhibition – other important dates

Aug 23/24/25 will be available for setting up with the opening on Aug 27 probably. The exhibition will need to come down on September 11. Both Nancy and Lynne will be OS on Sept 11 and not able to be part of the dismantling.

We will be keeping in touch through emails as well as via the blog.

Cheers

More Ghost Nets Information

2011-05-24T00:18:00.000-07:00

Carpentaria Ghost Nets Project, NT read more

At the dump site for ghost nets Photographer: Jane Dermer

What is a Ghost Net?

Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been abandoned at sea, lost accidentally or deliberately discarded, (ALDFG). They travel the oceans of the world with the currents and tides continually fishing as they progress through the waters. As they are unattended and roaming, they fish indiscriminately, not only catching threatened species but undersized and protected fish as well.

Ghost Nets Australia website

A Ghost Net Story

2011-05-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

In the Gulf of Carpentaria Indigenous makers collect ghost nets from the ocean to weave into baskets and mats telling stories of their culture and community and performing an important ecological task; clearing the sea of harmful abandoned nets.

Sue Ryan

A Ghost Net Story Read More

Philomena Yeatman from Yarrabah Ideas Festival Photographer Sue Ryan

Mavis Ngallametta basket Aurukun courtesy Aurukun Art Centre

Images via Craft Australia website

Billum workshop held at Strathnairn Arts 21 May 2011

2011-05-23T03:09:00.000-07:00

Strathnairn Arts

Words from Wendy Dodd:

It was lots of fun although no-one made much progress towards making their own billum. The stitch is quite complicated when you are learning it and we had to start by learning how to twist together on our thighs two lengths of wool to make it strong enough for a bag.

Networks Australia 2010-2011

2011-05-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

Mog Bremner

Catherine Dabron

Wendy Dodd

Gabriella Hegyes

Liz Jeneid

Lynne Johnson

Valerie Kirk

Jenny Manning

Helen Martin

Beverly Moxon

Maryann Mussared

Marli Popple

Ola Robertson

Bev Thomas

Nancy Tingey

Monique van Nieuwland

Katherine White

Mog Bremner

2011-05-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

Mog Bremner

I came to art later in life after a career as a doctor and psychotherapist, which informs my interest in our sense of self – that inner feeling of ‘I’ and ‘me’ which has been called the sense of ‘going-on-being’.

I trained in both Textiles and Printmedia and drawing. Paper and cloth can be composed of the same fibres – cotton, linen and silk – but appear to be very different materials. I like to use this apparent dichotomy to highlight what I see as the false duality of mind and physical brain, and I often mix both textile and paper imagery and techniques in my work.

Plasticity 2010
Medium: Ink on paper
Size: Overall dimensions variable
25 drawings, each one 18cm x 24cm

Artist’s Statement:
I am interested in the nature of self, particularly the extraordinary transformation from the objective physical world of neurones and synapses to our subjective experience of thought and feeling, perception and memory.

The brain is a dynamic mobile network, and self and consciousness arise from the ceaseless interactions of billions of neurones. Here I use observational drawings of bird netting to suggest this surprising emergence of our sense of self.

The title ‘Plasticity’ refers to the ability of the brain to rewire itself: the individual component of this drawing can be put together in many different ways, with a different outcome each time.

Photographer Stuart Hay

Catherine Dabron

2011-05-22T21:14:00.000-07:00

Catherine Dabron has had a life long love of fabric, art and stitchery. After leaving school in the '70s, she studied Dress Design at East Sydney Technical College receiving an award for 'Student of the Year' in her final year.

Catherine then spent many years working as a Designer/illustrator before completing a Degree in Anthropology and Art. She now conducts workshops and teaches at ANU for the Visual Art Access program.

Her work is inspired by culture and identity.

‘Inveiged by Three’ 2010
Medium: Muslin and embroidery thread
Size: Height: 105cm x Width: 250cm x Depth: 3mm

Artist statement:
My work is a response to the tragic events and the continuous debate which relate to the many problems faced by asylum seeker.

I am trying to communicate the plight of the refugee by likening their situation to that of being lured into and entangled in a “net” of nefarious behavior and political and bureaucratic policy in both their own country and the country to which they escape.

I am using the mediums of both of drawing and textiles on white muslin while drawing on inspiration from work by child detainees. I chose muslin for its netlike quality I am using greyish thread to covey the feeling of waves, steal, pulling and entwining. The use of fishermen’s pants alludes to traditional culture, sea and boats. Also, many of the so called 'smugglers' bringing asylum seekers to Australia are impoverished fisher folk, who don't even own the boats they ferry asylum seekers aboard.

