Sculpture in the Vineyards

Joy Georgeson

2009-01-20T10:52:00.008+11:00

Wallaga Lake Totem
raku clay, engobe glaze & oxides
1200C 1900 x 400 x 400mm
Price: $2500

Since moving to the Far South coast of NSW in the early 2007, Joy’s work has been strongly influenced by the estuary and coastal environment in the surrounding country with particular emphasis on the flora and fauna. Conservation and dependency between species are recurrent themes in the sculpture.The Wallaga Lake Totem is a record of animals and plants important to Joy as part of the ecosystem of the estuary. The images are layered as they exist in nature in the food chain, with the invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles and avifauna linked by water. Gulaga, the dominant mountain in a landscape is etched behind the pelican.

Joy Georgeson was born in Melbourne where she attended Melbourne State College majoring in ceramics. She has exhibited in most Australian states and has work in many private and public collections including the National Gallery of Victoria, Newcastle and Shepparton Regional Galleries and various tertiary collections. In 1980 the Crafts Council of Australia selected her to participate in the International Ceramic Exhibition in Faenze, Italy.

Scott Ingram

2009-01-20T03:10:00.009+11:00

Troubadours
marble and recycled steel - 480 x 500 x 1150mm Price: $3,500

Troubadours were lyric poets and singers roaming medieval France, singing the ballads of their time and place. “When I wake in the morning I hear the sounds of natures own Troubadours bringing in the new day. Not sure what they sing, maybe they are simply saying “just live for today” Their style is know as Trobar leu ‘to find, invent compose.”

Birds
crushed white marble & pattern stone binder 800 x 170 x 140 mm
Price: $1,200 per pair (2/21 limited ed.)

Scott has been a practicing sculptor for the past 12 years and likes to use as much recycled materials as possible evolving them into sculpture. He attended Tom Bass Scupture School in 1998 and has done bronze casting and photography at NAS in 1997 and 2007. He enjoys drawing and etching which he believes to be the heart beat of his sculpture making. Scott has a background in building and farming and currently lives and works in Sydney.

Jan Shaw

2009-01-20T02:47:00.005+11:00

The Conversation
carrara marble, black granite 580 x 320 x 600mm - Millbrook Estate 2008
Price: $10,000

Jan’s conversation was one with the beautiful tuscany landscape conceived in a studio in Carrara, Italy and realised in the residence of fellow sculptor May Barrie on the South Coast of NSW. Stone carving is a life long passion for Jan. She attempts to capture emotion without any preconceived ideas working into the block of stone, remaining open and enquiring until she finds her directon guided by the qualities of the stone itself.

Jan studied art at the Sculpture Centre in the Rocks,with Mitzi McColl and went on to teach at the centre for 3 years. She has been a member of the Sculptors Society in1974, completing major commissions for the Bicentennial Sculpture Park at Gallery 460, private collections in WA and two Donnybrook carvings - Nanarup Dreaming and Earthly Star Watcher, 12 and 3 tonnes respectively.

Mike Patton

2009-01-18T15:30:00.006+11:00

Protozoa
sandstone and steel 600 x 600 x 1200 - Undercliff Winery, 2008
Price: $1500 ea.

Protozoa are a group of similar forms that engage the questions of the development of life form. Evolution, adaption and mutation. The three forms may take on different pathways to full development and success. These differences are suggested in shape and implied movement. The stone ‘core’ of these ‘creatures’ the cellular center and the steel expressing from this center the diversion of form arising as development.

Where in the seed steel and timber - 1800 x 600 x 900, Undercliff Winery 2008
Price $7500

Where in the seed represents an imagined flower part. The steel outer form reminiscent of a petal in its voluptuous curve, now dehiscent, it becomes a lacework of disused veins and pathways. The energy is drawn back, within, as a seed forms. Rising through the umbilical to the timber form attached and floating within the shielded protection of the outer form.

Mike has worked in the creative visual communicative arts for nearly 20 years, training in commercial photography teaching him an appreciation and understanding of light. He has a diversity of skills ranging from blacksmithing and props making through to those of an arborist. He worked in Film and TV as an art director. Creating art and sculpture Has always been his first love.

COL HENRY

2009-01-18T14:49:00.015+11:00

Lifesavers
colcast & pure glass, lifesize - Undercliff Winery 2008
Price: $12,000 or $2,200 each

Col Henrys’ Gossamer Series involves physically sketching in space. His ethereal sculptures create complex three-dimensional forms that are both formal and conceptual. The apparent fragility of the work suggests a rhythm that is meditative and engaging - the artist seeing them as metaphors for imagination and creativity. These gossamer works are designed for external installation and are strong and flexible although lightweight.

Col has been a practicing studio artist for over 40 years, having exhibited widely and undertaken a number of significant public sculpture commissions. He lives and works at Wyong Creek, in the Yarramalong Valley. He continues to mentor emerging artists through his popular sculpture classes, involving himself in many forms of artistic endeavor by helping community groups and local schools to achieve excellence in art and art awareness.

Icemen

colcast and pure glass, lifesize, Undercliff 2007/8
Photo: Mattias Morelos, 2008
Price: $3,500

Photo: John Harrison, 2007

Felicity Yorston

2009-01-15T01:57:00.005+11:00

Winter
copper wire - 1200 x 500mm, Undercliff Winery
sponsored by: cma recycling
Price: $2,000

Winter is inspired by recently pruned vines, seemingly bereft of life but simply lying dormant waiting for spring. Taken by the miracle of how these bare stems and two sprigs could produce such an abudance of leaves and fruit with the change of season,
Felicity pays homage to the dormant grape vine through this sculpture.

Felicity has dabbled in a variety of artistic pursuits from costume design to printmaking over the last 25 years. In 1994 she discovered a new medium and went to study glass at Sydney College of the Arts, graduating in 2007. While she enjoys working with glass and sharing her knowledge through teaching kiln-forming, she also finds working on large-scale constructions with bamboo and paper, equally rewarding. She has spent several years working with other artists and communities creating ephemeral large scale lantern constructions for celebrations and festivals around NSW.

Victoria Monk

2009-01-14T21:38:00.009+11:00

2030
54 hand blown glass solar tubes - donated by Physics Department, USYD.
Undercliff, 2008

2030 is fashioned on the game ‘Pick up Sticks’. The game is ancient and prevalent in all cultures and dates back to Gautama Buddha and divination. If we do not do something about climate change NOW, by 2030 there will be no chance to ‘pick up sticks’.

As a multi-media artist Victoria’s work reflects a dynamic approach to visual expression. From a background in performance and community art events she has developed a range of articulation that spans photography and sculpture, installation and printmaking. Her work is often informed by social and political issues that include human rights and environmental concerns. Although eclectic in approach a key influence in much of Victoria’s work has been her frequent travels through Asia, with love and respect of culture. An Eastern aesthetic therefore underpins much of her oeuvre.

Sue Callanan

2009-01-13T23:41:00.006+11:00

Water x Air
site specific installation - sponsored by Hunter Bottling
Undercliff Winery 2008

Sue has a history of creating site specific installations, using minimal interventions to point to and enlarge the span of the viewer’s gaze. In this instance she uses the wine bottle to suggest an interface between human activity and natural elements. She configures bottles in such a way as to zipper up the lake at Undercliff defining the body of water and the island contained within it. This zipper, or stripe, which merges colours of the bottles with those of the surrounding terrain, is intended to prompt the viewer to move along its path, taking in details of the landscape through which it courses.

Sue has been creating site specific artworks over the last 25 years. She highlights aspects of the natural or built environment through introduction of minimal sculptural elements “indigenous” to the site in such a way that displaces their familiar reading. Sue has completed UG and PG studies at Sydney College of the Arts and a Masters in Art in Public Space at RMIT, Melbourne.

47 Artists/ 60 Sculptures/ 5 Vineyards in 2008

2009-01-13T13:05:00.052+11:00

Barbara Campbell-Allen • Don Barnett • Col Henry • Sue Callanan • Will Coles • Kath Fries • Malcom Fry • Cassandra Hard Lawrie •
Kerry Cannon • Jane Hamshere • Nelia Justo • Akira Kamda •
Vlase Nikoleski • Victoria Monk • Bridget Nicholson • Mike Patton •
Paul Selwood • Nicole Allen • Felicity Yorston • Hiske Weijers •
Tabitha Burke • John Clegg • Janet Coyne • David Cranswick •
Melissa Dax • Joy Georgeson • William Eicholtz • Jan Shaw •
Jim Howson • Ken O’Regan • Jacek Wankowski • Chris Retallick • David Walsh • Sally Aplin • Nigel Helyer • Belinda Clarke • Scott Ingram • Steven Deronne • Jesse Graham • Paul Dimmer • Jake Lycos • Toni Pinkus • Wolfgang Gowin • Brian Sanstrom • Lou Steer • Julie Brown •
Janik Bouchette • Paul Slater • Cathie Alexander • Charlie Trivers •

• denotes artist weblink •

Brian Sanstrom

2009-01-13T11:41:00.010+11:00

Representatives of the Urban Sprawl
timber, steel & enamel paint, Wollombi Wines, 2008
Price: $ 5,500

Rural communities face many threats in their daily existence, among them the ever-encroaching sprawl of the cities urban boundaries. Turning once lush pasture into identical bland housing estates. The effect of these developments can been aligned with the similarities of noxious weeds with their own garish colours and uninvited presence.These 16 pieces, spread out and mushrooming up through the green environment represent dilemmas facing growing populations within the urban and rural communities.

Brian Sanstrom was born in Melbourne, taking up residence in Brisbane where he completed a Certificate IV in Visual Arts (Ceramics), followed by a Diploma of Visual Arts (Ceramics) in 2006. He has commenced his Bachelor of Fine Arts, at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, already having exhibited in a number of large outdoor exhibitions including Swell at Currumbin Beach QLD 2008. He is a recent finalist in the Blake Prize for Spiritual art.

William Eicholtz

2008-12-16T11:29:00.010+11:00

Eicholtz’s Jumbuck
polymer cement and bronze with rhinestones 1.6 m
Stonehurst Cedar Creek, 2008
Price: $23,000

‘Eicholtz’s Jumbuck’ is a bejewelled and monolithic interpretation of the iconic Australian ram. He stands, handsomely, as a contemporary symbol for the bounty of the land and the diversity of Antipodean culture. His deciduous autumnal fleece of European oak leaves belies the impact of his hoof print on the Australian culture, ostentatiously bringing his European prosperity into the Australian landscape. He speaks of a different heritage and legacy. His cement leaves are blown aside to reveal a bounty of crystal acorns; an unexpected produce like no other harvested from this land. He is the merino on whose back we ride through the lineage of rural and cultural boom. He is the ovine central image of Australian art, from Tom Roberts’ ‘Shearing the Rams’ to Les Kossatz’s iconic sculptures, but reinterpreted in a post-modern context. This merino glances at us through rhinestone eyes, with a glittering, knowing irony. He is aware of his place in history and acknowledges it sheepishly.

