resident profiles
Xander Stragier, Belgium
Born in 1990, Xander is a visual artist, living and working in Brussels, Belgium. He has a classic education as a painter, continuing his studies in painting and sculpture at LUCA University of Art & Design in Brussels, where he graduated with a Master in Fine Arts in 2014.
Organic forms, patterns in nature and the experience of the senses and time often lay at the basis of his work. His sculptures and installations are often process based and undergo physical changes in which time plays a vital role. Therefore one of his most preferred materials to work with is wax. His paintings are more a documentation of travels, journeys and wandering in which curiosity leads the way. Often a seemingly imminent threat is presented, but often with a hint of the sublime and immensity of nature. These paintings come forth out of a mix of the attraction and being at awe when travelling.
Organic forms, patterns in nature and the experience of the senses and time often lay at the basis of his work. His sculptures and installations are often process based and undergo physical changes in which time plays a vital role. Therefore one of his most preferred materials to work with is wax. His paintings are more a documentation of travels, journeys and wandering in which curiosity leads the way. Often a seemingly imminent threat is presented, but often with a hint of the sublime and immensity of nature. These paintings come forth out of a mix of the attraction and being at awe when travelling.
Wei Ling HUNG, Taiwan
As a previous artist at Sam Rit Residency, I really liked and respected the active energy contributed by women in the village. It gave me a strong motivation to go back to film women's life there with the hope that I could overturn some stereotypical images when people think of North Eastern Thailand.
My project will comprise of three parts being:
1. Taking a formal family portrait for families in front of their house
2. Following villager's preparation, ceremony and celebration for the three festivals during my time in Sam Rit Residency - the Phimai Festival including the finals of the King’s and Queen’s long boat regatta, the NAGA Festival and Loi Krathong. The content will focus on the key role and rituals played by women in these ceremonies, and
3. The story of the heroine, Ya Mo including narrative based on this historic story of her strategy to save the community from the Lao Army.
My plan is to include an outdoor photography booth next to the long boat practice lagoon, where I will announce the service of making family portraits to villagers. I will also spend time joining daily activities involving women, revealing selected energetic Isaan women who represent the inner core of thinking for this project.
As a previous artist at Sam Rit Residency, I really liked and respected the active energy contributed by women in the village. It gave me a strong motivation to go back to film women's life there with the hope that I could overturn some stereotypical images when people think of North Eastern Thailand.
My project will comprise of three parts being:
1. Taking a formal family portrait for families in front of their house
2. Following villager's preparation, ceremony and celebration for the three festivals during my time in Sam Rit Residency - the Phimai Festival including the finals of the King’s and Queen’s long boat regatta, the NAGA Festival and Loi Krathong. The content will focus on the key role and rituals played by women in these ceremonies, and
3. The story of the heroine, Ya Mo including narrative based on this historic story of her strategy to save the community from the Lao Army.
My plan is to include an outdoor photography booth next to the long boat practice lagoon, where I will announce the service of making family portraits to villagers. I will also spend time joining daily activities involving women, revealing selected energetic Isaan women who represent the inner core of thinking for this project.
Ree Hegh and Chris Bennie, Australia
Ree Hegh and Chris Bennie are artists from Australia. Ree lives in Northern New South Wales and is a Doctorate Candidate at Griffith University Queensland College of Art and teaches painting at Southern Cross University. Chris lives in Brisbane and is Head of Sculpture at Griffith University. As individuals they have staged numerous exhibitions locally and nationally, had their work collected and won various prizes. They share an interest in sculpture, painting, photography, video and sound to produce varied installations that explore formal and metaphorical qualities of objects - from the familial to the spiritual.
At Sam Rit Ree and Chris will work together to investigate the region through community engagement, interaction and potential intervention with its industry and natural landscape. They aim to divide the residency into distinct phases from which an art installation will evolve. These phases include collecting, process experimentation, installing, documenting and presentation.
The artists anticipate this process will provide valuable understanding of the creative collaborative process to assist future projects.
reehegh.com
chrisbennie.com
At Sam Rit Ree and Chris will work together to investigate the region through community engagement, interaction and potential intervention with its industry and natural landscape. They aim to divide the residency into distinct phases from which an art installation will evolve. These phases include collecting, process experimentation, installing, documenting and presentation.
The artists anticipate this process will provide valuable understanding of the creative collaborative process to assist future projects.
reehegh.com
chrisbennie.com
, China
Beijing 2102 Art Center, China
Profile
Beijing 2102 Art Center was founded in 2012. It is a comprehensive art institute integrating art planning, exhibition, lecture. This art center is based in contemporary China and extended to the world. It is responsible of promoting excellent Chinese contemporary arts to the world’s arena. Since its establishment, it had consecutively planed a series of important international exhibitions.
In 2012, it planned team exhibition and performance project "Relevancy with Kemari" Traversing 5000 Years of China, led it to participate in the Edinburgh International Festival and won favorable comments. In 2013, it was invited to Adelaide Festival of Arts and Auckland Arts Festival in New Zealand. The TV stations in the two countries made special features to the performance.
In 2013, it planned “Mind.Beating” Exhibition – the collateral events of 55th Venice Biennale (Venice, Italy Arsenale), Chen Danqing, Liu Xiaodong, Fang Zhenning, Wang Guofeng, Xiao Changzheng, Yu Hong, Li Tianbing and others, totally 14 artists attended this show; in the same year, it also planned “Uncertainty” Show (Venice), “Four Signatures” show (Venice) and other exhibitions.
In 2014, it planned “Mind.Beating-- Beijing” – the first tour in China of the parallel exhibition of 55th Venice Biennale exhibition; In 2014, it held “Cut Skin” Show; "Nowhere to Exist" and other high-quality exhibitions of contemporary Chinese arts. Especially in the “Mind.Beating-- Beijing”, the collateral events of 55th Venice Biennale exhibition, unique artistic pioneering concepts of arts and special live exhibition effects were introduced on the stage of the world’s most influential biennale, which received wide attention and warm praises from the international arts community.
The artists participating to Sam Rit are:
Yu Gao, Zhang Wei, Li Tian, Li YiRan, Zhang XinYuan, Liao JiaPing, Qi WenQing.
Project Statement
In Vimalakirti Sutra, Manjushri asked Vimalakirti: “in your opinion, how to get the Buddha-realm?”
Vimalakirti answered: “assimilating the guidance and philosophies into unawareness conducts and thoughts is the way leading to Buddha-realm.”
This activities named at Acting in Unawareness is held in Prasat Hin Phimai known as Angkor Wat in Thailand. There, all the artists introspect and share their experiences with their simplest oral and body language.
Any Buddhist Buildings are looked upon as the places for inspiration. In these places, a kind of atmosphere with the power directly touching one’s heart is cultivated and can affect not only the artists themselves, but also the audiences.
We chase the truth, call for the wisdom and follow the guidance in order to cultivate ourselves. Beside these, there is a higher realm to do that. That is acting in unawareness. That means assimilating the guidance and philosophies into unawareness conducts and thoughts, and following the truth in a broader realm without specific method.
Website: beijing2102.com/pages/index-e.aspx
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Beijing 2102 Art Center, China
Profile
Beijing 2102 Art Center was founded in 2012. It is a comprehensive art institute integrating art planning, exhibition, lecture. This art center is based in contemporary China and extended to the world. It is responsible of promoting excellent Chinese contemporary arts to the world’s arena. Since its establishment, it had consecutively planed a series of important international exhibitions.
In 2012, it planned team exhibition and performance project "Relevancy with Kemari" Traversing 5000 Years of China, led it to participate in the Edinburgh International Festival and won favorable comments. In 2013, it was invited to Adelaide Festival of Arts and Auckland Arts Festival in New Zealand. The TV stations in the two countries made special features to the performance.
In 2013, it planned “Mind.Beating” Exhibition – the collateral events of 55th Venice Biennale (Venice, Italy Arsenale), Chen Danqing, Liu Xiaodong, Fang Zhenning, Wang Guofeng, Xiao Changzheng, Yu Hong, Li Tianbing and others, totally 14 artists attended this show; in the same year, it also planned “Uncertainty” Show (Venice), “Four Signatures” show (Venice) and other exhibitions.
