EXHIBITION 12/08/22 - 30/09/2022
ACT BELONG COMMIT EBB+FLOW
Act Belong Commit Ebb+Flow brings together ten artists from each region of Western Australia and their exploration of constant changes within regional communities within Western Australia.
Throughout 2021 and early 2022, community members in the North Midlands joined the artists to explore how changes in our regional communities are often temporary. Act Belong Commit Ebb+Flow worked with the creative and collaborative nature of the arts to explore the past and look to the future of regional communities.
Exploring the temporary periods of decline and growth, drought and rain, hardship and prosperity, the ten residencies resulted in an exciting co-designed exhibition.
The exhibition features artists Lynda Howitt, Martine Perret, Sarah-Jane Eeles, Mikaela Castledine, Siobhan Kelley, Crystal Stacey, Diedre Robb, Sue Helmot, Nyree Taylor and Marianthe Loucataris.
These ten artists explore how these factors outside of our control ebb and flow within our unique regional areas, reflected by the various mediums of visual, written, sculptures and digital works.
As a former Port Hedland resident, artist Siobhan Kelley has been invited to share additional works with the Hedland community as part of the exhibition. In addition to that, Siobahn will be engaging with various community groups in Port Hedland through workshops, Mark Making to share her knowledge and practice. The results of these workshops will contribute to her future works.
It is with much pleasure and anticipation, The Junction Co. And Courthouse Gallery+Studio invite you to hear, see and feel the community voice in the works created, and to celebrate the compelling works in the Act Belong Commit Ebb+Flow exhibition.
The Act Belong Commit Ebb+Flow exhibition is proudly supported by Lotterywest, Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, Regional Arts WA, Act Belong Commit, Healthway, Minderoo Foundation and The Ian Potter Foundation, working toward improving the health, wellbeing, liveability + vibrancy of people living in regional WA.
KEY EXHIBITION DATES
Exhibition Opening
Friday 12 August 2022, 6.00-8.00pm
Artist+Curator Talk
Friday 12 August 2022, 5pm
Venue
Courthouse Gallery+Studio
16 Edgar Street, Port Hedland
Exhibition Dates
12 August – 30 September
ACT BELONG COMMIT EBB+FLOW
WORKSHOPS
Act Belong Commit – Mark Making is a free workshop held by the Courthouse Gallery+Studio and The Junction Co. in partnership with North Midlands Project. It is our pleasure to invite Act Belong Commit Ebb+Flow artist Siobhan Kelley to share her knowledge and practice through these workshops with various Hedland community groups.
In the workshops, participants will be encouraged to respond to the environment with a sense of ‘feeling’ the landscape, rather than making an accurate representation of it. Using pencils and graphite, participants will experiment with a variety of marks that ‘feel out’ an object, rather than accurately represent it.
The workshop will begin with a few quick drawing exercises to loosen the hand and the mind. Artist Siobhan Kelley will keep these drawings that will become part of a collaborative artwork, contributing to Siobhan’s future works.
WORKSHOP DATES
Wednesday 13 August, 10am – 12pm
Tuesday 23 August, 2pm – 4pm
Saturday 27 August, 10am – 12pm
COST
FREE, Bookings essential
VENUE
Courthouse Gallery+Studio
16 Edgar Street, Port Hedland
BEHIND THE SCENES
MEET THE ARTISTS
“My creative practice is grounded in my passion for painting the Australian landscape. This process involves a combination of plein air painting and studio painting from reference images. My studio consists of my immediate surroundings and I respond to the light, colour and forms of the land, while giving consideration to the composition of the completed painting. My plein air paintings in acrylic have come to inform the larger works on canvas painted in my studio. While painting on these larger canvases, I reflect on the atmospheric conditions I experienced outdoors; heat, wind, cold, rain and the memory of my time spent observing and analysing the landscape in front of me.”
Kelley has been short listed for a number of art prizes including the Fleurieu Peninsula Water Prize, The Paddington Art Prize, The Mosman Art Prize, The ANL Maritime Art Prize, The City of Albany Art Prize, The Glover Prize, The Cossack Art Award, The Hedland Art Award, the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery Research Week Art Prize and most recently the Art Piece Gallery 30×30 Art Prize.
Kelley has been an Artist in Residence at The Courthouse Gallery + Studio, Port Hedland, The Gate Keepers Cottage, Police Point, Mornington Peninsula and The Melbourne Aquarium and has completed a Master of Visual Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts.
Sue is a painter with an insatiable curiosity for nature and the Australian landscape.
“Immersed in the landscape itself with a backpack full of paints is where the artistic sparks fly and the creativity begins. The more time that I spend looking and listening, collecting colours and textures, the more the landscape reveals about itself.”
Sue’s impressionistic paintings grow from memories once back in the studio. Layers of oil paint wet over dry, new over aged, in an exploration of beautiful colour harmonies and richly textured landscapes.
During Sue’s residency with North Midlands Project, she facilitated workshops in different towns, schools and at community days across the North Midlands and conducted an artist talk at her exhibition at The Bank Gallery in Carnamah. You can check out the some photos of Sue’s time in residency below and read Sue’s interview with writer Sarah-Jayne.