‘Eicholtz’s Jumbuck’ is 1.6 metres high. It is made from a hardwearing polymer cement worked over a polystyrene core, and studded with plastic rhinestone acorns set in cast bronze caps. These materials are ideal for permanent outdoor display. This sculpture requires little maintenance, and will benignly sit in its garden surrounds. Like ‘Shrek’, the New Zealand merino discovered sheltering in a cave in 2004, shaggy and ensconced in five years of unshorn fleece, this iconic Australian image is rediscovered and brought into contemporary conscience. He sits as a curious sentinel, at odds with his present but acknowledging his history and looking to the future.

ABC TV documentary 2008 featuring Melbourne based sculptor William Eicholtz and his idiocyncratic works. Fast paced and amusing, follow the creation of a commissioned public sculpture and the wacky studio world he works in. This upload is purely for private viewing and not to be sold in any form. It is provided here free of charge. Broadcast quality version available from ABC TV Australia.

Will Coles

2008-12-16T02:01:00.006+11:00

Silence/life is fleeting/numb/alone
installation:fibre glass, resin, iron powder, ciment fondue, Undercliff winery 2008
TV Price: various from $650 - $950
Remotes: $50 each

Will’s sculptures have always been prompting questions rather than pretty lumps to gaze at. The conceptual works are poems, a word or two on the screen and the rest represented in the form, the material, the connotations or replications. Sometimes a sculpture might just be the physical manifestation of a random thought. He uses televisions as a way of connecting with the viewer, something immediately recognisable, and something we’re used to receiving information from - right or wrong. The televisions are concrete for the texture, and the porous aging quality of the material as well as to represent something man-made & mass produced.

Steven Deronne

2008-12-16T01:38:00.005+11:00

Au Commencement
steel - 2000mm dia Wollombi Wines, 2008
Price: $4,500

Centered on the themes emanating from our universe - the planets, the stars, the Big Bang and metaphysics, the work of Steven Deronne takes in the beauty and immensity of the cosmos. Steven aims to provoke thought about slowing our hectic ways of life, learning to do a bit more star gazing and appreciate and look after the universe we exist in. He is inspired by the ideas of Malevich, Mondrian, Kandinsky and Rothko. He works predominatley in steel. Born and bred in a blustery fishing village in Brittany, France, Steven began his art career studying Fine Arts at Ecole des Beaux Arts in Rennes, France. In 2000, after travelling broadly, he settled in Australia, resuming his studies and graduated with an Advanced Diploma of Fine Arts - TAFE Sydney Gallery School. Steven currently works from his studio in East Gresford, in the upper Hunter Valley.

Kerry Cannon

2008-12-16T01:29:00.006+11:00

Toys
bronze, stainless steel, patinated concrete, paint 500 x 450 x 630mm
Millbrook Estate, 2008
Price: $6,500

Kerry’s first artworks were comics and the comic influence is still strong in his work. His art practice comprises of two major strands - a series of bronzes taken from an archive of ideas he formulated 8 years ago and the development of his Ceramic Break Sculpture Park opened in rural NSW in 2003. Kerry came to Australia in 1995 with the strong commitment to sink or swim embarking on a career as a full time artist. “...the Park is a conduit to voice my outrage about the world today and to laugh. Out in the bush, I play the dual role of educator and artist to the locals that drop in. I love the bush.”

John Clegg

2008-12-16T01:14:00.005+11:00

Reinbirth
carved dead black wattle tree 4000 x 500 x 500mm
Stonehurst Cedar Creek, 2008
Price: $3,500

John has attempted to carve a more formal geometric puzzle piece from an idea derived from off-cuts of last year’s sculpture, but the tree imposed a helical growing structure and co-users of the wood introduced an engineering challenge. The choices were to give up, start again, or change the design. He chose the latter and it’s wood carved, becoming more organic and bone-like growing in spring.

Janik Bouchette

2008-12-16T00:21:00.006+11:00

Jeux D’interieur
found mild steel - 1900 x 2100 x 1500mm, Undercliff winery, 2008
Price: $29,000

Bringing together elements of opposite energetic value, this work unfolds with conflicting dynamism to reveal unexpected movements, directions and emotions; exploring the incompatibles to expose their interdependences and closeness.
Janik completed his Bachelor of Fine Art at the National Art School in Sydney in 2001. He is represented by Defiance Gallery and has exhibited in numerous group shows including Sculpture by the Sea and Sculpture in the Vineyards. He was shown as a finalist in the UWS Acquisitive Award in 2004 & 2006.

Barbara Campbell Allen

2008-12-16T00:17:00.006+11:00

One Dream Too Many
33 stoneware spires, height variable to 90cm
Wollombi Wines, 2008
Price: $6,000

Barbara Campbell-Allen is a ceramic artist working in the subtle world of long wood fired ceramics. Originally trained at the National Art School in Sydney and later at the Gippsland Centre for Design and Art, Barbara holds a Masters of Arts (Visual Arts). Barbara’s work is widely exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions, and is published in the leading ceramics journals of Australia and America.

Skimmers 1 & 2
wood fired ceramic, 480 x 460 x 160 mm
Stonehurst Cedar Creek, 2008
Price: $900 each

Belinda Clarke

2008-12-16T00:13:00.017+11:00

Hybrid
copper shim, high density foam (2) - 2500 x 860 x 300mm & 1500 x 600 x 300mm
Wollombi Wines, 2008
Price: $1800

Belinda completed a degree in Visual Art at Sydney College of the Arts in 1987 and went to attend NIDA graduating in 1994. She has worked as sculptor for the film and theatre industry for the last 14 years.

Janet Coyne

2008-12-15T23:49:00.021+11:00

Sentinel
render, steel 2100 x 1000 x 700mm
Stonehurst Cedar Creek, 2008
Price: $5265

Inspired by a piece of coral, the twisting upward movement combined with the spreading fingers of new growth suggests a contradictory blending of fragility and strength. The promise of life, growing, striving and building ever upwards; yet maintaining the delicate balance of opposites. Nature has so much to teach if we are willing to learn.

The Dance
winterstone - 1000 x 210 x 150mm
Millbrook Estate, 2008
Price: $1750

In 1999 Janet joined the Tom Bass Sculpture Studio School, where she learnt sculpture in the tradition of the studio/school, using traditional modelling and carving methods. In 2004 she became a part-time teacher at the school and has continued to teach from her home studio in Sun Valley in the lower Blue Mountains.

Melissa Dax

2008-12-15T12:48:00.005+11:00

Where They Fell
round aluminium extrusion, baked enamel paint 21 x 6000mm
Stonehurst Cedar Creek - 2008
Price: $9,500

Where They Fell is reminiscent of the children’s game Mikado or Pick up Sticks but rather than being just a child’s game it is striving to represent the larger game of life. It depicts the potential randomness of one’s direction in life and the potential chaos that can ensue based on one’s choices and also from external events that are out of one’s control. Just as each person is responsible for themselves, so too are they effected by shifts and movements around them. The piece offers a chaotic snapshot of one possibility which remains on the brink of change.

Nicole Allen

2008-12-15T12:42:00.010+11:00

Boxed in
steel and marble,
2600 x 600 x 600mm
Stonehurst Cedar Creek 2008
Price; $3,900

Having worked in Africa for one and a half years and more recently spending three years sculpting in Vietnam, Nicole’s heavily abstracted stone carvings reflect her deep love of primitive and native art, is an unabashed, raw and direct style. This powerful primitive tribal presence, imbuing her unique style, is the unmistakable legacy of her rigorous artistic apprenticeship in Zimbabwe. Nicole now lives in Melbourne and she is once again enjoying exhibiting all around Australia.

Paul Dimmer

2008-12-15T12:08:00.011+11:00

Antipodean Venus
recycled steel, 600 x 1900 x 600mm
Millbrook Estate 2008
Price: $6,000

Inspired by the well known Paleolithic figurine, the Venus de Willendorf, discovered in the early 1900’s and carbon dated as 28,000 years old. Paul’s work combines the formalism of the reproductive rites symbolised by this icon with the casual pose of sensuality. Uniting the sacred with the profane, it is both ritualistic and playful, injecting a contemporary sensibility into an historical artifact and the associated cultural meanings surrounding fertility.

Alternative views of Antipodean Venus, first shown at Sculpture by the Lake, Murrays Beach NSW 2008

The Copper's Wife and The Dancing Policeman
copper, brass, mild steel 1250 x 500 x 500mm and 1000 x 260 x 260mm
Wollombi Wines 2008
SOLD

As a full time artist, Paul Dimmer has exhibited in galleries on the south coast, Bungendore, Canberra, Hunter Valley, in Sculptors Society exhibitions, and various Art competitions. Over the last ten years, he has experimented with new materials, giving greater attention to larger outdoor sculptures. His focus has been in the creation of unique one-off works with a quirky or humorous aspect, and recently has been concerned with pieces of a more abstract quality.

Sally Aplin

2008-12-15T11:59:00.011+11:00

Swing Sacks - concrete, oxide, synthetic fibre - 230 x 150 x 120mm
Wollombi Wines 2008
Price: $2,500 or $200 each

Despite having a recognizable form, the sacks are not functional. They are made of concrete resulting in full, heavy objects weighing more than 3 kilos each. They speak about containment and safe storage, out of reach to animals. Placed high above our heads, the solid sack-bag forms are out of context within the landscape colourings with their bright, blocks of colour and vivid handles. Swinging from steel shackles and wires they bring to mind the movement of bags loaded with cargo.

Sally trained as a sculptor and taught in Bristol, gaining her Masters degree in Fine Art at Cardiff. She works in a wide variety of materials - concrete, wax, textiles, plaster and plastic, etc. continuing her use of vitreous enamel on copper to make enamelled bags. Sally has exhibited in Europe, USA and Australia and was a prize winner at a national open sculpture exhibition in Bristol. In 2001 she relocated to Sydney.

Don Barnett

2008-12-15T11:56:00.007+11:00

Repose
hebel, 700 x 400 x 400mm - Undercliff Winery 2008
Price: $2,500

Don is a retired architect who took up sculpture in 1997, attending classes by Willi Haas at Tracks Studio Islington. He is a member of the Sculptuors Network and the NSW Sculptors Society. Don started with small abstract pieces in South Australian soapstone and timber and is now creating larger works in plaster, acrylic polymer and hebel block. He works from his studio/shed overlooking the bushland behind his Kotara home. Don has exhibited his work with the Sculptors Network and at the Hunter Botanic Gardens.