Photographer Leise Knowles

Wendy Dodd

2011-05-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

Wendy Dodd is a graduate of Australian National University Art School and worked for 22 years as a textile conservator at the Australian War Memorial. Although a weaver much of her work has not been woven but instead has been an exploration of layers of threads,- the shadows and illusions they create.

‘2010 Net Series’
Medium: Hand netting and knitting
Size: Each 42 x 42 cm

The NETS project has been an interesting journey for me. I learnt to net 35 years ago when I wanted to make a storage net to use while traveling in our panel van. For this project I have made a series of
layered square nets which I see as drawings. The qualities of the yarn dictate the nature of the lines of the drawings. The nets create shadows and delicate lines and by layering depth is created. Nets can be used in positive and negative ways. But to me there is an essential beauty in the structure and form of these nets. The actions in making a net are quite repetitive and there is something comfortable and meditative in the process.

I have always been fit and active but now find that my older body has restrictions. The final piece in my series is a comment on my preoccupation with ageing. It is a hand knitted net made using my hair (grey) spun with black silk.

Net Drawing 4 – Hand knitted, my hair spun with black silk, mounted on white Perspex

Net Drawing 1 – Hand netted, linen thread, 3 colours mounted on white Perspex
Photographer Wendy Dodd

Net Drawing 2 – Hand netted, natural linen thread, 3 layers mounted on black Perspex

Net Drawing 3 – Hand netted, black linen thread, 4 layers mounted on white Perspex

Photographer Leise Knowles

Gabriella Hegyes

2011-05-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

Gabriella Hegyes migrated from Hungary over 30 years ago. She studied fine arts at Wollongong, the National Art School, University of Western Sydney and Monash University. Gabriella has participated in numerous solo and selected group exhibitions around Australia and in Japan. She has curated several exhibitions and developed and coordinated a number of public art projects in NSW.

Trained in sculpture, photography and printmaking she moved to installation based work where all these skills could be employed. She combines conventional forms of sculpture, photography, printmaking and traditional crafts with computer manipulated images to create installations.

Her work is inspired by memory/place/identity

‘Wave…’ 2010
Medium: Fuse wire, embroidery thread, monofilament
Size: Overall size variable
Height: 225cm x Width: 192cm x Depth: 115cm

Artist statement:
As continued political debate and unfavorable public opinion surrounding asylum seekers rages through our media these human beings are reduced to nameless faces and only recorded as waves of boat arrivals that ‘threaten’ the core of Australian society.

The installation attempts to draw attention to the plight of the asylum seekers and to pay tribute to their individual brave actions in undertaking such a perilous journey to freedom and their tenacity to survive. The crochet technique references the make do nature of these vessels which are suspended precariously between the mercy of nature and human compassion.

Background to the work:
Being a Hungarian refugee in Italy and later as a legal migrant to Australia I feel great compassion for the asylum seekers trying to reach our shores.

Like they, I also crossed the sea not by boat but by swimming across due to the shortness of distance between Yugoslavia and Italy as an ‘illegal’ or ‘queue jumper’ to reach a better place. I was welcomed by the Italian community and spent almost two years in a refugee camp south of Rome where I was treated humanly.

My arrival to Australia in 1977 coincided with some of the first wave of asylum seekers reaching Darwin who were later transported south to Perth. I’ve spent several months with some of the 600 Vietnamese boat people in the hostel in Perth witnessing their stress and the all too familiar feel of uncertainty.

Photographer Gabriella Hegyes

Liz Jeneid

2011-05-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Liz Jeneid initially trained as a weaver in the USA returning to Australia in 1977 when she set up a weaving workshop in Sydney She trained apprentice weavers and ran the workshop for 5 years. She supported the workshop and herself through sales and by part time teaching and working as a community artist. She later moved to Wollongong where she taught at the University of Wollongong for 20years in the Faculty of Creative Arts.

Travel has been an important part of her life and a lot of her work has come from observing and documenting place which she uses in her prints, artist books and installations. Her works are in a number of collections both in Australia and overseas.

‘Diet Spoons’
Medium: wire, linen thread, drift wood, metal hooks
Size: size variable – 4 spoons of different sizes
Height: 35cm x 35 cm

Background to the work:
The spoons seemed to me to be an excellent way of solving the problem of eating too much - like most women I always wanted to be more sylph like.

