GARDEN EXHIBITION July 5th - July 18 2018

Once again, thank you to my supportive family and friends for assisting with the hanging of my work and attending the exhibition opening at the Brisbane Institute of Art. Arron and Cameron measured, discussed, agreed, disagreed and finally managed to have work up in a impressively level line for viewing . . . not easy, with work which varies in size and format and sits 37mm off the wall. Brisbane Institute of Art 

Thank you also to all the delightful self declared GEEKS at The Edge, State Library of Queensland, who offered support and assistance so I could fulfil my desire to produce these laser cut works. . .  your patience in the face of my persistence was commendable. I am looking forward to taking work into metal production . . . . http://edgeqld.org.au/

Sharon Lee

GARDEN

Taxonomy of Small Joys

For me, art making is all about the process; the sharing of experiences, investigation of ideas and learning of new techniques. A quote attributed to many individuals, including Buddah, succinctly describes how I feel about working towards an exhibition -Life is a journey not a destination.

  In 2016, using GARDEN as my starting point, I became obsessed with the results of an extensive research project conducted by Mike Stevens, lecturer for landscape studies, at the University of N.S.W. Entitled The Congruent Garden: an investigation into the role of the domestic garden in satisfying fundamental human needs, it establishes that gardens satisfy nine human needs: Freedom, Identity, Creation, Understanding, Participation, Leisure, Affection, Protection and Subsistence across four existential states: Being, Having, Doing and Interacting.

  Early in this journey I knew I required a technique which would assist me in portraying these nine needs, but that it would also need to incorporate my belief that, it is not only that which we see, but also that which remains unseen, which is invaluable.

  I realised that laser cutting would help me portray this other-worldly, multi layered feature of the garden. Using my initial paintings and hand-drawn images, I attended courses in Illustrator and Coral Draw to produce the necessary vector files. Attending various induction workshops to learn how to use the laser cutting machine at The Edge, State Library of Queensland, has been a long and often frustrating, but rewarding process.

  The resulting 4mm ply laser cuts, with their solid forms and variable shadows, represent a collection of  moments, of the seen and elusive, which regularly occur in our garden. The overlay of colors using mono-printing and stencils portray the perpetual variables which create change, often in a heartbeat.

1/ FREEDOM - EXPERIENCES

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Because of the adventurous spirit of naturalists, the covetous cravings of entrepreneurs and relentless development through grafting, rooting, budding, mutation and hybridisation, we have a plethora of vegetable plants, fruit trees and flowers which thrive in today’s    gardens.

 2/ IDENTITY - AUTHENTICITY

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Science alone will never adequately explain how a garden helps us make sense of the disorientating confusion of modern society. Connecting with the elements in a garden can act as a buffer against the dread often presented by the big-picture of the world.
 

3/ CREATION - INHERITANCE               

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The purposeful introduction of foreign flora and fauna has often produced disastrous problems, and yet deliberate hybridisation has given plants a complex inheritance which can prove highly beneficial.
 

4/ UNDERSTANDING -  NURTURANCE   

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 Gardening is an exercise in optimism and often a triumph of hope over experience. Gardeners know there has to be a balance of humility and benevolence. Of course it also helps to exercise control, servitude, respect, pragmatism, and ecological conscience.

5/ PARTICIPATION - CHOICE

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There are numerous lasting gifts we can bequeath our children: clean air, fertile soil, serenity, knowledge, roots, and another is wings. However, there is nothing in which birds differ more from man than the way they manage to construct and yet leave the landscape as it was before.

6/LEISURE - FINDING SELF

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Gardening is ultimately a folly which allows us to make our own mark upon the land providing delight and a place in which we may rest. The sound of birds can stop the corrosive chatter of the mind. The sun and rain cleans and heals. The inaudible  glide of the wind sooths the soul.

Sometimes I sits and think, and sometimes I just sit. - A.A. Milne

7/AFFECTION - ANTICIPATION

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One of the most delightful things about the garden is the anticipation it provides. To be intimately aware that there are unseen happenings afoot. Tending the garden with parental solitude, loving what you do and feeling that it matters.

8/PROTECTION - RESPONSIBILITY

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Gardening imparts an organic perspective on the passage of time. Change marches on relentlessly, as time speeds past regardless. And what was is not and never again will be.

To what shall I compare this life of ours?

Even before I can say,

it is like a lightning flash or a dewdrop,

it is no more.  

