Jill Baroff

I love the way this wall work by Jill  Baroff plays with ideas of light and shadow. 

I wish I had taken more photos to show the space where it is installed.

pink flick installation view

flick studies installation view

Wall: Susan Buret, Lemon Flick #1 & 2 , Flashe vinyl on paper, ea. 91 x 91 cm. 

Floor: Limelight, Flashe vinyl on board, 91 x 182 cm.

flick studies

Susan Buret, flick studies #1-6, 2014, Flashe on Birch Panel, ea 20 x 15 x 6 cm.

pink flick

Susan Buret, pink flick, 2014, Flashe on Watercolour Paper, 180 x 280 cm approx.

pink flick @ Factory 49

Susan Buret,Tumble, 2014, Flashe on Ply, Dimensions variable.

In November while Artist in Residence at Joya Arte + Ecologica Retreat in Almeria, Spain, I had the time and space to think about how I used pattern in my work. In the stark, high altitude, arid autumn environment I observed subtle colour change as cast shadow and reflection. I thought how I could use these visual phenomena and other illusionary devices to extend my painted pattern from two to three dimensions. These works resulting of my investigations are currently on exhibition at Factory 49, 49 Shepherd St, Marrickville, Sydney until 24 May 2014.Gallery opens 1 - 6 pm Thursday to Saturday.  

New Work 12 Oct 12

Weathered at Tweed River Gallery

I am very excited to be exhibiting at the exquisite Tweed River Art Gallery with my great friend, colleague and collaborator Nicola Moss . The exhibition runs concurrently with the travelling exhibition of works from the Ann Lewin collection making it well worth the trip.

I can't wait to see the work Nicola and I created last year while we were in residence at Montsalvat finally hung in the space for which it was created.

I'm also delighted that  artist and photographer Carl Warner , who used to document my work when I lived in Queensland and whose work I greatly admire will be opening our exhibition.

House Keeping

As the heavy rain continues there is no opportunity to make new work with sun exposed cyanotypes so I have been doing some neglected 'housekeeping'. Last week I did my tax and I have been adding images of older works to my website. These works had to be deleted a few years ago when I had less space on the site and should have been reinstated last year.
In 2006 I had an exhibition at Metro Arts in Brisbane. The works shown in Cactus Milk were a departure from my usual concerns with identity and displacement and were inspired by my love of country music.

Susan Buret, Skin Deep, 2006, Gouache on Cut Tibetan Paper, 150 cm x 3500 cm.

Skin Deep was one of the works included in the exhibition and revisiting it makes me want to make more large scaled paper works.

New Work

Susan Buret Penelope Series 2 #1, 2012, Cyanotype with Gouache Additions, 55.5 cm x 38 cm.

I am in the studio trying to listen to the radio above the din caused by the relentless heavy rain on the corrugated iron roof and feeling guilty about posting trite comments about arks on facebook and not posting often enough here or on the weather blog, Barometer of Moods, I share with Nicola Moss. 

I've been working more on the cyanotypes in the Penelope Series and trying to make larger works. I really prefer to work on a larger scale, not to seek attention, but because I think that this allows a sense of architectural engagement, visceral rather than narrative, when works are closer to the size of the human body. I like the feeling of being drawn into the picture frame and try to achieve this with the larger works.

I still remember making my first large work, moving from 1 m square canvases to 1.8m sq and discovering that it not only took longer but that I had to find ways of reaching the top and bottom of the canvas and moving the unwieldy thing around! And then the image produced had a completely different energy to the smaller works. 

The move to a larger scale with works on paper which must be dipped in water baths brings with it a whole new series of challenges. I now have a series of wading pools and a large supply of MDF boards and wait until the sun obliges to test the techniques. I'm still overcoming technical problems and hope to post a succesfully completed work soon.

Back in the Studio. New Year. New Work.

Susan Buret, Untitled(as yet), 2012 from the Inequality Proposition Series, Acrylic on Linen, 70 cm x 100 cm.

Circumstances largely beyond my control have kept from the studio, and this blog, for most of the latter part of 2011. 

When I returned to the studio I resolved to start blogging again and this raised heaps of questions. 

Should this blog only focus on my work and if so should I include new work which may form part of my next exhibition? If I show most of the work on the blog the exhibition will hold no surprises.

Should I talk about personal matters on a blog which is a professional platform? In my last post I mentioned the fact that personal matters do often, without any conscious decisions, inform the work I make.

The questions still remain unanswered so I am beginning this years blogging with a new work. I have decided to return to the geometric works begun in 2006/7 as part of the in her high heels series. I enjoy  making these works as of resolving the image is very different to the repetitive process of making the collage works.

Cycles

Currently my life is governed by cycles. However it was not until I had written the artist statement for my latest body of work that I realised that it may have been influenced by this.
So once again I think about how powerful making art is for the artist and how it is an integral part of my life.

