Last updated: April 2002

I am a contemporary Australian artist working in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. I am working on installations, collage,  sculpture and light works. I was artist of the month in September, 2000 at Dubbo Regional Gallery and have a permanent exhibition of work at Number 47, Rylstone.  I am exploring my world through using things found in my environment. 'The Xanth' Series use materials collected from Xanthorrhoeas, or Grass Trees and are dominated by the lustre, colour and movement of the Xanthorrhoea. Works in this series carry on themes used in my previous artwork, i.e. the outward urge and the spiral. These can be both two and three-dimensional.

Using pre-existing patterns gives me opportunity to experiment with materials without the need to focus on design. Experimenting with materials creates scope for diversity. Choice is a factor which is continuously in play and essential to the outcome of the work. I have been very aware of making choices, as each leads to a different work. The decision made sets you on the path, then you make another decision which clarifies the path, each choice building up to define the work.

I was awarded the Windmill Trust Scholarship in 2001 and was artist in residence at Hill End in November/ December, 2001.  I am producing a series of works developed from this experience that use quartz rocks collected from the area.
 

Some of my works

Rejuvenation, 2000. This work uses the resin and the leaf bases of 2 different species of the Xanthorrhoea. The work is warm and changes as you move physically around it.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Xanth Outward Urge, 2000. This radiating work has a major three-dimensional quality. The lustre of the leaf bases and the colour of the resin enhance the outward progression theme.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Biodiversity 4. 2001, 88 x 46 x 46cm, Xanthorrhoea leaf bases, silk and water pipe binding. The leaves used for this spiral were still flexible and therefore I was able to bend each leaf around the spiral. This is very similar to some techniques used to make baskets. This piece is built around a metal spiral (spiral binding for old wooden water pipes). The remains of the wooden water pipe installed in the 1920’s and 1930’s remind us of the changes that have been made to the Australian landscape by our use of water. The movement of the spiral spinning and the shadow of the work on the wall are important. I would like to develop this work into an installation. I would fill a room with these spirals hanging randomly. It would thus represent a ‘forest’. Each spiral would have leaf bases attached in a different way, to represent different species. Changing of the light source throughout the exhibition would mimic the changes in the sun’s path.
 
 
 

Bee’s Secrets 1 2000, 40 x 40 x 16 cm, Xanthorrhoea and casting resin, silicon and polyester fabric and light. Bee’s Secrets is the result of experiments to find a glue that would stick onto the leaf bases. Each leaf needed to be sanded to remove the waxy cuticle layer before the glue would stick. Technically the gluing of un-sanded leaves was unsuccessful … but other qualities were discovered. These accidents (discovered through experimentation with materials) have opened a new area for future development i.e. using silicon as a resist, layering of translucent fabric, resin lit from behind, and the use of casting resin to enhance the richness and depth of colour. Experiments with glue and resin have lead to intensifying the warmth and colour of the natural resin.
 
 
 

Gutted, 1999. This mobile explores the ‘outward urge’ theme. It is created by the repetition of feathers stuck to a metal spiral. Light is picked up and reflected by the white quill and fluffy barbs at the base of the feather. The work is funny and visually exciting.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Juvenile Wollemi Pine, 1998. This watercolour shows a coppicing shoot of the Wollemi Pine, surrounded by dry mature leaves. This tree celebrates and highlights the importance of wilderness.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Johnson’s Grass Tree, Xanthorrhoea johnsonii, 1997. Watercolour and ink. On Genowlan Mountain the Grass Tree grows in a unique association with a dwarf She-oak in a heathland rich, unique and diverse. Visually the Grass Tree is an optical delight, continually moving and vibrating. Older stems bend gracefully, flowing down into a skirt which hangs over the trunk. The Grass Tree produces a resin which is a rich glowing red.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hill End Series
 My Gold is an installation from the Hill End Series.  I consider Xanthorrhoea resin as my 'gold'. I use this collected resin as a paint and I love it's qualities. When I went to Hill End as an Artist in Residence I was going to find another 'gold', something precious and did not think that finding little specks of gold on rocks would be at all exciting in fact I didn't think that I would find real gold at all. I was wrong. Little specks sparkling in the sun or hidden in the small indentations in the surface of the quartz. This work parallels the sparkling qualities of the gold, quartz and the resin.
 

My gold 2002 quartz rocks, gold and Xanthorrhoea resin.

To see a selection of 'Hill End' works, click here
 

Thob and burqa series

Works in the ‘thob and burqa’ (dress and face veil) series began with my making a traditional Palestinian thob and a Sinai burqa. I was impressed by the richness and beauty of these tradition costumes. The cultural diversity of peoples of the world is inspiring, and a wonderful beginning to contemporary works of art from an Australian perspective. I researched the type of dyes, fibres and fabrics used in these dresses and the cutting patterns of the thobs from different areas. I also looked at parrallels in dying with indigo, such as shibori and ikat techniques from Asia and Africa. I integrated the thob and burqa designs into my contemporary art making.

Oman Wahiba style burqa with shells voile, cotton thread and shells
 

To see 'thob and burqa' series, click here.
 

For more information contact:  Christine