Artist statement about the work:
The spoons remind us of the lack of food that many people today experience, not enough food to nourish them in periods of famine caused by war, drought and floods, in stark contrast with those of us who live in countries that are not experiencing war or famine, and where consumption of good food is taken for granted.

Photographer Leise Knowles

Liz Jeneid

Lynne Johnson

2011-05-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

Lynne Johnson has been knitting for as long as she can remember with the love of yarns, colour, texture and the actual knitting process being central to all her work. She is passionate about keeping knitting traditions alive and thriving, while also experimenting and creating new stitches and techniques. She has been teaching at TAFTA Forums and knitting workshops throughout Australia and NZ in recent years.

#1 ‘Edwardian Collar’ 2009
#2 ‘Triangular Shoulder Piece’ 2009
Medium: Crepe Paper
Size:
#1 100cm in diameter at the base 30 cm diameter at the top and is 30 cm deep.
#2 100cm across the top, 50cms deep

Photographer Leise Knowles

Artist statement:
My ‘netwurking’ keeps coming back to family networks and paper and text and black and white.
What to do with all the pieces of paper I’ve inherited and all the secrets and stories the text on
the paper hints at so loudly. The dramas of births and deaths and marriages suggested – the formal certificates revealing lots and hiding lots more. I’m using paper to explore and explain what I know about some of the women I’ve ‘caught’ in these family nets. So far it’s crepe paper and it’s knitting…………..

Photographer Gabriella Hegyes

#1 ‘Edwardian Collar’ 2009

Photographer Gabriella Hegyes

#2 ‘Triangular Shoulder Piece’ 2009

Photographer Leise Knowles

Background to the work:
In 1909 my grandfather’s half sister, Amy Maud Bock, created many headlines in the press and much consternation in the family when, in the most outrageous of her many crimes of misrepresentation and fraud, she masqueraded as a man and married a young woman, Nessie Ottaway, in a small coastal community in the south of New Zealand. The Bock family reacted by cutting Amy out of the family and hiding the story from us for 60 odd years. The Ottaways reacted by trying to carry on as normal after the masquerade was quickly uncovered and Amy went to gaol.

For a long time we knew little of Amy and even less of Nessie but in 2009 to mark the 100th anniversary of the short lived marriage a photographer colleague Fiona Clark and I responded by researching as much as we could and creating works that emerged from the story.

We had a newspaper artist’s black and white image of Nessie in a demure lacy Edwardian blouse and skirt. This idea led to the #1 neckpiece. Nessie married a widower with several children but he died of war related injuries soon after. She married a second man later but he also died relatively soon after. Amy had a relatively short marriage to a ferryman in the Taranaki district of Mokau after she left gaol. We never learned much more of either woman in their later years but it seems their lives were harsh and perhaps lonely.

The #2 piece reflects the need for comfort and warmth in all phases of our lives, particularly later ones. After Amy left gaol she lived in the Mokau area and seems to have been able to stay out of trouble and become a useful and revered member of the community for many years. There are older members of the mostly Maori community there who remember her fondly for the songs and dances she taught them and the costumes she made for their concerts. “She was a Whizz with crepe paper” one told Fiona. This statement stuck with me and crepe paper became the medium for these works.

#1 ‘Edwardian Collar’ 2009 Work in Progress

Photographer Lynne Johnson

Examples of Lynne's work can be seen at
women of fibre

Valerie Kirk

2011-05-21T19:16:00.000-07:00

Valerie Kirk studied art and design at Edinburgh College of Art and was captivated by the creative process/infinite possibilities of the tapestry medium. In 1979 she came to Australia to become a weaver at the Victorian Tapestry Workshop, and then worked in all states of Australia before moving to Canberra in 1991 to be the Head of Textiles at the Australian National University, School of Art. Her work from this time focused on what it meant to be a Scottish/Australian in this context.

She is considered to be an important international figure in the world of contemporary tapestry. As an artist, writer, teacher and public figure she has made a significant contribution, forging valuable and tangible links with the Scottish tradition and global field. While actively maintaining her practice as an artist, Valerie’s remarkable capacity for achievement has seen her inspire and lead community tapestry projects, research and write a major thesis on tapestry, direct significant textile projects and create major works. She has held several solo exhibitions and presented her work in USA, Europe, Australia, NZ and SE Asia.

