Carrie Reichardt - Mad in England

Ok, so these are my thoughts on the keynote address for the MAANZ Symposium 2013. From the UK, Carrie Reichardt advised us she is "not a Royalist" and proceeded to share her thoughts on life, art and politics. Her paper was unsettling and overwhelming...but inspirational. Days later, her words are still resonating with me. "The Treatment Rooms" is her studio and her work definately has a message with murals, mosaic, ceramics and screen printed political works her forte. Sporting a "Mad in England" windcheater and a hat rather akin to that of a tram conductor Carrie was never going to be boring. Art college turned her off art. Her tutors didn't like political work or feminist work which translated that they didn't like her. So she finished with art college and did her own thing, which she has continued to do ever since. Her art is autobiographical as is her way of working and from what she told us her art is cathartic and brought her back from the edge. After suffering from mental illness, her art was her salvation. Becoming involved in community mosaic and work with schools enabled her to make a connection to people and she was able to work again, but as she so clearly stated, Council pays you to dumb down the message and take meaning out of the work so Carrie stopped working for Council through public art commissions, and again started to do her own thing. This is where the discussion deviated from mosaic, and for just reason, but her time talking to us was spent discussing issues that at times were confronting, but were very much from the heart. I for one appreciated this. Death row is a tough topic to address and Carrie did it with humility while at the same time making her stance on related issues pretty clear. 3 out of 4 people on death row in Texas are ex military. Thanks to a connection made through the Big Issue, Carrie began a process of writing to someone on death row, and continued to do so for over five 5 years, becoming friends with Louis and engaging in a lifelong relationship of learning and engagement. This process too reinforce the message that it is ok to do your own thing and as a result Carrie began the mammoth task of mosaicing her own house! Louis spent the last two days of his life with Carrie before his execution. His message to Carrie was that her writing to him restored his humanity. Louis died on 20.10.2005. The death row arguement is a tough one - people either agree with the argument or don't. As Carrie sees it, there is limited opportunity for dialogue - unless you make art out of it. The process of creativity for her, has ensured sanity. As such, there is much in the way of subtle, sometimes hidden messages, in much of her work. Through her friendship with Louis, Carrie's sense of justice and law and order was overthrown and overwhelmed. For Carrie, the words of Martin Luther King Jr ring true "The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people." People are seduced by ceramics and mosaic and as such it is often possible to tell a story that might otherwise not be heard. Her work for Elephant Parade is a good example of this. Commissions for this project were completed free of charge and as such Carrie has final say over what her work says and shows. Her elephant Phoolan is half gorgeous elephant resplendent in ceremonial robes, and half skeletal to show both aspects of elephant conservation. The irony of the private collector who purchased the works intent to "push the elephant against the wall" was not lost. Similarly Carrie's Trojan horse , commissioned by Cheltenham Art and Craft Museum makes a comment on the abuse of horses by man in war, horse racing and abattoirs. Current work is progressing along the lines of utilising ceramic collage, with the ever present opportunity for political comment. Carrie is working on an international mosaic project in Chile in January 2014. Other influences on her work include the Black Panthers, Fred Hampton's statement "You can kill a revolutionary but you can't kill the revolution" and the concept of "craftivism" as defined by Betsy Greer 27.8.2013

A book is forever

It interests me that there is still ongoing debate about the value of books, but particularly the life expectancy of print books. While I received many beautiful gifts for Christmas (Italian pasta machine included in the tally) it is one of the books that I received that has most inspired me. One of those books best described as a visual feast, full of colour, inspiration and creativity, it is the autobiography of Kaffe Fassett - Dreaming in colour. A combination of autobiographical musings, photographs of people significant to this artist and bulging with images of his artwork this book was always going to be a favourite. One of Kaffe's earlier works, Glorious Inspiration, sits on my shelf at home. It too has given me hours of pleasure over the years. Focused less on his paaterns and more on his designs and on what has given him inspiration over the years it is full of collectible items and object d'art from places the world over, including the Victoria and Albert Museum. Some items, readily identified within his artwork and design. As an artist he is perhaps unique in that his career spans across a range of artistic medium....some less traditional than others....from knitting and textile design, to patchwork, mosaic and more traditional forms of painting. Add to that the fact that although he was US born, he was setting out as an artist in the UK in the sixties, and his story was always going to be an interesting one. I had the pleasure of listening to Kaffe speak at a public lecture some 15+ years ago, so this early introduction to the man and his work suggests that this book will keep me happily occupied, continuing to inspire for some time to come. As for the print vs electronic debate? Give me a living breathing book that you can hold, browse, smell and touch anytime. Where is the romance in a backlit version?

Mosaic in The Marais

Mosaic continues to appear out of nowhere and surprise me.  In The Marais it was in the form of a little graphic similar to a "space invader" sitting high on the corner of a building.  Unexpected, but delightfully so.  A little glimpse of colour so high that most people would walk by below and not see it at all. Paris provides these little high rise treasures from time to time.  Within The Louvre and Musee D'Orsay, but less obvious places as well such as within the Cathedrals.  Sometimes the treasures are in the form of magnificent frescoes complete with gilt embellishments, other it is simple architectural detailing.  Either way I enjoy the discovery....and am aware that thousands walk past without gazing up.  Their loss most definitely. 18.10.2012

Butterfly effect

This year saw a friend coordinating a community based mosaic project called the Butterfly Effect. The final work I contributed to the opening exhibition was a two panelled piece showing the caleterpillar of the Swallowtail Butterfly. Strange how something haunts you. Since wortking on this moasaic I have come across numerous reproductions of not only the Swallowtail Butterfly but also the caterpillar. Incredible. Have included a work in progress and th fnal piece just before mounting it onto garden pavers and grouting it.

Snippet of mosaic

I can't help myself, but every now and then I have to sneak in a little bit of mosaic. I can blame this on the fact that I was following up on my new found access to the Flickr site - and have now not only loaded iamges but have also organised "sets". The librarian in me loves these little tools for organising and sorting!

So, 3 or 4 "sets" later I have a number of images online. The link for those who are interested is:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40198437@N03/

In the interim thought I would show you the work I completed while I was on leave recently - Green Sea Turtle.

I am hoping to have it accepted for exhibtion in the Australian and NZ Mosaic Association 2009 Conference - Crusty Oceania exhibition. There are so few opportunities to exhibit mosaic art that you can only be excited by the potential. The piece is finished, now to tackle the paperwork and entry form, supply of correct documentation etc. Fingers crossed I get it sorted correctly and that the judging panel select it for exhbition. If successfull, should be on show at the BCC Central Library Sept/Oct 2009 in Brisbane. Will keep you posted re how I go.

Billy the Cat!

This is Billy - he now lives in New Zealand, but I thought he was a good example of where my mosaic work has been heading lately. The first work in the cat profile series was quite simple as it actually developed from a basic concept design proposed by my nephew Samson. Four cats later and the glass tesserae are being colour matched to produce a life like rendition of "real" cats, complete with copper wire whiskers. Earlier versions were more stylised and didn't have quite the same character....anyone for fish! Photo taken by my friends in IPU.