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Lines that Define series (exhibition), 2016

 

17 June – 3 July 2016

Paper Mountain ARI, Perth

 

Lines that Define: the exploration of subjectivity and perspective by artists Olga Cironis and Mel Dare.

Inspired by their personal narratives and migrant cultural contexts, Cironis and Dare produce socially-charged yet personal 3D and flatline works respectively. While their difference in form and personal narrative result in distinct, contrasting pieces, Lines That Define produces a synergic dialogue that encompasses contemporary social issues including cultural identity and globalisation, gender politics, and environmental change.

 

The result is an exhibition that encourages viewers to be aware of their own personal narratives and immerse themselves in the conversation on the social issues around us.

 

 

Catalogue Essay:

 

How long is a line? 

By Ric Spencer

 

A piece of string is twice as long as it is from one end to the middle – the equation reads as such: 2 (L/2) where L = length. Theoretically then a line is also twice as long as it’s half, a string being a physical manifestation of a line.  

 

A life then, as another manifestation of a line between two marked points, is also twice as long as it’s half – but things start to get more complicated when we try to locate points along that line called life and then try to measure between these. This will to negotiate backwards through various points of our lives is something we define as memory – a skill which at once isolates, congeals and elucidates on these points, thereby measuring not through length but through experience. Experiences are a measure of any life, experiences create memories and memories build lives, build families, societies and cultures; memories are stories told from which others gain insight into our lives.  

 

From these stories values, ethics, law and principles of reason are born. When I look at Olga and Mel’s work I am reminded that experiences and their measure through memory are not universal but rather shift and shape through context. The stories they tell in their work respond to their own lives, and all that comes from this in terms of identity, displacement and belonging.  The shifting, lucid nature of their use of material to me offers a reliable reflection on the unreliability of memory as a collective measure. 

 

If memories (personal and cultural) create identity they also over time become less and less linear and more and more wave like, washing over our lives and descending into haze. I was reading, almost as a reflection of this, that the universe of space-time that we all live in is created in gravitational waves. Last year scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), who had been looking for it for forty years, measured a gravitational wave that washed over the earth at the speed of light.  The wave of gravity was created by two black holes colliding, two individual entities whose existence intersected to create matter, energy and ultimately us. Gravity is the curvature of space and time, gravitational waves are imprinted with information about their source – our source – the source which creates the space time fabric. I recently read a column in The Straits Times (Singapore) by Justin Ker which I think puts the relationship between this wave, us and memory beautifully: “The gravitational wave made all the masses on earth…(it is) perhaps an astrophysical form of memory, carrying information about the history of its formation, as it ripples across the universe. The gravitational waves prove that Einstein was right, and we live in a fabric known as space-time that is malleable and unreliable, like walking in a mist where the faces of wives, lovers and children fade in and out. The solidity of our existence, and the forward arrow of time that we experience, are false.”   

 

In light of Ker’s article it’s interesting to think about the complications of identity in a PGW (Post Gravitational Wave) world. Again when I look at Olga and Mel’s work, together, not only am I reminded of the collision and collaboration of two entities but also of the fractious nature of identity over time, particularly in terms of the subjective nature of experience, and again particularly as it relates to memory. The sandblasted, reacquainted nature of Olga’s sculpture and the floating spatial linear forms of Mel’s paintings for me list toward understanding ourselves not in terms of social media, facebook, family or even world history  – but rather how we might exist in a constantly shifting universe with non-linear memory.  

 

If the gravitational wave moves reality as it moves across us, leaving behind a material memory somehow disjointed, then likewise Mel and Olga’s work leaves a wake of fluid identity, their works shift as waves of new materialism wash over them. If in effect we are living in a dream then things like creation and recreation become cyclical as a constant renewal, and I think this is beautifully approached in Lines That Define. Olga and Mel’s work is embedded with the tension of erasure and rebuilding, where memory becomes pivotal to understanding identity in a constantly shifting physical and material existence. It seems to me in a PGW world that memory begins to mean more to us then a pleasant daydream – rather we become attached to it because it gives us a sense of self and cultural longevity in the face of a wave that constantly reprograms the source and creates an ebb and flow of reality. Perhaps we always knew this wave was there and so we have over evolution embedded memory in our cells to withstand its presence. Cultural memory is memetic and we rely on its knowledge to pass on learning and to keep building lives. When we lose memory, when our stories disappear, we mourn as a species – the loss that gets us most is the loss of data.  

 

In this sense how long is a line?  