Between 2004-2005 she was commissioned to design and weave three major tapestries to celebrate Nobel Prizes in Science associated with the Australian National University. A further tapestry was commissioned and woven in 2006 featuring the work on small pox and myxomatosis of Professor Frank Fenner. The tapestries are installed and on public display at University House, ANU.

Her most outstanding achievement to date is winning the “To Furnish a Future” carpet design competition in 2006. The selected “Crimson Carpet” design draws on the natural patination of stone around Government House, Sydney, combining with a palette of crimson from the tonal range in the Waratah flower. The second stage of the project involved working closely with the consulting design team, the Australian company, “Whitecliffe Imports” and the manufacturers, “Siam Carpets” in Thailand. The hand tufted carpet measures 8m x 20m and was produced in one piece to fit the rooms. The design is significantly different from the normal range of carpet design and at the Energy Australia National Trust Heritage Awards 2008 held on Monday 7 APRIL 2008, the refurbishment of the State Rooms at Government House won one of the major awards - Conservation, Built Heritage for a Project under $1 million. Awards such as the Australia Council New Work grant and Muse Arts Woman of the Year mark substantial success and her artwork is documented in the Telos Portfolio Collection publication.

‘Pangasianodon Gigas’ 2010
Medium: Woven Tapestry
Size: Height: 120cm x Width: 50cm x Depth: 2cm

Photographer Gabriella Hegyes

Artist statement:
The final work is an abstraction of fish and nets – an image made with a hand drawn quality suggesting the personal observation that goes with looking and responding with ink on paper. The tapestry technique mimics the original marks to a certain degree but is also very obviously a woven form with its stepped edges and shapes, blending of tones through hachure and broad set of warp and weft.

Photographer Gabriella Hegyes

Background to the work:
The giant Mekong Catfish is under threat of extinction due to over-fishing and loss of habitat. It is beleived that the fish used to reach sizes over 3 metres, but the largest recorded catch to date is 2.7 metres – a monster fish caught in Thailand in 2005. As its fame and the mythology surrounding it increases, so does the number of game fishermen keen to land a record catch or earn a sizeable amount of money in the exotic food marketplace.

However, the water flow of the river is increasingly more controlled by China, changing the natural habitat of the river. It seems that survival of the great catfish is being left to chance and the fish’s ability to avoid nets, lines and traps in the murky green waters of the Mekong.

My exhibition piece is a giant, woven Pangasianodon Gigas – made as a shaped tapestry which will hang the way a fisherman would hold up his catch to display or be photographed as his trophy. The drawing was made from photographs of very large fish I observed in Laos and the detail on the body of the fish is deliberately ambiguous cales/nets. The piece is woven on cotton seine twine (which was originally made as a string for fish netting) with mixed weft yarns.

Valerie Kirk cutting tapestry from the loom

Photographer John Jeffery

Valerie Kirk
Valerie Kirk APM portfolio

Jenny Manning

2011-05-21T19:01:00.001-07:00

I have, since my studies in the 1980s, been obsessed with wrapping, knotting, tangling and constructing with rope, wool and other fibres. I created and made drawings of three dimensional wrapped and knotted structures during my sculpture degree and these forms have been referred to in my practice ever since.

Recently I have been exploring the parallels between human and animal veins, arteries and organs with those found in the plant and insect kingdoms. These networks for transmitting life fluids seem to be repeated in the microscopic world as well as in the structure of river deltas and erosion gullies. Electron microscopic images of fungi have stimulated a series of large black and white pen and ink drawings where the intricacy and beauty of the filamentous growth patterns belies their toxic effects on humans and animals.

In another body of work I have explored still life compositions creating images of overlapping natural forms and more recently the importance of design and mathematical proportion within the still life tradition. I continue to create brightly coloured knitted mohair rugs where the small square modules are combined to create intricate and complex traditional patchwork patterns.

‘Torus’ 2010
Medium: pen and ink on card
Size: H: 90cm x W:140cm

The Torus - a revolving circle around an axial void is defined here by a network of capillaries
and veins which carry energy to all living cells, thereby combining mathematical geometry with the patterns of natural growth.

Jennymanningdesigns.blogspot.com

Helen Martin

2011-05-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

Photographer Stuart Hay

Helen Martin is a graduate of the ANU School of Art. Her work has been exhibited widely
in Australia and also in Austria, Germany and China.
While her art school training was in ceramics, she is also a skilled textile maker, specialising in knitting and crochet. These skills have now fused and a new method of making created.

Helen’s work is inspired by memory. With a focus on objects that act as memory triggers, she makes containers, or safe repositories, for precious memories.

