Below the Surface
9 February - 29 March 2018
Below the Surface explores the ceramic practices of Hawkesbury artist Annette Bukovinsky and Blue Mountains artist Linda Seiffert.
Unique in their beautiful and poetic execution the artists explore ideas of form, nature and the environment.
Seiffert's practice celebrates the sanctuary, mystery, diversity and dynamism of nature. Nature’s infinitely evolving expressions flow through her work. She draw visual connections from organic forms and processes, observing the arising micro and macro patterns, translating them through abstract, organic sculptural forms.
As an artist working primarily in ceramics, she is also interested in breaking the boundaries of the vessel, challenging conventions of ceramic traditions and audience perceptions of this art form, taking the work ‘off the plinth’, and creating a sculptural environment where the sculpture interfaces directly with the surfaces of the gallery space introduces a dialogue which allows the audience to share the space with the sculpture, to feel the physical impact of the work and navigate their way as they would through a garden or a living landscape.
Exploring the elements of with scale, repetition and the incorporation of other materials into the sculpture, the artist invites the audience to immerse themselves in a sculptural environment, amongst an ecology of strange but familiar forms.
For Bukovinsky, the built environment in all its complexity, forms the basis of thought behind the artists current practice.
Competing priorities for land is of significant concern in the Western Sydney region. Our growing population and housing shortage have seen rapid urban development into areas that were once pristine parcels of natural bushland or fertile and productive farmland. Many voices, including those of land owners, developers, policy makers and environmentalists enter discussions regarding the changing shape of this region as it caters for the needs of our increasing population. The relationship between our social need for housing and our need to retain local ecological integrity is complex and requires much consideration, exploration and discussion.
The series The nature of built environments explores the intersection of built and natural environments and promotes the current and emphatic need for social and ecological cohesion. By using clay in unconventional ways I accentuate the metaphorical capacity of the medium and augment this by integrating farming detritus and building site items with the clay sculptures. The visual interplay between these disparate objects highlights the need for synergetic relationships, considers issues regarding ecological guardianship and challenges our priorities for numerous habitats.
Below the Surface is a Hawkesbury Regional Gallery exhibition.
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