-Sengai

9/ SUBSISTENCE – ACCEPTANCE

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Life and love are life and love, a bunch of violets is a bunch of violets and to drag in the idea of a point is to ruin everything. Live and let live. Love and let love, flower and fade and follow the natural curve which flows on, pointless. 

- D.H. Lawrence  
 

    

10/ BEING, HAVING, DOING, INTERACTING

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The sun rises, pink and gold, momentarily highlighting a landscape  of sparkling, dew-drenched cobwebs looking like fishermen's nets crafted from stainless steel; gossamer, ethereal, and otherworldly. A grey heron arrives to gracefully stalk the ponds. I make coffee and in my moment of busyness feather and shimmer disappear as if

displeased by my inattentiveness.

                                  PROCESS  -   NEST      oil on 4mm  laser cut ply

Throughout my observations of our garden, researching and learning the new technique of laser cutting, I have realised that art, gardens and text, despite being unique dialects, when juxtaposed, echo and augment each other. Together the three speak in a hybrid language, far richer than each would be on their own. And it is through the added exploration of text that I have been able to come to terms with the complexity and saturation of imagery in every day life within a garden.

What a delight to know that works will make their way across great swathes of ocean to Houston, Texas USA and England, while those in Australia will travel to Fraser Island, Noosa, Tweed and throughout the suburbs of Brisbane. 

Another delightful exhibition . . . now onto BIRDS

Logan artist Society workshop - November

Thankyou to all the people who participated in the recent workshop using Lino, stencils, found objects and ink to make some original and interesting monoprints.

I think everyone enjoyed the 'what if' quality of this process and the unique properties of each individual print. . . . not to mention, that it is so much FUN!

Resident Roving Reporter, Dianna reporting in the December Artists Society new letter. http://www.loganartists.com/pdfs/Newsletters/December%20LAA%20Newsletter%202011.pdf

“ . . . .When Sharon Lee gave her talk at the recent meeting,she held us fascinated by her works, the over-layering of designs and ideas. So her printing workshop promised to be a collage of images, layers and colour (personally, I couldn’t wait). In spite of tiredness (and the odd hang-over) from the previous night’s frivolities at the Bowl and Banquet, we were all soon engrossed in thinking about our design, the layers, colours and cutting lino, positive and negative print. . . . .
Thank you, Sharon for a terrific workshop, we had a great day. . . .. “

Logan City Art Gallery Print workshop. Shibuka

In October I was thrilled to conduct a printmaking workshop with 25 students from a school here in Brisbane. The work they created will be forwarded to a school in Japan, as part of an exchange project, that has been an ongoing annual event for the past few years.

I found the Students were attentive and enthusiastic, which produced some inspirational work of a very high quality. Even the stencils they cut out to use for their prints, were art works in themselves and will look incredible collaged onto some of the prints.

I was blown away with the quality of the work they managed to create and feel that the recipent school in Japan will be thrilled with them.

They showcased the native flora and funa we are privlaged to enjoy here in Australia. Kangaroos, crows, lizards, leaves, flowers and Koalas were represented in bright colors and various compositions.
Fantastic!

2011 China - Paper cut, copies & many things creative

For eight weeks Brianna and I rented an apartment in Beijing, on the second ring road, near the lama temple, just outside the city.

 



It was a studio apartment with two queen size beds, a small kitchen, bathroom, laundry and balcony - with a view across the street to other apartments. . . . nothing flash, but comfortable and very central. Safe!!






I was thrilled that Arron was able to spend a couple of weeks with us exploring. An incredible experience, to share The Great Wall of China, Forbidden City, the Summer Palace . . .and many other unique experiences with my children . . . .

During the day, the businesses downstairs would be in total flux as they were renovating, expanding and resizing. 
The entire place bustled with activity,ensuring there was always a spectacle or some form to observe.

Don't get me wrong. I did not have rosy glasses on all the time.
There were many things of which I did not approve, like or understand.
I did not like the pushing, the putrid smells of drains and stinky tofu . . . the public spitting.
I did not approve of the chaotic traffic, shoving and sheer mass of people and the obvious attempts at cheating you.
I found the tangible smog of pollution depressing . . . & the obvious lack of birds disconcerting.

