Touch is an exhibition of work from nine artists who have responded to the title as theme. Janet Mitsuji’s work Scars and Other Imperfections was created after a recent visit to Fowlers Gap in the arid north west of NSW.
Touch is an exhibition of work from nine artists who have responded to the title as theme. Janet Mitsuji’s work Scars and Other Imperfections was created after a recent visit to Fowlers Gap in the arid north west of NSW. It captures the beauty of the river gums, their lumps and gashes as indelible markers of their experience, revealing resilience and finding parallels to Mitsuji’s own fair-skinned struggle with the harsh Australian climate. Through her sense of touch, Mitsuji has focused on the topographical anomalies of individual trees and how they, like her, manage to endure and adapt.
Alison Duff’s work also pays its respects to the magnificence of nature, in this instance a towering Eucalypt touched by the tree loppers and stump grinders that seek to limit the tree’s encroachment into a driveway. Her work wound uses salvaged shards of kino (resin), leaves, branches and sawdust that reference the tree’s attempt at self healing as well as the ancient Egyptian process of mummification. Duff’s haunting work not only uses the carcass of its subject as scaffold for her art, but also manages to honour its memory in the care by which she treats its entrails.
While these works reference the natural world other artists have looked at the notion of ‘touch’ as it occurs within human relationships. Tania Allen’s work endeavours to capture intimate moments between a mother and her child, highlighting the importance of touch in our every day lives and from our earliest moments.
In stark contrast to Allen’s More Love with its references to connectedness, wellbeing and happiness, Vanessa Martinez’ Hairy Bitch looks at the effects that the lack of human touch can bring in a tech-obsessed society that allows its users to separate themselves from the effects of their words. Martinez’ powerful and unapologetic work brings into sharp relief the pervasive hyper-femininity that elicits a gag reflex in the throat of society at the mere thought of touching a woman’s hairy legs. Both Martinez and her calm commentator Morgan Mikenas refuse to seek the approval of immature social media bullies to feel beautiful.
Tamara Pavolvic’s work also concentrates on female identity and the sexualisation of body image through social media, advertising and the news. Like Martinez, Pavlovic celebrates a healthy body image.
Jac Font’s work looks at skin itself as fragile defence, with the possibility of its penetration eliciting both appeal and horror as a response to the human touch. The surface of her figures is not entirely intact, alluding to the breakable body’s vulnerability to deformity and destruction, hinting at violent histories.
Touch plays an important part in Timba Bridge’s practice as sculptor, using a haptic process to explore texture and materiality. Her series maps of meaning represents her connection to places that have touched her metaphorically, including the city of Paris where Bridge recently spent six months.
Works from artists Nicole Sacks and Tanya Reinli are also represented in this exhibition.
Touch is an exhibition of work from nine artists who have responded to the title as theme. Janet Mitsuji’s work Scars and Other Imperfections was created after a recent visit to Fowlers Gap in the arid north west of NSW. It captures the beauty of the river gums, their lumps and gashes as indelible markers of their experience, revealing resilience and finding parallels to Mitsuji’s own fair-skinned struggle with the harsh Australian climate. Through her sense of touch, Mitsuji has focused on the topographical anomalies of individual trees and how they, like her, manage to endure and adapt.
Alison Duff’s work also pays its respects to the magnificence of nature, in this instance a towering Eucalypt touched by the tree loppers and stump grinders that seek to limit the tree’s encroachment into a driveway. Her work wound uses salvaged shards of kino (resin), leaves, branches and sawdust that reference the tree’s attempt at self healing as well as the ancient Egyptian process of mummification. Duff’s haunting work not only uses the carcass of its subject as scaffold for her art, but also manages to honour its memory in the care by which she treats its entrails.
While these works reference the natural world other artists have looked at the notion of ‘touch’ as it occurs within human relationships. Tania Allen’s work endeavours to capture intimate moments between a mother and her child, highlighting the importance of touch in our every day lives and from our earliest moments.
In stark contrast to Allen’s More Love with its references to connectedness, wellbeing and happiness, Vanessa Martinez’ Hairy Bitch looks at the effects that the lack of human touch can bring in a tech-obsessed society that allows its users to separate themselves from the effects of their words. Martinez’ powerful and unapologetic work brings into sharp relief the pervasive hyper-femininity that elicits a gag reflex in the throat of society at the mere thought of touching a woman’s hairy legs. Both Martinez and her calm commentator Morgan Mikenas refuse to seek the approval of immature social media bullies to feel beautiful.
Tamara Pavolvic’s work also concentrates on female identity and the sexualisation of body image through social media, advertising and the news. Like Martinez, Pavlovic celebrates a healthy body image.
Jac Font’s work looks at skin itself as fragile defence, with the possibility of its penetration eliciting both appeal and horror as a response to the human touch. The surface of her figures is not entirely intact, alluding to the breakable body’s vulnerability to deformity and destruction, hinting at violent histories.
Touch plays an important part in Timba Bridge’s practice as sculptor, using a haptic process to explore texture and materiality. Her series maps of meaning represents her connection to places that have touched her metaphorically, including the city of Paris where Bridge recently spent six months.
Works from artists Nicole Sacks and Tanya Reinli are also represented in this exhibition.
