2016 Heysen Sculpture Biennial Exhibition
21 February - 1 May 2016
The 2016 Heysen Sculpture Biennial exhibition was opened by Erica Green, Director of the Samstag Museum of Art. The Catalogue essay was written by Stephanie Radok.
Index of Artists
David ATKINS | Deb CANTRILL | Ben CARROLL | Jan CLIFFORD | Quentin GORE | Ian HAMILTON & John HAYWARD | Tony HANNAN | John HAYWARD | Kon HEYER | Penn HOUSMANN | Greg JOHNS | David KERR | Max LYLE | Carmel MARSDEN | Ray MEANDERING | Maggie MOY | Astra PARKER | Flossie PEITSCH | Ron ROWE | Fatih SEMIZ | Tim THOMSON | Nicholas UHLMANN | Ronda WALLIS | Clancy WARNER | Lorry WEDDING-MARCHIORO | Margaret WORTH | Zed ZEIMER
All photos by Daniel Cazzolato Photography unless stated otherwise. All artists are South Australian unless indicated otherwise.
David ATKINS, No Burning Bush 2016
The piece is a response to the renewable energy debate but, more broadly, a response to the interactions between opposing entities.
Metal, timber - 250h x 70w $4,900
Deborah CANTRILL, It all starts with a seed, with its memory of the past and its potential for the future 2015-2016
Seeds are the archetypical beginning.
Seeds come in a vast array of forms each containing what is needed for the next generation, adapted to place and climate.
Life as we know it depends on diversity in all forms to ensure all the elements of life can survive.
Garden plants woven together using various basketry techniques. A tray containing a group of architypical 'seed' forms -
45h x 130w x 90d cm $2,800
Ben CARROLL - Victoria
Inner Space 2016
Inner Space is about some long overdue self-reflection. When I looked within it wasn't so scary.
Recycled timber, fibreglass, steel and cast iron from old baths - 500h x 80w x 80d cm $12,500
Photo by Rick Clise
Jan CLIFFORD, Eidolons 2015
Endless expanses of cultivated land cover much of Australia. Looking at them, we sense a loss - a regret for the missing abundance of native flora now relegated to scanty roadside remnants. The long cleared trees and scrub still haunt us. Some of them are captureed in this work.
Birch wood, twigs. Steel bases made by Ainsley Watson - 350h x 600w x 400d cm approximate group dimensions - POA
Quentin GORE, Timber & Steel 2015-2016
My inspiration:
Author Colin Thiele made many observations about Heysen including this quotation: "I must confess, the Sun its light and warmth, is my religion."
Extract from: Hans Heysen, Artist, Conservationist, Visionary written by Helen Lyons, Trevor Curnow and Allan Campbell published by Trees Please Inc. 2003.
Up-cycled French Oak wine barrel staves and galvanised steel. Oak staves courtesy of Coriole. 2 @ 180h x 330w x 10d cm, 1 @ 180h x 270w x 10d cm - $2,200 ea, $6,400 for the set of 3
Ian HAMILTON & John HAYWARD, Genially Modified Crop 2016
GM Crop uses humour and unlikely forms in response to contemporary environmental issues such as climate change (there's no telling what strange manifestations of plant and animal life will emerge in the future).
Wood, paper, sawdust, string, discarded technology, paint, oil - 1500w x 1500d cm - $60 per pod, $200 for 4
Tony HANNAN, Women of Arabia 2016
A meandering passage of sticks, each stick has a name. I might forget but soon I am reminded of this anglo-centric world we live in.
When young, I travelled slowly through the middle-east, to watch, ask questions and to sit and listen
I enjoy reordering and repurposing natural materials
Eucalypt sticks, steel wire, 12mm steel rods, cloth, bricks, Alyssum - 500h x 600w x 600d cm - $1.250
John HAYWARD, WWWeb 2016
The traditional definition of a web as the fabrication of fine threads by a spider to catch its prey, or a complex of interconnected elements perceived as a trap or danger, has become broader in recent times to include a network of information exchange and surveillance known as the internet.
Rope, resin - 600h x 600w cm $1,200
Kon HEYER, Time Frame 2015
The inspiration for this work comes from the aged and weathered materials used. They are positioned and modelled minimally to emphasise and honour their existing qualities and features. The process is both intuitive and rational.
Discarded wood, metal and found objects - 150h x 350w x 5d cm $9,000
Penn HOUSMANN, What the gorilla saw? 2015
Two footed, four pawed, winged or finned - our ways of being in the world are under attack. Like the gorilla we need to shift our gaze above and below, in front and behind. If our gaze remains fixed, we are lost.
Found chairs, plastic figures and glue - Chairs 100h x 45w cm $495
Greg JOHNS, The Observers 2016
The Observers are figurative works, Australian in form. The title derives from the often amazed observation by Aboriginal people of the behaviour of incoming Europeans. The indigenous and European feel of the Heysen property makes it an appropriate venue for this work.
Mild steel - Various heights from 180 - 250cm $9,000 - $12,000 each
David KERR, Charcoal Stack 2016
Charcoal Stack is a sculptural reference to the once ubiqitous landscape architectural feature of the haystack, and a tribute to the waning art of the charcoal burners. The purity of material and form of the haystack was once a regular art subject, often the medium of charcoal.
Charcoal sticks - 250 x 200cm (h x diameter approx) $5,000 reconstructed in a specific site)
Max LYLE, Seeker 1 and Seeker 2 2015
Seeker 1: (left) The long detention time for asylum seekers applying fore refuge in Australia often leads to intense personal stress. The sculpture signifies the agonies of internment by using a sculptural derivation of Edvard Munch's The Scream.
