My Folio UPDATE

White Infinity Headpiece 2014 for Gail Sorronda’s Mermaids Exist: As Above/So Below collection featured at 2014 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia. Photography Courtesy of Gail Sorronda.

I just updated My Folio with a few lovely projects realised in the first half of 2014. Some I’ve posted about before, while others I am yet to share with you in more detail. The projects use a variety of materials, as well as fabrication techniques in combination with hand making by yours truly. ENJOY!

PS There’s still a few top-secret projects that I have to remain hush hush on…for now!

Soft Cell Re-imagined in 2014

Night Time Street View of Soft Cell (Domestic Bliss Exotic Dream) 2014.

During April and May 2014 I was privileged to display Soft Cell (Domestic Bliss Exotic Dream) 2014 Edition within artisan’s Ivory Street Window, Fortitude Valley. A small preliminary study of Soft Cell was first exhibited in 2012 as part of my solo exhibition Trace at Pinup Project Space, Melbourne. This study was made in cork rubber. By this time other studies and tests of Soft Cell at a small-scale had also been made in leather, felt and fabric.

Trace exhibition studies at Pinup Project Space in 2012. Study of Soft Cell 2012 top-far left. Photography Tobias Titz.

Soft Cell represented a deliberate desire to work with softer materials and forms. My Churchill Fellowship experience profoundly moved me to follow this softer approach, having predominantly worked with more linear and rectilinear geometric elements throughout my practice until that time. After my exhibition at Pinup Project Space I spent a busy year running around the countryside creative directing. There was not much time for making in the studio.

Soft Cell Ivory Street Window Installation test layouts and preparation. April 2014.

In 2013 I committed to realising Soft Cell at a larger scale in more vibrant colours and everyday materials. A successful application in 2013 to display Soft Cell (Domestic Bliss Exotic Dream) 2014 Edition in artisan’s Ivory Street Window got the ball rolling.

After spending many years starting with hard materials and hard forms I found the result more often than not was “hard”. I set to making with soft materials and soft forms with a hope to relax and make softer works. Christina Waterson 2012

Soft undulating rhythmic forms make up the Soft Cell family. Each generation of form, while unique, originate from the same simple element combined in different ways. Making Soft Cell required me to move differently; using softer and less controlled movements than those used to make The Komodo Series and Bloom Series. These softer circular movements used different muscles in my body. Within the work the compression and tension imbued in each form’s surface did require my concentration and some good timing.

A sample of the layout options considered for the Ivory Street Edition of Soft Cell. Illustrations Christina Waterson.

Soft Cell marked a shift from previous installations within the Ivory Street Window. My two previous installations within Ivory Street Window were more linear in nature. They were also made with a single material of predominantly one colour.  The Soft Cell 2014 installation could have taken an infinite number of layouts as shown above, in the preliminary sample options (L and C) for my original application. I decided on a geometric tartan layout (R).

Day time street view of Stage 02 of Soft Cell’s evolution. Photography Christina Waterson.

Soft Cell Sequence of Growth (L >R) Stage 02, Stage 03 and Stage 05. Illustrations Christina Waterson.

The installation grew over time and evolved through a sequence of patterns. In doing this my hope was to draw people closer to inspect the work’s detail and form, and maybe ponder what the forms might remind them of, or how each colour might stir different memories and associations.

Vivid recollections and studies borne from a sense of rediscovering a distinctly Australian sense of nature and place are brought to light through this new collection. While the Domestic Bliss Exotic Dream Edition of Soft Cell uses everyday materials found in our homes, up close the materials’ colour, fluidity and overlay transport us to another place and suggest different flora, fauna and landscapes. One may see a hint of parrots, waves, jellyfish or a flourish of orchids in the overlapping arabesques. It’s these tactile curves and arabesques that form the essence of things – the soft cells. Christina Waterson Artist Statement 2014

Soft Cell Hues. Photography Christina Waterson.

Soft Cell Hues. Photography Christina Waterson.

Tweaking Soft Cell on the opening night of the exhibition. Stage 05 of Soft Cell’s evolution. Photography Richard Stride for artisan.

My work continues on the Soft Cell family of surfaces and forms. STAY TUNED as this new collection truly reaches its full potential!

 

 

REPOST – TRACE The Work = Scale Screen

Scale Screen 2012 by Christina Waterson (Detail). Photography by Tobias Titz 2012.

With the Stellar Collection of sculptural screens and wall reliefs etc. soon to be launched in Spring 2014 by the fabulous Australian furniture icon TAIT, let’s have a look back at a post from March 2012 showing the development of Scale Screen 2012. Here in full follows the original post – ENJOY! You can also see the original post here!

The development of Scale Screen occurred over many years. This project was assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body (through a New Work – Established – Australia Council Grant). Scale Screen’s origins are linked to my Bloom Series Home-wares and furniture range, launched in 2009. Scale Screen’s origins are linked to my Bloom Series Home-wares and Furniture range, launched in 2009. From the outset of the development of The Bloom Series, I had always envisioned Pixel Screen (pictured below) to be realised in coated sheet metal.

Pixel Screen part of The Bloom Series 2009 by Christina Waterson. Photography by Jon Linkins 2009.

Through the Australian Council Grant I rationalised the design of Pixel Screen in coated sheet metal to ensure modularity, as well as fabrication and installation ease. Importantly throughout this process I maintained the essential qualities of the original artwork. The streamlining of Pixel Screen however meant the adaption was different enough to warrant a new name. The name Scale Screen comes from the form of the elements that make up the screen. They look like reptile scales (especially Brown Snakes or Frilly Necked Lizards, and also like the opened mouth of a Frilly Necked Lizard) so the name directly reflects this quality and also references my unique country Australian childhood;

The surface, colour and depth of the Scale Screen project is informed by the skin of Taipan and King Brown snakes. In my hometown of Sharon in Queensland, the remnants of shedded snakeskin on timber joists proves a reminder of the local reptilian residents – snakes rub on the rough joists to break their skin for the process of shedding. Amongst Australia’s most aggressive and poisonous snakes, the beauty of their skin belies their potential danger. I play with the duality of the notions of protective efficiency and deadly beauty as being inherent to Australian native flora and fauna.

In the foreground: Scale Screen 2012 Photography by Tobias Titz 2012.

A distant and more acute view of Scale Screen 2012 to the right. Photography by Tobias Titz 2012.

My works are intended to be experienced in space, time and light. This is particularly clear in the development of Scale Screen 2012. The patterns within its surface are 3-dimensional; they are patterns that exist in space – new patterns are revealed and continuously evolve as you walk around the work.

I applied the knowledge I gained through the Australia Council Grant Research and Development to other subsequent commissions. Taking Flight (pictured below) uses the same fabrication techniques as Scale Screen but has dramatic differences in form and concept.

Conceptual Photography of Scale Screen’s sister work Taking Flight 2011 (Folded Aluminium wall relief commissioned by Aurecon) directly used the skills and knowledge from developing Scale Screen. Photography by Jon Linkins 2010.

Taking Flight 2011 by Christina Waterson installed in Aurecon’s Brisbane Head Office Reception. This work aimed to capture a sense of action and growth; similar to birds alighting from a forest or the flourish of blooms in spring. Photography by Jon Linkins 2011.

Scale Screen 2012 Detail by Christina Waterson within Trace at Pin-up Architecture and Design Project Space. Photography by James Braund 2012.

I would like to sincerely thank the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body for assisting the Scale Screen project.

Go to TAIT’s Website and TAIT’s Blog for all news on the launch of the Stellar Collection in Spring 2014.