Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Current Exhibition: "A Little Bit of Red" from 8th to 24th December 2009







Breathing Colours Christmas show "A little Bit of Red" includes a variety of wall, sculptural and wearable works by some of our favourite Breathing Colourers and is our last exhibition for 2009! The exhibition brief was simply to create an artwork that included a little bit of red. The gallery space is filled with vibrant colour and artworks of all shapes and sizes that are a feast for the eye! Every work sold may be taken away at point of sale, so be sure to come in before they disappear! The opening was a great success with many a cheer for the fast approaching festive season. We have extended our opening hours for the month of December and will be open every day until Christmas Eve.

Artists include: Ashley Fiona, Ben Rak, Catherine Kelly, Chloe Waddell, David Vogel, Emma Hicks, Felicity Peters, Fiona Barrett-Clark, Karin Jakobsson, Katherine Lys, Kate Williams, Khara Burgess, Kirsten Hilliard, Kristen Lethem, Laura Kennedy, Loren Keir, Madhulika Ghosh, Maria Seibert, Melissa Bligh, Nicholas Bouf, Rachel Wells, Rosary Coloma, Roxanne Lillis, Sarah-Jane Cook, Susie Rugg, Stephen McFarlane, Szilvia Gyorgy and Verity Roberts.


Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Current Exhibition: Takeaway - The JMGA NSW Inc. 2009 Members' Christmas Exhibition from 1st to 6th December


Takeaway: A retail showcase of works by JMGA members in NSW

A perfect opportunity to purchase a unique piece of contemporary jewellery for Christmas!

Every purchase may be taken away, at which point it will be replaced in the exhibition with a photograph of the sold item.


Featuring jewellery by: Janis Valdivia, Linda Blair, Lilly Tallula, Matina Bourmas, Mel Young, Lisa Crispin, Liza Feeney, Sandra Kerr, Jasmine Matus, Helen Mok, Berri Eggert, Karin Findeis and Christina Coulston. On display from 1st to 6th December 2009.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

“The Silver Room” – an exhibition of contemporary jewellery, 18th to 29th November 2009








Breathing Colours gallery is proud to present: “The Silver Room” an exciting collection of contemporary jewellery by seven of Sydney’s most talented emerging jewellers.

For their first exhibition together: Momoko Hatano, Elizabeth Reed, Erin Cuthbert
Philippa Thomas, Ben Pearce, Kasia Sujecki and Rhonda Dwyer have composed a unique, eclectic selection of jewellery.

Using mostly silver combined with a variety of less traditional materials. The resulting pieces are both interesting and elegant, individual and stylish. Each motivated by their own series of desires and inspirations, from a love of childhood and innocence to an interest in animal documentaries and kitsch aesthetics the resulting jewellery is equally diverse.

This group of artists have come together through a common love of making. Many of them work together in a shared studio while others are simply part of the strong and supportive contemporary jewellery community which flourishes in the galleries and studios around Sydney.

Gallery Hours: 10am-6pm Wednesday-Saturday
12pm-4pm Sunday

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Just In... New Beauties at Breathing Colours!





New Jewellery By Kyoko Hashimoto and Julia Storey
We're very excited with our new range of jewellery from two new artists!
Kyoko Hashimoto's latest series is a tribute to the often overlooked insect, inspired by Victorian mourning jewellery. Her limited edition pendants are bold, quirky and fun.
Julia Storey's ‘Bird and Cage’ pendant is hand made in sterling silver. The oval pendant features a bird on one side and cage on the other. When spun, bird appears in the cage.
Be sure to drop into Breathing Colours for a closer look at the full range: 446 Darling Street, Balmain

Connect 4 – 4th to 15th November 2009





Connect 4 – 4th to 15th November 2009
An exhibition of painting, drawing and photography by four fabulous local artists

Vladimir Pavlovic has been taking photographs for well over 3 decades and has worked in theatre, stills, magazine and archaeological photographic arenas. The 5 photos on show at Breathing Colours encapsulate a certain chronology accessing negatives that were taken almost 30 years ago as well as a sample of current directions which draws upon the manipulation of appropriated details and work that bypasses the use of a camera.

The reading of the facsimile of A Voyage to Terra Australis by Flinders published in 1814, urged Glenda Jones to reinterpret and thus revisit the book's etched prints which were based on Westall’s original, commissioned watercolours of the Australian coastline. The etchings have been photo-shopped, cropped and made lurid with oils on blackened canvas, to contemporise those images which were, in their original form, far more ordered and austere.

Barbara Schaffer’s current body of work has been inspired by a recent trip to Europe in which she was amazed and overwhelmed by the power and beauty of the religious art she discovered throughout churches and cathedrals on her travels. Working mainly with oil pastels on canvas, Schaffer feels this medium offers the possibility for working very directly and intuitively, the colours are rich and intense and the pastels allow for easy mixing and building up of texture.