Cathie Alexander

2008-12-15T11:49:00.009+11:00

Whales Eye
stainless steel welded rod - 1720 x 770mm dia - Millbrook Estate 2008

Cathie’s sculptural practice is influenced by the modern dynamism of contemporary sculptors, Alexander Calder, Bert Flugelman and the late Bronwyn Oliver. She strives for balance, spontaneity, and honesty, tapping into a flow from the creative subconscious. Whales Eye explores the spiritual and sensual experience of swimming in the ocean; as the water passes through our skin and we become one with the environment. These sheer ethereal forms are Cathie’s representation of the human fascination with the whale, its all seeing eye watching us consume, kill, remove, eradicate and waste as it cries for a species lost.

Cathie graduated from the National Art School in 2006 with a Bachelor of Fine Art - majoring in Sculpture.

Lyrebird Blues Band at the Wollombi Tavern

2008-06-11T19:01:00.011+10:00

Sculpture in the Vineyards official opens at 4pm on Saturday 18th October at the old Wollombi Dance Hall.

We've got a few ideas to spice up the evening working around the usual exhibition opening format. One such includes a blending fashion, sculpture and performance to bring you a parade with attitude. "TRANSIENCE: Metamorphosis/Regeneration - a neo-pagan celebration of the patterns and diversity in the natural world."
More on that program once it is confirmed.

Following the opening we're proud and pleased to bring you Lyrebird Blues in an after party of sinful sounds down at the world famous Wollombi Tavern - home of Dr Jurd's Jungle Juice.

Lyrebird - not exactly a name evoking the dark and terrible imagery of the blues: pacts with the devil, graveyards and chimneys of human skulls, Cobra-snake neck ties and deals struck in blood with mysterious strangers at midnight crossroads.

Still consider the Lyre of Orpheus, used by the mythical poet and musician, practitioner of the dark arts to charm wild beasts and coax the trees and rocks into dance. He descended into the underworld inspiring the cult of Dionysus, god of intoxication and lewd rituals. Is something dark is skulking behind the benign moniker Lyrebird Blues Band? See you at the Tavern to find out!!
http://www.myspace.com/lyrebirdblues

NEW WEBSITE for SinV...

2008-05-26T15:24:00.006+10:00

Sculpture in the Vineyards has a new website as a link off the Wollombi Community site.
www.wollombivalley.com/sculptureinthevineyards

Still putting the pieces together over there but the 2008 application details are up to date and there is a pretty gallery of last years work...

That site has a link back to the blog so please travel between the two for the Offical and the NOT So Offical story as the event unfolds. Also a visit the blog for its great wealth of exhibition history.

You can also visit Wollombi.com and find out more about the local area - see what you are getting yourselves into when you visit!
Enjoy!

LUCY BARKER

2008-05-10T20:17:00.008+10:00

Playschool 416
pine & oil paint, approx 300 x 300 x 200cm
Millbrook Estate, 2007

Lucy Barker trained in Europe in traditional oil painting and has a degree in design. Barker now works largely with installation and sculpture and has developed a reputation for quirky, engaging works. Inspiration for much of her recent works is drawn from a deepening understanding that memories are building blocks forming the architecture of our lives. www.lucybarker.com.au

Chris Retallick

2007-12-05T22:26:00.018+11:00

Cultural Herd
plastic & foam
night photo: Lisa Hogben

Chris has a Bachelor of Visual Arts Education form UNSW and a background in prop and set building. His installation sees a herd of diverse cultures being shepherded across fields driven by machines. The herd may exceed thousands in number. They arrived at Undercliff pristine and white yet throughout the months of the exhibition with some interbreeding and exposure to different climes they became a mottled bunch of individuals. Quite poetic!

Alison Clouston & Boyd

2007-12-05T11:07:00.002+11:00

Body of Water
polypipe + fittings, rubber, wood, hydrophones, headphones, batteries + cable approx 20m x 20m

Water moves through our bodies and the landscape in a network of creeks, veins, rivers, and arteries. "Body of Water" allows us to eavesdrop on the secret hydrology of the river as well as our own bodies which are at least 70% water.

Visitors were invited to try on the headphones provided at the coracles, or circular boats, drawn up on the creek bank at Undercliff winery, and listen through the hydrophone – a microphone under the water and then place the on-land hydrophone on their own belly and listen. The resulting soundscape contained the mysterious sounds and signs of life and health in body and water – the clicks and squeaks of turtles, tadpoles or freshwater invertebrates, and the strange and funny music of the human innards. The flotilla of small vessels carries the hydrophone out to the depths of the water: Like us, adrift, and vulnerable to the currents of change.

Alison and Boyd conducted a Greenhouse emissions audit on the presentation of "Body of Water" at Sculpture in the Vineyards in 2007, with the full report published in the exhibition catalogue as an integral part of the completed work. I have included as an example the ways in which they offset emissions for SinV and previous projects based on the results of the audit.

SinV Offset cost: A $100 donation to Get Up towards an advertising campaign urging people to consider the policy on climate change of candidates in the forthcoming federal election.

Offset cost for previous projects: For the construction of "World Tree" for Goulburn Regional Gallery showing $82.50 was paid to www.climatefriendly.com for an accredited green power project, in this case a Turkish wind farm. 20% of this money is used for administration. For the Sydney University showing we decided to donate $100 to the Alternative Energy Association International Projects Group to undertake a solar system upgrade for the Soibada Orphanage in East Timor. This upgrade will enable the orphanage to replace the use of diesel fuel power generation with solar. www.ata.org.au

Alison & Boyd web

Jesse Graham

2007-12-04T13:11:00.001+11:00

Russel the Rhino
stainless steel, brass, tin, iron, aluminium
Wollombi township, 2007

Last year as I was saying my goodbyes to individual artists, Jesse Graham promised me a Rhino! And sure enough not one but two arrived just in time for the 2007 opening. Russel came off the trailer and was installed later to be joined by Bruno, the Baby Rhino. Russel and Bruno are central stage across the road from the famous Wollombi Tavern, the only watering hole in town and can't be missed. The pair, I believe will be holidaying with us for a while - so take a trip up to the Hunter and make sure you visit. You can check out some of Jesse's smaller works in Sydney, for the whole month of January 08 at Regard Gallery - 372 Wilson Street (Cnr. Codrington Street) Darlington, opposite the entrance to Carriageworks performing arts centre.
Jesse Graham web

Nelia Justo

2007-12-04T12:38:00.001+11:00

Temple of Delight wood & paint 200 x 130 x 130cm
Undercliff Winery, 2007

Captured here in the early morning dawn by photographer Lisa Hogben, Nelia's fanciful garden pavilion is a place to rest; a place for frivolity and whimsy as garden architecture or ornament? Based on Chinoiserie-style pavilions of 18th century European gardens, this pavilion initially appears as a conventional structure. All is not as it seems - It soon becomes evident there is no entrance and no shelter to be had.

Paul Dimmer

2007-12-03T12:05:00.000+11:00

Boxers
steel and stainless steel
1800 x 1800 x 900 mm
Millbrook Estate, 2007

It is hardly a surprise to hear Paul Dimmer talk about his love of sculpture and passion for his art when you see the detail he applies to his creations. Self taught and a master of many different mediums, Paul career spans many years of dedication beginning at age ten by carving his first sculpture.

Boxers captures the movement and beauty of two large male kangaroos in ritual competition. The exquisite surface treatment, evident on closer examination serves as the 'icing' on and already stylish 'cake'. The simple clean lines of the forms contain both the notion of reality and poetry of gestural abstraction.

Tony and Ann open Sculpture in the Vineyards

2007-11-29T22:50:00.000+11:00

Anthony Bond, Director of Curatorial Services at The Art Gallery of New South Wales and Anne Graham, practicing artist and Head of School of Fine Arts, Faculty of Arts and Education at the University of Newcastle officially opened Sculpture in the Vineyards 2007 on the 20th October at Horse Heaven Gallery, Wollombi. Exhibiting artists, and their guests were charmed by their gracious and well informed opening words. Sincere thanks to both of them for doing a fabulous job, helping take SinV to the next level...

Tony and Ann spent the weekend with us, enjoying the hospitality of Phillipa and Daryl Heslop at Stonehurst Cedar Creek Vineyard and taking the opportunity to explore the Hunter further.

On Sunday following the opening, Jane and Peter Hamshere of Undercliff winery hosted an artist lunch where Tony and Ann joined by Kerrie Coles, Director of the Lock-Up museum and art centre in Newcastle were able to mingle in a more informal way with artists enjoying great food and wine outside Undercliff's historic settlers cottage overlooking the vineyard.

Opening address:
(video quality is not good but the audio is clear)

Cassandra Hard Lawrie

2007-11-23T23:24:00.007+11:00

Distillation
cardboard, paverpol, resin, pigment 1440 x 880 x 880mm
Undercliff Winery, Wollombi 2007
sponsored by Paverpol Australia
‘Distillation’ is a name for one of the secret stages of the Alchemic process. The vessel like shape of this sculpture is drawn from references to apparatus used by alchemists and ‘puffers’. Although uninformed as to the exact use of such apparatus, due to the hermetic nature of alchemy Cassandra retrieves this obscure and enigmatic image from the past, and ‘re-embodyies’ it into a naïve sculptural image—a displaced semantic image—opening up questions on the transient nature of meaning and further the nature of ‘belief’.

In this work the ‘esoteric’ symbolises the opposition of insider/outsider and familiar and unfamiliar. The uninformed viewer is ‘outside’ the secret coding of the esoteric image, yet as a historic referent it is familiar at a deeper level of the psyche. The possibility of familiarity with historical knowledge at a ‘deeper’ level discords with one’s life-acquired knowledge. Cassandra is interested in the nature of contemporary transience due to technology and multi-culturalism and the subsequent shifting nature of belief and meaning.

Cassandra is sponsored by Paverpol Australia. An excellent fabric hardener that dries fast creating a UV and water resistant bond. It can be used on any natural material such as silk, soft leather, self-hardening clay, cardboard, polystyrene foam, wood, plaster, ceramic and more. It adheres to almost anything except plastic and is perfect for a number of contemporary sculptural applications.

