vivonne thwaites
curator
chris de rosa
2010 Linolace (working title)
Digital inkjet print, pigment stain. Perforated Magnani paper and lino.
91cm(w) x 43cm(h) Work in progress.
Liminal. 2010
Inkjet print,photopolymer etching,pigment stain. Magnani paper and lino.
Unique state. Size- 230cm(w)x 350cm(h)
Sealace (working title) 2010
Digital inkjet print, pigment stain. Perforated Magnani paper and lino.
91cm(w) x 65cm(h) Work in progress.
Yes, press my eyelids close, 'tis well,
Yes, press my eyelids close,
'tis well,
—But far the rapid fancies fly
The rolling worlds of wave and shell,
—And all the lands where corals lie.
Whilst working on seaweed based prints last year I began listening to “Where Corals Lie” a piece of music by Elgar which overlays the poem of the same name by Richard Garnett wherein the singer is seduced away from mortal love by the pervasive lure of the sea (the “land where corals lie” is, of course, beneath the waves). I played the one song over and over, ad- infinitum at deafening levels. The themes of the work overlapped with earlier interests in the notion of calenture (the state where seasick sailors in a fit of homesickness threw themselves into the sea).
There is also a legend which influenced the work in which a young Venetian seafarer called Polo brought his beloved Dolfina a stalk of seaweed from the far, distant seas. The weed was truly wonderful, frayed, hole-ridden and encrusted with marine salt .It seemed as though it had been fashioned by the sirens. When Dolfina saw it she was concerned at the marvellous seaweed’s fragility. To preserve its beauty, she took a needle and thread and painstakingly copied it, tracing out the seaweed's design until it became lace.
Having been collecting seaweed from our local shores for it’s aesthetic (and Gothic) qualities for quite some time. Its otherness intrigues me. Those sea changes do indeed turn it into things rich and strange; be it tree-forms or indeed lace.
Although the beauty of the seaweed itself should ideally be preserved, it is the transformation that occurs from under to above sea that interests me: a kind of reverse sea change (from "something rich and strange".) My print processes echoes those transformations. Current work continues to follow these themes along with the kind of sea changes that occur underwater. I am interested in the way the music of Elgar’s piece and Garrett’s poem are constructed and intertwined each to serve the other.
chris de rosa - cv
| Education | |
| 1992 | Diploma of Art North Adelaide School of Art (NASA), SA. |
| 1989 | Certificate in Art, Jewellery and Printmaking, NASA, SA. |
| 1988 | Diploma of Applied Science (Nursing Studies) Sturt College, SA. |
| Professional experience | |
| 2010 - | Arts SA, Visual art, craft, and design peer assessment panel |
| 2008 | Yarnballa Cultural Festival, printing workshops for Pt. Augusta Aboriginal Artists |
| 2007 | Willaston Baby Memorial, Gawler Council, SA. Public Art Commission |
| Mulch Art, Adelaide City Council, SA. | |
| 2001 | Edible Roots, Coordinate Adelaide Central Market Community Art Project |
| 1998 | Conducted solar plate workshop for SA Country Arts Trust, Anangu Pitjantjatjara Land communities |
| 1995/2001 | Member of the SA. Print Workshop, Adelaide |
| Solo exhibitions | |
| 2008 | Seagarden, Helen Stephens Gallery, Sydney |
| 2007 | Due, SOMA Gallery, Adelaide |
| 2005 | Thingscapes, Adelaide Central Gallery 2, Adelaide |
| 2002 | Panacea, Promenade Gallery, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide |
| 1992 | Try it for yourself, Garlic at the Ex, Adelaide |
| Selected Group exhibitions | |
| 2010 | Littoral, Carnegie Gallery, Hobart & Burnie Arts & Function Centre, Tas., Come on Spring,Dog Dragon & Southseas Books, Pt. Elliot, SA. |
| 2009 | Whyalla Art Prize, (selected) Middleback Theatre, SA. Artroom5 Henley Beach SA. |
| 2008 | Artroom5 Henley Beach, SA. Swan Hill Print & Drawing Award, (selected) Vic. |
| 2007 | Whyalla Art Prize, (selected) Middleback Theatre, S.A. Altered States, Wagga Wagga, N.S.W. |
| By The Light of the Moon, Impressions on Paper Gallery, Canberra | |
| Fremantle Print Award, (selected) Fremantle Arts Centre, WA. | |
| 2006 | Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial, touring nationally, Swan Hill Print & Drawing Award, (selected) Vic. One, Drill Hall, Adelaide, Fremantle Print Award, (selected) Fremantle Arts Centre, W.A. Calenture, Light Square Gallery, AC Arts, Adelaide |
| 2005 | Trellis, Lucia’s, SALA Week, Adelaide |
| 2004 | Universal Gallery, Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide, Swan Hill Print & Drawing Award, (selected) Vic. |
| Drawing Today, Central Gallery, Adelaide, touring regional SA. (SACAT) | |
| Open Borders, Fleurieu Peninsula Biennale, McLaren Vale, touring regional SA. (SACAT) | |
| Fremantle Print Award, (selected) Fremantle Arts Centre, WA. | |
| Whyalla Art Prize, (selected) Middleback Theatre Whyalla, SA. | |
| 2003 | Distant Voices, RMIT Gallery, Vic. |
| 2002 | SALA, Dog Dragon, Pt Elliot, SA. Fremantle Print Award, (selected) Fremantle Arts Centre, WA. |
| 2001 | Whyalla Art Prize, (selected) Middleback Theatre Whyalla, SA. |
| 2000 | Karra / Karrawirraparri, Art Space, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide (Adelaide Festival 2000) |
| Collections | |
| 2009 | National Gallery of Australia, ACT. |
| 2008 | Swan Hill Regional Gallery, Vic. Charles Darwin University, NT. |
| 2004 | Scott Hicks, Private collection. |
| Awards | |
| 2112 | top prize at the Print and Drawing Acquisitive Awards at the Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery |