Convergence
by Giselle Penn, Susan Ryman,
Prue Sailer
THURS 30 NOV - SUN 10 DEC 2017
Official opening: Saturday 2 December, 2-4pm
Beer at opening sponsored by Murray's Craft Brewing Co.
MEET THE ARTIST
Susan Ryman & Prue Sailer Sunday 3 December 11am - 2pm
Giselle Penn Sunday 10 December 11am - 2pm
In Convergence the art practices of three Hunter based artists are connected through shared approaches to texture, colour and close observance of the natural and manufactured world.
Giselle Penn known for her utilitarian pieces in Handmade Felt has for this exhibition assembled small offcuts from felt projects with other textured surfaces, coiled forms and collected objects into small scale sculptures. Her philosophy for creating begins with the forage, and collecting of components that speak to the moment. Then comes the arrangement and following of intuition to make the connection between material and idea.
Drawn to that which is overlooked and disregarded, Susan Ryman (below) lifts observations of her surroundings, floods them with colour-saturated light and creates a strange and sumptuous new world using layers of contour conscious texture. In these unobtrusive works, narratives are an undefined whisper that viewers are free to explore.
Prue Sailer (below) explores themes based on wildlife and habitat conservation. She represents the multi-faceted character of our unique native wildlife through traditional drawing and painting techniques.
ARTIST BIOS
GISELLE PENN has been making and exhibiting in Newcastle since the early 1990’s. Born and educated in Newcastle her practice began with the hand skills passed onto her by a family of makers and menders. Giselle continues with a production based practice of Handmade Felt items simultaneous to her Art Practice. Re-curing themes in her work include fragmented memory, the dissolving of the ego and the potency of the present.
SUSAN RYMAN was born late 1955 in Marrickville, completed a Diploma in Art Education at the National Art School and Alexander Mackie CAE in Sydney from 1975 – 1978 and 3 years later, successfully completed the Graduate Diploma in Art at Newcastle College of Advanced Education. The usual balancing act of teaching, family, working in arts administration, travelling and maintaining a visual arts practice with consistent solo, group and touring exhibitions in various NSW Regional Galleries as well as commercial galleries in Sydney and Newcastle, has shaped her life. In 2015 Susan was awarded a PhD in Natural History Illustration by the University of Newcastle. Inescapable life experience, influences and knowledge feed a fully ripened and intensely personal visual form.
PRUE SAILER is a Newcastle-based artist working in traditional drawing and
painting media. The natural world provides the inspiration and motivation for her practice
and underpins her teaching in Natural History Illustration at the University of Newcastle. Recurring themes in her work centre on aspects of nature that are often overlooked, the conservation of Australian native species and habitats, and concerns about humanity’s impact on the natural environment. She has exhibited regularly over the past 15 years in
commercial and public galleries, both locally and interstate. Her works are held in private collections within Australia and overseas and have been published in Australian Geographic.