Robyn Ferrell

Philosophy of the Body

November ​14 to November 22 
Opening Friday 13 November, 6-8pm

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Image: Robyn Ferrell, Paynes Grey Anatomy, 2015, photopolymer print on arches paper.

Philosophy of the Body uses traditional and contemporary printmaking techniques to bring to life the long history of imaging of the body. It reflects on evocations of bodies sacred and profane - from x-rays to the baroque, from medicine to imaginary anatomy, from the icon to the shroud and from brass rubbing to reliquaries.

Philosophy of the Body demonstrates the companionship of body and image, evoking the methods of image-making belonging to the body - the stain, the line drawing, shaping in fabric, wall-painting and iconography, captured in photographs and penetrated in medical imaging. It refers to the parallel history of printmaking in the use of old and new technologies like etching, drypoint, brass rubbing, Japanese woodblocks, photopolymer and digital printing.

ROBYN FERRELL is a printmaker with Terravita and is a member of the Warringah Printmaking Studio. View her work at http://robynferrell.weebly.com and http://terravita.weebly.com/robyn-ferrell.html

Rachael McCallum

Suh-real; (blow your own mind)

Opening Friday 21 August 2015, 6-8pm

Saturday 22 August to Sunday 6 September

Artist talk from 3pm, Sunday 6 September

Image: Rachael McCallum, ceramic form (detail) 2015.

Suh-real; (blow your own mind) is a playful collection of works which seeks to explore and celebrate experiences of relationships to "lifetime". Speaking through juxtaposed objects such as the soap bubble and ceramic to challenge human relationships to time, reality and existence, combined in a semi-interactive installation of mixed media sculpture and ceramic paintings. One of the older Sophists, philosopher Protagoras of Abdera said it best when he proposed "Man is the measure of all things", such is a reflection of our instinctual strategy to begin with self reference when contemplating our surroundings. When we consider what is a beautiful thing, a valuable thing, a good thing, or even a perfect thing - we first begin with our self, which embodies our past experiences, social consensus and our relative physical situation. This collection of works seek to disorient such reference points by playing with relationship of gravity, the longevity of a moment, the beauty in the mess, and the perfection in the accident. Interaction with these ideas can be subconscious, and whilst this in itself may not be "mind-blowing", the proposition that you are responsible for your perception is one that can be fascinating to probe.

The media of Ceramic is liquid stone, caught in a moment of transition. Through an intensified process of dosages and temperatures, the piece matures quickly to then halt in its development when firing ends. This shift in environment changes the effects of time on the object, as seen in evidence in the glaze surface. This approach of dosages leads to experimentation, or "cooking", and with other materials and has lead to question experiences of both ephemeral and permanence. Rachael McCallum lives and works in Sydney, engaging with painterly ideas in the ceramic medium.