Ivana Perkins

2007-11-07T17:20:00.002+11:00

Red Dahlia
red powder coated aluminium, 1800 x 1800 x 2100mm
Stonehurst Cedar Creek, 2007

Experienced sculptor Ivana Perkins, appearing for the first time in Sculpture in the Vineyards brings with her the vibrancy and lush colours of the surrounding flora and bird life of her adopted home of Byron Bay. Previously having worked in cast bronze and stainless steel Red Dahlia, as an extension of her 2003 Botanicus series represents a significant departure from these mediums. Set for maximum visibility at the entrance to Stonehurst Cedar Creek vineyard Red Dahia has proved to be an absolute show stopper with visitors entranced by it's reflective and ever changing mirror-like surface. At once an exquisite piece of mythic jewellery and a commanding botanical goddess of sculptural proportions. A work in homage to Ivana's artistic heritage of jeweller/designer and sculptor.

Red Dahlia has been selected for the The Montalto Sculpture Prize and will travel to Victoria's Mornington Peninsula to the Montalto Vineyard and Olive Grove next year. A picturesque outdoor gallery that embraces all aspects of the vineyard, from the orchard and olive groves to the herb garden and wetlands.

Hunter Valley Sun goes to the beach

2007-11-06T09:05:00.001+11:00

Seeing double?
Stephen Coburns signature work for 2006 Sculpture in the Vineyards was selected to show at Bondi 2007 Sculpture by the Sea ...

Congratulations Stephen. Great to see this coastal drift occuring taking the vineyards to the masses. Lets hope the experienced sales team at SxS can sell this iconic work for him. Stephens work for this years Sculpture in the Vineyards is equally outstanding "Flame Bird" perched high on the hill at Millbrook Estate once again overlooking the beautiful Wollombi Valley.

DR SONIQUE

2007-10-30T19:16:00.000+11:00

Transformer
stainless steel, copper coil,
perspex, clamps, larvae,
honey, test tubes - 3m x 2m dia.
Undercliff Winery 2007

Nigel's approach to the sonic domain has always been informed by a Sculptor’s perspective which emphasises the experiential nature of sounds, linking them to the dynamic, material events that produce them and situating them within the environments that contain and propagate them.

“Transformer” would appear to disqualify itself from the definition of Sound-Sculpture by virtue of its apparent muteness. The principal function of the work, however, is to manifest an aura; a low-energy electro-magnetic field, drawn from the atmosphere by the primitive antennae, which then flows through the coils that encircle the embalmed larvae. These crude technical devices resonate in an infinitesimal manner and thus in it’s own way the work sings.

One of our principal oversights is to demand that nature exists only by virtue of our sense organs, like infants we carelessly assume that events which we cannot perceive do not exist. What the ear fails to hear is therefore mute. Perhaps these are Sound-Sculptures which are simply inaudible!

Kerry Cannon

2007-10-18T22:16:00.001+10:00

Pinata
bronze, steel, paint,
130 x 120 x 50cm
edition of 3
Stonehurst Cedar Creek

Kerry considers himself a narrative artist opposed to a figurative artist. Certainly figures are important in his art, but as a conduit to tell stories.

"These are interesting times in human history. The world seems to be on a roller coaster ride, moving too fast to comprehend. Are we all hell bent on destruction or just becoming ridiculously alarmist? Are mass species extinctions and the green house effect really something to worry about? What about war, religion and world trade? A cursory flick through the television channels leaves me feeling mediocre and empty. Is this the pinnacle of our civilization?

What is the role of the artist in this cacophony of images - to produce art? All those beautiful female nudes and still lifes, landscapes - I have a lot of time for beauty. Or maybe the artist should be an activist and chronicle the injustices and problems in the world. Even offer up solutions, become a force for real change in the world - I have a lot of time for reformers. Or, closer to my heart, the artist should be a biased observer who offers a point of view, but in the end leaves the art lover to make the last judgement calI. In the final analysis shouldn’t all artists strive to take on all three rolls and more? To do less would be to ignore the most interesting times in history and ultimately sell ourselves short.

It’s calm in my studio in the bush. Even though it's an open shed offering little respite from the elements with nasty mosquito and fly bits and at times physical discomfort, something extraordinary happens there everyday. I strive to marry literature and art. I am the biased observer playing with his wax dolls, lining them up on the window sill, bending and shaping them in an effort to recite my stories."

Kerry Cannon is resident artist and owner/manger of Ceramic Break Sculpture Park at Warialda, north of Armidale. The park features three galleries exhibiting both paintings and sculptures by Kerry and many local artists. Take the sculpture walk and a bush walk leading to "Ceramic Break" - an isolated rocky outcrop where a participatory artwork is in progress with visitors encouraged to bring a ceramic pot and break it on the mound! On August 14, 2003 Shaunda Tsosie, Miss Navajo Nation 2002/03, first broke a ceramic pot here in the name of the four Navajo virtues: prosperity, hope, love and charity. Shaunda pronounced: respect one another’s differences and cultures and celebrate our coming together at Ceramic Break.

2007-10-15T00:48:00.003+10:00

Opening night celebrations include this site specific performance work created specifically for the Gothic architecture of St Michaels Church. Wish is dedicated to the memory my delightfully eccentric brother Bill Prosser who died suddenly in February this year. His presence at last years opening was quite a treat and he had dearly wanted to be with me again this year. I often feel spirits in the night air of the Wollombi valley. Perhaps he will join us after all.

Wish is a fusion of light, music and performance exploring themes of loss and grief – and the redemptive quality of grace. Echoing a Russian fable, Wish chronicles the story of Anna, a young girl living in a magical kingdom of light that is plunged into darkness and decay. As the kingdom slowly dies, Anna must endure a variety of trials as she tries to reconcile her grief with a secret gift her father gave her. But for we who know only the warmth of the sun’s light, where would we find solace in a land blighted with despair?

THE SONG THAT PLAYS
UPON THE WIND
Mark Hobby

Do not be afraid, my child
For night now does begin
Remember what it was I taught you
The song that plays upon the wind

It gives life to the night that claims you
Gives pause to your despair
If neglected it will leave you
A wish reclaimed, that is rare

Though grief you may experience
Do not let it leave its mark
For what dreams may rise from innocence
When light is cleaved from dark?

No, do not be afraid, my child
For though now I must leave
Remember the gift I gave you
And you shall always remember me.

SOUL OF GRACE
Mark Hobby

Could darkness be the soul of Grace?
A touch of tenders, infinite
A speckled light, emerald spun
Of shadow’s cold delirium

Walk with me to the path of Grace
The shadows that fall on human hopes
Dim the heart in starry night
A gift of flame to consecrate

Seek the light the darkness brings
On stormy spirits a hymn to sing
From whispered lips a subtle gift
Grace reclaimed, make a wish...

SinV2007 artists

2007-10-04T09:08:00.001+10:00

Lucy Barker ∆ Neil Berecry Brown ∆ Boyd ∆ Linden Braye ∆ Kerry Cannon ∆ John Clegg ∆ Alison Clouston ∆ Stephen Coburn ∆ Janet Coyne ∆ Ben de Nardi ∆ Paul Dimmer ∆ Cindi Drennan ∆ Conrad Dudley-Bateman ∆ Kath Fries ∆ Wolfgang Gowin ∆ Jesse Graham ∆ Cassandra Hard Lawrie ∆ Paul Hattaway ∆ Nigel Helyer ∆ Col Henry ∆ Mark Hobby ∆ Hiske Weijers ∆ David Howell ∆ Ffranses Ingram ∆ Nelia Justo ∆ Diamando Koutsellis ∆ Ji-eon Lee ∆ Seraphina Martin ∆ David Mills ∆ Daphne Molony ∆ Victoria Monk ∆ Christine Myerscough ∆ Mima Orlovic ∆ Ivana Perkins ∆ Sally Portnoy ∆ Debra Redwood ∆ Chris Retallack ∆ Lou Steer ∆ Cheryle Thompson ∆ Charlie Trivers ∆ Jacek Wankowski ∆ Anthony Whyte ∆

Some of the artists above have their own websites rollover the names and click to visit them...

OPEN INVITATION

2007-09-09T15:45:00.001+10:00

Sculpture in the Vineyards opens Saturday OCTOBER 20
at 5pm at Horse Heaven Gallery 10 Negro Street
(parallel to main street) for parking and access to the gallery

The opening will include an exhibition of small indoor sculpture by the same artists showing on the vineyards plus a multimedia presentation of the large outdoors works. Exhibition catalogues will be available on the night as well as tickets for the artist lunch the next day.

Students from National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA) dance college, recently relocated to Gosford, will be joining us for the weekend and will perform during the opening.

Wine and light snacks donated by the host vineyards will be available from 5-7pm after which there will be dinner options available through local cafes to accompany the rest of the evenings performance/projection event.

Historic St Michaels church, diagonally across the road from the General Store will be illuminated by projection artist Cindi Drennan who, in collaboration with writer Mark Hobby, and performers Neil Berecry Brown, Ji-eon Lee and Cheryle Thompson will inhabit the main street from 7.30pm.

All welcome.

KATH FRIES

2007-09-09T14:14:00.001+10:00

the rose, the sentinel of the vine
embroidery thread, aluminium wire mesh, rose stems & thorns

Kath Fries completed her BFA with Honours at Cofa in 2001 and is currently undertaking her MVA at Sydney College of the Arts.
"I have not had the chance to exhibit my work outside and this is an exciting opportunity to take my installation work in a new direction."

Kath is proposing to work site specifically camping on location to create the work in-situ. Using red embroidery thread she plans to subtly engage with the growing roses and vines, weaving into the plant growth creating trails and a sense of narrative flowing through the vine rows.

Over the two month period, it is anticipated that the materials she uses will change in quality; embroidery threads will become frayed and bleached by the sun, wind and rain, rose stems will dry out and decay and the wire mesh itself responding to the elements will catch, collect and suspend debris from the wind. This process is integral to the temporal nature of the work.

Kath chooses to work in this way as roses were traditionally planted in vineyards as an indicator of the health of the vines. Both roses and grapes are subject to the same black rot, powdery mildew and pests, however roses show the symptoms earlier warning that its time to treat the vines before they too are affected.

The rose, the sentinel of the vine reflects human endeavors to control, manipulate and predict nature through farming and cultivation - exposed to microcosmic elements, unwanted plants, hungry insects and birds, and of course unpredictable weather as recent flooding belies the ongoing drought.

In this artwork a precarious lifeline is implied by the fragile red thread. The rose and its thorns present sightly different characteristics, beyond our usual associations of roses with sexuality, romance and heartache or religious trials and obstacles to be endured or overcome.

Conrad Dudley Bateman

2007-08-27T20:56:00.000+10:00

2007 Sculpture in the Vineyards has begun in earnest. Well at least as far as the artists are concerned. 2007 artists will be profiled throughout the next two months and into the new year starting here with Melbourne artist Conrad Dudley Bateman.