In 2014, it planned “Mind.Beating-- Beijing” – the first tour in China of the parallel exhibition of 55th Venice Biennale exhibition; In 2014, it held “Cut Skin” Show; "Nowhere to Exist" and other high-quality exhibitions of contemporary Chinese arts. Especially in the “Mind.Beating-- Beijing”, the collateral events of 55th Venice Biennale exhibition, unique artistic pioneering concepts of arts and special live exhibition effects were introduced on the stage of the world’s most influential biennale, which received wide attention and warm praises from the international arts community.
The artists participating to Sam Rit are:
Yu Gao, Zhang Wei, Li Tian, Li YiRan, Zhang XinYuan, Liao JiaPing, Qi WenQing.
Project Statement
In Vimalakirti Sutra, Manjushri asked Vimalakirti: “in your opinion, how to get the Buddha-realm?”
Vimalakirti answered: “assimilating the guidance and philosophies into unawareness conducts and thoughts is the way leading to Buddha-realm.”
This activities named at Acting in Unawareness is held in Prasat Hin Phimai known as Angkor Wat in Thailand. There, all the artists introspect and share their experiences with their simplest oral and body language.
Any Buddhist Buildings are looked upon as the places for inspiration. In these places, a kind of atmosphere with the power directly touching one’s heart is cultivated and can affect not only the artists themselves, but also the audiences.
We chase the truth, call for the wisdom and follow the guidance in order to cultivate ourselves. Beside these, there is a higher realm to do that. That is acting in unawareness. That means assimilating the guidance and philosophies into unawareness conducts and thoughts, and following the truth in a broader realm without specific method.
Website: beijing2102.com/pages/index-e.aspx
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Wei Ling Hung, Taiwan
Wei Ling Hung comes from Taiwan. She studied Social Works in Taiwan, and graduated from Gerrit Rietveld Academie Fine Arts in Amsterdam. Wei Ling has worked in multidiscipline contexts in a diverse range of media. She currently works as a performance artist based in Taiwan and Amsterdam. In most of her works, she performs and constructs intuitively in given situation to push and play with the boundary of the reality. Through the process of integrating performance and daily life, she also likes to challenge the traditional view of performing body and theatre stage.
The interest of human condition is rooted in her art practice. Wei Ling feels the urge of redefining ‘awareness’ in the generation of being isolated in chaotic mass world. Somatic method can be often seen in her approach of movements. She experiments herself as an individual trying to respond the environment with different public. In her works, the body is not only the medium activating material world, but also the subject of it’s own that reflect human condition in complex level. Wei Ling has participated art shows and performances in Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam Museum, EYE Film institute, Taipei Fringe Art Festival, W139 Amsterdam, PAB (Performance Arts Bergen) Open, and etc.
Residency Goals
Thailand is a country in which people’s life are deeply influenced by religion tradition. There are some similarity between Thailand and Taiwan in terms of ritual. Buddhism and folk belief left fruitful traces in daily life activities in both countries. I am fascinated by researching how ancient belief can be embodied by human body through ritual. Moreover, I am curious about how physical practices form human thoughts in different cultures.
To have insight about the relation between ritual practices and Thai people’s way of thinking, at the sometime, keep my discipline of understanding through doing, I want to “learn to be Thai” with local. This project will be done in two parts. In the first one-half month, it will be an on-going performance action. I will learn several everyday activities (especially rituals preserved in the agricultural society) from local and turn it into my ritual. I will practice it once per day in public spontaneously. Those actions will be used as ingredients in a final participatory performance. It will be presented in public and ended with a simple catering with the community. Hopefully, my physical practice and the approach of do-together could be the most organic way to connect Thai local life. Furthermore, this expereince could open more space that let difference understand each other deeper.
Artist website: http://www.weilinghung.com/
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Ruth Hamill, USA
Ruth Hamill paints using traditional mediums in new ways, striving for the translucency, light and movement of bodies of water in order to, ultimately, convey the intangibles of being shoreside.
How she paints is different, unfamiliar, but the waves, ripples, and whips of her paintings are instantly familiar to those who share Ruth's love of the water.
Ruth works primarily in oil and encaustic and is represented by galleries on the east coast of the United States, from Charleston, SC, to Portland, Maine, as well as in Chicago. Her paintings have been juried into group shows by curators of the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, the Rose Art Museum (MA), Jersey City Museum, and the Nassau County Museum of Art (NJ), among others from NY to Washington state.
Residency Goals
I really want the different environment to inform my work while in Thailand. I will arrive with an idea of what I'd like to work on, which will involved experimenting with a medium that is new to me, but I have learned that it is best to just get to work and to be open to where the work takes me -- especially while at an artist residency.
Website: http://www.hamillpaintings.com
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Petra Revenue, Sweden
Petra Revenue is a dramatist, director and writer, for theatre, film and TV. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1371836/ Since 1990 she has been one of the artistic directors at Theater Trixter in her hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden. Before becoming a writer, Revenue studied social anthropology and is interested in what ties people together across language and cultural borders. Since her theatrical debut, Petra Revenue has written some twenty plays, several of which have received critical acclaim. These include The Least You Can Ask For (bilingual, Farsi/Swedish), The Dancer’s Woman (multicultural ensemble) and Valkyria (radio play that premiered on Swedish National Radio). Revenue began to write for film and television with the TV drama The Big Theater for Swedish National Television (SVT). Since then she has written a wild mix, from screenplays for Henning Mankell’s Wallander to her own debut feature film Almost Elvis, where for the first time she combined her two genres film and theatre. Almost Elvis was selected for competition at the Sao Paulo Film Festival and the Mexico International Film Festival. In 2006 Revenue’s first book was published, a collection of short stories nominated for Swedish National Radio’s Short Story Award, an award that she won in 2009 with “The Best View” (originally published in an anthology for the humanitarian fundraising drive, Children of the World). She has continued to write in all genres.
Her latest film is The Ice Dragon. Among other festivals it was entered in competition at the youth section of the Berlinale. Her most recent play is Bardo, created in Iraqi Kurdistan, where she has a long-term collaboration with the Kurdish Fine Art Society. Her most recent work in the art world was as part of Love Explosion, a group exhibition at Göteborgs konsthall. Revenue co-created Blue Eyes, a 10-hour drama series for TV about the neo Nazi movement in Europe. Her latest Book is Dear Mr S. And coming soon: Meaty Marta, an animated film about the hungriest goldfish in the universe. Premiers 22 September 2017.
Homepage; http://www.petrarevenue.n.nu/
Artist statement
My mission in life and art is fairly simple. I’m terrified of simple truths and black and white views. I aim to create characters and stories that carry complexity and ambivalence, and I want to do this in a beautiful and entertaining way. I combine the absurd with everyday reflections and in doing so I think I’ve found my genre.
Residency goals
My father died in a small village similar to where the residence is. His funeral was one of the strongest experiences of my life, and to share it with the village where he lived was amazing. The goal of my stay is to finish a film based on his last years, when he found peace in this part of the world. My partner Martin Mirko is a translator and artist. He will accompany me on the trip and we will also use the time for reflection, photography and the development of a new TV series. Aside from all this, it will be an honour just to take part in everyday life the village and hopefully form new friendships.
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Petra Revenue is a dramatist, director and writer, for theatre, film and TV. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1371836/ Since 1990 she has been one of the artistic directors at Theater Trixter in her hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden. Before becoming a writer, Revenue studied social anthropology and is interested in what ties people together across language and cultural borders. Since her theatrical debut, Petra Revenue has written some twenty plays, several of which have received critical acclaim. These include The Least You Can Ask For (bilingual, Farsi/Swedish), The Dancer’s Woman (multicultural ensemble) and Valkyria (radio play that premiered on Swedish National Radio). Revenue began to write for film and television with the TV drama The Big Theater for Swedish National Television (SVT). Since then she has written a wild mix, from screenplays for Henning Mankell’s Wallander to her own debut feature film Almost Elvis, where for the first time she combined her two genres film and theatre. Almost Elvis was selected for competition at the Sao Paulo Film Festival and the Mexico International Film Festival. In 2006 Revenue’s first book was published, a collection of short stories nominated for Swedish National Radio’s Short Story Award, an award that she won in 2009 with “The Best View” (originally published in an anthology for the humanitarian fundraising drive, Children of the World). She has continued to write in all genres.
Her latest film is The Ice Dragon. Among other festivals it was entered in competition at the youth section of the Berlinale. Her most recent play is Bardo, created in Iraqi Kurdistan, where she has a long-term collaboration with the Kurdish Fine Art Society. Her most recent work in the art world was as part of Love Explosion, a group exhibition at Göteborgs konsthall. Revenue co-created Blue Eyes, a 10-hour drama series for TV about the neo Nazi movement in Europe. Her latest Book is Dear Mr S. And coming soon: Meaty Marta, an animated film about the hungriest goldfish in the universe. Premiers 22 September 2017.