‘Sift’ 2010
Medium: Ceramic: glazed knitting
Size: Overall size variable, each approx. 18 x 18 x 6cm

Artist statement:

My net bowls are filters that can capture and preserve precious snippets of memory – not lots of detail, but more a warm feeling that links our past and present.

Background to the work:
Memory is personal and unique to each of us. It is our own interpretation and recollection, a sensation so fleeting that sometimes we cannot find words to name it - a vague feeling, a trace of something we know but cannot touch, hidden under semi-transparent layers, distorted.

Photographer Leise Knowles

Beverly Moxon

2011-05-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

Beverly Moxon spent her childhood playing in the woods and creeks surrounding her home in North Carolina. As a mature age student she studied visual arts, specialising in Textiles at the Australian National University. Beverly is currently completing a Master of Visual Arts through the Charles Sturt University at Wagga Wagga.

She has participated in group exhibitions and recently had her first solo exhibition at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery. Although trained in textiles, Beverly has moved further into sculptural installations, often using basketry techniques and working with natural fibres.

Her work is influenced by environmental concerns and nostalgic memory.

‘Root Series 2’ 2010
Medium: Roots, natural fibres, pods, waxed threads
Size: Overall size variable

Artist statement:
Roots collected from my garden are recent mementos of a new and unfamiliar landscape. Wrapped and bound with waxed threads and grasses, the roots suggest the importance of healing and caring for the environment. On a personal level the work reflects on the significance of establishing roots in a new location as well as acknowledging the landscapes of my past.

Putting down roots in a new place is often difficult and fears of rejection can inhibit one’s attempt to resettle. Dislocation experienced in a foreign landscape is represented in the twined and knotted roots, incongruous in a gallery setting. We see the unseen, an underground network of roots where each fibre is connected in perfect symmetry to the central root. At the same time as the plant’s roots form a network in order to survive, our social networks within the community are important to our sense of self.

Photographer Beverly Moxon

Maryann Mussared

2011-05-21T16:37:00.000-07:00

Maryann Mussared is a professional practicing artist with a multi-disciplinary practice. She studied visual arts at the Canberra School of Art, ANU 1993 – 1995 before graduating from the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales in 1997. She has participated in numerous selected exhibitions nationally and internationally. Maryann is also a freelance curator and has a background in community cultural development and voluntary work in the arts sector. She was one of the driving forces in lobbying for the new Belconnen Arts Centre.

Maryann trained in textiles, printmaking, and applied arts. Her work incorporates paper and found objects and has recently included ceramic objects. She is constantly stimulated and inspired and equally terrified by the fast past of modern life and the torrent of information that threatens to overwhelm us each day.

‘Memory Construction’ 2010
Medium: 28 gauge wire, crochet technique
Size: Overall size variable, height: 35 cm x 40 cm x 30 cm

Photographer Maryann Mussared

Background to the work:
I have been a recreational crochet enthusiast for over 40 years. I started by teaching myself a few basic stitches from a book and then creating a shawl to keep myself warm one very cold winter when I was living in England.

Since then I have used crochet to create forms and in particular vessel shapes that are then immersed in gesso or plaster and re-created as a 3D form.

Creating the ‘Memory Construction’ series of over 40 metal wire spheres for this small installation was part of a challenge I set myself last year that also saw me exploring clay pinch pots that became spheres as well.

The sphere-shaped objects are inspired by net-like constructions in nature, both random and ordered: tumbleweeds, molecules, and also inspired by spiders webs. Although they look as if they are created in a random manner, the eccentric crochet stitch used allows tension and length of stitch to be varied to create a sculptural shape. If I unravel them, I wonder if the memory of the original construction will be retained?

Photographer Gabriella Hegyes

Maryann Mussared

Marli Popple

2011-05-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

Marli Popple I have been exploring fibre arts for over 35 years. Media I have used include fabric dyeing and painting, paper making, batik, embroidery, patchwork and quilting. During the last 20 odd years I have specialised in shibori techniques and indigo dyeing. In 1996 I moved on to working with synthetic fabric, for environmental reasons not dyeing the fabric.

The unique structure created with shibori techniques I can use to create sculptural forms out of cloth – also wraps that have a dual purpose to be worn or to hung or draped as an artistic
expression.

I like the way the shibori techniques change the character of the fabric from a flat surface to a complex one with texture, line and sometimes surprises. Working intuitively with the changed cloth as it assumes a certain form of itself, I follow this and shape it to the best of my ability for my artistic expression.