Kaliedoscope III
Injection moulded plastic, steel, mirror. 2000mm X 900mm X 1400mm

Conrad grew up surrounded by art and developed a passion for sculpture from a very young age, learning vicariously from his surroundings. Being wise to the poverty of artists, he began and to his credit, finished a degree in Civil Engineering. Art however seeped back into his life via a sculpture elective he took during his degree. Wisdom left forthwith by a side exit. On completion of one degree, he began another studying fine art (Sculpture) at R.M.I.T. Wollombi is lucky enough this year to be treated to some of his fine artistic fare.

Continuing from the widespread use of the found object in 20th century art Conrad began using the materials of everyday life including credit cards, bread crates, maps, books and keys.

"These are not refuse or pre-loved and discarded objects but items that we use every day without ever actually seeing them. I believe that much beauty has been lost in modern conceptual art (even modern isn’t modern anymore!) and I hope that I am able to put some of that back, through my own aesthetic. When people find out about my engineering background they immediately assume, “large” and “concrete” whilst the truth of the matter is that the most useful skills I have developed are spatial perception and project management. Perhaps in the future I will be able to bring some of my artistic skills back into the world of engineering."

Large-Scale Clay Sculpture class

2007-08-21T23:32:00.000+10:00

Sculpture in the Vineyards is happy to present Margo Gabsi again with her popular clay sculpture workshop. Last years class was a huge success and we expect the word to spread...

This workshop will take participants on an intensive journey into the creative possibilities of clay sculpture. Discover a new way of working with clay. Pieces are made hollow and without armature. Master the technique of clay sculpture and complete a resolved work up to 80cm in height in 2 days.

In this workshop, participants are taken through a process of developing ideas, using pictures of various styles of sculpture as a starting point. Participants then do simple sketches of the piece they would like to make. A model or marquette of the piece is then produced. Participants are then shown the slab building technique that will be used for the larger piece. Participants then launch into their large-scale sculpture. It is possible to work in a realistic, simplified or exaggerated style. Subject matter can be a figure, bust, animal, garden feature or an organic form.

Margo has taught clay classes extensively in Sydney and country NSW. She has taught at The Art Gallery of NSW since 1998, as well as at Sturt Summer School at Mittagong, Brett Whiteley Gallery, Workshop Arts Centre Willoughby and at private and public schools throughout NSW. She has also made public artworks for Liverpool and Fairfield councils. The workshop is suitable for beginners or those already experienced with clay.

Cost $250. This includes all materials and tuition.
If you are interested in attending please ring Margo 02 9606 4526 for bookings.
Payment in full is required to secure your booking. Cheques made out to M.Gabsi, 111 Rossmore Cres, Rossmore 2557. Please wear old clothes, bring an apron, a mug, and lunch.

Horse Heaven Gallery, Negro Street, Wollombi
November 3-4, 2007
(Saturday 10am-4pm Sunday 9am-3pm)

HORSE HEAVEN GALLERY

2007-08-06T17:27:00.001+10:00

Sculpture in the Vineyards is confirmed to open at the Horse Heaven Gallery. Enter from Negro street parallel to Wollombi Road, the main street of historic Wollombi township. Horse Heaven is a restored 19th century feed shed, operating until recently as a working artisans gallery with four occupied studio spaces. Negotiations are under way to bring this property into new life as an environmental art centre hosting residencies, workshops and master classes. More news on opening night.

Ben de Nardi

2007-07-10T01:44:00.002+10:00

Motherloade 2006
Millbrook Estate, Wollombi Valley .
plaster, ply and paint

Contour lines meet and map rock in the junction of science and nature. This symbolisation and representation of the physical world is an incredible human ability. This mix of abstraction and imagination allows us to make Art.

Paul Selwood

2007-06-07T09:47:00.001+10:00

House Imagined
painted steel, 63 x 58.5 x 75.5cm
Undercliff, Wollombi , 2006
courtesy of Watters Gallery

Paul has been making sculpture since 1964 and has a wealth of overseas experience. He has taught in England and Australia, as well as exhibiting and travelling extensively. His work within the last decade has been informed largely by the environment in which he lives just outside of Wollombi where he has established a sculpture park. Paul Selwood has generously offered to host this years artist lunch on his property.

Lisa Jones

2007-06-01T20:58:00.000+10:00

Intro-skel 1 & 2
approx 150 x 60 x 70 cm
Undercliff Winery, 2006
The underlining thread running through my sculptural works is the manipulation of space and material. In recent work I have investigated the interface between the human body and the constructed world, experimenting with felt, silicon, latex, metal and found materials to explore the boundaries between inside and out-side.

Patricia Lawrence

2007-05-19T18:22:00.000+10:00

Family
bronze
Stonehurst Cedar Creek, 2006
courtesy of Robin Gibson
Patricia Lawrence completed a science degree in maths and physics in 1951 and has taught in English and Australian schools, rearing three children, and becoming an accomplished potter. After discovering her talent for sculpting at an Art Institute in New Brunswick in 1982, she attended sculpture schools in Sydney (Tom Bass’s 1984 and Julian Ashton’s 1989) and in New York (The Sculpture Centre Studio 1988), and was a member of the Artists’ Collective Workshop in Stockholm 1990.

Patricia’s goal in her sculpture is to convey people’s movement or stillness, relationships and feelings. She aspires to make the results timeless and aesthetically pleasing - sometimes confronting. Her ideas of timelessness, space, rhythm and contemplation are strongly influenced by the natural environment. Patricia Lawrence’s work can be seen at the Robin Gibson Gallery, Darlinghurst, and the Beaver Galleries, Deakin, ACT.

She has sculptures at the UNSW, Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, The Royal Alexandria Hospital for Children at Westmead, the foyer at 117 York Street, and in private collections in Australia, USA and Germany.

CHICO MONKS

2007-05-12T18:17:00.000+10:00

Present
found object, metal & enamel paint, 150 x 61 x 38cm
Stonehurust Cedar Creek, 2006
courtesy of Robin Gibson Gallery

For an outdoor sculpture to maintain its identity within a beautiful but distracting environment presentation is important. By contrasting the object with its plinth, both in form and colour, Chico attempts to combat this distraction, seeking a reaction from the viewer much like the gift of a present -good/bad, happy/sad. "A present is a gift, often given at a time of significance. Life is a gift and its significance should be celebrated." On closer examination, it is the opposition of black/white, full/empty, soft/hard, and movement/stillness which dominates the sculpture. Having no stable meaning, the work creates mixed reactions demanding attention and conversation. The best presents are always a mystery at first before revealing a personal significance.

Linden Braye

2007-05-07T03:13:00.000+10:00

The Floating City from the Belly of the Western Distributor,
mixed media, dimensions variable. Undercliff Winery, Wollombi 2006

Floating City uses mass produced utilitarian items with consumer value ‘re-made’. Inspired by Darling Harbour; a Sydney waterside development; an entertainment quarter with carnivalesque and cartoon-like features - a strange mix of reality and unreality. I have experimented with the objects to made things that reveal meanings or just become purely decorative. Seen together the work creates a city of images that drift across the water’s surface. Many themes run through the work and may seem unrelated, reflecting our ability to absorb and use ideas already existing, in historical and contemporary ways. Designed to entertain and amuse, this city is a micro world, a noisy and visual experience taking place on the waters of Undercliff. Floating City blends the beautiful and the ugly in an expanded rural location referencing the ever expanding world of development.

Liz Bradshaw

2007-05-07T03:07:00.000+10:00

Rebus
painted wood 2.4m diameter
Stonehurst Cedar Creek, Wollombi 2006

Liz's practice has to date explored the use of industrial and domestic building materials and the physical impact of scale. Her interest also lies in the everyday, the found object and the art historical and epistemological archives of the 20th Century. Rebus is part of a body of work concerned with movement and repetition, order and chaos. Her next project is based on research into the ways artifacts and processes of industrialisation resurface in contemporary culture transformed by technology and globalisation.

Raewyn Proctor

2007-05-04T23:48:00.000+10:00

WOLLOMBI WOMAN
sandstone 80 x 40 x 40 cm
Undercliff Winery , Wollombi NSW

"I love the look, feel and strength of sandstone and find it an ideal medium to work in. This piece, in Hawkesbury sandstone from the Kurrajong region, reflects the earthiness and sensuousness of the Wollombi Valley."

Jacek Wankowski

2007-05-03T23:42:00.000+10:00

REGENERATION, galvanised steel, 120 x 130 x 230cm
Undercliff Winery, Wollombi 2006

Jacek is concerned with intrinsic structural relationships (internal vs external) and extrinsic relationships within an immediate environment

Through his sculpture Jacek builds on his experience as a biologist to explore the nature of' what lies within. The external form is dictated by a complex three-dimensional internal structure of beams, and buttresses.

Inspired by a Nereid (a marine animal) Regeneration explores the tensions implicit In expressing a biomorphic form out of steel and the relationship of that to its immediate environs.

Cut welded to retain the spirit of hard-edged industrial objects, the works resolve the soft and pliable host structures and give the material form and 'life'. The pieces abstract these qualitative properties as well as the experience of interacting with the hosts, and the works' interaction with their immediate environments.

The material is important: life is by its nature soft flexible and pliable but steel is hard and unyielding - an industrial and sculpturally recalcitrant material. The nature of this material remains clear, retaining the 'grain' and marks of the making process and is juxtaposed , with 'softer' environs: natural or non-industrial man-made ones.

COL HENRY

2007-05-03T23:26:00.001+10:00

Sentry, steel & pewter - 3m
Undercliff Winery, Wollombi 2006

Col has been practicing art seriously for over thirty years and works from his Mulberry Park Studio and Gallery at Wyong Creek, NSW. He runs art classes in sculpture specialising in Art Foundry.

With his work 'Sentry' Col is exploring the relationship between the figurative form and its spatial interaction in his chosen medium of steel and stainless steel - adding a deliberate degree of difficulty.

By exploring the natural form through abstraction, he draws out the natural beauty of the material to enhance classic forms. By playing with the interaction of contradictory compositional elements, he speaks a sculptural language most people can relate to even without a formal understanding of contemporary sculptural practice.

Tamara Burnham

2007-05-03T23:08:00.001+10:00

On the Verge
concrete, sealant, resin & paper, 9 pods of various sizes. Undercliff Winery, Wollombi 2006

Both masculine and feminine elements representing the very fertile nature of the Wollombi Valley can be seen in this series of suspended pods. While Tamara has often worked with multiples, On the Verge is a significant departure from her usually figurative practice. Her choice of an unfamiliar free form construction technique has meant with this group of works she has been able to explore and experiment with new materials, surface textures and installation methods. Part of that process has been to observe the effects, if any; the prolonged exposure would have on the different materials.

