About Me

My photo
Sydney, NSW, Australia
I'm an arts management worker/ artist/ designer. I work at Accessible Arts in administration and bookkeeping, but also work on various freelance activities from photography to graphic design. I'm Associate Partner at the ARI, the Big Fag Press, board member of Runway Australian Experimental Art and occasionally work at Bailey and Yang Consultants. My creative work has often been driven by social issues and commentary. This blog started as a way of documenting research for my honours year at uni, which I have continued, in order to gather inspiration for future artistic practice.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Introduction

So, in highschool, I made some dresses out of ribbons and outfits out of lace and string using the technique of macramé that I adapted from making childhood friendship bracelets. And I won a prize for it, so I thought maybe fashion was my calling.


[Left: my own photography; Right: Scanned image from Dolly magazine 2004]

However, I've discovered over the last few years doing my (very lengthy) degree, that somehow I fit better into the role of an artist than a fashion designer. I don't like the idea of making things for a commercial benefit, I don't like the superficiality of the industry and the people within it I've encountered who will remain nameless. I am not a perfectionist - I do not care that a placket on a shirt does not sit right. And I'm frustrated with the indifference that I feel choosing a sleeve for a top or where a pocket should sit in a pant. It seems shallow. I like making clothes on a whim, not caring if they're perfect. In fact I have a skirt that I love, and I couldn't be bothered to put in a zipper so it takes a lot of breathing in to put on. Art inspires me more - things that are beautiful for the sake of simply being beautiful, or meaningful because the creator has something significant to say about the world they live in. I wrote a piece a few months ago for a competition at Art Monthly on my "art vs fashion" position here.

I've been "interning" at the Big Fag Press for over a year now courtesy of Lucas Ihlein (who happened to give a guest lecture in one of my inter-disciplinary subjects) and a group of artists who seem to understand my world view. But I'll talk more about my internship later. So, through this serendipidous meeting with Lucas and love of street photography inspired by my photography sub-major, I have decided to finish off my final year as a media student.

Since my research will hardly fit comfortably into a visual diary, I've decided to collate a blog of everything and anything I encounter that could inspire me for my final work in media. I do my best work when I work with the things I believe in. I guess this will become a sort of journal of my biases and opinions.

No comments:

Post a Comment