2024 Concept to Publication

Exhibition Review: Visual Art | Brian Rope

Concept to Publication | Andrea Bryant, George Kriz, Meredith Krust-McKay, Louise Maurer, Helena Romaniuk, Sari Sutton

PhotoAccess Gallery I 28 November 2024 – 21 December 2024

This exhibition is the outcome of the 2024 Concept to Publication workshop series conducted by Photo Access. After nine months of mentorship by David Hempenstall exploring the art of the photobook, the participants have created new bodies of work showcasing their unique photographic styles in books.

There is quite a variety of book types on display. Not unexpectedly, the subjects and types of images in them vary considerably. Of even greater interest though is the varied styles of books. Some are traditional and commercially printed photobooks. Others are cleverly handmade and quite fascinating to see. 

Andrea Bryant is displaying four separate books. Unleashed has just eight images of Scrivener Dam overflows during major rain events. It has a ribbon hinge accordion binding with a marbled cover. Upright has only six monochrome images in a concertina binding with flag pouches for the images. Both these books were crafted for the artist by Joy Tonkin of Bookarts Canberra.

Unleashed by Andrea Bryant – installation photo by Eunie Kim

Upright by Andrea Bryant – installation photo by Eunie Kim

Footloose is a whimsical exploration of feet and shoes. Unnamed is abstracts of our urban landscapes. The imagery in both these books challenge us to appreciate them. 

Footloose by Andrea Bryant – installation photo by Eunie Kim

George Kriz presents Holding On, Letting Go. It is a tribute to his beloved wife Marjorie who passed away at the start of 2024. This is an artwork speaking to us about letting go and saying goodbye. The artist invites viewers to contemplate the transient nature of our existence. Whilst the physical book is not entirely easy to handle and explore because of its somewhat complex structure, viewing the accompanying powerful video is a most moving experience.

Holding On, Letting Go by George Kriz – installation photo by Eunie Kim

Meredith Krust-McKay invites us to get Up Close and enjoy the beauty of birds. The images of the avian world are excellent, and the chosen types of handmade books are fine choices, in the artist’s words “conveys parallels between the structure and delicacy of the feathered subject matter and the intricacies of one book form.”

Up Close by Meredith Krust-McKay - installation photo by Eunie Kim 

Up Close by Meredith Krust-McKay - installation photo by Eunie Kim

Louise Maurer’s contribution is titled Australian Tales. It is a creative imagining of explorer Charles Sturt’s search for an inland sea. It and her Memorial series about those who attempt to cross the waters but never find land became one in the process. Her “creative revision” method of developing the images has been beautifully used.

Australian Tales by Louise Maurer - installation photo by Eunie Kim 

Australian Tales by Louise Maurer - installation photo by Eunie Kim

Helena Romaniuk is showing photobooks about rust developed from her project which involved experimenting with templates, collages and colours. There are a number of books in her series titled Colour of Rust. Each one contains images of rusted metal surfaces, weathered machinery and forgotten relics. The textures, pattens and vibrant colours are effectively used to reveal unexpected beauty.

Colour of Rust by Helena Romaniuk - installation photo by Eunie Kim

Sari Sutton was a Dark Matter artist-in-residence at Photo Access this year. Her body of work, Dark Energy, was developed during the residency. Using archival Mount Stromlo imagery and botanical materials collected on site, photogram artworks inspired by astronomy and the cosmos were made – deliberately moving or placing objects on the photosensitive paper. Here the artist shows a photobook dummy of darkroom prints (which are the same 8x10 inch dimensions as her original silver gelatin prints) in a way which allows us to touch and hold them.

Dark Energy by Sari Sutton - installation photo by Eunie Kim

This exhibition is well worth a visit. It is a credit to the six participants, and to their mentoring by David Hempenstall. This annual program has delivered worthwhile creative results.

This review is also available on the author's blog here.