Crystal Stacey grew up in Broome and was officially a circus runaway at age 16. She is best known for her Hula Hoop and Aerialist role in the Political Hip Hop theatre show Hot Brown Honey.
Crystal has performed across Australia and abroad in North America, Europe and Asia. She is passionate to share her experiences from circus performing and the joy she has discovered from this physical language of self-expression. Crystal’s goal is to tell stories in this form and collaborate with people to share, connect and extend the home she found under the big top.
During Crystal’s residency with the North Midlands Project, she facilitated workshops in different towns, schools and at the Mingenew Mental Health Day and conducted a professional workshop at The Exchange in Carnamah an Morawa. Crystal also started creating a new work collaboratively with the community in response to the Ebb+Flow theme. You can check out the some photos of Crystal’s time in residency below and read Crystal’s interview with writer Sarah-Jayne.
Martine Perret is a photographer and artist living in Margaret River in Western Australia’s South West region. After a long career in photojournalism, covering UN peacekeeping missions in conflict zones, Martine now focuses her time on producing work in and around Western Australia with a strong focus on the aerial landscape as a storytelling tool.
While in residence with the North Midlands Project, Martine connected with the community through eight activities across the North Midlands including schools, specialised workshops at culture + arts days and charted a flight and took photos of Yarra Yarra Lakes. You can check out the some of Martine’s photos of her time in residency below and read Martine’s interview with writer Sarah-Jayne.
Marianthe is a composer, multi instrumentalist, sound designer and singer songwriter. She has had a diverse career; from touring nationally and internationally with indie rock out-fit machine translations to collaborative work with filmmakers and visual artists.
“Creativity is important for children as it gives them creative tools and languages to make sense of their world and themselves.”
During Marianthe’s virtual time in the North Midlands she worked closely with Coorow Primary School and teacher Shiona Herbert delivering a series of creative workshops exploring ‘if water could speak’. Marianthe also conducted two online workshops with the broader North Midlands community, which contributed to a body of co-designed digital works responding to the Ebb+Flow theme.
Lynda is an Artist, Designer and Soulseeker based at Geraldton in WA’s Mid West region. Her work breathes a soul resonance and aims to illuminate the soul by evoking its sensibility. Through her unique blend of art, design and spirituality and her free-flowing, intuitive process, her work holds a greater sense of peace, inspiring our natural state of wellbeing.
While in residence with the North Midlands Project, Lynda connected with the community through nine activities across the North Midlands including schools, specialised workshops and at culture + arts days. You can check out the some of Lynda’s photos of her time in residency below and read Lynda’s interview with writer Sarah-Jayne.
Deidre is a life-long maker and emerging artist from Western Australia. She makes functional, utilitarian objects such as clothing, quilts, accessories and homewares, as well as artworks for exhibitions. She loves working with found and imperfect materials and reinterpreting traditional textile and needlework techniques in a contemporary way. Deidre’s artwork primarily explores themes of identity (both individual and community), home and belonging, and the environmental issues impacting on the places we live.
During Deidre’s residency with North Midlands Project, she facilitated workshops in different towns, schools and at community days across the North Midlands and conduct an artist talk and hold open studios alongside her exhibition at The Bank Gallery in Carnamah. You can check out the some photos of Deidre’s time in residency below and read Deirdre’s interview with writer Sarah-Jayne.
“My practice consists, most recently, of crochet sculptural works. Despite being best known for my animal form sculptures I am actually more interested in people than animals and my work is usually inspired by our relationships with animals. Often my work is a mnemonic, a way of helping me to think about an idea or a problem.”
While in residence Mikaela connected with the community through an exhibition of her existing work at The Bank Gallery and an open studio at The Exchange in Carnamah. She ran a Found Poetry workshop with Scribes of the North Midlands and sculptural workshops at The Exchange, at the Our History Our Heritage Festival event in Three Springs, and with youth at schools in Coorow, Mingenew, Morawa, Perenjori and Three Springs. You can check out the some photos of Mikaela’s time in residency below and read Mikaela’s interview with writer Marcell Billinghurst.
Creativity has been a constant in the life of Nyree, whether as a dancer, photographer or in the production of art. Her enjoyment in collaborating and love for aesthetics in cultures has taken her across the globe working in Tokyo, New York and Chicago.
Nyree’s recent works are deeply connected to her surroundings. Her studio is in an old train carriage set in the bush on her family’s farm. Her works follow the pattern of being immersed in painting and photographing the clouds with the last remaining light.
During Nyree’s residency with North Midlands Project, she facilitated workshops that blended art, art history and music at six schools across the North Midlands; and created new works collaboratively with the community in response to the Ebb+Flow theme. Students heavily resonated with Nyree’s directions to paint whatever they liked and observing how their style changed with changing music.
SJ is a writer, performer, and producer (and a few other odd and random hats) who considers herself both an Esperance and Goldfields local having grown up in both places. Her current base is Kalgoorlie where she is involved in the extremely rich and diverse local arts community.
While in residence with the North Midlands Project, Sarah-Jayne connected with the community through a meet the author high tea, workshops with the regional writing group Scribes of North Midlands, activities at the Our History Our Heritage Festival event in Carnamah, and workshops with students from Carnamah, Coorow, Mingenew and Three Springs. You can check out the some photos of SJ’s time in residency below and read her interview.