Homepage; http://www.petrarevenue.n.nu/
Artist statement
My mission in life and art is fairly simple. I’m terrified of simple truths and black and white views. I aim to create characters and stories that carry complexity and ambivalence, and I want to do this in a beautiful and entertaining way. I combine the absurd with everyday reflections and in doing so I think I’ve found my genre.
Residency goals
My father died in a small village similar to where the residence is. His funeral was one of the strongest experiences of my life, and to share it with the village where he lived was amazing. The goal of my stay is to finish a film based on his last years, when he found peace in this part of the world. My partner Martin Mirko is a translator and artist. He will accompany me on the trip and we will also use the time for reflection, photography and the development of a new TV series. Aside from all this, it will be an honour just to take part in everyday life the village and hopefully form new friendships.
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Giorgio Rinaldi, Italy
Giorgio Rinaldi is an artist from Rome, currently living in the UK. His passion manifested pretty early on, he studied art at High School and University, learning about music, cinema, literature and theatre. The Italian background gave him a very strong art tradition and knowledge that he tries to use as a basis to bent and modify, he is always keen on exploring and experimenting new media and join ideas and project together with musicians, filmmakers, actors and writers; taking part in a wide range of projects such as plays, poetry reading, short films, extemporary painting, different four-handed writings and photo shooting. He took part in group and personal exhibitions, both in Rome and London and is now interested in enriching his palette and toolset by always absorbing and discovering new points of view.
Artist statement
Art is not art craft anymore but something more and deeper. An artist is a recognized individual able to put personal ideas and depths into a work. After photography started to expand, art was no longer a way to imitate nature and the world, mimesis ceased to be the goal and feelings and subjectivity arose. That is what art means to me, and that’s what I try to achieve with every single work. My works are not necessarily so constructed, arranged and studied in order to give a deep concept and a meaningful statement but they all are honest and felt; suffered or enjoyed. I mostly work with oil and the thickness of colours and prefer direct, violent light that sculpt figures and bodies, being the subjects of my artwork. It is the way it is expressed that makes the difference, to me, more than what it is said.
Residency goals
I am lately focused on different aspects of painting. In two different collections I am developing a more unstructured, colourful and attempt to recreate the feeling of diversity, of being discriminated, made fun of and treated as a weirdo by society; on one side working through symbolic, mythological or mystic images and figures, on the other side simply by portraits.
It might be seeing as a continuous project, following the one in Finland centred on the figure of the artist and its relation with society and external stimuli and influences.
In this case and thanks to this residency, a cultural gap, poignant diversity in terms of education, religion, food, colours and lifestyle will allow me to work on my attempt to capture the real ego, the essence of human being or at least to go deeper, scraping those layers and layers of makeup that we tend to use to cover up ourselves. To hide what is too bad; too creepy, too hard to accept by others. I want to work on portrait and diversity; on everything that is considered scary, wrong and incomprehensible. What is not accepted and welcomed by the majority of people.
Artist website: www.giorgio-rinaldi.co.uk
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Giorgio Rinaldi is an artist from Rome, currently living in the UK. His passion manifested pretty early on, he studied art at High School and University, learning about music, cinema, literature and theatre. The Italian background gave him a very strong art tradition and knowledge that he tries to use as a basis to bent and modify, he is always keen on exploring and experimenting new media and join ideas and project together with musicians, filmmakers, actors and writers; taking part in a wide range of projects such as plays, poetry reading, short films, extemporary painting, different four-handed writings and photo shooting. He took part in group and personal exhibitions, both in Rome and London and is now interested in enriching his palette and toolset by always absorbing and discovering new points of view.
Artist statement
Art is not art craft anymore but something more and deeper. An artist is a recognized individual able to put personal ideas and depths into a work. After photography started to expand, art was no longer a way to imitate nature and the world, mimesis ceased to be the goal and feelings and subjectivity arose. That is what art means to me, and that’s what I try to achieve with every single work. My works are not necessarily so constructed, arranged and studied in order to give a deep concept and a meaningful statement but they all are honest and felt; suffered or enjoyed. I mostly work with oil and the thickness of colours and prefer direct, violent light that sculpt figures and bodies, being the subjects of my artwork. It is the way it is expressed that makes the difference, to me, more than what it is said.
Residency goals
I am lately focused on different aspects of painting. In two different collections I am developing a more unstructured, colourful and attempt to recreate the feeling of diversity, of being discriminated, made fun of and treated as a weirdo by society; on one side working through symbolic, mythological or mystic images and figures, on the other side simply by portraits.
It might be seeing as a continuous project, following the one in Finland centred on the figure of the artist and its relation with society and external stimuli and influences.
In this case and thanks to this residency, a cultural gap, poignant diversity in terms of education, religion, food, colours and lifestyle will allow me to work on my attempt to capture the real ego, the essence of human being or at least to go deeper, scraping those layers and layers of makeup that we tend to use to cover up ourselves. To hide what is too bad; too creepy, too hard to accept by others. I want to work on portrait and diversity; on everything that is considered scary, wrong and incomprehensible. What is not accepted and welcomed by the majority of people.
Artist website: www.giorgio-rinaldi.co.uk
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Jane McKay, Australia
Jane McKay is an Australian artist whose paintings have been exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kyoto and throughout Australia. Her work is included in a number of private and public collections in Australia and overseas. http://www.janemckay.com.au/ Jane McKay is the founder of Creative Kids Art Club which promotes children's creativity through innovative art activities to 150 children each week in Perth. http://www.creativekidsartclub.com.au/
Artist Statement
Jane McKay's paintings are abstractions of the landscape in which the land is portrayed as place and life essence. Her paintings are responses to the vast open spaces of the natural environment which convey the great expanse of the landscape. Expressive marks show the tiny indispensable details of the natural world. The paintings exhibit our emotional response and connection to the land and capture elements of textural nuance and emotive verve. The pigment appears in layers as though the colour is woven into a dense surface plane of abstraction. The paintings strive for meaning beyond the boundaries of logic and explore the sublime.
Residency Goals
The opportunity to live in the Sam Rit rural community will provide an immersive experience in the Thai culture - from the way of life, to the people, the food as well as the natural environment. As humans we all have the same needs; for community, family, shelter, food and a reason to explain our existence. Through this experience I am looking to gain insights into how the Thai culture meets these needs, a glimpse into their way of seeing the world. The experience of travelling inspires new ways of seeing and a stimulus to express them creatively, I see these as essential to the development of the artist.
The differences in light, colour and landscape in the Sam Rit environment will be a direct influence on my painting and drawing. I plan to take in the colours, sights and sounds around me. The landscape through aerial views and mapping is also an area of interest which I will pursue in relation to the Sam Rit environment. As a primary school art teacher, I am looking forward to spending time with local school children to see their art and craft activities and to providing some for them as well.
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Jane McKay is an Australian artist whose paintings have been exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kyoto and throughout Australia. Her work is included in a number of private and public collections in Australia and overseas. http://www.janemckay.com.au/ Jane McKay is the founder of Creative Kids Art Club which promotes children's creativity through innovative art activities to 150 children each week in Perth. http://www.creativekidsartclub.com.au/
Artist Statement
Jane McKay's paintings are abstractions of the landscape in which the land is portrayed as place and life essence. Her paintings are responses to the vast open spaces of the natural environment which convey the great expanse of the landscape. Expressive marks show the tiny indispensable details of the natural world. The paintings exhibit our emotional response and connection to the land and capture elements of textural nuance and emotive verve. The pigment appears in layers as though the colour is woven into a dense surface plane of abstraction. The paintings strive for meaning beyond the boundaries of logic and explore the sublime.
Residency Goals
The opportunity to live in the Sam Rit rural community will provide an immersive experience in the Thai culture - from the way of life, to the people, the food as well as the natural environment. As humans we all have the same needs; for community, family, shelter, food and a reason to explain our existence. Through this experience I am looking to gain insights into how the Thai culture meets these needs, a glimpse into their way of seeing the world. The experience of travelling inspires new ways of seeing and a stimulus to express them creatively, I see these as essential to the development of the artist.
