Festival Girl Rates: 7.5/10
On my day off, I decided to visit the 'Love Lace' exhibition at the Sydney Powerhouse Museum. Featuring 130 lace works by 134 international and Australian artists.
A whole exhibition on lace I hear you say? Well, why not. Lace is much more than the traditional delicate doilies
that you might see your grandma fawning over. But in
this exhibition, lace design is being explored in new by a broad range of contemporary artists using
unconventional materials such as human hair, titanium, mulberry paper
and optical fibres, manipulating these materials in innovative ways
through traditional techniques.
Although the powerhouse is currently
under some renovations, this won't impact on Love Lace. The
exhibition is split into two sections, part one and part two and the premise
is to
challenge the traditional concepts of lace, with artists pushing lace
techniques in surprising new directions. Love Lace finalists have employed an impressive range of over 60
techniques and 100 different materials to create their extraordinary
work.
As well as this, works include wide range of two and three dimensional interpretations of
openwork structures, digital multi media processes and works, large-scale installations,
screens and sculptures; textiles, wall hangings and lighting; to
fashion, accessories and jewellery.
The Love Lace slogan: Make Lace, Not War!
Nathan Joseph Howe - Spider Lace. I love how the 'lace' sculpture plays with the low lighting creating cavities of shadows in perfect formed citrus like shadows. They are so crisp and really give the work an extra dimension. Delicate perspex cut outs also creative really subtle delicate shadows.
Andrea Eimke - Third Space II. The
panels of lace have a profound effect when you walk into the dimly lit
room. The presence of these tall lace panels from the ceiling to the
floor, make you feel as if you have wondered into a lace Forest. They
beckon you to investigate, see whats between them and see through to the
other side of the room. Using different designs and textures, each
panel is intrinsically different from the other and I found to be very
engaging.
Elise Benjamin - Cheongsam and Marion Graham- Tight Laced, I really like how these two separate works have been grouped together. Not only as there are obvious similarities in type of garment, but both works complement each other in shape, colour and location. The dark iron ‘busk' makes reference to women in sixteenth century who commonly wore similar devices to dictate the female form. The bronze coloured Cheongsam, is an ode to the artist's desire to rebel against the conservative Chinese upbringing and create a work that integrates an iconic Chinese icon into a medium that is more experimental.
This funky lace webs by Shane Waltener - Another World Wide Web (2011) employs traditional Shetland lace technique to
interacts with the building's architecture. A really subtle approach
integrates the art into the visitor walking around space, where they
might not necessarily expect a work of art to be.
Stepping into part two of the exhibition, Bernabeifreeman - Garden Party is at the entrance is truly delightful. This work uses digital media textures and pixelation and old fashion doily-crochet holes to create textured shadows around the room.
Linda Galbraith- Steeped in Memory. You can clearly see the intention of the exhibition as a whole and what the curator was thinking in connecting the works. Throughout the space, these worm holes into other sections of the space, would allow you to peek in and see other works or visitors pass by. It was delightful when I was trying to take this snap and noticed a giant head appear trying to explore the worm hole too.
These delicate lace works sat behind glass that has been curved, thick glass which actually distorts images like a fish eye lens. This creates a reflection of all the objects around the room and enhances the lace imagery where holes and shadows are leering at every corner and surface.
I love this work by Marian Smit- Italian Bobbin. Although delicate paper is so fragile, I love how the structured shapes create such complex design and shadows.
Fashion in lace through the ages.
Toni Maticevski - Spring Summer Finale 2011. Just stunning - I could barely keep my eyes off this gown. Made using silk chiffon, silk crepe-de-chine, silk-satin backed crepe; handmade flowers and rouleaux web lace, the dress is incredibly emotional and feminine from the front.
I adore the knotted back feature, it almost seems like her heart decorates it. I could definitely see the modern bride wearing this kind of gown.
Marita Macklin- Aspergillus work is made of free-motion machine embroidery, bush dye and hand embroidery on a
variety of materials including muslin, organza and netting. To me it kind of looks like a microbe or fungi that looks like its taken over. It's quite beautiful.
Cherelyn Brearley created this work lacqueus mask 2 and gloves. Made using crocheted rayon and pearls, and it looks like a female-warrior mask with matching gloves.
Look at the angry faces on these guys
Nava Lubelski - [a cast of my left hand in the shape of a] Glove. Made using needle lace and stitched fragments using thread, found trimmings and pins, the artist builds each glove on her left hand using only her right hand. They kind of remind me of when a snake sheds his skin, like imperfect perfect shells of a former life.
Some traditional lace nighties by Noelle Hamlyn - Ceremony. Made using cotton and silk embroidery and smocking on Japanese gampi tissue. Although these look like relics, the new lace works really do it justice and evoke memories of childhood and the using of gowns for significant events in life.
Lenka Suchanek- Chantilly Necklace is so striking - I adore the lighting in this image. Made using bobbin lace using black enamelled copper wire with Swarowski crystals; centrepiece made in gold-plated wire. It's so delicate and seemingly simple, but Chantilly lace involves complex processes that when applied to metalwork, makes it a completely new challenge.
Wendy Ramshaw- Collar of Petrified Lace is like the hands of time, the red metallic clock-like mechanism are meant to represent fifteenth - sixteenth century lace collars.
Jenny Pollak - A Brief History of Time. Made of hand-cut archival paper and office paper. This installation cleverly uses the text of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species
(with all its implications of evolutionary history, origin, variation
and succession) as a platform from which to create an immense paper
garden. It just looks so cool.
Make sure you drop by the Lace Study Centre - it provides access to about 300 of the most significant examples of handmade lace in the Powerhouse Museum’s collection. Ranging from fine handmade lace from the late 1500s to more recent machine-made pieces. Open: 10.30 am -1.30 pm Monday to Saturday
Love Lace exhibition details:
However Love Lace will be showing until April 2012
Price: $10 for powerhouse museum entry which allows entry into the Love Lace show
Where: 500 Harris Street Ultimo
Time: 10:00am - 5:00pm
Don't miss it
xox Love,
Festival Girl
Love Lace Review | Sydney Powerhouse Museum