ENTRIES are Open for 2007

2007-04-25T01:26:00.000+10:00

Click on these images to find out the what, the when and the how to enter 2007 Sculpture in the Vineyards. Save the form to your desktop (PC/right click/save image as and Mac/drag to desktop or hold down mouse for save image as).

I have taken on the job of curator again this year with some assistance from Regional Arts NSW. Cessnock Council has also come to our party with a dollar for dollar grant. The Wollombi Wine Trail as usual provides its generous support by hosting the exhibition, taking care of artists, and a whole lot more.

I am continuing to upload images of the remaining 2006 artists until all are represented on the blog in preparation for the new year.

Janik Bouchette

2006-12-05T23:11:00.000+11:00

Entreouvrir
coated steel, 785 x 750 x 580cm

By bringing together elements of opposite energetic value, Janik reveals unexpected movement and emotions. The tension resulting from the combination of these oppositional forms, has the effect of activating the surrounding space to convey an intimate journey of both inter-dependence and closeness.

Janik finished his BFA at the National Art School, Sydney in 2001. Since then he has exhibited in many group exhibitions and is represented by Defiance Gallery , Newtown and in private collections.

une Autre Reflection
coated steel - 210 x 170 x 165 cm

Ross Fletcher

2006-11-27T00:11:00.001+11:00

Manipura to Muladhara
Take a trip from the city of jewels to the home of the snake. Its a rare talent that can manipulate the wiley ways of a block of unforgiving sandstone with such delicacy and percision. Wollombi artist, Ross Fletcher is one such being ... You can see his work at Undercliff Winery during Sculpture in the Vineyards or in Wollombi town, drop into Horse Heaven Gallery and check out his studio to see him at work. Ross is also a member of Valley artists performers and is as skilled on stage as he is when backstage in a techinical role.

DEEPENING CRISIS - Michael Snape

2006-11-08T10:52:00.000+11:00

Cindi Drennan

2006-11-05T23:34:00.000+11:00

The many different faces of St Michaels on opening night as video artist Cindi Drennan showcased her site specific work - VOICE OF LIGHT. It was a truely magical Wollombi experience and all were blessed!! A beautiful start to a fabulous exhibition.

Voice of Light - Morse

Voice of Light - Heart

Voice of Light - Halo

Voice of Light - Dedication

Voice of Light - Flight

Holly Williams

2006-10-26T23:19:00.000+10:00

HOLDING PEN

The word on the streets is that 'politics is the new black' as far as the art world is concerned and there are some fine examples art with conscience in Sculpture in the Vineyards. Check out Deigo Bonetto's Weed Tour, for ironic look at unwanted 'species' and Juilet Fowler-Smith's work about water crisis and land management. To join them, Holly Williams' work Holding Pen makes a very pertinent and timely comment on Australia's decidedly dubious policies on refugees and its detention centre management of people in crisis. The work asks you take a good long look at yourself while pondering the realities of being 'penned' .

Holly is a director of First Draft Gallery in Sydney and active member of The Invisible Inc - a collective of seven Sydney-based visual artists engaged in individual and collaborative projects across a broad range of disciplines including photography, sculpture, video and installation. The current members of The Invisible Inc. are Rachel Scott, Emma White, Jaki Middleton, David Lawrey, Matina Bourmas, Holly Williams and Sarah Cashman. Through it's projects The Invisible Inc. aims to facilitate the production and cross promotion of contemporary practice that is critically engaged, relevant and non-commercially based.

Current projects of The Invisible Inc. include the publication runway, and the The Invisible Reading Room.

Brenda MacDuff

2006-10-19T23:19:00.000+10:00

Brenda Macduff
Scare Snake
25m, fabric, plastic, polystryene and netting

This snake means business... at Millbrook Estate Brenda's Scare Snake has started climbing the vines and can be seen snaking its way through the vineyard unil December 7.

Brenda is an experienced sculptor, curator and former director of First Draft Gallery in Sydney. She is a professional preparator and educator at the Museum of Contemporary Art. For us, she recently conducted a very successful workshop at Stonehurst Cedar Creek called the "I Can't Draw Workshop" where under her capable guidance, more than a few attendees found they could in fact draw quite well, even with the unseasonable hot weather and tasty wines offered at lunch time by vineyard owners Phillipa and Daryl.

David Howell

2006-10-11T23:49:00.000+10:00

Moed
(the marker)
bricks, mortar, tree stump
approx 3m in dia. x 2.5 m

Sponsored by National Hire
& the Cat Rental Store

David was one of 35 artists chosen out of some 240 applicants, to take part in the 2005 McClelland Sculpture Prize in Victoria. His cast concrete, life size, drivable car held its own amongst the work of some serious art world heavy weights. David Howell is one of the most promising and dedicated young artists I have met. His determination, drive and commitment to his art is awe inspiring. We are very proud to have him participate this year in Sculpture in the Vineyards. In the lead up to the opening of the exhibition, David camped on the vineyards, working day and night to meet his deadline.

Hebrew for a marker in time or in a physical space (Joshua 19:33). Moed is a snapshot of change, a look at one moment in an unfolding story. Walking around the structure invites thought about where the observer fits into this story. It ambiguously presents transience, permanence and change to the viewer. Ultimately its incongruous nature, its cohesiveness with the landscape invites thought through the subtle conspicuousness of its contrasting elements.

Moed has a simple poetry all of its own - a deep spirituality that pervades the surrounding poplars at Stonehurst Cedar Creek. Well worthy of special visit and moment of silent contemplation.

Jesse Graham

2006-10-03T20:40:00.000+10:00

Last night in the extra cold, extra dark of a Wollombi evening, Jesse Graham, Jo his very supportive (P.O.S.A - see previous posting) partner and his aunt and uncle, Peter and Anne, worked feverishly with an effective however makeshift gantry to install "Largeness" at Cedar Creek Vineyard. Shortly before, in the light of late afternoon, another of his large sculptures "Tenor" was installed on a site courtesy Steve at Wollombi Real Estate adjacent to the office and across the road from the Wollombi Tavern.

In a word!! AMAZING! Jesse constructs these monumental works from any number of recyled materials. On closer examination you will recognise bits of cars, farm machinery, tools - all manner of scrap metals come to life as mythic beasts and in the case of "Tenor" a very animated opera singer celebrating the countryside. Not to be missed!!

His sample of his most recent work, larger than life egyptian Gods and Goddess', will feature this month in "Walking the Street" exhibition in Newtown main street at shop 559. http://www.ar.com.au/~iwcs/WTS.html

Cassandra Hard Lawrie

2006-10-02T23:50:00.000+10:00

Cassandra Hard Lawrie
Nature and her Ape, Art
llaminated cardboard, wood, wrapertoire, 230 x 100 x 100cm
courtesy of Robin Gibson Gallery

My practice as an artist encompasses the disciplines of sculpture, drawing and computer generated imagery. As a sculptor I am focussed on methodologies that are informed by woodworking and boat building. Conceptually, I am attracted to subjects that reflect the invisible and other-worldliness. I mean this in a philosophic and academic sense.

Origins (4), 2006
timber, MDF, resin, paper mache, pigment and found objects
500 x 500 x 500 mm

“The invisible is spatially distant, not only beyond the horizon but also very high or very low. It is also temporally distant, either in the past or in the future. In addition, it is beyond all physical space and every expanse or else in a space structured totally differently. It is situated in a time of its own, or outside any passing of time, in eternity itself. It can sometimes have a corporeity or materiality other than that of the elements of the visible world, and sometimes be a sort of pure anti–materiality. At times it will be an autonomy vis-à-vis certain or even all the restrictions placed on the visible world, at others it will be an obeying of laws different to our own. Even so, these are, of course, merely empty compartments capable of containing the most diverse of beings, from ancestors and gods to the dead and to people different to ourselves, as wells as events and circumstances.” Krystof Pomia

Cultural and Social frameworks, History, Philosophy and Psychology are the background themes of my art practice. For me, they represent the invisible in the sense they may be non-tempocentric or defiant of singular interpretation. They all exist beyond material reality. I have often chosen to produce sculptural objects that aim to appear as fake artefacts or theatre props rather than an art object. I see the Museum and the Theatre as compelling messengers of history, sociology and psychology—and the artefact and the prop as signals from the messenger.

2006-09-30T00:15:00.000+10:00

SCULPTURE IN THE VINEYARDS will be opened at 5.30 pm
on Saturday October 7 by the cultural director of Maitland Regional Gallery – Joe Eisenberg.

In celebration of the launch, artists showing on the vineyards have contributed smaller works to a three-week satellite exhibition hosted by the Wollombi Cultural Centre. You can be guaranteed a vast range of approaches and sculptural definitions as artists from diverse backgrounds show together in the one building.

For opening night only, projection artist Cindi Drennan will present her new work - Voice of Light created especially for St Michaels Catholic Church. Fusing projection, illustration and painting she will combine projected images with live light painting, transforming and embellishing the church with illuminated drawing on ancient medieval iconography, with contemporary theosophical nuances. The light transformations will take place on the church after dark and continue until 11 pm.

Join us for opening night drinks, light snacks and a program of music. Food and drink for the rest of the evening will be available at the Water Hen Restaurant with proceeds going to the Wollombi Public School or at the Wollombi Tavern.

The exhibition is open Sat & Sun 10-4pm and Tues – Fri 11-3pm until the 22 October

P.O.S.A

2006-09-27T16:07:00.002+10:00

I have just heard from a member of a new support group and thought some of you might benefit from the info...

P.O.S.A - Partners of Sculpture Artists, the silent sufferers of artistic genius. Alone on a Friday nite cos your loved one has declared war on 18th century Romantic exhuberant nature worship by adopting a 21st century deconstructed framework of effete minimalist nature worship using a quantum pastiche (they're out looking for sticks)?; finding yourself gluing purple felt onto a bronzed cast of an organgutan's arse at 3am and U DONT KNOW WHY, U JUST WANNA SLEEP?; forced to listen to your beloved expound upon theories and ideas you couldn't or shouldn't understand? Then you need P.O.S.A - the silent sufferers of artistic genius. U are not alone - tho u often feel you are. Join 2day!

Cynthia Lennon, Nora Joyce, Christiane Vulpius (Goethes) some our more well known members, partners of artistic geniuses, who although not sculpture artists, are creative types tarred with the same damm brush.