The differences in light, colour and landscape in the Sam Rit environment will be a direct influence on my painting and drawing. I plan to take in the colours, sights and sounds around me. The landscape through aerial views and mapping is also an area of interest which I will pursue in relation to the Sam Rit environment. As a primary school art teacher, I am looking forward to spending time with local school children to see their art and craft activities and to providing some for them as well.
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Emma Sedlak, Australia
Emma’s research and writing interests revolve around questions of belonging and identity, often as they relate to travel, landscapes, and relationships. Her work is influenced by cartography, art, philosophy, and correspondence (published and personal). She completed her MSc and PhD at the University of Edinburgh (UK), supervised by Alan Gillis, Jane McKie, and Robert Alan Jamieson.
A writer and singer, Emma is from the United States and Scotland. She works in Sydney, Australia as a Communications Manager and Content Strategist. Having performed in the Edinburgh Fringe festival, she now frequently performs in opera and musical theatre productions in Sydney.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My new project is part poetry, part novel, and part play. I intend to combine these genres to create an innovative work about migrant culture, drawing attention to issues of immigration, the lives of refugees, and how their experiences strain connections of family, personal identity, and belonging.
Human interactions always contain contradictions, and nowhere is this more prevalent than when we found ourselves outside our comfort zones. When the world around you is breaking down, no external source of security can make it feel more stable.
The two main characters are a man and a woman who task themselves with traveling between migrant communities in this post-sea level risen world, helping to encourage communication between the scattered tribes, and bringing awareness to their own experiences and memories of a world that doesn’t exist anymore.
Displaced. It’s the same way I feel when I’m away from him for too long. He could stray, he could leave, he could move and migrate because lord knows I don’t keep him. We’ve never been a ball and chain. We’ve never been linked in that way.
But in some ways it’s a lifeline. In some ways, it’s a red thread that sews these shores together, that runs under the deepest currents like the huge lines and cables that used to run the internet under the ocean. That used to connect continents by threads and lines and invisible satellites. It’s circuitous. It’s a shape invisible like the magnets that thread the poles, no matter how tenuously. It’s a balancing act of tides, and at some point we know it collapses.
RESIDENCY GOALS
During my time at Sam Rit, I aim to create a first draft of my new collection. I hope that stepping into a new environment, outside of my comfort zone, will allow me to see the work more cohesively, and to pull disparate elements of it together.
I find that language extends beyond verbal exchanges. I am a warm, appreciative, and inviting person, and I don't consider it a challenge to communicate with gesture, facial expressions, and a small understanding of local vocabulary. Indeed, I consider it an honour and an opportunity to learn more about myself, the people around me, the local culture, and human interaction. Most of my writing resonates around these themes, so it is something I consider frequently. How do any of us communicate with each other effectively, even when we speak the same language?
I’m very interested in considering these topics during my time in the Sam Rit community. I want to explore the natural landscape, the community, and the local rituals, as an active, respectful participant.
ARTIST WEBSITE: www.emmasedlak.com
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Emma’s research and writing interests revolve around questions of belonging and identity, often as they relate to travel, landscapes, and relationships. Her work is influenced by cartography, art, philosophy, and correspondence (published and personal). She completed her MSc and PhD at the University of Edinburgh (UK), supervised by Alan Gillis, Jane McKie, and Robert Alan Jamieson.
A writer and singer, Emma is from the United States and Scotland. She works in Sydney, Australia as a Communications Manager and Content Strategist. Having performed in the Edinburgh Fringe festival, she now frequently performs in opera and musical theatre productions in Sydney.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My new project is part poetry, part novel, and part play. I intend to combine these genres to create an innovative work about migrant culture, drawing attention to issues of immigration, the lives of refugees, and how their experiences strain connections of family, personal identity, and belonging.
Human interactions always contain contradictions, and nowhere is this more prevalent than when we found ourselves outside our comfort zones. When the world around you is breaking down, no external source of security can make it feel more stable.
The two main characters are a man and a woman who task themselves with traveling between migrant communities in this post-sea level risen world, helping to encourage communication between the scattered tribes, and bringing awareness to their own experiences and memories of a world that doesn’t exist anymore.
Displaced. It’s the same way I feel when I’m away from him for too long. He could stray, he could leave, he could move and migrate because lord knows I don’t keep him. We’ve never been a ball and chain. We’ve never been linked in that way.
But in some ways it’s a lifeline. In some ways, it’s a red thread that sews these shores together, that runs under the deepest currents like the huge lines and cables that used to run the internet under the ocean. That used to connect continents by threads and lines and invisible satellites. It’s circuitous. It’s a shape invisible like the magnets that thread the poles, no matter how tenuously. It’s a balancing act of tides, and at some point we know it collapses.
RESIDENCY GOALS
During my time at Sam Rit, I aim to create a first draft of my new collection. I hope that stepping into a new environment, outside of my comfort zone, will allow me to see the work more cohesively, and to pull disparate elements of it together.
I find that language extends beyond verbal exchanges. I am a warm, appreciative, and inviting person, and I don't consider it a challenge to communicate with gesture, facial expressions, and a small understanding of local vocabulary. Indeed, I consider it an honour and an opportunity to learn more about myself, the people around me, the local culture, and human interaction. Most of my writing resonates around these themes, so it is something I consider frequently. How do any of us communicate with each other effectively, even when we speak the same language?
I’m very interested in considering these topics during my time in the Sam Rit community. I want to explore the natural landscape, the community, and the local rituals, as an active, respectful participant.
ARTIST WEBSITE: www.emmasedlak.com
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Jackie Moss, Australia
Jackie is a Melbourne based artist and Illustrator with a background in visual merchandising, graphic design and craft. Since completing a Diploma of Visual Arts, majoring in painting, she has been drawn to the still life genre and has actively exhibited her work in selected shows since graduating in 2013. Jackie also enjoys working in mosaic medium and has undertaken significant public mural commissions in her local community. She is a published author and illustrator of numerous children’s books and educational resources. Since 2002 she has developed and facilitated children’s art workshops for primary school students across Melbourne and interstate and assisted educators at the National Gallery of Victoria. She works from home and shared studio spaces in Melbourne, Victoria.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I find myself drawn to the still life genre, inspired by natural themes, fruits and organic images and shapes. I enjoy infusing them with bold deliberate marks and enhancing their vibrant colours. My interest in exaggerating ‘ordinary’ subjects into a larger scale comes from a desire to connect others with the ‘extraordinary’ perspective - by emphasising unique textural qualities and characteristics. I find inspiration in celebrating dynamic colours, patterns and forms of ‘the everyday’. I’m often walking around with my eyes downward looking for beautiful leaves underfoot, shells and tiles, or observing interesting shapes, details and compositions within my environment.
Images of stillness and solitude, which I find within both the natural and human world, are also themes I intuitively explore in my arts practice through painting, drawing and personal photography.
RESIDENCY GOALS
I am looking forward to breathing it all in, and seriously immersing myself in the sights and sounds of rural Thailand! My intention is to allow my work to evolve intuitively without too much orchestration, as I want my artwork to truly be a response and reflection of my experience, not just ‘same technique - different location’. I plan to spend time observing, collecting, documenting and experiencing the colourful daily lifestyle and culture of Sam Rit village life and its surrounding areas, and I look forward to how this translates creatively. I will definitely head towards the local markets to source unusual, colourful exotic fruits, foliage, and home wares which will be sure to feature in still life compositions - my preferred genre, back at the studio or to develop further when I return home. I will bring limited painting and drawing materials with me, as I am keen to experiment with whatever new materials I can source locally - testing my resourcefulness!
A definite highlight of my residency will be to spend some time with local school children, to share and translate my children’s book and engage with them through a related drawing or craft activity.
Facebook: https://facebook.com/jackiemossart
Instagram: jackiemossart
Website: http://jackiemossart.com.au
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Jackie is a Melbourne based artist and Illustrator with a background in visual merchandising, graphic design and craft. Since completing a Diploma of Visual Arts, majoring in painting, she has been drawn to the still life genre and has actively exhibited her work in selected shows since graduating in 2013. Jackie also enjoys working in mosaic medium and has undertaken significant public mural commissions in her local community. She is a published author and illustrator of numerous children’s books and educational resources. Since 2002 she has developed and facilitated children’s art workshops for primary school students across Melbourne and interstate and assisted educators at the National Gallery of Victoria. She works from home and shared studio spaces in Melbourne, Victoria.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I find myself drawn to the still life genre, inspired by natural themes, fruits and organic images and shapes. I enjoy infusing them with bold deliberate marks and enhancing their vibrant colours. My interest in exaggerating ‘ordinary’ subjects into a larger scale comes from a desire to connect others with the ‘extraordinary’ perspective - by emphasising unique textural qualities and characteristics. I find inspiration in celebrating dynamic colours, patterns and forms of ‘the everyday’. I’m often walking around with my eyes downward looking for beautiful leaves underfoot, shells and tiles, or observing interesting shapes, details and compositions within my environment.
