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AKT: Your exhibition in the International Art Studio „Radovan Trnavac Mića“ was really successful – visitors and art critics liked it very much. What are your impressions concerning the exhibition and your stay in Valjevo?
Being my first time in Serbia and showing work that would be very unfamiliar to the Serbian audience (Australian Desert landscapes) I really wasnt sure how the paintings would be received but People really responded to the colour, space and light portrayed. The Internatinoal Art Studio are very professional and did a beautiful job presenting the work and promoting the exhibition. They were also great hosts and showed me many aspects of the area over the month. It was nice to be able to have this time to discover the town, make some great friends and learn a little of the language. The thing I really noticed was that people were always open and inclusive, there was a strong practice of cultural activiites and sharing which is not always so prominent in Australia. I also participated in the Night of the Museum event and enjoyed an invitation to take part in First Triennial of Visual and Experimental Poetry.
In Australia I run an art studio and worshops for people with disabilities. In Valjevo I was fortunate to be able to run some workshops within the local hospital working with inpatients. They responded really well to having some focus and encouragement and did some beautiful paintings of the Australian desert from photos I brought in. I hope the program will develop and other artists come in to work with them.
I have many fond memories of my time in Valjevo and unforgetable vistas of the gradac valley and hill wanders. I hope to return next year.
AKT: You had the opportunity to become familiar with the programme and exhibitions in the International Art Studio “RMT“. What is your comment regarding this issue? The studio has exhibited a great array of artists from all over the world offering the people of Valjevo an international connection of the cultural kind. As far as I know it is a unique model of practice and has shown great success, people just keep coming back. Many of the artists also go on to have great success. It is a great example of Art crossings all boundaries of culture and I found the Serbian people very open to it.
AKT: Landscapes of deserts prevail in your paintings. Is this the case with all of your paintings and why do you find it so inspiring? Being amongst a desert one can often feel a connection with another world , older than we know as the «modern world» and a little mysterious in its strangeness. it provides me endless inspiration. It offers beautiful light, expanse and color particularily at Dawn and dusk, there is also the other unforgiving unmerciless side that those unfortunate to never make it back to tell the story know. The desert is a constant reminder of our mortality. I do mostly paint landscape mostly because I feel happiest when I am amongst it. I like to try to capture a sense of place in my paintings for the viewer to also experience.
AKT: Both the formats of your paintings and the materials you use are unusual. You also use notes „Memory“ after the names of paintings. How did you come up with the idea of painting like that?
Memory reffers to paintings I produce in the studio. For these paintings I am responding to what resonates in my memory of a site and also the painting process. «Sketch» reffers to a direct reponse to what I see and I am painting it in the landscape. I essentially do these to build up my memory of the site and see how it looks at different times of the day. But I also enjoy the fresh quality the paintings have so they are just as significant to include in an exhibition. The format and materials I chose to give a closer impression of the colour of the landscape its ancient feel and expanse.
AKT: What I find most interesting concerning your work is painting on rocks. What can you say about that?
Its not very comfortable J
AKT: You participated in the First Triennial of Visual and Experimental Poetry in Valjevo. You also painted in front of the audience. What are your impressions concerning this event?
I enjoyed being part of it and getting to meet many of the participants. I also got to have a great discussion about language variations and similarities. The painting was difficult as I usually take a many days to build up the layers but I did enjoy the challenge. It is not usual to paint in front of an audience but I have had some previous experience which helped
AKT: You had the opportunity to see magazine AKT. What do you think about it?
Great to see an independnent mag promoting and sharing art and culture from many parts of the world as well as locally. It is a real asset to the people of Valjevo. Keep up the good work J
AKT: What would be your message for the end of this interview?
I have probably said enough I am off to do some drawing!