Copper sheet over oak timber, scoria, steel, flint, barbed wire, copper slag - 213h x 33w x 33d cm $8,000
Seeker 2: (right) This work recalls the fate of many "Boat People" who perished during disastrous voyages. The use of the raised arm and hand symbol emphasizes the theme ('SEIV X' is an acronym used by surveillance authorities to identify a "Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel" plus number.)
Copper sheet over oak timber, scoria, steel, flint, barbed wire, copper slag - 213h x 30w x 30d cm approx. $8,000
Carmel MARSDEN - Queensland, Natures Heart 2015 - 2016
My work is inspired by wood that has been slashed wtih a chainsaw or split with an axe. The wounds that remain on the bark and the red heart of the tree are symbolic of the passion Hans Heysen had for the Australian landscape.
Concrete coloured with oxides/acids and matt sealer reinforced with 25mm stainless steel tubing and 16mm rebar - 70h x 70w x 70d cm $2,500
Ray MEANDERING
Sallie - domesticity 2015 - 2016
While looking at the interdependency of woman, machine and domesticity my repurposed Louvre Gallery presents discarded images as layered light and memory of place. Influenced by the domestic character of invention, I explore domesticity in Heysen's 1913 painting Sewing - intertwining domestic narratives as an ephemeral testimonial of the past.
Heat welded with plastics, wire and threads carefully positioned within the gardens of Heysen's Cedars. Sallie: 120h x 120w x 50d cm, Louvre Gallery: 124h x 450w x 15d cm. Sallie POA, Louvre Gallery $2,400 each
Maggie MOY, Nests 2013 - 2016
I seek to highlight moments of enchantment. Collecting used and dislodged bird nests from the ground, I raise them up on stitched platforms. Installing the nests en masse I aim to engage the viewer's attention, inviting one to examine what is often overlooked.
Found bird nests, cotton thread - Variable, hanging installation POA
Astra PARKER, Tonglen 2016
Tonglen is a contemplation on exchange; on the relationship of tive and take. What is given from one hand is received in another; returning the balance.
Corten Steel - 250h x 200w x 70d cm approx $9,500
Flossie PEITSCH - Victoria, Ecocover Panels 2016
We claim to be very concerned about global warmrng and yet we use mostly 'Band-Aid measures' to counteract it... my Ecocover quilts are a silly conscience-soothing example of one such absurd remedy, pretending to be useful in shading the world from excess heat from the sun.
Sisalation: Builder's Insulation Wrap - 800w x 800d cm $4,000
Ron ROWE, Tool Trees 2016
This is an on-going investigation into the nature and use of wood for tools and buildings. Early pioneers and settlers used the wood for handles on axes, rakes shovel and scythes. The Tool Trees pay homage to the variety of implements that were often handmade.
Timber, paint - 720h x 120w x 120d cm $2,200
Fatih SEMIZ - Victoria, Transition 2012
... a moment in time...
Cast aluminium - 300h x 68w x 32d cm $19,000
Tim THOMSON, The Seeds of My Imagination 2016
From a found object I have imagined four stages of a seed's life. Fresh nut, mature nut, spent casing and seed. The forms embrace male, female, youth, old age. Success in evolutionary terms means reproducing. The question is where?
Bronze, stainless steel, gold-leaf. 4 elements each element no larger than 60cm - $15,000
Nicholas UHLMANN, Shelter 2016
Shelter recalls the burnt and hollowed out bole of a giant Eucalypt.
Corten steel, bitumen paint, mild steel footings - 250h x 90w x 70d cm $18,000
Ronda WALLIS, Walking/Thinking - Found 2015 - 2016
This work is collectively named Found but separately named Majeed, Gholam, Bemnet, Laila and Asif.
Struggle, hope, and desire to connect have a shared thread.
My thanks to Glenelg Engineering for their advice
Timber, MDF, stainless steel, perspex, USB cords, handmade paper, Primal AC-3000R, spent bullet casings, Megapoxy, Solacryl Paint, Forminex Formarine, rubber, reflective aluminium, copper, electrical components. - 5 pieces, 30h x 30w x 40d cm on 'legs' approximately at 1.3 metres $2,700
Clancy WARNER, Upon Reflection 2016
Looking at the world with eyes of introspection, looking within and reflecting upon nature and the self. A vessel of reclaimed objects, once discarded, transformed from waste to beauty; recreated and renewed.
Reclaimed wood, cast aluminiumm, resin and steel - 60h x 150w x 35d cm $3,200
Lorry WEDDING-MARCHIORO, Touch 2016
Touch is an interactive light and sound installation which responds to the presence of the viewer. It is inspired by recent research into Quantum Physics and the Observer Effect. With this work, I am seeking to evoke the sense of play that often gets forgotten about when we become adults.
LEDs, copper, steel- 180h x 30w x 30d cm 2 pieces $5,500
Margaret WORTH - Artist, Helen HERBERT - Poet, Out of Ashes 2015
Commemorating a dear friend and colleague, celebrated through art as the transformation of ordinary things into the extraordinary. Things which had been laid aside or discarded have been recreated as joy in life. Her life inspires new works and connections - an enduring legacy.
Poetry - Helen Herbert
Wood ash, rusted steel, discarded plastic and metal- 220h x variable width x 100d cm $7,890
Zed ZEIMER - Victoria, Scillta 2016
Natural re-occuring patterns contrast with a minimalist form. These elements are bound together by light and the natural cycles illustrated in the use of recycled materials.
Recycled mild steel, recycled timber - 125h x 100w x 100d cm $5,750