Images of stillness and solitude, which I find within both the natural and human world, are also themes I intuitively explore in my arts practice through painting, drawing and personal photography.
RESIDENCY GOALS
I am looking forward to breathing it all in, and seriously immersing myself in the sights and sounds of rural Thailand! My intention is to allow my work to evolve intuitively without too much orchestration, as I want my artwork to truly be a response and reflection of my experience, not just ‘same technique - different location’. I plan to spend time observing, collecting, documenting and experiencing the colourful daily lifestyle and culture of Sam Rit village life and its surrounding areas, and I look forward to how this translates creatively. I will definitely head towards the local markets to source unusual, colourful exotic fruits, foliage, and home wares which will be sure to feature in still life compositions - my preferred genre, back at the studio or to develop further when I return home. I will bring limited painting and drawing materials with me, as I am keen to experiment with whatever new materials I can source locally - testing my resourcefulness!
A definite highlight of my residency will be to spend some time with local school children, to share and translate my children’s book and engage with them through a related drawing or craft activity.
Facebook: https://facebook.com/jackiemossart
Instagram: jackiemossart
Website: http://jackiemossart.com.au
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Phaptawan Suwannakudt, Australia/Thailand
I have been practicing art for 35 years. I completed 10 commissioned mural projects for public space throughout Thailand during the early 1980s. I have participated in exhibitions internationally on regular basis since 1990, and have participated in 5 art residency programs. I have been invited to give artist talks in public venues including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Drill Hall Gallery, ACT and a South East Asian program at Sydney University, and to give lectures at institutions such as the University of Western Sydney, Nepean, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Chiang Mai University, Rajabhat University, Chiang Mai and Mahasarakham University, Thailand. I have published articles about my art practice in TAASA Magazine, and in an academic publication, Asia through Art and Anthropology: Translation across Cultures (Bloomsbury Academic, 2013). My works are in public and private collections, including those held at Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Art Bank, Sydney, and Rama 9 Art Collection, Bangkok, Thailand. I am a recipient of the Australia Council grant (2001 and 2011), the NAVA artist grant (2010 and 2013), and the grant from Office of Contemporary Art, Ministry Culture of Thailand (2012).
RESIDENCY GOALS
I am interested to explore the inter-being part of communities in Australia through the presence of being in-between places, cultures, and experiences. The process work is an ongoing pursuit in re-imagine a shared space which includes and relates to layers of individuals’ lived experiences. Therefore I look at my cultural background as part of the proposed project namely Landscape study: the inter-space therein. I also apply to go to a residency in Northern part of NSW for the same project. The research for materials from the two residency will be used to develop a body of new work. This is a proposition to develop work which deals with Australian landscape and stories that come with it. This is a study of landscape as symbolic mean to explore the inter-being on personal memories of individuals who live within shared locality which make a history of the place.
Artist Website: http://phaptawansuwannakudt.com/
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Marissa Ward: Artist, London, England
I was born in London, England to a Thai mother and British father. As a child, I always possessed a strong level of creativity and flair for artistic endeavours. As a teenager, after leaving the University of Westminster with a Foundation in Art and Design, I entered into full-time employment; working a variety of roles. While I enjoyed the dedication and professionalism of these positions, I felt they never suited my artistic aspirations, and desire for creativity. Eventually, I returned to full-time education; graduating from Middlesex University, London in July 2016, with a BA (Hons) Degree in Fine Art.
As an artist, my passion for travel and philanthropy has considerably influenced my work. This has led me to embark on various self-directed projects - most recently a photographic expedition, in Myanmar (Burma); titled "Faces of Burma". The outcome of this led to me showcase my work; with two successful group exhibitions in Central London.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The basis for my work has always been that of humanity; specifically the foundations and characteristics of what defines both the individual roles of people in a community, and how each group operates, as a collective. For this I have returned to my parental roots in Southeast Asia; where I planted the initial seeds for this project to grow, earlier on this year in Myanmar.
I have always been drawn to Southeast Asia, due to growing up with a strong attachment to my mother; yet have experienced sporadic contact with her side, due to living in England.
As she was raised with three other siblings in an underdeveloped Bangkok suburb as a child - under extreme poverty, I have never fully been able to comprehend the hardships faced by her and her community; as well as the interactive unity formed through such adversity. As an artist, I wish to reveal the answers to these questions, as well as discover my own voice in the process; which I believe lies somewhere within this pilgrimage to her homeland.
On a deeper level, the interaction between humanity I feel has a ubiquitous quality; which can be found through a complete immersion in the varying cultures the world over. All human life carries an invaluable price, and having lived in Western society for so many years, I now seek to - both an artist and human being, find a true definition of the word 'community'.
RESIDENCY GOALS
The Residency at Sam Rit, will be an important transition for me into a professional career as an artist; as this is my first major professional project as an artist, working outside of the formal training within my university. I am also curious as to working in an environment which is known to operate at a relaxed pace; the polar opposite of my life within a major western city. An integral part of this will be my interaction and engagement with other artists/peers, as well as immersing myself within the local community. Working with other artists will hopefully teach me different ideas and techniques, which can help me develop as a professional. As well as this, it is likely to serve me in a positive way when it comes to future collaborations with other artists. The experience of the rural setting and its inhabitants will help me through building a strong rapport with the residents, which I believe is vital in producing a higher quality of work. In order to produce such intimate images, based on a mutual trust and without being intrusive and exploitative, it is necessary to connect on some form of personal level with the subject. Being able to do so with those from a completely different culture is a particularly useful education, which will aid me as an artist in the long-term.
Ultimately the residency will be a fantastic opportunity for me to create a fresh body of photographic work, as well as evolve as an artist and human being; leading to enough material to create both a photographic book exploring portraits of the community, as well as an exhibition documenting my experiences within South-East Asia. As much as I can learn from the theory of works of scholars, nothing replicates the knowledge born from direct experience.
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I was born in London, England to a Thai mother and British father. As a child, I always possessed a strong level of creativity and flair for artistic endeavours. As a teenager, after leaving the University of Westminster with a Foundation in Art and Design, I entered into full-time employment; working a variety of roles. While I enjoyed the dedication and professionalism of these positions, I felt they never suited my artistic aspirations, and desire for creativity. Eventually, I returned to full-time education; graduating from Middlesex University, London in July 2016, with a BA (Hons) Degree in Fine Art.
As an artist, my passion for travel and philanthropy has considerably influenced my work. This has led me to embark on various self-directed projects - most recently a photographic expedition, in Myanmar (Burma); titled "Faces of Burma". The outcome of this led to me showcase my work; with two successful group exhibitions in Central London.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The basis for my work has always been that of humanity; specifically the foundations and characteristics of what defines both the individual roles of people in a community, and how each group operates, as a collective. For this I have returned to my parental roots in Southeast Asia; where I planted the initial seeds for this project to grow, earlier on this year in Myanmar.
I have always been drawn to Southeast Asia, due to growing up with a strong attachment to my mother; yet have experienced sporadic contact with her side, due to living in England.
As she was raised with three other siblings in an underdeveloped Bangkok suburb as a child - under extreme poverty, I have never fully been able to comprehend the hardships faced by her and her community; as well as the interactive unity formed through such adversity. As an artist, I wish to reveal the answers to these questions, as well as discover my own voice in the process; which I believe lies somewhere within this pilgrimage to her homeland.
On a deeper level, the interaction between humanity I feel has a ubiquitous quality; which can be found through a complete immersion in the varying cultures the world over. All human life carries an invaluable price, and having lived in Western society for so many years, I now seek to - both an artist and human being, find a true definition of the word 'community'.
