Metamorphosis – Indigenous Sculpture
Featured Sculpture & Fibre Artist, Janine McAullay Bott
Innovative Weaver & Sculptor
EXHIBITION OPENING 2pm Saturday 22nd October 2011
WORKSHOP Weaving Workshop with award winning artist Janine McAullay Bott @3pm
COST - Exhibition & Opening – FREE
Workshop – $50 Bookings Essential as limited places.
(Gallery guests are welcome to observe the workshop in progress)
EXHIBITION DATES Saturday 22nd October – 24th November
GALLERY Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery
ADDRESS 31 Lamrock Ave, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia
For full artworks and details for exhibition please visit the gallery website.
Metamorphosis features works by Janine McAullay Bott Winner of the 2009 Telstra 3D Award. Also exhibiting are Torres Strait artist Ken Thaiday Senior and Aurukun Artist Joe Ngallametta as well as numerous Mimi Spirits, Dupun’s and Morning Star Poles that have been sent down from Arnhem Land specifically for this event.
ABOUT Janine McAullay Bott - Acclaimed Sculptor & Fibre Artist
‘In Bott’s work, history and craft merge magnificently to create a contemporary take on traditional weaving.’ Mirri Leven, Manager, Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery
Nyoongah (W.A. Aboriginal) fibre artist and bush sculptor, Janine McAullay Bott, spent two decades living in Hawaii where she first began weaving. During this time she also experienced a deep connection to her Aboriginal culture. . “Something came over me,” she recalls. “I’d never weaved an object in my life, yet it felt like I’d been doing it forever. That feeling went from my heart right though to the tips of my fingers. I haven’t been able to stop since” ”My weaving is inspired by my Nyoongah heritage…I remember my great grandmother would make brooms to sweep the sand, also fish traps and bowls”
Since returning home to Perth in 1998 to look after her ailing mother, Bott has continued to develop her weaving technique. She is well known for weaving the palm fronds from the Queen Palm tree. She also sometimes includes other natural fibres such as seed pods from the Coolabah tree, gum-nuts, pieces of wood and feathers, which are woven into her beautiful hand made sculptures – roughly hewn figures of animals, people, domestic objects and vessels.
“I like to call a weave a thought I’ve had. Sometimes I’d just sit there and think about my grandfather or my mother and my hands would keep going – like they had a mind of their own.’
Unique one-off pieces in this exhibition include a bilby, mother and baby koalas, along with baskets and fish traps. Three of her fabulous one-off designs commissioned especially for 2011 fashion week – a handbag, hat and high heel shoes – are also included in the show. Botts most recent and playful collection of toy cars, helicopters and aeroplanes have been inspired by the birth of her first grandchild.
In a career spanning over 20 years, Bott has exhibited in Hawaii, California, Art Paris, the Sydney Aboriginal and Oceanic Art Fair and Perth. She has also received numerous commendations and awards. Her works can be found in the Holmes a Court collection, the Kerry Stokes collection, the Berndt Museum and the WA Museum’s Indigenous Art Collection.
Coo-ee Gallery has arranged for Janine to give a weaving workshop on Saturday 22nd October from 3pm onward. Places are strictly limited so book early to avoid disappointment.
Cost $50. All materials provided.
The artist will be in Sydney for the Exhibition Launch and Weaving Workshop.