Studio residency

Helen Coleman 

Helen is a mixed media artist based in Mandurah, Western Australia, working primarily with natural and salvaged materials. She is currently an artist in residence at Contemporary Art Spaces Mandurah, where she combines her background in botany and chemistry with a passion for art, to explore the eco-dye potential of local native plants. When she is not tramping through the bush in search of new species to test, Helen works in her studio creating dyes, pigments and eco-prints. Her scientific training is being put to good use as she tries to understand the chemistry behind the often surprising results from the dye pots.

Helen is also working with the City of Mandurah to develop the CASM Cultural Garden, a showcase of local plants that have traditional significance to the Noongar people, and contemporary uses as dyes, textiles or bushfoods.

https://www.helencolemanart.com.au/

Alana Grant

Alana's work is a cross disciplinary art practice, where imagery is used to interpret, dissect and share her observations of humanity. Since childhood, Alana has experimented with art and images as a method of making sense of the internal and external world. Her work reflects a mixed interpretation of cognitive thinking, emotions, and quirky imagination with elements of landscapes and cultural constructs drawn from the local community.

Alana grew up in Mandurah, and her days were spent mainly in the water. She would frequent locations, such as Boundary Island, the Creery Wetlands and Doddies beach, revelling in her sense of connection to the natural surroundings. In pursuing her studies and professional practice in Visual Arts, Alana travelled extensively throughout Australia visiting locations, such as Broome, Brisbane and the Northern Rivers of New South Wales. Each of these places and the people of the various communities had a profound impact on her art practice. To Alana, relocating to Mandurah feels like coming full circle, with her practice shifting once again to reflect a sense of nostalgia for the region.

Her nomadic lifestyle for many years provided opportunities to experience a wide diversity of landscapes, be active within environmental campaigns and living within unique communities. This has allowed the freedom to explore the many styles and themes for her art practice, whilst developing her own set of values and ethics as an artist. Alana is inspired and motivated by how the arts can create stronger connections within communities and one's self.

‘Art making is where my joy is and how I process the stuff that is anything less. Living in such a beautiful location is a blessing, which definitely gives another layer of depth to creating and living in general’ – Alana Grant.

https://www.facebook.com/alanagrantart/

Carmel Sayer

Local Mandurah artist Carmel Sayer uses her artwork to explore the relationship between post modern global society and the diminishment of human spirituality. Through her work, Sayer explores the adverse effects on humanity and the soul, rising from the misuse of technology and a loss of connectivity with nature and one’s self within high density urban environments. New works may be defined by environment, family and current social issues in conjunction with a long term interest in how the human mind compartmentalizes thoughts, emotion and spirituality.

Problem solving is done directly on the canvas as opposed to developing conceptual drawings. The imagery of Carmel's paintings most often emerge as a direct response to the evolving painting surface. Other times she works with a preconceived image in mind.

To contradict the darkness of some of her subject matter, Carmel likes to express the concept using bright vibrant colours. She is very interested in the properties of colour and how they interact with each other, especially the use of complementary colours to create unexpected focal points.

Carmel will be residing in Studio A throughout 2017 and welcomes visitors to the studio during gallery times or other times by appointment.

www.carmelsayerart.com

 

Helen Coleman

Helen is a Mandurah-based mixed media artist, who works with encaustic beeswax and a wide variety of natural and salvaged materials. She is inspired by the belief that nothing is ordinary, and enjoys discovering and sharing the beauty and potential hidden in mundane and discarded objects.

"Revealing the hidden beauty of discarded, worn and overlooked objects gives me great joy. I have found that when I put these artworks out for public display, many like-minded souls are drawn to them, and these gentle artworks encourage thoughtful conversations."

Helen is focused on the opportunity to immerse herself into her art practice, free of distractions, allowing her to develop further as an artist.  She is keen to experiment with new techniques in mixed media, combining wax, natural materials, paper and found objects to create sculptural forms that convey meaning and evoke a response in the viewer.

In addition, Helen is very interested in the eco-dyeing processes, and is keen to help establish and care for a dyer’s and textile artist’s garden in the CASM grounds during her residency. The opportunity to explore new techniques with locally harvested materials and to help create a multi-functional space that can provide inspiration to others are motivational factors for her residency.

www.helencolemanart.com.au

Hilly Coufreur

My art practice up to now has been large abstract art consisting of bright and bold acrylic colours on canvas. I seem to be drawn to colours and shapes, contrast and movement. I am inspired and influenced by the Western Australian landscape, the colours, lines and patterns of flora, fauna and architecture, textures and colours of food.

I would like to explore some different manners of applying paint on canvas, and also use some different materials to add to the paint. My manner of applying paint has been to drag it with a squeegee. I would like to explore this on an even larger scale; this would involve mounting the canvas on the wall and have the squeegee fixed on a rail so it can 'glide' over the full width of the canvas. (I can see this as an activity for the Big Draw!) But I am also drawn to the idea of using stencils, spray paint, sand and collage.

I have started painting with the local plein air group and interpreting the landscape into abstract form. I want to take those small studies back into the studio and work them into my large abstract art.

Trev Blyth

I am essentially a self-taught artist, late-blooming, possessing a passion to draw and paint which emanated from childhood, influenced strongly by nature and having a keen interest in primitive art. Recent renewed camping trips along the north and south coast of Western Australia re-invigorated my connection to earth and the spirituality of the Australian landscape. Startling topography, wonderful creatures of land and sea, amazing plant-life and breathtaking skyscapes inspired my latest paintings which also incorporate symbols of the forces of nature.

My art is influenced by my environment and the spiritual connection with nature I gained from my love of the Australian bush and years of surfing. Having travelled the vast coast and inland of WA, I am inspired by its spectacular land and seascapes and extraordinary flora and fauna, intrigued by the history of its early settlers and enamoured by the art and mythology of the original inhabitants.

A life-long interest in primitive cultures, art and religion has been invigorated by travels to Indonesia and China where I have been welcomed into the lives of local people, cementing relationships that resulted in invitations to mysteriously wonderful rites and ceremonies. I will be challenged by my self-evolution which I will meet by allowing my natural instincts to lead me on a stimulating journey of introspection, expansion and artistic productivity.

https://trevorblythart.wordpress.com/