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]]>Situated in the heart of Serbia the city of Valjevo, about the size of Wollongong will be hosting an exhibition of six Australian female artists in July 2012. Anne Kwasner, Elyss McCleary, Natalie McCarthy, Carmen Reid, Tania Smith and Mignon Steele’s work will be exhibited at the International Art Studio Radovan Trnavac Mica as part of their Summer Cultural program. Some of the artists will also go over to stay as part of a residency the Studio offers exhibiting Artists. The opportunity came about with an invitation for the curator/artist Natalie McCarthy to return to Valjevo with a group of female artists after holding a solo show there in May last year.
The International Art Studio was set up in 1997 by Trnavac, who resides in Belgrade, in his hometown Valjevo as a vehicle for cultural exchange for the Serbian people. Built on the foundation that as the most popular profound form of spiritual activity, art has the capacity of communicating with the entire world in a universal language. see more
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Drawing Group Show
“Make actual - to think of or represent an idea or emotion as if it were something that actually exists”
For this group show, three artists Anne Kwasner, Natalie McCarthy and Duncan McColl explore the notion “Objectified”. They have asked themselves what it means to objectify something through art and how art manages to convey an abstract idea and make it tangible. Their work is underpinned with a strong practice of mark making and the craft of drawing. Objectified presents a visual journey of the artist’s analysis of their chosen themes.
Anne Kwasner
Dolls and shoes, myth and memory and objects of everyday use draw Kwasner’s attention and she injects them with meaning. She creates individual pieces that engage the viewer to ask, ‘What’s the story behind this?’
“Dolls exude expression and character whilst shoes embody a personal history of their wearer. My artwork expresses the things I can’t say, imagined and emotive, made real.”
Kwasner is a multi-disciplinary artist who completed her honours at the National Art School, Sydney in 2009. She merges her long passion for drawing with installation and distinctive ceramic pieces.
Natalie McCarthy
Exploring visual elements that describe light, space and time, McCarthy’s work is informed by a landscape she has experienced directly or from memory. McCarthy uses the 2D plane to render a visual concept of her experience of being in a particular place; it’s distinguishable features and the raw transient beauty that she may have witnessed.
“Focusing on the physical qualities of a landscape takes me away from myself yet also puts me in touch, heightening my senses to place me exactly where I am or was in that moment. Being alone in the landscape, one is vulnerable and made aware of one’s mortality. Instead of fear, I feel part of something greater and that is humbling.”
McCarthy has spent the last ten years or so traveling widely to discover and describe many vast and desolate lands in Australia and overseas. Drawing on compositional elements of Asian art, the spiritual connotations of Aboriginal art and elements of Romanticism, McCarthy has built a strong foundation in her own interpretation of landscape.
Duncan McColl
Drawn to the interactions that emerge from scenarios that manifest between environments and characters, McColl’s work encapsulates an emotive state. His recent works visually portrayal elements of metaphorical language to depict an action or state of mind
“My work is primarily composed from my imagination. I use collective images and figures to exploring visual narratives; a moment and mood that reflects a personal story. I’m also interested in interpreting metaphoric language used to describe an emotional state or action.
Duncan is a cross disciplinary artist who explores the unconscious image making process to describes the tension between characters and their environment, suggesting an open narrative to engage with and decipher.
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Natalie McCarthy is a Sydney based artist whose work focuses predominantly on the subject of landscape. Developed over a period of five years “The Distance from Here” encompasses paintings that explore parts of Australia’s arid and desert regions. As a result of the artist’s recent relocation to the Blue Mountains Region, the latest works are based on scenes painted from the local area. Many of the paintings, which have been exhibited internationally but still to be shown in Australia, will have their debut at the Everglades Gallery. see more
“The Distance from Here” explores the notions of being immersed in a vast landscape and being completely present and aware of where one is standing.
During the Exhibition McCarthy will be running Plein-air painting workshops around the Everglades Gardens.
The show will be open Thursday to Sunday – 11am to 3pm or by appointment until Dec 23
Everglades Historic House and Gardens, 37 Everglades Ave, Leura. (02) 4784 1938
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