installation view
Roughly the same size souvenirs
Curated by the artists Michelle Brodie and Jen Denzin
THURS 19 OCT - SUN 5 NOV 2017
Official opening: Friday 20 October, 6-8pm
Beer at opening sponsored by Murray's Craft Brewing Co.
Souvenir, an old French noun meaning ‘to remember’ or ‘occur to mind’; as an object it may have intrinsic value or be a symbol of experience.
Jen Denzin and Michelle Brodie have a shared interest in experience and memory. Their two-person exhibition entitled Roughly the Same Size Souvenirs brings various material experiments into focus through paintings and assemblage. Whilst Denzin and Brodie’s works remain exclusive of each other, their shared investment in collecting things and nostalgia tie the practices of these two artists together. The experiences of travel are collected by these two artists to create individual ‘souvenirs’ in which several coincidental motifs emerge. The artists are motivated by memory, nostalgia and trace and this exhibition is their expression of that.
Michelle Brodie presents a unique visual language of her lived experience of travel, desire, whimsy. Her paintings are strong compositions of dynamic colour and taciturn shapes. The paintings often have a humble beginning, a mash-up of a few photos or drawings. Brodie transforms these initial memories into a new, more plastic, more symbolic experience and thus the image is loaded with baggage - alter egos, symbolic figures, boats, cargo, rubble, rocks- all of which show her connectivity to art and history. She is a passionate painter exploring ideas on every canvas.
Jen Denzin creates rags to riches assemblages. They are dazzling and vivid magical mementos. Denzin uses a range of materials, including op shop finds, old pieces of clothing and mountains of sequins, to convey a broad range of experiences, both internal and external. Gaudy cruise ships, ceramic root vegetables and marine flags form a collection of observations gleaned from a recent cruise in the Pacific Islands, a general reflection on Australian history and Australia-Pacific relations. She is an alchemist with a gift for turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.
