inspiration Emilie Faif

Inspiration plus plus plus - discover Emilie Faif a french artist with wonderful sculptures made with textiles and fabrics, such a delight.

snippets from the exhibition

Some snippets from my first ever participation in a exhibition. After months of planning, a day of building the space, weeks spent organise printing, 10 hours of hanging we had a show. It looked pretty great and I had lots of fun.

It was great to experience people seeing my work in this context, installed into a space. I was also curious to see people see the work without knowing me.

I also loved seeing other classmates work come to fruition in the show after working with them for two years.

to Australia and back

image: first morning in Australia

It has been whirlwind of activity, travel and happenings. That has lead me to participate in my first ever exhibition, installed my work for the first time, finished website, printed postcards and business cards and then journeyed across the world to the land where I am from to participate in the joining of lives and being with my beloved family and friends from Sydney for a moment (super wow wow).

Back in London I feel so brand new, starting at an 'official' new day job, the boy is his new dream job it feels like new beginnings.

My art is at the wobbly idea and playing phase again which is exciting especially as I will be working on it in a new space just made for making.

Australia was most awesome and it was lovely and sad to experience the beauty, love and belonging I have for the place.

my work - installing the work

Yesterday I spent 10 hours installing my work. I started at 10am and around 8.15pm when the lights were directed towards the flags I was done. Arms aching, feet sore and I was hungry. There were a few moments of laughter and almost tears when after 8hrs the struts fell down but I was very lucky when people jumped in to help.

After hours of stitching, months of work and 3 months of thought......it is done. I can't say right now if I am pleased, or happy or proud. When I see the people move through the space, if it catches their attention if I see people be interested, if it moves or delights then I can comment.

What I do know is that Dad is now is London and I know he would be happy and I have made it to the end of a process.

Currently stupid tired

I have reached the point of stupid tired again this week and it is Thursday morning; when you wake up from your sleep and you feel like you haven't slept at all. I know it is due to the completely hectic pace I am currently working at, with BIG BIG day job(which to my delight I am loving) and organising stuff for the upcoming Group Show. I volunteered to organise printing the programme and organissign schedule which sounds innocent enough but adds extras to my day. Add to that my ideas about wanting to have business cards(ordered), postcards(ordered) ad website(started last night with help from boy) ready for the show and I don't think I have stopped working before 11pm at night for the past month/s.

I did manage to fit in a weekend in Dorset that revived from previous month just enough to run the last mile.

On the countdown

One week away from being on a break from day job so I can focus on getting stuff sorted for the show and enjoy the process rather than running from place to place even in my own head.

10 days away from exhibition

11 days away from getting of jet plane back to Australia

My first show

amazing artist studios by Joe Fig

www.joefig.com

Such a great discovery via the clutter of Joe Fig's inside the artist studios
which are 11 x11 table top sculptures.

my work - Aboriginal Australia Map canvas

So I have made it to the end of this first stage and I have now drawn what is thought of a indicative map of the indigenous nations.

As a starting place I have based my work on the map of Aboriginal Australia – created by Dr David Horton and produced by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

The Indigenous Map is just one representation of other map sources that are available for describing Aboriginal Australia. This map indicates only the general location of larger groupings of people which may include smaller groups such as clans, dialects or individual languages in a group.

Now I need the courage to take the next step and for a night or so that courage has been hiding.

my work - the canvas develops

Slowly slowly I am starting to map the climb to the top of this creative mountain.

I thought that this may be an 18 month task this crazy idea, so I would take a photo at each stage to document how it develops and share it on my blog.

All Sunday I worked away and at 11:30pm last night I made it to 80 percent of mapping the indigenous countries of Australia on my charcoal outlined Australia. Th map is based on countries and how Australia could would have looked before the European invasion.

stitched portraits, a-m-a-z-i-n-g

Via A Cup of Jo the discovery of artist Daniel Kornrumpf

Such amazing work, just when my last nine months of stitching was on the decline from my own doubts about the medium, I have been saved.

thank you interweb, thank you Daniel!.

my work - the canvas

Well today I started on my way to develop a new work on a really big piece of canvas. I have a mad idea to pull together the current ideas into a one hell of a big piece of work.