If there is a dark side, Michael Sagan will detail it out. His small canvases pack an insidious punch with their tightly controlled palette and seemingly innocuous subject matter.
'Suburban madness is only a neighbour away'.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Current Exhibition "Whim Wish Itch" By Loren Keir and Roxanne Lillis, 21st October to 1st November








For their second collaborative exhibition at Breathing Colours Gallery, Loren Keir and Roxanne Lillis explore the whimsical, fantastical world of the artist's imagination. Both artists have been working intuitively on their respective bodies of work and have allowed the art to take them on a journey rather than the other way around.

Roxanne Lillis body of work has emerged through a linear process of exploration. The series began with three elfish figures in white dresses. After contemplating the story surrounding them, she placed these figures into their own personal narratives. They appeared wandering the fantastical streets of the artist’s abstracted cities and towns. Through the painting of these works, a new theme developed when a bright red balloon emerged in the landscape thus beginning a third series. The resulting paintings are whimsical and peaceful. As in all of Roxanne Lillis’s paintings there is a very still contemplative feel to the work.

Loren Keir approached her work from a slightly different standpoint. Beginning with paint, a palette knife and paper, she simply began to work. Letting her intuition guide her, she scratched into the paint, drew over sections, ripped pieces apart, glued them back together and worked back over it with her palette knife. From this process she created a series of small intimate abstract paintings which then became inspiration for her jewellery. Her series of brooches and rings mirror the beauty of working in metal. Although finished jewellery products are usually clean, shiny and smooth, the method of making jewellery couldn’t be more different. Loren has captured the rough, raw beauty of the metal working process.

Roxanne Lillis began her studies at the Julian Ashton Art School in 1993 and achieved her Bachelor of Creative Arts from the University of Wollongong in 1999. She has exhibited regularly around New South Wales throughout the last 15 years.

Loren Keir graduated with honours from the jewellery and object department of Sydney College of the Arts. She has exhibited widely in Sydney and New South Wales and is part of the artist collective Makers Manifold.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Current Exhibition 'Passing Through' by Fiona Barrett-Clark, from 23 September to 4 October




Fiona Barrett-Clark

'Growing up we’d regularly go on driving holidays, mostly through NSW. From the backseat I remember seeing the countryside whizzing by and occasionally we’d stop at a nice spot to stretch our legs. To this day there is still nothing I enjoy more than ‘passing through’ the changing landscape.'

Fiona Barrett-Clark’s paintings reflect the beauty of an uncomplicated, understated, remote landscape, void of people, but not always human presence. She cleverly embodies the sense of escapism we feel when on a driving holiday.

The sky is always a major element in her compositions and she has become an expert in capturing the moods these skies cast upon the landscape. That late afternoon, early evening soft magenta and grey-blue which reflect upon the ocean or the blurring of the landscape during a soft drizzle.

Fiona's use of plywood instead of board or canvas gives a fantastic grainy texture to the works which imbues them with the feel of old slides and photographs adding further to the reminiscent nature of the works.

Over the past 10 years, Fiona Barrett-Clark has exhibited her work in several group and solo shows throughout Sydney. She completed an Advanced Diploma of Fine Arts in 1999 and was a finalist for the prestigious Glover Prize in 2008.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Current Exhibition 3˚ from 9 to 20 September 2009





Work by Rachel Wells, Verity Roberts and Maryanne Parry

Rachel Wells is a Sydney based mixed media artist who works predominantly with encaustic (wax) and oil mediums. Her processes involve etching into the surface of the wax and applying paint in layers upon it. Rachel’s current work focuses on the built environment. She is fascinated by European, American and Australian architecture and an (architect) father obsessed with taking photos of buildings.

Verity Roberts’ recent series of work is inspired by her passion for travel. These “postcards” are painted in mixed media and contain acrylics, ink, shellac, bitumen, graphite, oil pastels and acetates. Verity has also used encaustic (beeswax) which helps suggest the passage of time.
This series represents the artist’s interpretation and reflection on these landscapes which she has passed through and over – the delicacy and oftentimes brutality which is reflected therein.

MaryAnne Parry is inspired by a constant fascination with the world we live in. The variety of environments and cultures, the miracle of growth, and the opposing nobility and folly of humanity, never cease to amaze her. Both the landscape of Africa, where she was born, and Australia, where she now lives, are evident in the burnt and intense colour featured throughout many of her paintings.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Current Exhibition 'Outlaws' 26 August to 6 September





Outlaws
an exhibition of contemporary millinery
26 August to 6 September
Catherine Kelly, Lindsay Mathieson, Rebecca Willis and Jennifer Kelly

The legend of the iconic Ned Kelly has inspired Catherine Kelly's series, as well as the collection of armour of Henry 8th. Lindsay Mathieson applies the use of beautiful classic silhouettes and diverse textures that make her pieces very individual, elegant and sophisticated. Rebecca Willis is inspired by the myths, legends and iconic images that surround some of these old rogues. Cannibalism, tropical birds, faded ocean maps, golden pieces of eight and of course the Jolly Roger all play their part. Jennifer Kelly's series is inspired by Asylum seekers - their search for freedom from unspeakable hardships to a land of privilege and opportunity, Australia. They are greeted by bureaucracy and an unsympathetic nation where they are treated as if they are outlaws.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting our new blog. Stay tuned for upcoming posts on exhibitions and all things breathing colours...