Life in Cuba 2

Susan Buret, Life in Cuba 2, © 2010, Mixed media on Panelpop, detail.

Heavy rain for the past few days meant that the outdoor concert we were planning to attend was cancelled and I managed to finish the work above today. It is fun to make small works and complete them quickly even though I think I work more successfully on a larger scale. The process is so different as I don't get the sense of exploring every inch of the surface as I work. The image materializes straight up as a whole almost before I have an opportunity to bond with it.

I don't know if the more 'roccoco' style will work on a larger scale ... I'll see what happens when my stash of panelpops runs out.

Life in Cuba Series

Susan Buret, Life in Cuba 1,©2010, acrylic and paper on Panelpop, 30 cm x 30 cm.

In the second part of her article Art, Labour, Love in the September issue of Art Monthly Australia, Pat Hoffie begins 'For artists it is true that they cannot know what they think until they see what they make'.

As I mentioned in a recent post about Artists' Statements , it is often difficult to nail the conceptual bases of one's work concisely and clearly. I have recently been making some smaller works to show at my open studio as part of the Southern Highlands Arts Trail in November (more about that later).

These works including Life in Cuba 1, above, arose form my interest in maps and boundaries and treatment of those who breach boundaries which led to the reintroduction of collage in some larger works. Recent news about events in detention centres in Australia led me to think about Cuba and Guantanamo Bay. Now (stay with me if you can!), when I tried to find a map of that area in Cuba I found that the relevent bits had been blanked out! I then went on to think about the ridiculous blockade of Cuba by the US which has resulted in Cuba existing in a state of rather beautiful decay .....I had these lovely Panelpop surfaces which I had got in Melbourne and when I applied a wash to them I suddenly had the feeling of weathered plaster walls and the works Life in Cuba came into being.

Dragonflies and Butterflies fly freely across border but we don't. I would love to go to Cuba but I can't believe that I must fly via Canada and the route to the greyed out region of Guantanamo Bay doesn't bear thinking about.

Where Corals Lie

Susan Buret, Where Corals Lie, ©2010, Acrylic on Linen, 150 cm x 105 cm.

My work Where Corals Lie has been shortlisted for the 2010 Redland Art Awards. The awards exhibition will open at the Redland Art Gallery, Cnr Middle and Bloomfield Streets Cleveland Qld 4163 on 7 November and continues until 5 December 2010.

Artists Statements etc

Detail New Work

Artist's statements are approached with varying degrees of trepidation by artists. After all we choose to be visual artists and not writers.

For the past few years I have found statements relatively easy to write and have enjoyed the clarity they afforded me. However I am wrestling with the statement for my newest body of work.

Collage has reappeared in my work again for a number of reasons. I had previously stopped shredding passport and visa images as I felt that I had said what I wanted and to continue to make the work however comfortable it was to produce I would be comprimising the integrity of the older work. I had also been feeling the need to paint after spending time at Ragdale and since my move I had been seduced by my surroundings and felt the need to explore this. I had moved from one comfortable and safe environment to another and wanted to paint and paint.

I loved playing with the paint and working with the imagery from the geometric patterns that have always been part of my work as for me they somehow symbolize the claiming of space. However in the back of my mind I knew that this was not my 'real' voice.

Then we were inundated with news of the election and the constant new arrivals of boat loads of refugees.

As the politicians scanned the maps looking for somewhere to put these people with the same fervour that they might look for a place to sight a waste dump I started looking at maps.

On the most superficial level they are almost as pretty as passports. But what are they for? You can find your way by the stars but you can also use maps to store information about ownership, weather patterns, geology etc. So for much the same reasons that I shredded identity documents I have started cutting up maps and floating the fragments on new works. To add further complication, even though I work with my back to the windows the colours of the seasonal changes in my new environment continue to appear in the works.

So how to make an artist's statement that makes sense of all of this?

I often listen to Bob Dylan when I want to think about my work. Two complete runs of Blonde on Blonde and well into the three volume deluxe Dylan set all I have come up with is 'the pump don't work cos the vandals stole the handle'

Where did I put my brain handle again?

Don't Give Up the Day Job Yet.

My Pots with At the Batthaus. © Gavin Chillcott 1987 in the background.

I have being spending my Friday evenings at Cloud Farm playing with clay. As you can see from the results above there is no evidence of Celeste's excellent tuition or the fact that Milton Moon was once my art teacher for two years. I am not about to give up my day job!

It's often good to play with other media just to see where it might lead and I have decided that I am probably more suited to decorating tiles than working in 3D. Apart from this I have returned to using collage and papercuts in my work and will post some new images shortly.

Oh, and those are the first poppies of the season from my garden.

Breaking the Silence

I haven't posted for ages because I just haven't felt like posting.

Minor ailments, bereavements, life too busy .... there are a load of excuses that I could give but, the reality is that I just didn't feel like it. This is probably why I am a visual artist and not a writer.

I am in awe of artist Joanne Mattera who has just made her 500th post and, since I began following her blog, they have all been great.

I really felt like writing today to tell you about the opening I went to yesterday. No image, no web link, but this opening at Loft Gallery, upstairs at 8 Banyette Street, Bowral, t 4861 3214 was just wonderful.

An affirmation of all the reasons I love to live here, locals, including artists, restaurateurs, doctors, architects and good neighbours gathered to hear Ben Quilty open Pamela Voysey's solo exhibition of still life works at Bella Hazelton and Adrian Davies' new exhibition space.

The space enjoys beautiful natural and good artificial light and the late winter sun bathed the room warmly.

I think this may have been Pamela Voysey's first solo exhibition. Ben Quilty, he of the maggotts, toranas and testosterone powered works, introduced us to Pamela's work which may otherwise have gone unnoticed. It is not often that a contemporary art space exhibits the work of a mature emerging female artist working in a somewhat forgotten genre. The works are beautiful, passionate observations of seasonality as Pamela celebrates lie. If you are in Bowral go to see them and if not follow Loft Gallery on facebook to see some images.

When not real is worth more than real!

I have been silent for a while but this I had to comment on!

I hope this article from artdaily.org is legible. If not click on the image to enlarge.

It's not what you are but who owned you! I can't believe we live in a world where some eager bidder will pay a stupendous amount for fake pearls while much of the worlds population lives below the $2 a day poverty line. I love jewelry too but I have to wonder if we are all nuts?