RESIDENCY GOALS
The Residency at Sam Rit, will be an important transition for me into a professional career as an artist; as this is my first major professional project as an artist, working outside of the formal training within my university. I am also curious as to working in an environment which is known to operate at a relaxed pace; the polar opposite of my life within a major western city. An integral part of this will be my interaction and engagement with other artists/peers, as well as immersing myself within the local community. Working with other artists will hopefully teach me different ideas and techniques, which can help me develop as a professional. As well as this, it is likely to serve me in a positive way when it comes to future collaborations with other artists. The experience of the rural setting and its inhabitants will help me through building a strong rapport with the residents, which I believe is vital in producing a higher quality of work. In order to produce such intimate images, based on a mutual trust and without being intrusive and exploitative, it is necessary to connect on some form of personal level with the subject. Being able to do so with those from a completely different culture is a particularly useful education, which will aid me as an artist in the long-term.
Ultimately the residency will be a fantastic opportunity for me to create a fresh body of photographic work, as well as evolve as an artist and human being; leading to enough material to create both a photographic book exploring portraits of the community, as well as an exhibition documenting my experiences within South-East Asia. As much as I can learn from the theory of works of scholars, nothing replicates the knowledge born from direct experience.
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Fleur Wiber: Singer/songwriter, Sydney, Australia
"Channeling a very calm Karen O in vocal, ... Fleur Wiber offers everything you can ask of a ‘weird’ folk musician and more." - Drunken Werewolf Magazine
"Simply the best, most original, mesmerising and hypnotic songwriting I've heard in months... Its like The Xx being produced by Angelo Badlamneti....Genius!" - Mike White Presents
Fleur Wiber is an independent singer-songwriter based in Sydney. Fleur’s music is dark and dreamy. She is inspired by “new-folk” artists such as Sharon van Etten, Laura Marling and Damien Jurado. As an independent artist, Fleur has made numerous achievements such as recently being Songwriter-in-resident at the Broken Hill Art Exchange. Fleur redcently performed at the Dungog Festival, Live’n’Lounging and the ArtsHub Annual Conference.
In 2013, Fleur released her debut EP “Orderves” which includes her “Fire” which has been aired on many radio stations including Cambridge 105 (UK), Cape May FM (USA), FBI (Aus) and 2SER. Fleur has received press in ArtsHub, The Barrier Daily Truth, Drunken Werewolf Magazine (UK), Unraveled, Revolt, ArtsHub and the Cape May Star.
Fleur has released a number of singles and lo-fi demos, recorded and produced by her part of “the Anthropomorphic USB Collection” (a sculptural USB handmade by Fleur, with a mix of demos, singles, video footage and images). She is currently working on an album which she is producing and creating herself – exploring ideas of DIY, indie, Lo-Fi and demo music.
In 2013 launched her debut EP at the Vanguard in Sydney. She then toured overseas as an independent artist performing at Singer songwriter Cape may in New Jersey, USA, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and other UK venues including The Old Queens Head in London. Fleur has also performed at the Gulgong Folk Festival, This is Not Art Festival and The Sydney Fringe Festival.
In 2014, Fleur was selected for Push Songs, a mentoring program funded by the Victorian Government and APRA. Fleur’s music has been used on short-films and compilations including “My Little Tornado” by Nicola Walkerden (Sydney), “Independent No. 1s” (India) and Pulp Productions’ film “Victims of Fun” (USA). Her music is currently being used for a film by Unraveled (Los Angeles) and on a compilation by Erzetich Audio in Slovenia.
Residency Goals:
During my time at Sam Rit I will connect with the local community through musical performances. I will organise a live music show with local musicians and perform. I would like to learn about the culture of the Sam Rit area, Thailand and use the local landscape as inspiration for my songwriting. I will connect with local musicians and talk to them about their music as well as their professional practice. I would like to run workshops assist singer-songwriters with their practice and developing an online presence for their music through social media and websites such as soundcloud.com. It will be great to spend time in Sam Rit, exchanging ideas with local residents - learning from each others skills and experiences.
Websites
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FleurWiberMusic
Website: http://fleurwiber.com
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/fleurwiber
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FleurdesPirates
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"Channeling a very calm Karen O in vocal, ... Fleur Wiber offers everything you can ask of a ‘weird’ folk musician and more." - Drunken Werewolf Magazine
"Simply the best, most original, mesmerising and hypnotic songwriting I've heard in months... Its like The Xx being produced by Angelo Badlamneti....Genius!" - Mike White Presents
Fleur Wiber is an independent singer-songwriter based in Sydney. Fleur’s music is dark and dreamy. She is inspired by “new-folk” artists such as Sharon van Etten, Laura Marling and Damien Jurado. As an independent artist, Fleur has made numerous achievements such as recently being Songwriter-in-resident at the Broken Hill Art Exchange. Fleur redcently performed at the Dungog Festival, Live’n’Lounging and the ArtsHub Annual Conference.
In 2013, Fleur released her debut EP “Orderves” which includes her “Fire” which has been aired on many radio stations including Cambridge 105 (UK), Cape May FM (USA), FBI (Aus) and 2SER. Fleur has received press in ArtsHub, The Barrier Daily Truth, Drunken Werewolf Magazine (UK), Unraveled, Revolt, ArtsHub and the Cape May Star.
Fleur has released a number of singles and lo-fi demos, recorded and produced by her part of “the Anthropomorphic USB Collection” (a sculptural USB handmade by Fleur, with a mix of demos, singles, video footage and images). She is currently working on an album which she is producing and creating herself – exploring ideas of DIY, indie, Lo-Fi and demo music.
In 2013 launched her debut EP at the Vanguard in Sydney. She then toured overseas as an independent artist performing at Singer songwriter Cape may in New Jersey, USA, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and other UK venues including The Old Queens Head in London. Fleur has also performed at the Gulgong Folk Festival, This is Not Art Festival and The Sydney Fringe Festival.
In 2014, Fleur was selected for Push Songs, a mentoring program funded by the Victorian Government and APRA. Fleur’s music has been used on short-films and compilations including “My Little Tornado” by Nicola Walkerden (Sydney), “Independent No. 1s” (India) and Pulp Productions’ film “Victims of Fun” (USA). Her music is currently being used for a film by Unraveled (Los Angeles) and on a compilation by Erzetich Audio in Slovenia.
Residency Goals:
During my time at Sam Rit I will connect with the local community through musical performances. I will organise a live music show with local musicians and perform. I would like to learn about the culture of the Sam Rit area, Thailand and use the local landscape as inspiration for my songwriting. I will connect with local musicians and talk to them about their music as well as their professional practice. I would like to run workshops assist singer-songwriters with their practice and developing an online presence for their music through social media and websites such as soundcloud.com. It will be great to spend time in Sam Rit, exchanging ideas with local residents - learning from each others skills and experiences.
Websites
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FleurWiberMusic
Website: http://fleurwiber.com
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/fleurwiber
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FleurdesPirates
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Gisela Romero: Artist, Caracas, Venezuela - Feb/Mar 2016
My name is Gisela Romero, a visual artist from Caracas, Venezuela.
I would like to present myself as a writer that draws or as a drawer that writes or vice versa. Since 1999 all my work combines images and words. I also like to write with photographs, finding silent words in moments that I could capture with my camera, then taking the concept and transforming it into sentences and then into forms. Words are the verbal images of an idea.
Since 1999 I began to establish a dialogue between writings and images, giving my work a narrative dimension. I received the title of Master of Fine Arts degree in 1992 from Pratt Institute, New York and a degree in Fine Arts in 1985, with honors, from the California College of Arts, Oakland, I also studied Literature at the Central University of Venezuela from 1979-1982 and from 1993 participated in Graphic workshps in Studio Camnitzer, Valdottavo, Italy, and in contemporary poetry and narrative workshops at ICREA, Trasnocho Cultural Center, Caracas, Venezuela.
ARTIST STATEMENT
To draw is the entity of my work as a Visual Artist.
Drawing is the origin of everything: From the beginning of the creative process to a transformation of forms into lines and points on a surface.
The conversion of what exists in nature in what I interpret and translate on a flat surface, migrates from one place of birth to another space. The result is an area of my unique way of seeing the elements.
The translation of what I see in what I draw presents an individual look of the aspects that surround us. The reality, which owns a material character, is altered through the revelation of my strokes. What I warn, what is hidden that I can disclose or what I invent, manifests itself in a new image. What I observe is defaced to become my personal language: A singularly way of expressing myself in a world of patterns, signs, gestures, colors, words and icons.
Every form that I contemplate, reproduce, emulate, each aspect that I claim, multiplied or deform has an identity and a function. My intention is to describe a world ruled by Beauty, a cosmos directed by consonances that has the appearance of a harmonious territory.
