31 Days illuminates the daily practice of an artist. Gallery Red invited eleven Sydney artists to produce a series of small works throughout March culminating in 31 Days, a group mixed media exhibition.
I had been freelancing with Gallery Red as their curator for a couple of years when I proposed 31 Days. A concept that had been incubating in my mind since first seeing Kamin Lertchaiprasert Problem Wisdom at the Asia Pacific Biennale in 1996 (where he produced one work per day for a year using the daily newspaper literally as a form of self expression and meditation. http://qag.qld.gov.au/collection/contemporary_asian_art/kamin_lertchaiprasert )I reflected on the entrenched nature of my own practice over the years, an internal need to produce – no matter what else may be occurring at the time. A number artists were interested in the prospect of being given a time frame in which to examine their established practice. This time frame would become the link to connect a small group of artists, and the exhibition a means to share with us their personal approaches to life and work in the month of March.
My 31 Days in March 2010
My daily landscapes began afresh each morning, but were often carried through into following weeks where they were built up with layers of oil crayon, stitching, watercolour, liquid paper, charcoal…and then scratched back to reveal a landscape bearing traces of an inner world, of many abstract portraits of myself and my daughter. These works come from an internal world of dreams, memory and familiar landscapes out west.
My practice is disciplined and originates from within, processing life’s vagaries. The practicalities of life – motherhood, family dramas, shopping, cooking, cleaning are all present too.