Inspiration comes from an observation, a moment an insight, from words read or phrases heard that move me and reference our personal lives and experiences. The medium for my creative expression and process is cloth. I am drawn to it because of its connection down through time to our lives. I find pleasure in every part of the process and hope the viewer finds their own meaning in the work and finds a quiet beauty that can invoke contemplation.

‘Fog Net’ 2010
Medium: Shibori techniques on icy white polyester fabric mounted on black acrylic sheet
Size: Overall size variable, height: 41.3 x Width: 49cm

Photographer Marli Popple

Artist statement:
At this time of climate change the wonder of a simple and inexpensive construction built to capture water from the fog to supply water to arid areas inspired me to present my interpretation of a fog net with arishi shibori technique on icy white polyester fabrics.

Photographer Gabriella Hegyes

Background to the work:
My way of working is usually to research the subject or idea and often words stand out that inspire and set the path for the creative expression working with textiles.

“Networks” which were the “in thing” in the 80’s with padded shoulder jackets and personal promotional business cards came to mind but didn’t lead anywhere – Aboriginal fish nets also.

“Caught in the net” and “slipping though the net” have physical and metaphorical meanings which really appeal to me. At the Australian National Museum exhibition “Water” the fog nets of Peru have inspired me to interpret by cutting into Arashi manipulated cloth. No doubt it will change in the process. The fog net is a synthetic shade cloth used to trap moisture. It is an ancient concept that has been revived in recent times. You can Google “fog nets” to learn more.

Photographer Marli Popple

Ola Robertson

2011-05-21T15:58:00.000-07:00

Ola Robertson migrated from Scotland with her husband and baby son in 1967. Having lived in different countries and also in many places in Australia due to her husbands work, she dabbled in sewing and different crafts over the years and did not seriously get involved in textiles until recently. It was when Ola was at the Art School at the Australian National University in Canberra, that she found she absolutely enjoyed fabric printing, discharging and dyeing. Digital printing and other new technologies are also of great interest. Ola graduated in 2000 with a Diploma in Printmaking and in 2006 with honours degree in Textiles. She has exhibited in selected group exhibitions in Australia, France, and New Zealand.

‘Fragile Skin 1’ 2010
Medium: Pig gut, and printing pigment
Size: Height: 155cm x Width: 35cm

Photographer Leise Knowles

Photographer Ola Robertson

Artist statement about the work:
This work came about due to a couple of recent health problems. I wanted to show how the ageing body fared health wise on it’s journey through life. For this I have used as my medium pig gut or sausage skin – this medium has a fragile translucency but also has incredible hidden strength and because of this I was able to metaphorically show that although the human body grows older and everything can become more fragile, infect inwardly the strength for living is stronger than imagined. The material used has the look of vulnerability and fragility, but in fact it has great strength a fitting metaphor for this. The print on the gut is fragile bones on wrinkled skin (a network of lines), and references the way our skin can look as one ages, using the medium as an allegory of a life well lived.

Photographer Leise Knowles

Background to the work:
Over the past years I have been basing my artwork on the concept of ageing. It has covered the perception of seniors in society and their invisibility. The benefits that can be provided by this older generation to the modern society are often lost due to the perceived notion that a person with grey hair, a wrinkled face and a fragile body are weak, worthless and useless .

Laying the gut

Silk screen with repeat pattern for Fragile Skin 1

Distressed gut

Detail of Fragile Skin 1

Photographer Ola Robertson

Bev Thomas

2011-05-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

My art to me is very personal, and whilst I may never become famous, I feel I am at the most enjoyable part of my life. My work is about what I see, and not what I feel the viewer wantsto see, this then allows the viewer to form their own opinion. Most days I would either be weaving on a tapestry frame, or painting something that is important to me.

As I reach 3 score plus 10 this year of 2011, I reflect and think there was never a part of my life where textiles were never around me. I began knitting and making dolls cloths long before I started school, where in those days, sewing was always part of the school curriculum, plus after the second World war, we learnt to make do.

I took a major part in the Parliament House embroidery, and it was at that time, I became interested in tapestry weaving. From there I entered the National University, to study visual arts in the textile workshop.

I owned and operated an interior decorating business, after which, I have devoted my time and energy to my arts. I also give time and skills to the Calvary hospital, where we intend to start a program shortly, offering art related projects to long term patients.