GR
RESIDENCY GOALS
During my stay at SAM RIT, I will take photographs at the village and surrounding areas and will transform them into drawings and words. I am planning to capture different forms, turn them into images, develop sketches and invite the public to complete some of my drawings, to be part of the process. I also would like to experiment with my own work using distinct materials that will become drawing-objects that later will appear in a show in Caracas, Venezuela, titled ONLY FORMS. This exhibition will document my stay and life experience in SAM RIT. Primarily working in Drawings techniques, my work combines forms and words that praise the beauty of each appearance, from nature to wasted materials in the streets, from food to broken glasses, from people to shadows. Photographing forms allows me to find each unnoticed outline and transform it into another invented form, shapes that have the same aspects in any culture. In the studio, I will use photographs to create drawings with different techniques on different surfaces. The result will be abstract pieces coming from reality that will represent unbelievable forms.
Artist websites: www.giselaromero.com www.giselaromero.blogspot.com
http://facebook.com/giselaromeroarte
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My name is Gisela Romero, a visual artist from Caracas, Venezuela.
I would like to present myself as a writer that draws or as a drawer that writes or vice versa. Since 1999 all my work combines images and words. I also like to write with photographs, finding silent words in moments that I could capture with my camera, then taking the concept and transforming it into sentences and then into forms. Words are the verbal images of an idea.
Since 1999 I began to establish a dialogue between writings and images, giving my work a narrative dimension. I received the title of Master of Fine Arts degree in 1992 from Pratt Institute, New York and a degree in Fine Arts in 1985, with honors, from the California College of Arts, Oakland, I also studied Literature at the Central University of Venezuela from 1979-1982 and from 1993 participated in Graphic workshps in Studio Camnitzer, Valdottavo, Italy, and in contemporary poetry and narrative workshops at ICREA, Trasnocho Cultural Center, Caracas, Venezuela.
ARTIST STATEMENT
To draw is the entity of my work as a Visual Artist.
Drawing is the origin of everything: From the beginning of the creative process to a transformation of forms into lines and points on a surface.
The conversion of what exists in nature in what I interpret and translate on a flat surface, migrates from one place of birth to another space. The result is an area of my unique way of seeing the elements.
The translation of what I see in what I draw presents an individual look of the aspects that surround us. The reality, which owns a material character, is altered through the revelation of my strokes. What I warn, what is hidden that I can disclose or what I invent, manifests itself in a new image. What I observe is defaced to become my personal language: A singularly way of expressing myself in a world of patterns, signs, gestures, colors, words and icons.
Every form that I contemplate, reproduce, emulate, each aspect that I claim, multiplied or deform has an identity and a function. My intention is to describe a world ruled by Beauty, a cosmos directed by consonances that has the appearance of a harmonious territory.
GR
RESIDENCY GOALS
During my stay at SAM RIT, I will take photographs at the village and surrounding areas and will transform them into drawings and words. I am planning to capture different forms, turn them into images, develop sketches and invite the public to complete some of my drawings, to be part of the process. I also would like to experiment with my own work using distinct materials that will become drawing-objects that later will appear in a show in Caracas, Venezuela, titled ONLY FORMS. This exhibition will document my stay and life experience in SAM RIT. Primarily working in Drawings techniques, my work combines forms and words that praise the beauty of each appearance, from nature to wasted materials in the streets, from food to broken glasses, from people to shadows. Photographing forms allows me to find each unnoticed outline and transform it into another invented form, shapes that have the same aspects in any culture. In the studio, I will use photographs to create drawings with different techniques on different surfaces. The result will be abstract pieces coming from reality that will represent unbelievable forms.
Artist websites: www.giselaromero.com www.giselaromero.blogspot.com
http://facebook.com/giselaromeroarte
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Max Leach: Artist, Wokingham Berkshire, UK
Max's practice explores anxieties created by globalization via encompassing a post media approach to making, it takes in moving image, sound, installation, performance and online platforms. Leach navigates issues of identity and anthropology in relation to idiosyncratic behavioral cultures and systems within the post Internet era.
After recently graduating from University of Creative Arts with my First class degree in Arts and Media (Fine Art), i have continued to exhibit and create work that has gone on to exhibit within numerous exhibitions and festivals most recently the 28th Festival Les INSTANTS VIDEO 2015 in France and becoming a finalist for the FloatArt London 2015.
Residency goals
I am extremely excited for my residency in the environment of the rural Thai landscape. I am looking forward to educating and involving myself in the unique environment within the residency, so that I can achieve, gain and develop from it, for my artwork, and also myself as a practicing artist.
I will use this residency to develop a dialogued series of artwork in the mediums of film, performance and sound. This will investigate the concepts my work surrounds within a new culture, which handles traditional cultural traits, contrasting them in series, to develop a body of work that exposes and exploits this dissimilarity. Using the environment and resources, i will be creating work to reflect my time and experiences, expanding and building upon the conceptual ideas that I study within my artwork.
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Max's practice explores anxieties created by globalization via encompassing a post media approach to making, it takes in moving image, sound, installation, performance and online platforms. Leach navigates issues of identity and anthropology in relation to idiosyncratic behavioral cultures and systems within the post Internet era.
After recently graduating from University of Creative Arts with my First class degree in Arts and Media (Fine Art), i have continued to exhibit and create work that has gone on to exhibit within numerous exhibitions and festivals most recently the 28th Festival Les INSTANTS VIDEO 2015 in France and becoming a finalist for the FloatArt London 2015.
Residency goals
I am extremely excited for my residency in the environment of the rural Thai landscape. I am looking forward to educating and involving myself in the unique environment within the residency, so that I can achieve, gain and develop from it, for my artwork, and also myself as a practicing artist.
I will use this residency to develop a dialogued series of artwork in the mediums of film, performance and sound. This will investigate the concepts my work surrounds within a new culture, which handles traditional cultural traits, contrasting them in series, to develop a body of work that exposes and exploits this dissimilarity. Using the environment and resources, i will be creating work to reflect my time and experiences, expanding and building upon the conceptual ideas that I study within my artwork.
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Mary Barron: Artist, Queensland Australia
Mary Barron held her first solo exhibition, ‘Rags to Riches’, late 2006 and has since had twelve solo exhibitions including a solo touring exhibition, ‘Second Life’, which continues to tour, she has also participated in thirty-nine group exhibitions. Mary has volunteered at the Logan Art Gallery and is a children’s art workshop facilitator. As part of a Community Art Project, Mary received a RADF Grant to run workshops with a diverse range of community groups including people with disabilities, elderly, primary, high schools and adults. She likes working with recycled materials particularly household waste and enjoys fabric and papermaking from both plant and recycled materials. Mary uses traditional techniques like the basketry techniques when making art from recycled materials, the work retains a memory of the materials original function adding another layer of meaning to the work.
Residency Goals:
Mary's residency is part of a special program coordinated by Flying Arts Alliance. The Sam Rit Residency & Cultural Exchange Project is supported by the Commonwealth through the Australia-Thailand Institute which is a part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The 8 week residency will involve Queensland Artist Mary Elizabeth Barron working local women in the district to recycle waste materials into arts and crafts products using a range of traditional and contemporary weaving and hand crafting techniques. In addition to promoting awareness and understanding of each other’s culture, values and traditions, this project will raise awareness of the possibilities and potential of recycling waste products into arts and crafts products; support and enhance traditional artisan skills; and lay the foundation for future social enterprise.
Mary Barron held her first solo exhibition, ‘Rags to Riches’, late 2006 and has since had twelve solo exhibitions including a solo touring exhibition, ‘Second Life’, which continues to tour, she has also participated in thirty-nine group exhibitions. Mary has volunteered at the Logan Art Gallery and is a children’s art workshop facilitator. As part of a Community Art Project, Mary received a RADF Grant to run workshops with a diverse range of community groups including people with disabilities, elderly, primary, high schools and adults. She likes working with recycled materials particularly household waste and enjoys fabric and papermaking from both plant and recycled materials. Mary uses traditional techniques like the basketry techniques when making art from recycled materials, the work retains a memory of the materials original function adding another layer of meaning to the work.