 

In Lines That Define the most important lines are the lines that connect, the ones we throw into cultural history, into time, when memory becomes an anchor. Olga and Mel’s work reminds me that the lines that are long enough reach out over time and space to connect cultures, people and stories of place – they become the crucibles of memory and the measure of our existence.  

 

 

Justin Ker The Memory Biopsy, The Straits Times, Saturday May 28, 2016: Opinion, A49  

On 11 February 2016, the LIGO and Virgo collaborations announced the first observation of a gravitational wave. The signal was named GW150914. It matched the predictions of general relativity for the inward spiral and merger of a pair of black holes and subsequent ‘ringdown’ of the resulting single black hole. http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/First observation of gravitational waves  

 

Dr Ric Spencer is an artist and writer and currently Curator at Fremantle Arts Centre.

 

 

Review_Cultural fabric laid bare _ The West Australian_2016_Lines that Define exhibition

Lines that Define-catalogue

CONTACT

Mobile: +61409937022
Email: melaniedare@hotmail.com
Today (Sat 23/04) is the last day to view my solo Today (Sat 23/04) is the last day to view my solo exhibition The Construction of Self  11am - 5pm @ Kamilė  Gallery, The State Buildings, 1 Cathedral Ave, Perth (cnr St George's Tce & Barrack St)

Curator Vanessa Trento selected artworks for the exhibition which aspire to articulate my decade-long investigation into how personal narrative is created.  

#meldareartist #vanessatrento #kamilegallery
#thestatebuildings #soloexhibtion #australianartist
I became intrigued by seemingly mundane decorative I became intrigued by seemingly mundane decorative objects and minutia such as lace hankies and crocheted doilies. How these inanimate objects dictated certain behaviours. How these objects could evoke a rush of memories from early childhood. Sitting at my grandparents kitchen table on my family’s farm.  A crochet doily placed under a procession of teapot, milk jug, sugar bowl and plate of biscuits. Nanna pours tea. I wait for biscuits to be offered. Thongs resting on big toes, trying not to swing my legs, remembering to sit up straight and speak only when spoken to. These small delicate objects - weaved with such care over extended amounts of time - so contrived in their simple, symmetrical patterning - yet dictating so much. - Mel Dare.

These artworks are part of a body of work which began in the Czech Republic while Mel Dare was revisiting her mother’s homeland. Immersed in such a long history full of beauty and dark passages she developed a further interest in the notion of self. How an individual is constructed, threaded together by divergent strands of culture as well as the moments of time and place in which we exist. The echo of events and memory that reverberate throughout our lifetimes. Gentle strands or crude stitches, the pattern of conditioning imposed by external and internal influences. By our simple yet almost all-consuming need to survive – biologically, socially and psychologically. As well as our equally strong desire for comfort.

‘Verisimilitude b’ was part of a body of work produced for the themed group exhibition “Florid“ in 2014. ‘Verisimilitude b’ was it's response.

‘Verisimilitude b’ is currently showing in “The Construction of Self” exhibition and ‘Verisimilitude a’ is available for viewing in the stockroom at Kamilė Gallery, The State Buildings, 1 Cathedral Ave, Perth CBD (cnr St Georges Tce & Barrack St). Curated by Vanessa Trento. Open Tues - Sat 11am - 5pm until 23rd March.

Artwork details: Verisimilitude a and Verisimilitude b, Mel Dare, acrylic paint and ink on wooden board, each 70 x 65 cm, 2014. Photograph by Robert Frith. 
 
#meldareartist #vanessatrento  #kamilegallery #thestatebuildings #soloexhibtion #australianartist
As Shirley and I shared our stories we revealed th As Shirley and I shared our stories we revealed thick red threads running through our lives like veins. 

Listening to Shirley talk about her problematic childhood relationship with red – denoting success in her culture - I reflected on my own: scraped knees from climbing trees; bruises from playing footy with the boys; redback spiders under the outside dunny’s lid; a ewe hanging in the shearing shed, blood pouring from its throat; watered down red engendering feelings of weakness, pain, confusion. 

The more we discussed our seemingly (at first) vast differences the more the other's stories felt familiar. Echoing our own. 

When we share our stories with others patterns are revealed and select areas are embellished. Some threads are unpicked or unravelled; whole sections are sewn over or need to start again. When we share our stories with others we are weaving - adding to one another - becoming part of each other's larger tapestry. 

When our weaving first begins we stitch loose threads borrowed from family and culture. Sewn crudely with coarse threads. As we grow they become finer and more delicate, or entangled. These are the maps by which we navigate our lives. The filters we look through. The blankets we wrap around ourselves for comfort and warmth. The nets which stop us from falling; some becoming traps. 