‘Entangled’2010
Medium: Hand knitted lurex thread, over mallee leaf hand dyed paper
Size: H: 53cm x W: 78cm

Photographer Leise Knowles

Artist statement about the work:

I am thinking about the use of nets, with a positive and negative spaces (the holes becoming the key elements), for keeping in and keeping out. Strong netting as a fence is used to quarantine animals from straying, or isolating.

As a former farmer, the beauty of the majestic merino sheep grazing, was always a source of pride, despite the howling winds turning the day into twilight, from the flying red dust. A place, where the landscape has a language of its own.

Photographer Leise Knowles

Background to the work:
As a former sheep farmer, in the south west of New South Wales, I can relate to the colour of the paper, deriving from the continuous dust storms covering the landscape, which also coloured the wool on the sheep's back.

Work in progress – Photographs Bev Thomas

Nancy Tingey

2011-05-21T15:19:00.000-07:00

Nancy Tingey was born in England, studied Fine Art and qualified as an art curator there, then lectured in art schools.

Nancy’s textile work began when the demands of young children and travel with a geologist husband meant craft activities could be absorbed more easily into her lifestyle than the painting and glass work she had practiced as an art student.

She migrated to Australia in 1971 but has moved continually between there and England ever since, eventually spending about half her life in each country. This led to her doing her MA in England on the theme of living two lives, as Two Ply, interpreting lifelines and behaviours though textile media.

Through her art work she continues her journeys of discovery.

‘Bed of Nettles’ 2010
Medium: Nepalese handspun nettle thread hand knitted
Size: Overall size variable
Height: 90cm x Width: 180cm x Depth: 2cm

Artist statement:
I am fascinated by the nature of materials. Manipulation transforms one state into another of quite different appearance and purpose. So the bed of green stinging nettles in Nepal becomes soft brown string which when knitted forms a bed cover.

Background to the work:
I have been making nets for several years now, experimenting with different materials and knots. It was while knotting string three years ago that I came up with concept of networks. I networked among friends, Craft ACT, the ANU and the University of Cumbria, UK. The ‘netwurks blog’ was born and the project became international. The rest is history. Back to the making process in my Strathnairn studio I became so engrossed
that a door-sized net grew to five metres, using the whole ball of string. I was fascinated by the concept of
transforming a solid ball into an openwork net full of light and air, totally different in character from its original form.

‘Acaena Screen’ 2010
Medium: Acaena Novae Zelandiae seeds
Size: Variable

Artist statement:
This is an environmental piece using plant material in which interlocking units build up a cohesive surface with dual identities – a bristly mat seen from above or ethereal net curtain seen against light. An ephemeral work; as it deconstructs the seeds will be returned to the land to regenerate and create a living network.

Photographer Gabriella Hegyes

Nancy Tingey

Two Ply

Monique van Nieuwland

2011-05-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

Monique van Nieuwland’s work encompasses loom weaving, Jacquard weaving, printing with pigments and dyes, as well as mixed media. The concepts in her work focus on common human experiences. In the 1980s and 90s her practice also included community art. This involved working with individuals and groups in the Canberra community creating art work for public display, in her case mostly within health facilities.

Inspired by her community arts work in a hospice for the dying, van Nieuwland started her Master of Philosophy studies at the ANU School of Art, completed in 2004. “The shroud as a contemporary textile art form in the Western world” was the result of research into the resurgence of the shroud both as a practical object and a form of conceptual textile art. The sub-thesis argued that shrouds are becoming a significant phenomenon embodying personal, medical and political responses to death. It concluded that contemporary shrouds are linked to changing attitudes to death and dying.

In her practice Monique exhibits her work regularly, and has made numerous presentations at seminars and conferences. She teaches weaving for the Centre for Continuing Education at the Australian National University School of Art.

Monique’s last solo exhibition of hand woven work: “simply cloth”, looked at simple and ordinary textiles. The installation showed the beauty of everyday textiles (such as handkerchiefs, dishcloths, nappies, washers, tea towels, blankets) evoking personal stories and memories. The work addressed environmental concerns, highlighting wasteful practises in Western societies, where ordinary and utilitarian woven cloth is disappearing, substituted by synthetic and disposable alternatives.

Monique has executed several art commissions for the Auburn, Braeside and Nepean Hospitals in Sydney, as well as interior commissions for Malacky PTY LTD in Sydney and CUBIT Interior Design in the ACT. Her work has been collected by the Arrarat Gallery (Victoria), Montague Collection (Fort Washington) and the Canberra Museum and Galleries.

