Gallery: Golden Textures Biennial Art Quilt Exhibition
The Central Goldfields Art Gallery of Victoria selected 25 pieces from 18 contemporary art quilters from across Australia for its biennial exhibition in March 2019. The exhibition was curated by international award-winning textile artist, Jenny Bacon, from Maryborough, Victoria. The exhibition offers an acquisitive prize of $3000; the winning quilt becomes part of the gallery’s permanent collection.
Winner of the 2019 award
Australian Print, 85cm x 100cm (331/2in x 39in), Sue Reid
Artist’s statement: “Australia is a land of contrasts, from the red arid centre to the lush green rain forest on the coast. This land has been occupied by Australian Aborigines living a traditional life, following the seasons and food. Australian Aboriginal culture is the oldest known continuous living culture on the planet, the original Australian print.
Australian symbols reproduced from original drawings by Troy Firebrace Yorta Yorta man.”
Collaboration with Auntie Cynthia at Gallery Kaiela Aboriginal Community Art Shepparton. Wholecloth textile painted, hand embroidered while travelling to Cape York, machine embroidered and quilted.
Twilight Walk, 70cm x 140cm (271/2in x 55in), Sue Dennis
Artist’s statement: “In the fading light the world becomes less distinct, shapes appear and disappear. The softness of the twilight calls to me.”
Materials used are cotton wholecloth, textile ink, batting and threads. Hand printed, painted and stitched, machine quilted.
Trees, 80cm x 80cm (311/2in x 311/2in), Valarie Robinson
Artist’s statement: “Trees are endlessly diverse, in variety, shape, size and colour. Life-giving, trees are also food for the body and soul.”
Disperse dyed strips immediately suggest tree trunks. Marks made on bark, rings within, flowers, leaves are hand stitched. Six small quilts, joined together, each tells a different story.
Disperse dyeing, hand and machine stitch. Cotton fabric, net, various threads.
Seaweed, 90cm x 136cm (351/2in x 531/2in), Dianne Firth
Artist’s statement: “While waiting for a ferry on Sydney harbour I saw big, fat fronds of seaweed growing on the pontoons. I was fascinated by the colour, shape, vigour and movement of the seaweed in the water. The idea was to create, in a partially abstracted form, the mood of seaweed under water. Painted felt represents seaweed and net represents water.”
Assemblage of opaque materials between transparent layers of net, applied colour, machine quilting. Painted viscose felt, acrylic paint, polyester net, polyester thread.
She Matters — Rwandan Mountain Gorilla, 160cm x 110cm (63in x 43in), Sue de Vanny
Artist’s statement: “Inspired by my own photo, this is my tribute to the female mountain gorillas of Rwanda. One of three females in this particular family, this lady is 40 years old and was seven months pregnant at the time I took the photo. Wow — mature-age pregnancy in the animal kingdom. Wanting to present her a little differently than my usual more realistic style and give a little more ‘Pop’ style, like Andy Warhol, I have sketched as well as played around with the photo and came up with an adaption that appealed. The basic drawing was drawn onto base fabric, then a collage of her head was done except the eyes. I left them to be realistically thread sketched and the rest was more impressionistic, while putting it on yellow background.”
Thread sketching, bobbin work, free-motion quilting, painting. Cotton fabric, metallic black thread, batting, acrylic paints fabric medium.
At Rest, 60cm x 80cm (311/2in x 231/2in), Rosi Gates
Artist’s statement: “When I came across an old decaying wooden boat far from any body of water, it spoke to me of sea salt and past adventures. The timber is gnarled and warped, ravaged by time, yet beauty is still evident in its graceful lines, the skill of its construction and its weathered texture. It reminds me that in a similar way our life experiences mark our souls and forge our characters. The stitched outline of the vessel shows the detail and texture of time on timber, yet it is transparent and ethereal, suggesting impermanence. The seascape over which this image is layered is solid and present.”
Hand-painted wholecloth with free-motion stitching. Cotton fabric, cotton batting, cotton and polyester threads.
Integrifolia #3, 110cm x 125cm (43in x 49in), Brenda Gael Smith
Artist’s statement: “As the woody, cone-like fruit of the coastal banksia mature, the follicles open up to reveal irregular elliptical chambers. Seeds are released to start the cycle of regeneration anew. Nature is replete with such stops and starts. This is reflected in the complementary palette of red and green and the lines of stitching echoing out into the universe.”
Cottons hand-dyed by the artist. Machine piecing and machine quilting.
Grevillia — Abstract, 138cm x 100cm (54in x 39in), Anna Brown
Artist’s statement: “I am primarily interested in pattern making, and my designs are developed from nature, particularly plants. From a photo of a grevillea, I developed a pattern of simplified shapes, which I built up with silk and some printed cotton like a collage. Once this piece was appliquéd I cut into the whole cloth and rearranged the strips into a new abstract pattern, which evokes for me a feeling of being in a forest and seeing the dappled light through the canopy.”
Rocks, 50cm x 200cm (191/2in x 79in), Jane Rogers
Artist’s statement: “Folded up pieces of fabric, painted then arranged, creates the resulting strange creatures emerging. In this are the rocks that are really rockin’.”
Free-motion machining, frayed edges, hand stitching and singed edges.
Eucalypt 1, 100cm x 250cm (39in x 981/2in), Suzanne Lyle
Artist’s statement: “I am a fibre artist with a love of nature. I use textiles because they provide a unique method of interpretation with their vibrant colour, tactile nature and endless variety. Texture is what makes fibre a unique and versatile medium. Ultimately, I am attempting to create fabric that carries ideas of colour and pattern that I view from my living room window every day. My current work is based on heavy stitch, using traditional stitching of both conventional and unconventional materials. Various fabrics, Solvey, thread and beading all appear in the work, focusing on texture and fine detail, using mixed-media technique and colour blending. The stitched qualities and raised surface embellishment within my work are for construction as well as surface embellishment to give my finished piece a tactile nature.”
Wabi-sabi, chiku-chiku, 30cm x 90cm (12in x 351/2in), Tricia Smout
Artist’s statement: “A bag of vintage fabrics purchased in Japan were cut into smaller pieces and assembled on trains and in hotel rooms during the holiday, so nothing was ever quite straight — wabi-sabi (the acceptance of transience and imperfection). Stitching was added to emphasise the mended patches, the weavings, and the designs on the fabrics. The pink patches represent the cherry blossoms seen during the trip. Chiku-chiku is an old Japanese onomatopoeic word for the sound of the needle going in and out of the cloth.”
