2023 VERGE PROJECTS ARTISTIC PROGRAM
NISHTA GUPTA, PICO DOS SANTOS-LEE, PETA PYRGIOTIS
“ONE OF MANY HAPPENINGS”
MANNING HOUSE, LEVEL 1
Nishta Gupta, What do you order at a jazz bar?, 2023, charcoal on paper. Image courtesy of the artist.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Gupta’s artworks follow the Fluxus tradition of playfully bridging the boundaries between art, performance, and music. Gupta incorporates elements of chance and abstraction in her mixed media sketches, aesthetically inspired by the work of Cy Twombly. These drawings, or ‘event scores,’ were given to two musicians, Dos Santos-Lee and Pyrgiotis, who improvised musical compositions that naturally flowed from viewing the art. In turn, Gupta deeply listened to their aural experimentations to continually revise her drawings as well as create new work. One of Many Happenings becomes an ongoing, living dialogue between different disciplines, and we invite you to join this artistic conversation by scanning the QR codes beside each artwork.
RAYMOND HUYNH
“THE TRANSFORMATIVE PROPERTIES OF SILICA”
ARTBOX FISHER LIBRARY, LEVEL 4
Raymond Huynh, The Transformative Propoerties of Silica, 2023. Ceramics and glass. Images courtesy of Morgan Hogg.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Looking at the history, use and perception of glass and ceramics in the Eurocentric art canon, The Transformative Properties of Silica was a series of work that engaged in a dialogue between the two ‘separate’ mediums of glass and ceramics by melding them into one. By learning to engage and 'listen' to these materials, and to begin to draw parallels or connections between them, this body of work aimed to contemplate and break away from the categorisation of glass and ceramics, established in the 20th century, which positioned them as disassociated from each other, and which created a hierarchy that unfairly relegated glass and ceramics as ‘crafts’ or ‘applied arts,’ and therefore not worthy of ‘fine art’ status, as materials or artworks. Equally, in the work’s merging of materials, The Transformative Properties of Silica attempted to reflect the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary art practices.
The Transformative Properties of Silica also reflected Huynh’s various iterations of 'play' or material engagement with glass and ceramics, as well as their aims to accentuate or 'exploit' the inherent qualities of various forms of silica (when transformed by heat). Huynh has grappled with accentuating the rawness of glass and ceramics via the creation of various 'elemental' sculptures. These sculptures differed in form and texture: some consisted of clear glass 'droplets' or 'tentacles' that appear to be suspended or 'frozen in time' in its viscous state; the surface of some works were marked; volcanic and lichen glazes were applied, emulating the earth or ‘landscapes’; some consisted of melted scrap or found glass, referencing the ‘glass skin’ of ceramic glazes.
TheTransformative Properties of Silica was an evolving exhibition, with Huynh adding work to the ARTBOX vitrine over a period of four months.
PAULA DO PRADO & LAURA DO PRADO MARTIRENA
“VOLVER”
ARTBOX FISHER LIBRARY, LEVEL 3
Paula Do Prado & Laura Do Prado Martirena, Volver, 2023. Papier-mâché, paint, found objects. Images courtesy of Morgan Hogg.
ARTIST STATEMENT
This collection of works represents a moment in time within the ongoing creative and material conversation between artist Paula do Prado and her mother, Laura do Prado Martirena. They both work back into their material archives, through collecting, accumulating and sorting materials including previously made artwork to create something new, re-imagined. Volver is a Spanish word, meaning to return or go back but it can also mean to turn, twist or pivot – to ‘dar la vuelta’ to turn round so that what is hidden or obscured is made visible.
The paper vessels have been made by Laura using recycled cardboard and paper resulting in both functional and sculptural forms. The time-consuming process involves turning the cardboard manually into pulp and using household objects as moulds to sculpt and shape the pulp. After several days, once dry, these are then painted. Paula’s work is a re-imagining of circa 2010 series of painted sculptural forms made from off the shelf wooden furniture legs and feet. Connecting the paper and wooden forms are collected natural materials along with small weavings and handmade clay beads made by both Laura and Paula. Like the Pedro Almodóvar film of the same title, there are multiple interconnected themes at play; life cycles, matriarchy, family, womanhood, nature and magic.