I did not understand the language, the perceived rudeness's or the need to haggle continuously.However, there were many, many things of which I approved, enjoyed, marvelled at, photographed and wished I could bottle and bring back with me to Brisbane, Australia. I admired the gardens everywhere. The amalgamation of species from different climates seemed to thrive in one garden plot. Standard weeping wisteria, roses, bamboo, grasses & shrubs.
I adored the colours everywhere. Be they in the food, the paintings, carvings, lights, reflections, foliage, flowers and clothing.
I admired the imagination, creativity and ability to produce work of an admirable quality, under less than satisfactory conditions.
I liked the humour, ability to laugh at themselves, the hunger to learn and the ability to share knowledge.Combining the more traditional with modern concepts.
I had originally applied and received approval to attend a residency at the RED GATE residency, just outside Beijing for 2 - 3 months (hoping to obtain the allocation of time that would coincide with leaving Brianna in Jinan after our 6 week holiday . . . . . when she had resumed her studies and the weather was still warm enough to survive comfortably. . . .September, October, November 2011)
I intended on furthering my studies in layering, paint effects & paper cut, so that I could incorporate them with more productivity and accuracy into my printmaking.
I have used grounds, layering and paper cut outs and stencils for years. I tend to use a layering printing process (combining block, screen and intaglio) with found and created objects, printed onto canvas, which I then cutout, paint and layer.
Studying these processes under expert tutelage was something I envisioned as being highly beneficial & enjoyable. . . . .

Exceptionally detailed works are plentiful and varied. Shown in portfolios through out the art/craft shops. Many now are cut by machine . . .
Alas! the timing for this particular proposal was not appropriate. I was offered a later time slot, (from September - October, then Jan - March) which would mean that I had a few months between leaving Brianna and commencing the final part of the approved residency. I would need to leave the country to renew my visa and find alternative accommodation for the few months in between the two time slots.
Also, The January, February and March period in Beijing can get to - as low as -30 degrees. . . . did you see that minus? I was informed that it is a dry cold and therefore more tolerable . . . . however, and this is by no means a little HOWEVER!!! being from PNG and Queensland, I did not feel that this GIRL would be able to acclimatize and enjoy a stint in such conditions . . ..
regardless of the obvious attractions. . . .
and believe me the attractions were hard to resist. (BUMMER!!!!!!! I want to be resistant to cold and 20 again!)Regardless of the disappointment I had many opportunities to see some interesting works.
I did visit many places were they practise the printmaking and paper cut out traditions and where they are adapting them to more modern techniques.
It was great to see the diversity of materials & styles. . . .from the more traditional to the obvious ones with a modern flavour. Layered paper cut using grounds and black paper. Huge cutouts & Traditional cut outs
I was aware of the ability of many artists to ignore copyright and ownership of any sort . . . . people seem to BORROW ideas and repeat processes, without any obvious consideration of who may have previously DONE a similar work.
Throughout the markets and art district works were blatantly repeated ? . . . . . .copied ? . . .. . . .Borrowed ? Painting seen repeated. Ink drawing on wall. Paper cut multi- layered
Then you would turn the corner of some obscure Hutong and there stencilled/drawn/etched/grafitied or painted on the dirty wall, were works that gave you something to think about . . . . an emotional message with some originality?
Stencil of girl on old hutong wall. Grafitti? Etching on glass window
There were entire shops full of cutouts in fabric, leather or paper . . . .stencils on the more isolated parts of the Great wall of China and cutouts used through out architectural interior displays. Leather cut outs. Stencil on Great wall. cutouts of Butterflies
Yes, as I have said on numerous occasions . . . .China gives you much to think about . . . .

Bri, how you manage to live there alone, is beyond my grasp . . . there is no way I would have endured CHINA without your company, let alone at your age and level of experience. I am in awe of your capabilities. . . . . . . Sooooooooo a HUGE thankyou. )

So, now I need to Sits and thinks . . .

or maybe it is time to . . . . just SIT - or even take some advise and RELAX !!!?

But, be it sitting with some thinking or just sitting . .. .I know all the things I have enjoyed, fought the traffic to see, shared, photographed, documented, drawn, painted and thought about - will eventually percolate into something to create . . . .

Thank you to my delightful and clever daughter, Brianna . . . . .I adored your company, strength, enthusiasm and ability to communicate with the People.

View her blog at http://poiseonarrows.blogspot.com/

(Without this huge asset of language, I do not think the trip would have been as incredible and I certainly would not have been able to understand what the people we met, were trying to say. . . . and we would not have known which individuals to avoid!!!! 

and thank you China. . . . . what a spectacle!!!! I'm glad I have seen you NOW.

I think given the current pace of change it will be a completely different animal in a very short space of time. Just in the period between our last two trips, a mere span of 4 years, the changes have been mammoth.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!! Yes, it has been an eventful and extremely pleasant journey.