A Lens on the Lake, & Kambah

Photography | Brian Rope

A Lens on the Lake | Andrea Bryant

Kambah | Louise Curham

Tuggeranong Arts Centre | 20 Jan – 24 Mar 2023

These two separate exhibitions are both outcomes of explorations by their respective artists.

A Lens on the Lake is a series of abstracted moments Andrea Bryant has gathered whilst exploring life around Lake Tuggeranong. Shot predominantly with an infrared converted digital camera, the surreal scenes are part of a broader project focusing on the health of Canberra waterways and their direct environments.

Kambah, by Louise Curham, is also part of a larger project that is ongoing.

She is interested in the history of Kambah and is making an online digital Kambah People’s Map. As she develops the map, Curham will include images and stories shared with her during public programs at the arts centre whilst the exhibitions are on display. Bryant is also conducting a workshop. Details of those events can be found at https://www.tuggeranongarts.com/whats-on/.

Bryant completed a Diploma in Photography and Photographic Imaging in 2019 at the Canberra Institute of Technology. Her practice focuses on the use of abstraction. Working primarily with black and white photography, she juxtaposes disregarded things with the natural world – thus reflecting on our penchant for destroying the environment.

Here Bryant shows us thirty-six framed fine art prints. Whilst most are black and white, a small number are vibrantly coloured. The images were developed over several years from meditative walks at Lake Tuggeranong, prompted by copious amounts of rubbish discarded in the area.

Amongst the subjects for Bryant’s camera are, inevitably, a shopping trolley and graffiti. But there is also the floating wetland’s structure, people relaxing, fishing gear, filaments, the skatepark, and a black swan. There are even images of Einstein and his “intelligent eye”.

 

Relaxing 1 © Andrea Bryant

Relaxing 2 © Andrea Bryant

Filaments © Andrea Bryant

Mimis © Andrea Bryant

Each walk taken uncovered new debris, different structures and diverse wildlife that Bryant has transformed through artistic use of infrared to shift the commonplace in a way that stirs curiosity. Largely stripped of context, the artist invites us to reconsider our relationship to what have become mysterious or puzzling forms within the landscape.

Floating Wetlands, 2021 © Andrea Bryant

Schism © Andrea Bryant

Tension between unpleasant dumped objects and the beauty found in their forms is intriguing. Bryant’s reframing draws us to reconsider how we move through our environment and the actions we take to pollute or restore it.

This artist is to be congratulated on this, her first solo show, and on the messages she has successfully conveyed.

Curham uses art, and archivist expertise, to explore how we can look after things we can’t digitise. She invites people to think about the wisdom accompanying things they want to keep and how it can be passed on. She focuses on old media and the lessons that can be learned from it.

Kambah, a suburb of Canberra first settled in 1974, was not designed according to the 'neighbourhood' philosophy guiding suburban design and is the largest in Canberra. It took its name from the once prosperous Kambah sheep and cattle farm. The property was sub-divided; Village Creek waterway went underground. Seeking to build community, Curham invites residents, alumni and visitors to select the contents of an archive about Kambah.

The exhibition displays a digital map built from the community’s answers to the question ‘what do you know about Kambah that you think is important to share with others?’ Alongside the map is a series of images of Kambah made using pinhole and cyanotype photography. Both processes have created very literal but diverse portraits of Kambah.

Kambah people's map digital map - © Louise Curham

Urambi20 - © Louise Curham

Pinhole06 - © Louise Curham

The subjects include the historic Urambi Woolshed, the IGA, a bike, casuarinas, dusk (towards the Brindabellas) and cleared woodlands. It all makes for an intriguing show that gallery visitors should spend time with, especially Kambah residents.

Woolshed - © Louise Curham

IGA from Boddington - © Louise Curham

Clearing at Kambah - © Louise Curham

This review was first published online on 9.2.23 by The Canberra Times here and then in the printed paper on 13.2.23. It is also available on the author's blog here.