Group Exhibition, Darlington Arts Festival, Darlington WA, 2019
In a Sunken Dream is part of an ongoing body of work that explores and often reimagines the intriguing features of overlooked spaces. By drawing attention to the things we fail to notice I seek to bring the viewer a little closer to being present and more in tune with the sense of curiosity and wonder we used to take for granted as children.
Solo Exhibition, Kent Street Art Gallery, East Victoria Park
Shona McGregor has a preoccupation with the overlooked.
They are the things that we fail to notice yet have significance and beauty if we just take the time to consider their existence. Through the processes of magnification, abstraction or re-imagining, her work endeavours to impart a sense of wonder and curiosity about the world around us and a need to re-engage with our surroundings.
Read the catalogue forward written by Sheridan Hart, PhD here
Post Reproductive, Gallery East, Central Gallery, Northbridge, WA, 2019
Laser printing, hand stamping and ink, rice paper, embroidery thread, 31x39cm (image by Kristy Scadden)
Post Reproductive explores the diverse responses of 55 women who answered the artist’s survey regarding their experience of menopause. Their thoughts and feelings about the process, both naturally and medically induced, were then juxtaposed with images of fungi which became a metaphor for post reproductive women in western society.
All the Things They Never Told You, Gallery 25, Edith Cowan University, WA.
Plaster, wire, embroidery thread, each piece 30 x 25 cm
It was everything they said it would be... until it wasn’t.
Bonds tightened to breaking point; an irrepressible heaviness that never left.
Until it did.
‘All the things they never told you’ is a personal reflection of the artist’s journey to date through motherhood. Each infant suit represents a period of time within the last twelve years and the joys and difficulties that are seldom broached in wider society.
Turn & Face the Strange & Post Reproductive, Spectrum Project Space, Edith Cowan University, WA, 2019
Plaster, expandable foam and hand cast polyurethane fungi
Laser printing, hand stamping and ink, rice paper, embroidery thread, 31x39cm (image by Kristy Scadden)
Turn and Face the Strange and Post Reproductive explore an inevitable occurrence that transpires for all women whether naturally or medically. The process of Menopause. McGregor’s interest in this subject is based not only on the reactions of women and how they may perceive themselves during and after this tumultuous time but also how the people around them react to the physical and emotional change. In preparation for the project 55 women were asked a series of questions in an online survey about their experience of menopause. The artist book Post reproductive is the culmination of their diverse responses while Turn and Face the Strange is the artist’s more personal reaction to the looming event and the silent ending that may well be a new beginning.
All There Is (group exhibition): Walk On By, Artsource Industry Art Award, Paper Mountain, Northbridge, WA.
Acrylic on marine ply, 22 x 24 cm
It has become the norm in our society to immerse ourselves in technology and the myriad of applications we find on our phones but does this preoccupation mean that we fail to notice the simple details of our surroundings on a walk that we take every day? “Walk On By” is a series of paintings created for the Artsource Residency which seek to draw attention to the tiny details we overlook . Each day the artist walked from Hyde Park to the studio space at Paper Mountain and took a series of digital images that became the source material for her abstract paintings. Drawing from the textures, colours and shapes of this urban landscape she depicts the essence of Northbridge and allows the viewer the time to pause and consider the need to slow down and be mentally present in our daily lives.
I See You, Darlington Scarp, WA
Polyurethane hand cast fungi, upholstery pins and cloth tape
I See You is an installation drawing inspiration from the natural bushland environment of the Darlington area. I chose to draw attention to the fungi that usually grows unseen in the undergrowth and trees by supercharging the colour palette and bringing these small marvels out into the open.
(image #1 by Sam Hopkins)
Blurred Lines, Midland Junction Art Centre in conjunction with Turner Galleries, WA
The need to belong is a deeply ingrained human trait that urges individuals to search for familiarity in those around them in order to understand their place in the world. But what happens to our sense of self when we choose or are forced to live amongst a community that is different to our own, when we feel caught between two cultures?
Using the textiles and traditional costumes of the Taiwanese Indigenous tribes as inspiration, Blurred Lines is an exploration of the importance of connection with one’s culture and the part it plays in the development of self-identity.
(work in image #2 also by Nalda Searles & Olga Cironis)
additional work by Nalda Searles & Olga Cironis
Morphology #1 & #2 & Between the Cracks, Clyde & Co, WA
This series explores the nature of perception through the abstraction of miniature landscapes found in overlooked spaces.
This series was the winner of the Staff Choice Award
Morphology series & Overcome #1, #2 & #3 & Lost in Translation #1-20, Edith Cowan University, WA
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100cm & 120 x 150cm
Acrylic on marine ply, 22 x 24cm
Lost in Translation is an exploration of the nature of perception via experimental, physical process. Miniature landscapes of overlooked spaces are captured through macrophotography and digitally altered until their texture, form and colours can be isolated and reconfigured into larger scale paintings. The final works stemming from the experimental painting techniques aim to draw the viewer in and encourage them to enter a more mindful space.
