from ideas of tending...

At the Caboolture Regional Art Gallery, Judith Kentish spoke to us about her latest exhibition - from ideas of tending... It occurred to Jude that though she does not let her work as a nurse cross over into her art practice both disciplines share the principle of tending to something - be it people, materials or ideas.

Working in series allows a process of working out, when a creative act becomes too easy it indicates to her that it's over and time to explore another way to experiment by asking what happens if? Using ink is a slow process with minimal interference allowing the fluidity and staining of the medium to do its thing. "My action was to start the process, but the work finished itself."

The piece wool mound: a vigil is two piles of wool on the gallery floor with a wooden stool in between. When you lean into the space you can hear the sound of wool being teased, which alerts you to the difference in the wool piles - teased and unteased. Jude says "my work is performative, people just don't see me doing it." Yet in her video work ink drops: the viewing we see her hands carefully moving the ink on paper pieces from one pile to another. This careful tending of the luscious 600gsm paper is accompanied by the crunchy sound that the protective glassine sheets make when moved.

Her woven drops are long tubes that look like they could contain something but are too frail to manage. They throw lonely long shadows on the wall and are an interesting counterpoint to her inkfolds. I was mesmerised by these shroud-like, cloud-like fabrics pinned to the wall behind Jude as she listed the materials used in the seven bodies of work:

• cotton voile
• thread
• ink
• wool
• paper
• pins
• video

The gifted wool had been accumulating in her studio and the act of wrapping it up in the voile to move it out of the way gave Jude the inspiration to make the woolsacs. These sacs play with the slumping of wool, the weight of wool, lyrically described in the catalogue:

gravity, pooled
pillowedinto ink stained,
ponder
an invitation
a pond-shroud of description
embodied hints
cyphers
each fat and full

Judith Kentish: from ideas of tending
On Display: 3 September - 11 November 2016

Intentions

I know it's February already, but for me that's when I can properly focus on my own intentions after the long summer school holiday break. The kids are back at school, daily routines are re-established and my time becomes my own again.

So in 2016, I'd like to continue to make art, exhibit and explore fabric printing. The art I have been making lately tend to be a combination of ink, pen and watercolour on paper. Patterns continue to emerge, like the image on the left, which is a simplified version of lily pads on the Enoggera reservoir.

I am also devoting time to two other art related projects, Lines in the Sand on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) and Mindsettle.

attempting to master the classics

Our latest painting challenge is to copy a painter whose style we like, so that in the process of copying we may learn different techniques. One of my fellow students found the process soothing because so many decisions had already been made: colour, composition, medium and subject. Another chafed against the restrictions. I decided to try Chinese ink painting as I love the vibrancy of ink on paper.

"Flower-and-bird painting  was separated from decorative art to form an independent genre around the 9th century.  A great many artists painted in this genre during the Song dynasty and their subject matter included a rich variety of flowers, fruits, insects and fish.  Many of the scholar painters working with ink and brush used a great economy of line." This great description is from Asia-Art.net.   I did three copies of a rooster in the style of Xu Beihong (1895-1953) with varying degrees of success. I was really pleased with the feathers of my first attempt, the claws of the second and the head of the third. Displayed together they have a certain whimsy.

Resilience

I enjoy watching Julia Zemiro's Home Delivery. She seems to be a warm, compassionate person and I'm impressed with the way she allows her guest to take centre stage. Unfortunately, there are many example of hosts who have access to fantastic guests, but make the interview all about them.

Kurt Fearnley was featured this season, a thoughtful man full of fun and an evangelist for resilience. I took heed when he said "Your body is a bag of meat, you can turn it into anything. Your mind-frame and your approach to life is the most powerful thing that you have. The strongest part you have in you is your resilience, your ability to tell yourself to keep going."

With all of his stellar achievements, Kurt remains humble. To me, humility is the most attractive of the Seven Virtues. A few years ago I came across the Litany of Humility, inspired by the words of Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930). He was the Secretary of State for Pope Pius X when he crafted this litany. When I showed it to my best friend, she said she was astonished to find something from the Catholic Church she could agree with. Take a look at this excerpt (by the way calumniate means to make false or defamatory statements).

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me.

From the desire of being loved, Deliver me.

From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me.

From the desire of being honored, Deliver me.

From the desire of being praised, Deliver me.

From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me.

From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me.

From the desire of being approved, Deliver me.

From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me.

From the fear of being despised, Deliver me.

From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me.

From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me.

From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me.

From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me.

From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me.

From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me.

The image above is a work in ink on rice paper, using this text as inspiration. To finish I inscribed a symbol of humility on the back of the paper. Apparently in some African traditions, ram's horns are appropriate because they go humbly to slaughter. My Australian farmer mates say that rams are not slaughtered because they are needed for breeding. A valid life purpose!