‘Two Nets: One to catch air and one to catch water’ 2010

Medium: knitted monofilament, glass marbles, metal

Size: Overall installation size variable, suspended in mid space

at eye height.

Each net: Height: 89cm x Width: 96cm x Depth: 21cm

Artist statement

“Two Nets” focuses on the “un-seen” out of which a net sifts its catch. The “un-seen” such as clean air and water, are commodities which seem to have always been plentiful but are becoming scarce and polluted.

Monique talks about her work to ANU textile students September 2010

Photographer Gabriella Hegyes

Monique van Nieuwland

Katherine White

2011-05-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

Photographer Leise Knowles

‘The Canberra Fisherman’ 2010
Medium:
Mixed media
Size: variable
Artist Statement:
My concern is with the health and future life of our local rivers and waterways. Will the native fish species survive? Will there be enough water flow in the rivers to ensure a healthy environment for people and water creatures? How will the growing population of Canberra affect the rivers?

I graduated from the Canberra School of Art in 2009,in Print media and Drawing, with Textiles taken as a minor. My interest at the moment is in creating artists books and 3-D sculptural paper forms. A fascination with depicting water continues, and now that I live at the south coast, I am observing the ocean every day.

Photographer Gabrielle Hegyes

Background to the work:
The 4 years at Art School allowed an exploration of my relationship to rivers of the Canberra region and the Snowies. A lifetime of walking, swimming, drawing, meditating and dreaming about these wild places, came to be expressed in prints, drawings, constructions, books and textile works. Basically the search is for an experience of freedom.

Photographer Leise Knowles

Companion Planting: Julie Ryder

2011-03-10T19:02:00.000-08:00

Image 1 and 2 'Me, Here, and You, There' 2011, embroidery with roses and thorns, (photo: Julie Ryder)

Image 3 All my days follow all your nights – all your yesterdays are all my tomorrows, 2011

Textiles and threads dyed with plants from Murray’s Cottage, (Photo: B. Runnegar)

Image 4 Hill End Annotations 1’ 2010 Thorns, archival glue on paper, (photo: Julie Ryder)

Image 5 Wishbone’ 2009 Watercolour on paper 23 x 35cm, (photo: Julie Ryder)

Companion Planting is a mixed-media exhibition inspired by a 2009 Hill End residency in Murray’s Cottage, the former home of Donald Friend and Donald Murray. Their complex relationship is explored through watercolours, textiles and objects that are sourced directly from the cottage garden.

Jean Bellette Gallery, Hill End

Balba Simbiken will be conducting a BILUM workshop

2011-03-10T18:36:00.000-08:00

Image taken from tribaloutpost

Dear All

Balba Simbiken will be conducting a BILUM workshop at Strathnairn on Saturday 21st May from 10am to 4pm.
Some materials will be supplied but please bring along any materials with which you would like to experiment.

Bring your own lunch, tea and coffee will be provided.

The cost will be $50 which must be paid by 26th April. There is a limit of 20 people so places will be allotted on a first come basis.

Payment (cheques or money orders) should be sent to Wendy Dodd, 36 Girrahween Street, BRADDON 2612.
Enquiries before 26th April can be emailed to me wendydodd (at) hotmail.com or phone 02 62473210.
Enquiries after 26th April can be sent to Nancy Tingey nancytingey (at) googlemail.com
Please pass this information on to anyone you think may be interested

Wendy Dodd

Information supplied by Balba Simbiken

"In some of our culture back in Papua New Guinea, we girls start training how to make bilum as young as 8 to 9 years. We have different styles of making bilums. I started making bilum when I was 9 years old. These two regions in Papua New Guinea are popular in making bilum. They are Highlands and Momase regions. I will bring along different types of bilums to display during the workshop. It is our culture that, we must know how to make bilums.

We used bilums to puy babies in and carry them, to put garden food in, for marketing and shopping and more. Ladies cannot walk around without a bilum back in our village." Balba Simbiken

PNG Bilum on display at 2009 Goroka Bilum Festival

Images used for inspiration and are not supplied by Balba Simbiken or Wendy Dodd

Who Are We?

2011-01-25T18:18:00.001-08:00

Nancy Tingey detail

Image Gabriella Hegyes detail

We are a group of practicing visual artists, living and working in Australia. We work in all mediums including textiles, sculpture, photography, painting and drawing to name a few. We have and continue to exhibit both nationally and internationally in both solo and group exhibitions.