Welcome to my first blog post, where I will share my experiences at Bundanon Trust residency!
Being accepted is a career milestone and a must for many artists. Regional Arts NSW provided funds for me to travel and attend this residency, it would have not been possible without their support. The residency studios are based at the Boyd family Homestead grounds on the Shoalhaven River nestled amongst rugged rock formations and rainforest. I had a swanky apartment and studio Gonski overlooking Boyd’s painting studio, the homestead and its ground. I was welcomed by the wonderful Mary Preece.
My intended use of the residency was to revisit Museum of My Friends #1 in preparation for my new project, Museum of My Friends#2 (Create NSW Health and Wellbeing grant). On arriving there, I realised having space away from floods and fire, gave me the mental space to “reset”. I ditched computer, phone and Netflix! Instead walking and absorbing the magic of the river, homestead, Boyd Studio, gardens, forests and terrain. I read books about the Boyd family and Arthur Boyd, the strength of the women who were artists and generational is of note.
Being at the Boyds Homestead, I felt inspired to revisit my earlier visual arts practice, which started with drawing and ceramics. Each day I wrote and drew in my sketchbook and on long walks, collected treasures and let my mind recalibrate. Towards the end of the residency, I picked up the camera and took too many photos, that have since been overwhelming in sorting! Time away from screens has made it hard to come back to them.
Arthur Boyds studio felt as though someone was still there, felt alive. The studio itself is very organised and seeing the working and mountains of paints all in colour corners was delicious. Working without distraction is important to most artists. It was inspiring for my practice and I hope to see my studio as organised soon!
Each day and often at night, I would visit the homestead absorbing the feeling of the place, had my magic spots, communicated with the animals in my journeys. My father worked at the mines in Morwell (Hazelwood, Vic.) and I had his long length grey pure wool work coat, its lightweight and old not a fashion piece, but I think the kangaroos mistook me for one of them! So I learnt to speak with them by shaking my head. They are pretty friendly there and of course there are huge amounts of wombats. The birds were friendly, especially Mr Satin Bowerbird.
My recent work arts is usually very planned, part of revisiting my practice was refinding just making work and not overthinking it, that was a challenge. I compiled the found objects and mesh making a “sketch” with the materials combine. Later I added chucks of videofootage I had taken into a VJ program, and built them onto the work utilising my customised interactive touchscreen app. It’s an experiment, but from this time in Bundanon, resetting and experimenting, i have a new direction, which will start with smaller sculptural maquettes, and engage a more immediate creative approach.
Meeting other artists is part of a residency and serendipitous. Emily Grainger, a young extremely talented harpist, became a new friend. I hope to work with her in the future. To listen to her music while I was creating was a joy! Helen Whyatt, a jeweller, also a brilliant human, experimented with me working with a blowtorch on the metal mesh I use, for malleability and colour. She showed me her work and methods in the well set up jewellery making studio. The impressive Judith Nangala Crispin, a writer photographer, was preparing her new book, hand laid and written, photos made by images of deceased animals on paper with eeriness and beauty.
We had a get together in Gonski Studio. It was great to be with likeminded passionate artists, we discussed art and our concerns for the state of the world. Arthur & Yvonne Boyd were political, as part of the Angry Penguins, a movement which challenged the traditional arts status quo and commented on the state of the world. As artists our role is to perceive, study, analyse the world, and make comment. It is through art that mindsets change, it is the steppingstone that opens up the minds of all. To be reminded that our role which is currently dismissed as trivial and a luxury, is in fact important, especially in these times where greed is wantonly destroying of our planet for items that end up in landfill, polarisation between poverty and richness, the extinction of our flora and fauna, leaders with power but no leadership. We are in historic times and it will be artists/creatives that assist the vision for new ways forward.
This residency at Bundanon had a huge impact on myself and my practice. Residencies are essential to our work practice. I am incredibly grateful towards the team at Bundanon Trust.
This residency would not have been possible without the support of Regional Arts NSW. The current team at Regional Arts NSW, work hard at assisting regional artists, understanding that our art is high quality and needs exposure nationally. They are accessible, friendly and helpful helping bridge that gap I used to find so terrifying. If you are a regional artist do contact them. I also highly recommend attending Artstate in Wagga Wagga this year (Nov 5-8th). It is from having my work exposed at the first Artstate that opportunities arose, as many of the industry people from the city are there. Thank you for reading my blog no 1!
