The View From Here

Group show: Kerryn Forster, Mimi White, Jessie Stanley.

July 22 to October 10, 2015
Anita Traverso Gallery 

The View From Here presents each artist’s vision; as developed through the collective lens of email correspondence. Visual artist (Stanley), designer/maker (Forster), and poet (White) shared our respective process, history, and obsessions: embarking on a collaborative journey with no clear agenda or outcome. Yet as we emailed our thoughts, our wrong turns and our surprises we discovered that we had stumbled upon each others’ paths.

Memento Mori #1 continues my investigation into creating immersive and interactive experiences that rekindle a sense of wonder at the universe we inhabit; to reveal an expanded sense of reality.

A meditation on life’s impermanence, the mobile contains the things that most inspire me in this life: nature and enjoyment of the physical world, the context of the universe that we live within, and our relationship to that astronomical scale. Viewed whilst reclining underneath; a cockatoo in flight; an Aurora Australis cosmic display of light in the night sky; our sun suspended in space; and the universe at large are revealed. Gently orbiting above the viewer they create an immersive sensory experience and a meditative space for contemplation.

Constructed from hand-cut paper, balsa, and cotton, its materiality suggests the fragility and impermanence of life. The fine balance of the cantilevered mobile arms, repeating patterns and structures create a quiet mathematical and scientific order, and reference laws of the natural and physical world. The outer skin of each scale is white, arranged in tiers growing in magnitude at each level, and the viewer must change their perspective to view the concealed imagery.

Images

1. The View From Here, 2015, at Anita Traverso Gallery.
Left: ‘Poetry Blossoms’ and ‘The World Disguised As This One, Mimi White; 
Centre: ‘Memento Mori #1, Jessie Stanley;
Right: ‘A Space For Emptiness’, Kerryn Forster.
Photograph by Shannon Morris.

2. Detail of Memento Mori #1 (mobile as viewed from underneath). Jessie Stanley, 2015. Archival print on 100% cotton paper, balsa wood, cotton thread. 120cmW x 120cmD x 160cmH