‘’Elaborate’ is part of a series of paintings responding to a group project “Antipodean Encounters: West Australian Artists and Taiwanese Culture” where members of the Perth Taiwanese community and Perth artists collaborated in 2018. This artwork was specifically produced from a personal and cultural exchange with Shirley Tsao. 

‘Elaborate’ is currently showing in “The Construction of Self” exhibition at Kamilė Gallery, The State Buildings, 1 Cathedral Ave, Perth CBD (cnr St Georges Tce & Barrack St). Curated by Vanessa Trento. Open Tues - Sat 11am - 5pm until 23rd March. 

Artwork details: Elaborate, Mel Dare, acrylic paint and ink on Belgium linen, 30.5 x 30.5cm, 2018. Photograph by Robert Frith.

#meldareartist #vanessatrento #kamilegallery #thestatebuildings #soloexhibition #australianartist
“Old paint flakes with the touch of the needle a “Old paint flakes with the touch of the needle as I sew into gauze covering the deteriorated, broken boundary of a stranger’s home. Held firmly but gently in my hand. Driven by the desire to cover, to protect, I embellish the damaged border of another. While part of me mends.” - Mel Dare

For 24 years Mel Dare has explored identity. The last decade how personal narrative is constructed. More recently she has begun unravelling some of the threads which form the fabric of her own story. When starting this series of artworks:“Mending Broken Boundaries“ she had a major operation, then later two more. Each time the wound was packed with gauze. During this period she mentored artist Madeleine Beech in the project "Continuity and Change; Future". Beech collected and shared with Dare the remnants of her neighbour’s vandalised fence. These fragments of another’s demarcation of ownership and gauze became the mediums of this body of work. 

‘Mending Broken Boundaries No. 1, 2, 4 , 6, 8 & 10' are currently exhibiting in “The Construction of Self” exhibition at Kamilė Gallery, The State Buildings, 1 Cathedral Ave, Perth CBD (cnr St Georges Tce & Barrack St). Curated by Vanessa Trento. Open Tues - Sat 11am - 5pm until 23rd March.

Artwork details: Mending Broken Boundaries series No. 1 to 27, Mel Dare, broken concrete fence pillars and gauze, various sizes, 2019-21. Photograph by Robert Frith.

#meldareartist #vanessatrento #kamilegallery #thestatebuildings #soloexhibition #australianartist
Posted @withregram • @kamilegallery Exploring h Posted @withregram • @kamilegallery

Exploring how the threads of our experience form the fabric of our personal narratives. Informing us of who we are, how we relate to the world and in turn how the world relates to us.” (Mel Dare)

Final week to preview exhibition ‘Construction of Self’ by Mel Dare at KAMILĖ GALLERY State Buildings. Curated by Vanessa Trento. Exhibition closing Saturday March 23rd.

#meldareartist #vanessatrento @kamilegallery #thestatebuildings #soloexhibtion #australianartist #paintings
Thank you Laetitia Wilson for the wonderful review Thank you Laetitia Wilson for the wonderful review of my solo exhibition "The Construction of Self" in the March/April 2024 edition of Artist's Chronicle.  Curated by Vanessa Trento. Exhibiting at Kamile Gallery in The State Buildings, Perth CBD.  Open Tues-Sat 11am -5pm until Saturday 23rd March.

#meldareartist #laetitiawilson #vanessatrento @artistchronicle @kamilegallery #thestatebuildings #exhibtionreview #australianartist
Part 2: Curator Vanessa Trento discussing my solo Part 2: Curator Vanessa Trento discussing my solo exhibition "The Construction of Self" (40 secs, 2/2)

#meldareartist #vanessatrento  @kamilegallery
Part 1: Curator Vanessa Trento discussing my solo Part 1: Curator Vanessa Trento discussing my solo exhibition "The Construction of Self" (20 secs, 1/2)

#meldareartist #vanessatrento  @kamilegallery
Thank you everyone who came and helped make the op Thank you everyone who came and helped make the opening of my solo exhibition "The Construction of Self" a wonderful night. Much appreciated! 

Curated by @trento.vanessa

Open until 23/03
Tues to Sat 11am-5pm
(Apart from 09/03 & 14/03 when open by appointment only. Contact info@kamilegallery) 

Exhibiting at Kamile Gallery in the State Buildings, 1 Cathedral Ave (cnr St George's Tce & Barrack St) - enter St George's Tce entrance, turn right then less then a handful of steps)

#meldareartist @meldareartist #vannessatrentocurator #kamilegallery @kamilegallery #thestatebuildings #australianartist
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