The curatorial eye behind the current line up of works at Craft Victoria deserves a medal. The three exhibitions on display work perfectly together, creating something much greater and broader than the sum of their parts, while still maintaining casual links between the two. We'll start with what I consider to be the most interesting - and by virtue the most cerebral of the three. Babel, by Natasha Dusenjko is a beautifully quiet series of porcelain and paper works looking at codes, language and myth.
An extension of her previous exhibition Bone Ancestor II; fragmented texts, codes and instructions are wrapped and rolled around ceramic bones and towers. The black surface, reminiscent of star charts creates a lovely counterpoint to the rising structures - in both colour and texture. The fragmentation of words create chance encounters and meanings allowing for different readings from multiple angles.
The two tables allow for different meanings and scales when viewed in opposition. Table 1 alludes to star charts; constellations of texts hinting at importance, especially in relation to the placement of towers. The map looking up to the stars via the towers of babel, communicating unknown messages to the stars above. The cold stark forms of the towers work well with the organic forms of the bones on Table 2. Perfectly ordered and numbered archaeological bone fragments repeat the textual ciphers and codes, meticulously ordered. The jump in scale between the architectural and the archaeological is lovely; each hinting at an underlying language and mythology. Meanwhile both contain elements of each other - the towers of rationality have been placed in a seemingly random manner, while the organic forms of the bones have been laid out in perfect order ranging down in sizes.
Both tables are looking for answers - the rational and scientific civilisation looking upward and the ordered inspection of the bones as remnants of a past belief system. The conversation between the two as well as the answers can be found in the wall installation between the two. Meticulously ordered scroll fragments compel the viewer to decipher the two tables - mocking our need to understand it all. Delicate and uniform, it asks us for the same patience put into the work in deciphering the language. Quite a lot considering all the text has been applied to the wall using letraset.
She also has some stunning smaller pieces for sale in the shop such as these bones and other objects and necklaces.
Gleaning Potential by Simon Lloyd is a collection of fragments and materials used to explore his wider work. His finished objects play with scale, materiality and texture and form quite a nice collection of works. The parenthesis set the tone in this collection, starting it all of on quite a comical note. But his collection of found objects were the highlight for me. Situated in a mini shed, rows and rows of smaller found objects sit on shelves creating a mini wunderkammer of banal pieces turned interesting my the virtue the whole. I'm always a sucker for this sort of thing - the display of order - and as it windows on to the rest of his finished work I felt it quite a nice way to look at it all.
Meanwhile, seeing a copy of the flyer for the open day at the museum put the exhibition in my good books almost immediately. The bags of found objects further highlighted the ludicrousness of the whole thing, and the addiction of collecting in general.
Cycle, is a series of sculptural works that play with organic natural forms reminiscent of sea pinnacles and and other choral forms. While these have aesthetic beauty the more intriguing aspect of the exhibition is the eroding of these objects. Last night they were placed in water allowing them to return to their somewhat original state. The static and finished pieces will be creating a counterpoint to the erosion of the other pieces. Lovely variations in form made by the emergence of these pieces work rather nicely as a third exhibition.
great to read a comprehensive review of Natasha's work. It deserves such a considered response.
Posted by: pj | June 04, 2009 at 10:13 AM
I also saw this show and thought Natasha's work was standout. So unusual and so quiet, yet it says so much.
Posted by: Meg | June 08, 2009 at 11:51 AM