TAHLIA CURNOW
“PORTRAITS OVER THE YEARS”
ARTBOX FISHER LIBRARY, LEVEL 2
Tahlia Curnow, Portraits Over the Years, 2023. Ink on paper. Images courtesy of Morgan Hogg.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Portraits Over the Years is a series of thirty ink drawings inspired by photographs taken of my family, friends, and myself over a 2-year period using the 0.5 iPhone lens. Presented on a handmade concertina, this collection of drawings intends to act as a gallery of multiple personalities, presenting my loved ones as comedic caricatures. The warped lens has the effect of exaggerating facial features, presenting those that mean the most to me with large foreheads, crooked noses, and elongated faces. I hope that this slightly strange, yet humorous exaggeration heightens the intensity of their emotional facial expressions, and sparks the imagination of the viewer, encouraging audiences to create backstories and envisage the personalities of the individuals presented.
Jennifer White, I can own this memory forever; it’s all going to come down, 2022. Video still. Image courtesy of the artist.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The home movie exists inexplicably between decentralised filmmaking and narcissism. The boundary between reality, fiction, memory and projection. There is a longing to be reunited with a moment so corrupted through constant rehearsal that it is completely distinct from the real moment it signifies. The power of the camcorder lies behind the lens; it's the power to make you feel nostalgic for the worst times of your life.
ANGELA BOGART
“THROUGH THE WINDOW”
LANEWAY CAFE, WENTWORTH BUILDING
Angela Bogart, Through a Window, 2023. Digital print. Images courtesy of the artist.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Angela Bogart has described her own paintings as ‘imperfect,’ the final outcome of her works not meeting her original expectation. Bogart engages with the question of how one can convey an imagined idea when lacking technical skill. By utilising the digital medium of photoshop, Bogart is able to convey that imagined idea to a level of perfection that they are content with, and which perhaps would not have been possible if the works were created by hand. Bogart acknowledges that this in itself is ironic as abstraction can be thought of as the pursuit of imperfection.
ESTELLE YOON
“THEY/SHE”
LANEWAY CAFE, WENTWORTH BUILDING
Estelle Yoon, They/She, 2022. 35mm film photography. Image courtesy of the artist.
ARTIST STATEMENT
They/She explores the beauty of the ‘other-body,’ capturing the natural flow of change and uncertainty. In a world where labels and definitions equal success, They/She visually portrays the undefinable through the lyrical limbs of the model, Archer Rose, in 35mm film format. As a queer, POC artist, Yoon’s work explores notions of intersectional queerness and the constant battles of defining ourselves.
ALI NOBLE & BRIGITTA SUMMERS
“THE PLANTS, THE PRESS AND THE PROCESS”
ARTBOX FISHER LIBRARY, LEVEL 4
Ali Noble & Brigitta Summers, The plants, the press and the process, 2022. Ink on paper. Images courtesy of Estelle Yoon.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The plants, the press and the process is a collaborative experiment between artists Ali Noble and Brigitta Summers. The artists work with each other, the plant life found on Sydney University campus, the SCA print room press, and, finally, with the vagaries of artistic ‘process’ itself.
The artists present a trilogy where each of them has made a work individually, the third and final work being a collaborative effort. Here you see the influences and interplay of Modernism, plant aesthetics and ‘thinking through touch.’
BONNIE HUANG
“DRAIN CATCHER”
ARTBOX FISHER LIBRARY, LEVEL 2
Bonnie Huang, Drain Catcher, 2022. Found objects. Images courtesy of Estelle Yoon.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Amongst the sticky sinews of time and memory, a sense of absence and longing pervades. This sculptural landscape is an exploration into the textures of both private and collective desire, creating a space of elegiac reflection for people and memories of the past. Here, the idea of archive or library refers to the dismembered domestic and bodily artefacts that amalgamate into one— much like how a clogged drain is a collection of tangible mementos left by people from the past.
EMILY GREENWOOD
“O MALU’I ‘A TUPOU”
ARTBOX FISHER LIBRARY, LEVEL 3
Emily Greenwood, O maluʻi ʻa Tupou (detail), 2022. Textiles. Images courtesy of Estelle Yoon.