Susan Buret, Penelope Series #7, 2011 

The works will be exhibited at Cloud Farm, Tourist Road Mt. Murray for the next weekend as part of the Southern Highlands Arts Trail. To read more about the works and see the series so far please visit my website .

Susan Buret, Penelope Series #5, 2011

After thinking about how I make art and it's importance to me I read a very interesting article on the relevance of art  in Inside Story by Andrew Ford. 

There are so many reasons to make art from the pure delight of creating an object to voicing opinion, creating universal narratives, giving voice to issues and ideas of our time. 

I am not doing justice to this topic with a rushed blog post so I hope to return to it in future posts.

Dream Cabinets Now In Melbourne

Installation view Precursor, Anita Traverso Gallery 

A selection of my works from the Dream Cabinets Series are currently on show as part of the exhibition Precursor: A foretaste of solo artists scheduled from now until December 2012 at Anita Traverso Gallery, 7 Albert Street, Richmond. VIC 3121. The exhibition continues until 11 June.

Image Update

I have spent a few hours today updating my website with professional images from my latest exhibition and decided that this blog was due for a facelift too. I'm not sure that I am happy with the results as it looks a bit stern. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Home Town Advantage. Some thoughts about exhibiting.

Last Saturday my exhibition flight dreams opened at loft gallery in Bowral 20 kms from where I live.
The opening was a great success and I had fun. Fun is not something I usually associate with openings. I think most artists would agree that they are often hard work.
I have described openings in the area here before and always comment on the warm atmosphere of a 'country' art  opening and, this opening was no exception.
When I woke up feeling happy instead of a bit flat on Sunday morning I thought about where we chose to exhibit and why.
I am fortunate to show with a Anita Traverso Gallery in Melbourne where their professional approach builds a market and following for my work and  several years ago I exhibited in North Carolina and was invited to talk about my work. This was also an enjoyable experience and made me hungry to show overseas and interstate in Australia. These are definitely a good career moves but, for me, nothing compares with the fulfillment that I get from showing my work to friends and peers. I hope I always have a good gallery near by to show my work.

Susan Buret, Dream Cabinet #7 Bees, © 2011, Mixed Media on Beech Panels, approx 20 cm 31 cm x 16 cm.

Steve Gray recently interviewed me about my art practice and upcoming exhibition on his blog Art-Resource.

The blog is a place where students, artists, art workers and enthusiasts could find information on how to do things, who does things, and how it all comes together. "Ideas, thoughts, theories, exploration, views, process, people, galleries, etc." The site includes interviews from artists working in a wide range of medium and style and provides insights to the inspiration and studio practices of artists which adds immensely to my appreciation of the artworks.

Thank you Steve for your interest in my work and for publishing the interview.

Opening flight dreams

You are warmly invited to my exhibition flight dreams in Bowral to be opened by Andrew Ford, writer, composer and presenter of The Music Show on ABC Radio National, at 3:30 pm on 2 April 2011. Apologies to those on facebook who may already have received an invitation. Now that most of the hard work is done I am really looking forward to seeing my work installed at loft gallery. I have made a series of small to medium sized works which I think will look really good in the space. Images of all the works have now been posted to my website.

Five Coats of Matt Acrylic Varnish.

Susan Buret, More with Honey, © 2011, Mixed media on Linen, (diptych) 100 cm x 140 cm.

Yes, five coats of Atelier archival matt acrylic varnish! Now that all the work is ready for my exhibition I have to get down to the hard slog of making sure the works have an archival finish, naming any that haven't named themselves, labeling and attaching D hooks. This is when I wish I was successful enough to have an assistant. And, while I'm dreaming a secretary to look after mailing lists would be lovely too.

Four weeks to go!

Susan Buret, Painted and collaged hinged boxes. © 2011. 20 cmx 15 cm x12 cm.

Susan Buret. Do You Wanna Dance. © 2011. Mixed media on Linen. 80 cm x 80 cm.

It's four weeks until my exhibition Flight Dreams opens at Loft Gallery in Bowral. I always have a last minute rush of ideas at exhibition time draws close. I think it's because ideas gel when a significant body of work comes together. I suddenly want to be in the studio 24 hours a day when I should be devoting more time to PR, mailing lists etc.

Above are some images of works for the exhibition.

It's also the time when unnamed works have to be titled. The green work above has a pattern made from dragonflies cut from a map of the Ukraine. I think the pattern is 'dancelike' and I was listening to Dvorak's Slovakian dances as I completed it so I have titled it Do You Wanna Dance.

The painted and collaged boxes are still largely untitled and I am unsure how to describe them. They remind me of those leather bound photo frames/folios and perhaps little containers to hold memories of home when one takes flight.

Flight Dreams opens at 3:30pm Saturday 2 April 2011 at Loft Gallery, 8 Banyette Street (upstairs), Bowral. Ph 4861 3214.