Cynthia Lennon was heard to say " Give me my money you F-ing ar@#!!!" she could never have approached such a forceful stance without the loving support of experienced P.O.S.A members

30+ artists • 3 Vineyards

2006-09-25T02:09:00.000+10:00

Diego Bonetto • Janik Bouchette • Liz Bradshaw • Linden Braye • Julie Brown• Tamara Burnham • John Clegg • Stephen Coburn • Janet Coyne • Bernice Davies • Ben de Nardi • Juliet Fowler Smith • Jesse Graham • Cassandra Hard Lawrie • Nigel Helyer • Col Henry • David Howell • Lisa Jones • Patricia Lawrence • Brenda Macduff • Victoria Monk • Chico Monks • Angela Morrell • Paul Selwood • Daphne Sinclair • Michael Snape • Charlie Trivers • Sallie Portnoy • Raewyn Proctor • Jacek Wankowski • Holly Williams

Julie Brown

2006-09-25T00:32:00.000+10:00

The distinction between the role of the artisan and the artist which provided a rationale for the ‘exaltation of the artist-genius' can be traced to the artists of the High Renaissance. The writer Vasari, who documented the lives of these artists, emphasised the intellectual aspect of art above its manual labour – the basis of the later art/craft debate – in order to give artists professional status and to differentiate them from artisans.

Lost in Translation? Tactile Collab orations - Margaret Baguley

JULIE BROWN is a sculptor who in her own words, is 'searching for that unique element that creates art not craft'. Julie is a full time resident of the Wollombi Valley and has been grappling with this age old art/craft debate very phyically through a sculptural practice of 12 years. She began by taking evening courses in sculpture and life drawing at the Willoughby Art Centre and for the last 10 years has been a student of Col Henry - also one of our Sculpture in the Vineyards artists.

To develop a strong foundation in form and technique Julie spent a number of years working figuratively casting in resin and bronze. More recently she has began working with larger forms incorporating found objects and wire. Her 2006 work "Wildwood" can be seen flying high on the hill at Millbrook Estate vineyard alongside the work of serious metal-men Stephen Coburn and Michael Snape.

OPEN INVITATION

2006-09-22T00:04:00.000+10:00

Stephen Coburn

2006-09-19T20:50:00.000+10:00

Hunter Valley Sun, 2006 - steel, painted & waxed, 520 x 176 x 20cm
This sculpture is about the ebb and flow of chaotic river life, where space and steel mingle and merge, and split again, unique; in one moment the sun, the next, flowing water; void resolving itself into substance and back again; a formless end, an end in search of form.

My introduction to Art came very easily. In fact I think I was already familiar with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons before I was born as my father played it continuously as he painted. The smell of oil paint and mineral turpentine was the natural smell of our home. I used to play at my mother’s feet as she made sculpture on the kitchen table. Old cans of drying oil paint were the subject of my first chemistry experiments. The exhibition opening was a fearsome event for me as a small child, to be dragged by the hand through a forest of legs, to be stepped on, patted on the head or worse, ignored for what seemed an unbearably long time, as my mother and father talked on oblivious to my boredom and discomfort. Tony Tuckson used to scare me as he had a beard growing out of his neck in the same fashion as the Giant in my book, Jack & the Beanstalk. I used to hide behind my mothers’ skirt and avoid his pats on the head in case he scooped me up into his pocket for a tasty snack later.

Supermarketism - CHARLIE TRIVERS

2006-09-17T23:44:00.000+10:00

Dynamic Supemarketism - Composition Number 10, 2006
painted Steel - 2.5 x .8 x .8m
courtesy of Defiance Gallery Newtown

I once was a mature 30 year old Hawkesbury old boy art student with no art training including high school and an interest in painting. My paintings prior to art school were largely narrative based with an emphasis on the environment, consumerism, capitalism, scientific method and rural issues. I had a lot to say without a clear idea of how to say it. My first art history lecturer assigned the class a number of non objective painters to research. By pure luck I got Malevich. I therefore discovered a form of abstraction with a hint of illusionism that I was comfortable with. Malevichs mysticism did not interest me as much as his background. He was a painter who like myself had rural origins which is evident in his early work and through his contact with CuboFuturism developed a uniquely sophisticated abstraction.

My presentation to my more knowledgable classmates (which I presumed and found out later to be incorrect) on Malevich was a complete disaster. I made the mistake of calling Suprematism Supermarketism. My peers thought I was having a joke and laughed as I disguised a mistaken pun. I have always liked a good pun so I kept that one aside for a later time when my work was more developed to deal with it.

I got distinction averages in art history after that event. And all jokes were no longer accidental.I eventually followed a post modern path in addressing the issue of erosion by making eroded historical Australian/European landscape paintings. I particularly liked Glover and made many Disgloverys. As you can imagine my work became more and more three dimensional. And so I finished my degree with a major in painting making sculpture about painting about painting etc about etc. I read a lot more than what was required when it came to Post Structuralist thought. I was particularly attracted to Baudrillard and his America for Disneyland metaphor. Derrida deconstructing his text and his obsessive use of artists words in particular Cezanne to rationalise art I found annoying and pointless. But I came away with a pretty good grounding in history/theory. The artist that interested me most then and even now is Duchamp. He is the ultimate thinking artists artist. Luckily my painting lecturer was a sculptor and she encouraged me to study post graduate sculpture to get a handle on the more formal aspects of sculpture. What I found fascinating was that once again I was dealing with artists who were again worked with geometric abstraction. They were absorbed by composition and how it would viewed from all possible viewpoints. I also stored this away for a later time when I had time to experiment.

After a few years of experiments and tangents and blind alleys I came up with the idea of the Fishbottle. It was a response to a stormwater pipe that led to the ocean at the Boot at Bondi. This spawn ideas for five exhibits at Sculpture by the Sea. The Fishbottle evolved as an idea and a species from the design of PET drink bottles. Conceptually the idea dealt with readymades, consumerism, packaging, pollution, scientific method, high art/low art, serious fun, value and truth in and to materials and everything. But all ideas have a limited life span and the Fishbottle offered few formal sculptural possibilities.

I have had (until recently) a great title for a new artwork called Homage to a (Supermarket) Square and until recently no new artwork to go with it. I wanted to incorporate the language from fishbottles with the (anachronistic or not) Modernist language of spatial geometric abstraction. Homage to a cube meant a homage to six squares in a cruciform with a Suprematist like design applied to it. I have thought of fishbottles and cruciforms and religion but I may keep that aside for another time.

Malevich described Suprematism as 'a hard cold system set in motion by philosophical thought'. I have approached Supermarketism in a similar way. Firstly I start by deconstructing a cardboard cubic box. I am presently working on Pizza Boxes and am working on a Dynamic Supermarketism Supreme Pizza Box Edition.

DR SONIQUE

2006-09-11T00:59:00.000+10:00

Nigel Helyer (a.k.a. Dr Sonique) is a Sydney based Sculptor and Sound Artist with an international reputation for his large scale sonic installations, environmental sculpture works and new media projects.
Spinner, 2005 - Anodised aluminum crystalline form with a symmetry of six designed as a passive kinetic work (i.e. it can be rolled on its axis).

"... Although the power of hindsight may be both convenient and illusory, the development of my creative practice to incorporate broad areas of science and technology stems from my childhood.

The small Sussex fishing village in which I spent my formative years contained two significant buildings, significant not for their formal qualities, they were both simple cottages, but because one had been the home of Halley, the astronomer and the other the home of William Blake the poet, these men had been friends. Without being conscious of the fact, I grew up in a cosmos in which the arts and science were intertwined and engaged in conversation, it has marked my endeavours ever since.

In a broader context the cultural and physical landscape of my youth was saturated in the artefacts of science, technology and industry, slowly decaying into a glorious post-industrial stupor that placed the corroded shells of furnaces alongside the ruins of castles in a nostalgic afterglow.

What has followed in terms of a creative practice has simply been a way of dealing with an irrepressible curiosity about the world (rarely restricted to the Art World) and driven by a surfeit of enthusiasm! ..."

DIEGO BONETTO - Weedy Connection Tour

2006-09-10T17:15:00.000+10:00

This installation by Diego Bonetto takes visitors along the creek behind the Stonehurst Cedar Creek Winery Cellar.
The tour will guide participants through a number of display panels highlighting some plants commonly known as weeds. The resulting sporadic info-points are augmented by a reader and a map that the visitors will use to discover the plants in their habitat.

The framing of “illegal” and unwanted flora within a spectacle context will draw attention to the concept of “permissible species” as a social construct. Weeds are defined by a nation's laws, and what is declared a weed in one place may be a precious resource in another. There is a significant metaphorical connection between this definition of “weed” and the arbitrary restriction imposed on human migration by national governments.

Project Rationale
The possibility to spend a short period within the ecosystem of the selected vineyard will allow me to get to know the surroundings and identify the species which will most suit my project. The “residency” will also allow me to relate with the local farmers and viniculturists, investigating their own personal relationship with the “unwanted plants” enriching with local knowledge the informative displays and reader.

In the proposed intervention I will employ botanical species to metaphorically dispute the understanding of multiculturalism within the context of the Australian population, the plurality of cultures, genetic background and stories. Within a socio-ecological argument I will acknowledge the various differences of costumes/customs which exists in our culturally diverse environment and highlight the traditional connections with introduced species.

I envision that irony will be a key component of the work and I will present peculiar and bizarre uses of the unwanted botanical species, creating an aura around the plants in an attempt to elevate the weeds to pedestals usually reserved to more “legitimate” vegetation.

The display units will be placed along side the various species found on site.These information points will highlight the existence of the plants, providing a service to the visitors willing to learn more about the infamous weeds and instructing them on how to recognize them, origins, traditional uses and so forth.

With the data presented, however, I will attempt to problematise the foundation of national botanical conservation policies-by drawing a metaphorical connection between the Noxious Weeds Act 1993 and current Australian immigration processes.

In addition I will argue the homocentric nature of contemporary western societies. Such societies tend to forget or classify as less important any other species, be they animal or vegetable- and introduce environmental policies focusing primarily on human needs and discarding the rest of the ecosystem as of secondary priority. Thus we introduce species into foreign environments, we delete species in existing environments, and we classify species as “useful” or as “pests/weeds”.

Is it very controversial then to state that weeds have the right of existence too?

DIEGO BONETTO (aka Nobody) is a Sydney-based multimedia artist. Bonetto's interdisciplinary approach to art-making allows him to work collaboratively and individually, with no loyalty to particular media and materials. He is a key member of artist group SquatSpace, the Network of UnCollectable Artists, and the Sydney Moving Image Coalition. His activities create dynamic social criticism resulting in site-specific, project-driven interventions.

http://www.nobodys.info/
http://www.squatspace.com/
http://weedyconnection.com/

JOHN CLEGG

2006-09-06T22:52:00.000+10:00

Before and after the Drop Bear emerges!!