ARTIST STATEMENT
If Eurocentric art history is the standard, O maluʻi ʻa Tupou recontextualizes the standard to fit Greenwood’s Pasifika diaspora’s postcolonial framework. Greenwood continues to unravel ancestral histories through their postcolonial lens. Juxtaposing their contemporary punk sub-cultural influences from the post-Modernist period with their ancestral history, Greenwood has made a series of Tongan flags, all unique with different approaches to mark making. Using punk art making processes, Greenwood draws aesthetic influences from contemporary Eurocentric cultural icons like the Pearly Kings and Queens of London and Queer culture’s drag aesthetics. Greenwood explores the tongue-in-cheek side of punk, with spray painted slogans like ‘oku ‘ikai ke u lava ‘o lea faka- Tongan’ (English translation: ‘I can’t speak Tongan’) or ‘liliu mei he Google’ (English translation: ‘Translated from Google’). This cultural adaption is meant to be a means of soft and palatable political rejection of the expectation of Pasifika assimilation into Western culture. A flag represents who you are. Greenwood claims many identities, the two important ones being a Tongan and a feminist punk. Because who else would make a Sex Pistol’s inspired Tongan flag, if it was not Greenwood? The Sex Pistols sang God Save The Queen, yeah God save Queen Sālote.
BLAKE BRIDGEWATER
“SHALLOWED UNDER MOON AND SUN”
MANNING MONITORS
Blake Bridgewater, Shallowed under Moon and Sun, 2023. Video still. Images courtesy of the artist.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Shallowed Under Moon and Sun intends to investigate the primordial and virtually terrestrial zone of subtidal ecorealms. These tidal pools and their biological activity have been transmitted to virtual emulations through the compiling of a generative point cloud solarised against 3D scans of tidal pools on the south coast of NSW. In doing so, the work seeks to consider conditions of alchemical transformation amidst environmental change.
CLAIRE DE CARTERET
“AESTHETICS OF ALCHEMY”
ARTBOX FISHER LIBRARY, LEVEL 4
Claire de Carteret, Aesthetics of Alchemy, 2021-23, raku, stoneware and ceramic glaze, installation view. Photography by Estelle Yoon.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Claire de Carteret (b. Gosford/ Darkinjung country) lives and works on unceded Gadigal land. She is an emerging ceramicist interested in technology, minerals and listening. Her recent research uses sculptural form, glaze technology and ceramic processes to investigate the possibility of acoustic resonance.
EMMA COCKS
“CANDLELIGHT”
ARTBOX FISHER LIBRARY, LEVEL 2
Emma Cocks, Candlelight, 2022-23, hot glass sculpting, cold working, and sandblasting, installation view. Photography by Estelle Yoon.
ARTIST STATEMENT
This piece explores the notion of personal development and growth, where each candle and candle holder is representative of the stages we go through in our lives. Several of the pieces exist with imperfections - tilts and marks - an intentional attribute that speaks to the natural messiness and imperfections found in personal development.
JINGRU MAI (MOIRA)
“THE RITUAL OF FEAR”
ARTBOX FISHER LIBRARY, LEVEL 3
Jingru Mai (Moira), The Ritual of Fear, 2023, blown glass, installation view. Photography by Estelle Yoon.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Objective changes, mistrust of my own possibilities and the occurrence of sudden, unpredictable events create constant fear in my mind. But most of the time, fear is summoned by ourselves, and the way to break it is simple: to burn it out with our own fire.
JULIETTE BURGESS, XANTHE KIBBLE, LAUREN MACCOLL, MADISON SMITH, ELEANOR VINEBURG
“SHEDDING LIGHT”
LANEWAY CAFE, WENTWORTH BUILDING
Xanthe Kibble, Delayed Structures, 2023, photograph on paper. Image courtesy of the artist.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Created by SCA students in their first year of study, the works within this show employ light as a material, using it as a tool in a variety of ways; from manipulating aperture in traditional-style photography to adopting a ‘light wand’ to create light painting photographs, and engaging with cyanotype printing which involves the use of light-sensitive paper.
Will Naufahu, still from 4 Landscapes (New York City, Gorgota, Tokyo, Höfn, Anchorage, Bismarck), 2023, video still. Image courtesy of the artist.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Originating from the cross-dimensionality and (sur)real environments of field recordings, 4 Landscapes presents an immersion into digital ways of documenting space, listening to the micro-non-biotic acoustics of location in conjunction with the visual stimuli of surveillance cameras.
A newfound reality is created of local and global collapse through internet image excavation, scored by site-specific electromagnetic signal recordings from Sydney.