What am I thinking.....part of the idea is stitch my way around Australia..... my fingers already ache but then mad ideas like this can turn into something horrible or wonderful. Maybe in some months I will be able to know more.

the myth of primitivism:perspectives on art

At the moment I am reading The Myth of Primitivism edited by Susan Hiller. It is a very dense read but great at being thought provoking specifically in relation to my current project where I am starting to explore the impact of being a white non-indigenous Australian. This book is following another heavy read of White Out: How politics is killing black Australia by Rosemarie Neill. Tough books, hard topic and in no way do I think I can currently grapple the complexity or issues that is highlighting but I am trying.

I am faced with my own guilt and I am also confronted by how unhelpful almost self indulgent this can be for dealing the current situation.

I highly recommend both these books, particularly for Australians as we try to deal with our history along with the current crisis we are faced by the inequalities that many Indigenous people are experiencing this very day.

Pushed on through to create an online portfolio at London's Artist Quarter.

After frustration and annoyance here is my best shot for now: ajcarmichael portfolio

Project - Flags

Project - Flags, a set on Flickr.

Taking photos, documenting, working out how to share this work. Series of 64 slowly understanding the ways to develop it further. Getting back into the rigour of taking images and sharing them.

my work - how do I install this work?

Ok well I have been spending much of my time working out how to hang my flags to be in the group exhibition in July. This photo pretty much sums up what I have been doing physically, and in my thinking. This morning I woke up instantly options running through my mind and then dozed back to sleep. I am finding it so difficult to be able to translate my work to a space to be shared with an audience.

I am having a huge learning experience about how challenging it is to put together work to share. Everything I have imagined or sketched hasn't worked and so I just keep experimenting and asking for feedback and if I stick with it enough fingers crosed something will happen.

participating in Slowalk

On Saturday of the Royal Wedding weekend I participated in Hamish Fulton's Slowalk in support of Ai Weiwei. Much more important the me than any big activities, walking silently very slowly for two hours in the Tate Modern was a great experience.

It may be the only time I am linked to art in the Tate by participating in an Art piece.

Two videos I have shared below, one from Tate and another unofficial one I found video I found on Youtube.

I am looking forward to some other images being available of the movement at a distance to have an insight to what it was like for the spectator from above.

my work - chopping it up

So after an feeling I had to go big and paint on the wall, I came to a place where I then needed to chop and cut the hessian into pieces to continue to the work. I have started stitching and feel compelled to take the work to another form. Like a strange coincidence the British Museum is having Australian Season so I will be able to go and visit Australian plants, Indigenous Baskets, listen to lectures all while contemplating what it means to have our story and be Australian.

my work - exploring the kangaroo

First painting in the longest time, just enjoying the process and the call of the kangaroo as I wrestle with being Australian and what that means.

Susan Hiller exhibition aand thoughts on my practice

Susan Hiller is just brilliant!! I had the best time seeing her exhibition at the Tate Britain with a friend from college. The exhibition was interesting and I really enjoyed the different mediums and her approach to the work. I am trying to convince the boy to visit so he can experience the show especially 'An Entertainment' which I think he will appreciate.

The work is so intelligent and thoughtful and it seems like devoid of the artist touch but in fact highly personal and at the same time scientific in style. I have been perplexed in a way about what this means for me and the way I make my art and questioning if my art is self indulgent. But then all art could be seen as self indulgent.

My challenge is I only truly know how to start from my self and work outwards I don't know what is truth and and what is fiction except about what I know about myself and how that impacts the world I know.

my work - do I have blood on my hands?

In a place far from Australian shores, maybe close to where the trouble started, I ask "Do I have blood on my hands?". I live in a world of commuters. My own focus was the mass of humanity on the underground. My art process transformed with the death of my Dad in August 2010 and now I hear the call of the kangaroo around my wrist. Recently I have been binding clothes into vessels inspired by Indigenous basket weaving but what do I really know of my history. Do I sit here in London on the sacrifice of the first Australians.

images: the start of a work on hessian, exploring my responsibility