DROP-Bears

"... The Cedar Creek cellar door is in a plantation of poplar trees, which seems an excellent place for a large sculpture of one or more drop-bears. Admittedly the branches are not good for lying along, but drop-bears are surely adaptable, and not too picky to use introduced trees.

I wanted the sculpture to be very large, and hairy. The hair should be live lichens that grow on the bark of trees in the area. I’ve got some growing on foam plastic at our place on Mogo Creek, but it grows very slowly. Perhaps I’ll implant some on the drop-bear’s face.

There are many accounts of drop-bears on the internet, many of them embroidered for tourists. All seem to be derived from a story of two men camped in the bush. One slept beneath a tree, the other not far away. A terrifying scream rang out, and he ran down to see his mate lying on the ground shaking, with claw marks all over him. After stopping the bleeding and calming his mate down, the horrible truth was revealed. "It was a drop bear" his mate said, "I fought as hard as I could but it was just too strong and far too fast."

Goannas and Possums frequent trees and are accordingly equipped with many strong claws and an instinct to run up things (including trees and people) when frightened. Bones and specially a skull have been found of an animal now believed to be extinct. Scientists who have studied them assert that the animal was a carnivorous marsupial that lived in trees. They call it Thylacaleo. Unlike eutherian mammals, it has no ripping canine teeth, but very large cutting carnassial cheek-teeth. That is one reason to think it scavenged rather than hunted. Something very like thylacaleo gets a mention in one of Arthur Upfield’s Napoleon Bonaparte books. When mammals smile, they are showing their teeth (specially canines) as a warning. If thylacaleo showed its carnassials, its smile must have looked a little sheepish. Not that sheep smile with their molars, as though threatening their grass.

I started thinking on paper about my drop-bear. The first version on a restaurant table-paper in profile and goanna, but with a macropod long hind leg.

DAPHNE SINCLAIR

2006-08-28T11:56:00.000+10:00

Each week up until the opening on 7 October
I will be profiling one of our Vineyards artists.

This week we look at what DAPHNE SINCLAIR is proposing and indeed has already begun work on at Undercliff Winery.

Daphne has begun to place in the ground at Undercliff on the site of the Old Wollombi Brickworks sheets of muslin and/or vylene along with local pigments found in the region. These will record over time their evolution and deterioration, collecting stains, organic matter and residue. The period of time will allow the work to transform into a real 'ground' within which ecological systems could temporarily exist. Some of the works will be buried underground, while others will be hidden under thick foilage for this purpose. The sheets of fabric will then be removed and arranged for the final installation on the vineyard.

"My goal is to bring evidence of the land, the ground as the perceiving body of a wild landscape by revealing the residue of the earth's flesh. These works also bear withness to the delicate beauty of soils, ochres clays and debris from the earth. They do not serve to manipulate nature, but reveal nature's wild and seemingly effortless yet complex aesthetic."

St Michaels son et Lumiére

2006-07-22T17:33:00.001+10:00

VOICE OF LIGHT.
Opening night celebrations at the Wollombi Cultural Centre have taken on a beautiful extra dimension. Talented projection artist Cindi Drennan has agreed to take part in Sculpture in the Vineyards by presenting her new work - Voice of Light created especially for St Michaels Catholic Church.

Cindi fuses projection, illustration and painting to enlighten - combining projected images with live light painting, she will transform and embellish the church. Imagery fuses illumination drawing on ancient medieval iconography, with contemporary theosophical nuances.

St Michaels is situated directly across the road from the Cultural Centre in Wollombi. The light transformations will take place after dark, until 11 pm on October 7th 2006.

Equipment sponsorship by The Electric Canvas

"The Making of ..." Vines Doco

2006-05-17T11:47:00.000+10:00

1. Chico Monks 2. Cassandra Hard-Lawrie 3. John Clegg 4. Michael Snape

Litte Dog Productions videographer
ANDREW NEWMAN
has offered to produce a documentary
about the Making of Sculpture in the Vineyards...

Last weekend we visited Wollombi to begin discovering the valley from the inside - meeting locals, visiting the vineyards and sampling their tasty products. John and Elsie from Millbrook Estate offered us their very fine vineyards cottage to stay overnight.

Shooting kicks off at the opening of the Robin Gibson Gallery's Sculpture 18 - annual sculpture survey show on 23 May. http://www.robingibson.net

An opportunity to track the progress of two invited artists Chico Monks and Cassandra Hard Lawrie from city exhibition to country venue. Studio visits will follow with Michael Snape and John Clegg; consistent contributors to the Vineyards exhibition since Stella Downer launched in 2003. Local personality and current vice president of Valley Artists, Alan Glover has been lined up to have a word or two... more on that later.

Vineyards Art Workshops

2006-04-28T03:11:00.002+10:00

This is the first year we've run art workshops in conjunction with Sculpture in the Vineyards. It seemed like a great opportunity to start expanding and broadening our audience. These workshops are artist initiated with a percentage of tuition going into the exhibition kitty for next year. We chose to hold all the workshops on the same weekend to encourage interaction between participants of the different courses and to start building a creative community event. Margos technique for handbuilding large forms is so practical you can be assured great results. Solar plate etching while not sculptural, is such a valuable creative technique to learn and Seraphina is a very skilled teacher. Brenda is a talented sculptor and her drawing workshops are a sensory experience.

Contact the indvidual tutors for bookings and accommodation.
If you have any ideas for workshops or would like to teach one next year contact me.

Large-Scale Figurative Clay Sculpture
Weekend workshop with Margo Gabsi

October 14 and 15 at Undercliff Winery
10am - 4pm

In this hands on workshop you will learn to make large scale figurative clay sculpture up to 1 metre in height. Students may work in a realistic, simplified or exaggerated way. The skills learnt are transferable to any form. Using clay as an expressive medium, Margo will have you mastering her technique of quickly building large forms. She will also discuss and demonstrate decorative techniques appropriate for sculptural works. Bring pictures/ideas and an apron. Class is suitable for beginners and those already skilled with clay.

$200 for the weekend includes materials, tea/coffee, tuition
Enquiries/bookings: call Margo on (02) 9606 4526

Margo holds an Art Certificate, Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) and a Bachelor of Teaching. She has held exhibitions at Mura Clay Gallery and Casula Powerhouse. Her work can be seen at Lushart (Surry Hills), Sturt (Mittagong) and was recently shown at Sculpture in the Vines. Margo has been teaching workshops at all levels throughout the community, has exhibited widely and is well known for her figurative clay works. She has taught at the Art Gallery of N.S.W. for 8 years and has made public art works for Liverpool and Fairfield Councils. Her works have been published in Ceramics Art and Perception and Pottery in Australia.

Solar-Plate Etching
Weekend workshop with Seraphina Martin

October 14 and 15 at Millbrook Estate
10am - 4pm

Create your own stunning portfolio of etchings in this hands-on weekend workshop, using solar-plate etching techniques to create a series of vibrant colour prints.

A quick, simple and non-toxic alternative to the traditional etching process, solar-plate etching uses sun and water instead of acid to etch the plates. Join experienced print-maker Seraphina Martin as, through lectures, demonstrations and practical exercises, you discover how the print process evolves. Previous print-making experience not essential.

$200 for the weekend includes materials, tea/coffee, tuition
Enquiries/bookings: call Seraphina on 0403 863 544

Seraphina studied printmaking in Paris before moving to Sydney 25 years ago to teach at Sydney University Art Workshops where she has become Head of the Etching Studio. Her work is represented in many public and private collections and she continues to participate in both solo and group exhibitions in Australian and Overseas.

The "I CAN"T DRAW" workshop
One day workshop with Brenda McDuff

October 14 or 15 across the three vineyards
11am - 3pm

A can do approach to drawing looking at sculptures in the landscape. This workshop is aimed at adults who haven’t picked up a pencil since school and want to draw.

A day having fun making marks on paper, experimenting with pencil, charcoal and ink in a learning environment. This outdoor class begins with a tour of the sculptures on the vineyards and a discussion about art, expression and why we still love to draw in an age of photography and digital processes. Followed by lunch and an afternoon of drawing.

Sat or Sun
$80 includes materials, tea/coffee, tuition
Enquiries/bookings: Call 0403 469 753

Brenda is a sculptor with a BVA hons. from Sydney College of the Art. She works as an educator at TAFE & the Museum of Contemporary Art teaching all ages.

Site-specific /Environmental Art

2006-04-25T11:03:00.000+10:00

Col Henry
Sculpture in the Vines, 2005

Site-specific or Environmental art refers to an artist’s intervention in a specific locale, creating a work that is integrated with its surroundings and that explores its relationship to the topography of its locale, whether indoors or out, urban, desert, marine, or otherwise. In its largest sense it applies to a work made by an artist in the landscape, either by radically manipulating the terrain in a remote area to produce an “earthwork” (such as Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty) or by creating ephemeral or removable tableaux along particular pathways so that the terrain is not permanently altered (Richard Long’s circles or lines of stones, Christo’s fabric walls or umbrellas). Other artists known for such work include Walter De Maria, Michael Heizer, Nancy Holt, Mary Miss, Robert Morris, Dennis Oppenheim, and James Turrell. The term also applies to an environmental installation or sculpture created especially for a particular gallery space or public site, by such artists as Joseph Beuys, Daniel Buren, Dan Flavin, Joseph Kosuth, Jannis Kounellis, Mario Merz, Claes Oldenburg, and many others. No matter which approach an artist takes, Site-specific art is meant to become part of its locale, and to restructure the viewer’s conceptual and perceptual experience of that locale through the artist’s intervention.

Location of the Exhibition

2006-04-24T02:11:00.000+10:00

CALL FOR ENTRIES - 2006

2006-04-23T02:44:00.000+10:00

All interested artists are invited to submit a proposal for this years exhibition of outdoor sculpture in the Wollombi Valley - October through to November.

Artists are encouraged to experiment with scale, taking into consideration the specifics of site and history of the region. The three participating boutique wineries Undercliff, Stonehurst Cedar Creek and Millbrook Estate are happy for you to visit at your leisure, wander around and get a feel for the environment. If you have an existing idea/sculpture you would like to submit ... please do our curatorial interests are diverse. Non traditional sculptural materials are most welcome, the only stipulation is that they withstand the rigors of weather for the two month exhibition period. On site camping is available .. if building your work in situ appeals..

The opening event will be held at the Cultural Centre in Wollombi where an exhibition of smaller works by selected artists exhibiting on the vineyards will run for three weeks. This will provide a venue to market and sell all artists work and act as a contact point to direct visitors to the main exhibitions.

To download an entry form - http://www.sculptureinthevineyards.com/entrypage.htm

Deadline for proposals June 17 2006. Exhibtion opens October 7