It wasn’t deliberate. I was just in the right place at the right time.
Artists with Conviction
On Thursday I went to the Artists with Conviction exhibition at the Long Gallery. This is the Department of Justice’s annual exhibition of art made by people who are in prison or who are serving community corrections orders, as well as works by staff in these services.
The theme for 2024 was Behind These Eyes, which “invites you to explore the profound and personal stories” of the contributing artists.
In previous years the exhibition has been in the Mawson Pavilion, where the work has been very crowded. This year in the Long Gallery, there’s more space to display the work, which gives us a better opportunity to view the pieces and to reflect on their messages.
There were many wonderful works here and I recognised some of the names from last year’s exhibition.
This pair of paintings, ‘Behind These Eyes’ by Jeremy R really stood out in the gallery :
We all have hidden qualities that are there—you just need to look closely to find them!
Jeremy R: Behind These Eyes. Look for words like ‘friendly’, ‘resilient’, ‘caring’, ‘open-minded’, compassionate’.
And the companion piece of the same title:
Jeremy R: Behind These Eyes. Look for ‘failure’, ‘entitlement’, ‘fear’, ‘judgement’, ‘shame’ . . .
We all have qualities that we are ashamed of and we often try to hide them . . . but if we look hard enough, they will be there somewhere.
‘My Mind’s Eye’ by Keith L. I liked because I see the same thing.
Keith L: My Mind’s Eye
When I look at the sun and shut my eyes, I always see an array of colours that permeate my eyelids. I have always in my mind thought out a storyline to them, it seems to me, one of those things that will always have a forever answer. Herein is the title and here is a painting that represents it.
And I really loved Alex’s ‘The Story and My Path’, which Alex explains “are the 2 side of my personality – the creative dreamer and the analytical scientist.”
Alex R: My Story My Path
The story is on one side and the creation on the other.
It begins, “I am a 31 year old male with multiple neurodivergences. Being in jail is an experience in self realisation. I am finding ten million realities inside my own head, each one valid and powerful. So now I lay here with fifteen months to go, finally ready to find out who I really am.”
Alex R: My Story My Path
And it ends, “I am a 32 year old man with multiple neurodivergences. In the short time since I started this story, I have grown significantly. The ten million realities have focused down to one. My purpose. I am excited to see how the rest of my life unfolds.”
I felt really engaged with these works. I think this is a wonderful exhibition because it gives an insight into the thoughts and minds of people who I might never meet, and a glimpse into their human-ness.
Hatching
Nolan Gallery is next door, so I went in to see Elizabeth Barsham’s new exhibition, Hatching.
I told Betty Nolan I was there for ‘Chickens in a Taxi‘, which is just the coolest painting, because chickens. We had a conversation about how Elizabeth’s studio is an old chicken shed, which she had told me about on her Facebook post a few days earlier.
I love it!
Broken Home
On Friday, slightly thwarted by the bus strike, I headed out to the Moonah Arts Centre after work. I went to see the exhibition Broken Home by Donna Bergshoeff, who is an art teacher at Kramstable’s school.
Donna Bergshoeff: He put his arm around me sticky and hot
The text above reads:
Broken Home examines concepts of territory and identity in connection to domestic spaces.
It explores the relationship between these spaces and the effect they have on our evolution of self.
This body of work and the stories that it tells draw parallels between personal archaeology and the subjective way people create a “home”.
I remembered reading a piece about Donna in the paper a few weeks ago, which said the exhibition “finds the forgotten moments in our domestic histories and narrates them through the photographic lens”. The images of old abandoned homes are displayed alongside pictures of discarded objects, such as kitchen utensils and kids’ toys, which Donna photographed in the studio.
I found it fascinating and inspiring, and I absolutely loved these works.
Tasmanian Women’s Art Prize
I wasn’t expecting to find two other exhibitions in the same space, but here they were. More arty goodness to look at!
There were some amazing pieces here, and I particularly liked the winner of the People’s Choice award by Fran Reeve.
Fran Reeve: Long Sustaining, The Crone
This is a piece called ‘Long Sustaining, The Crone’.
She holds the moment in her fingers, she considers it. ‘It will pass’, she decides, and places it back where it belongs, in a memory.
The intention of this soft sculptural piece is to recognise and celebrate the aged women as well as the strength and wisdom that they hold.
It seemed relevant to my current stage of life.
Tasmanian Art Teachers Association
And then an exhibition of Tasmanian Art Teachers, which is a touring exhibition that allows teachers to share their own artwork and their own creativity.
These were amazing pieces too and, not for the first time, I found myself wishing I could go back to college to study art.
This one by Helen Spencer, called ‘Vermin’, was great.
Helen Spencer: Vermin
Helen says
The cruise ships coming into the dock at Hunter Street epitomise the great gluttony of our era (of which I am every bit as guilty). They embody privilege and entitlement. They pollute. Apparently New Zealand turns back ships we accept into our precious timtumili minanya/River Derwent. Apparently we have a two-cruise-ship limit as if that’s a serious attempt at mitigating harm. Apparently the Tasmanian tourism industry has mixed feelings about them.
The first cruise ship of Hobart’s ‘season’ arrived last week, so I felt this was a really timely and thoughtful piece.
Architecture
This weekend was Open House Hobart weekend, which I’ll write more about on my photoblog in coming weeks.
Lil Sis and I had a fabulous weekend, which kicked off with Tim Ross’s Architecture is Ace talk on Friday night.
Architecture is Ace!
We spent Saturday touring buildings and Sunday volunteering at one of the properties. After having such as great time volunteering at Open House Richmond earlier in the year, we were keen to repeat the experience.
We hung out at a cool 1980s flat in Mount Stuart learning about cork floor tiles and twin tub washing machines.
Back to the 80s
Week 45 summary
Habit tracker
15 minutes exercise sequence in the morning (7 days): 6/7
Hip exercises from the physio (5 days): 5/5
Go outside before 8 am (7 days): 7/7
2 walks or bike rides or a combination (6 days): 7/6
Long walk (1 day): 0 (I substituted 2 bike rides for one walk—see above. It counts because I said so.)
Walk 8,000 steps (7 days): 7/7
Evening exercise sequence (7 days): 6/7
9.00 shutdown (5 days): 5/5
What was the best thing about this week?
So many things! Art and Open House Hobart, obviously. But since I’ve written about them already, I’ll say the other best thing a very brief photowalk before I went to my acting class on Wednesday.
Cool clouds on my evening photowalk
What did I notice this week?
A man-shaped cloud (of smoke?)
Things I see in the sky
What did I learn this week?
If you want to stop Google Chrome returning an “AI overview” as the first thing in a search, you can type in ‘udm=14’ at the end of your search term.
Or maybe choose a different browser . . .
What am I reading?
The script of the play I’m learning for my acting class.