Residency Goals:
Mary's residency is part of a special program coordinated by Flying Arts Alliance. The Sam Rit Residency & Cultural Exchange Project is supported by the Commonwealth through the Australia-Thailand Institute which is a part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The 8 week residency will involve Queensland Artist Mary Elizabeth Barron working local women in the district to recycle waste materials into arts and crafts products using a range of traditional and contemporary weaving and hand crafting techniques. In addition to promoting awareness and understanding of each other’s culture, values and traditions, this project will raise awareness of the possibilities and potential of recycling waste products into arts and crafts products; support and enhance traditional artisan skills; and lay the foundation for future social enterprise.
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Vinicius Nakashima: Photographic Artist, São Paulo, Brazil
Vinicius Nakashima lives and works in São Paulo – Brazil. BA in visual arts at the Centro Universitário Belas Artes de São Paulo/Brazil. A solo exhibition Vedettes de Paris was showing at Foto Cine Clube Bandeirante of November 2009 to January 2010 and also in the Consigo Hall of Photography in March 2010, both in São Paulo. With pictures on the XVII Biennial of Photographic Art in Color History Museum in Londrina, Paraná in May 2011. Biennale black and white 2011 at Fédération Internationale de L'Art Photographique (FIAP). In 2013 participated in the 4th National Salon of Photographic Art of Ribeirão Preto, XVIII Brazilian Biennial Photographic Art in Colors in Foz do Iguaçu, the Exhibition of Contemporary Artists from ABC in City Hall of Santo André, São Paulo/Brazil, participant photography of FIAP World Cup 2013. Won the 1st place in the XII Arts Hall of Guarulhos/Brazil. In 2014 was selected for acquisition in Passion to Perform from Yamana Gold in Canada. Also in 2014 the solo exhibition Artifice was show during the month of July in the city of Guarulhos/Brazil. Is participating in two exhibitions during May 2015. In the group exhibition ‘Olhar Gráfico’ collaborated with engravings and Synecdoche (photographic work) in Habitus exhibition.
Residency Goals
I work especially with photographs, is starting from them to initiate a project or are the photos as final work. My work seeks to dialogue with human relationship with the environment in which it is inserted, their relationship with nature, with other people, their way of relating to the time and how this influences their way of life and their perception of the world.
I intend to work using photos to create something, I think I'll know how it will be when I'm there, but my initial idea makes me believe that will be site specific photography.
My creative process usually begins with a field survey and so unfolds.
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Vinicius Nakashima: Photographic Artist, São Paulo, Brazil
Vinicius Nakashima lives and works in São Paulo – Brazil. BA in visual arts at the Centro Universitário Belas Artes de São Paulo/Brazil. A solo exhibition Vedettes de Paris was showing at Foto Cine Clube Bandeirante of November 2009 to January 2010 and also in the Consigo Hall of Photography in March 2010, both in São Paulo. With pictures on the XVII Biennial of Photographic Art in Color History Museum in Londrina, Paraná in May 2011. Biennale black and white 2011 at Fédération Internationale de L'Art Photographique (FIAP). In 2013 participated in the 4th National Salon of Photographic Art of Ribeirão Preto, XVIII Brazilian Biennial Photographic Art in Colors in Foz do Iguaçu, the Exhibition of Contemporary Artists from ABC in City Hall of Santo André, São Paulo/Brazil, participant photography of FIAP World Cup 2013. Won the 1st place in the XII Arts Hall of Guarulhos/Brazil. In 2014 was selected for acquisition in Passion to Perform from Yamana Gold in Canada. Also in 2014 the solo exhibition Artifice was show during the month of July in the city of Guarulhos/Brazil. Is participating in two exhibitions during May 2015. In the group exhibition ‘Olhar Gráfico’ collaborated with engravings and Synecdoche (photographic work) in Habitus exhibition.
Residency Goals
I work especially with photographs, is starting from them to initiate a project or are the photos as final work. My work seeks to dialogue with human relationship with the environment in which it is inserted, their relationship with nature, with other people, their way of relating to the time and how this influences their way of life and their perception of the world.
I intend to work using photos to create something, I think I'll know how it will be when I'm there, but my initial idea makes me believe that will be site specific photography.
My creative process usually begins with a field survey and so unfolds.
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Katherine Brines: Artist, Petoskey, MI, USA
I grew up in Petoskey, Michigan and graduated from Aquinas College in 2007 with a B.F.A. in Painting. In 2009, I received a one-month residency at the Vermont Studio Center. I then went on to work as a staff artist at VSC where I spent two years working in Admissions and painting in Northern Vermont. I've traveled through Central and Eastern Europe, the Caribbean Islands, lived in Eastern London, and spent two months exploring the U.S. on a cross-country road trip. Travel and Nature are central themes in my work. In 2015, I co-founded Limited Edition, a multi-use collaborative space for young artists, writers & makers in Northern Michigan. I paint, teach & live in Petoskey, MI.
Artist Statement:
Nature is a point of departure, where process, color, and form interact to create an evocative language of abstraction. Drawing with paint and tone informs the viewer of movement and vibrancy within a space, referencing the constantly changing landscape of the woods and water. Methodical layering starts a conversation between still and active, past and present. I grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan in a small town, surrounded by rolling hills, woods and an expansive body of water. As a child, I roamed the neighborhoods and back alleys of our small community with my sister, hunting for frogs and dragonflies in the summertime, climbing the highest buildings at night and running through the many wooded trails in the forest. It was during my youth that I fell in love with exploration. As much as I create because it is who I am, I find ways to travel and learn new ways of seeing and communicating through my work. Through travel, returning home, and staying, I've found my voice as an artist - a continually evolving interpretation of change.
Residency Goals:
I am are extremely excited and thankful to come to Sam Rit and experience the people, town and landscape of rural Thailand. On a personal level my goal is to soak up as much as I can by approaching this residency with an open mind, trying whatever comes our way, sharing, and seeking opportunities to immerse ourselves into the culture. I travel to because it opens my eyes and helps to shape perspectives and priorities through learning about other people. My artistic goals are similar to my personal one in that I'm open to create what makes sense in the moment. I'm attracted to the natural world and find interest in the patterns, shapes, textures, and colors of landscapes, plants and animals. I imagine I will spend a good deal of time exploring the landscape by foot and by bike. I also love food- growing, harvesting, and preparing it, hiking, being outside, getting my hands dirty, children, and play. I hope to get involved with something on this level while at Sam Rit.
Artist websites:
www.katiebrines.com
http://www.katiebrines.com/blog/
https://www.facebook.com/KatieBrinesArt?ref=hl
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I grew up in Petoskey, Michigan and graduated from Aquinas College in 2007 with a B.F.A. in Painting. In 2009, I received a one-month residency at the Vermont Studio Center. I then went on to work as a staff artist at VSC where I spent two years working in Admissions and painting in Northern Vermont. I've traveled through Central and Eastern Europe, the Caribbean Islands, lived in Eastern London, and spent two months exploring the U.S. on a cross-country road trip. Travel and Nature are central themes in my work. In 2015, I co-founded Limited Edition, a multi-use collaborative space for young artists, writers & makers in Northern Michigan. I paint, teach & live in Petoskey, MI.
Artist Statement:
Nature is a point of departure, where process, color, and form interact to create an evocative language of abstraction. Drawing with paint and tone informs the viewer of movement and vibrancy within a space, referencing the constantly changing landscape of the woods and water. Methodical layering starts a conversation between still and active, past and present. I grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan in a small town, surrounded by rolling hills, woods and an expansive body of water. As a child, I roamed the neighborhoods and back alleys of our small community with my sister, hunting for frogs and dragonflies in the summertime, climbing the highest buildings at night and running through the many wooded trails in the forest. It was during my youth that I fell in love with exploration. As much as I create because it is who I am, I find ways to travel and learn new ways of seeing and communicating through my work. Through travel, returning home, and staying, I've found my voice as an artist - a continually evolving interpretation of change.
Residency Goals:
I am are extremely excited and thankful to come to Sam Rit and experience the people, town and landscape of rural Thailand. On a personal level my goal is to soak up as much as I can by approaching this residency with an open mind, trying whatever comes our way, sharing, and seeking opportunities to immerse ourselves into the culture. I travel to because it opens my eyes and helps to shape perspectives and priorities through learning about other people. My artistic goals are similar to my personal one in that I'm open to create what makes sense in the moment. I'm attracted to the natural world and find interest in the patterns, shapes, textures, and colors of landscapes, plants and animals. I imagine I will spend a good deal of time exploring the landscape by foot and by bike. I also love food- growing, harvesting, and preparing it, hiking, being outside, getting my hands dirty, children, and play. I hope to get involved with something on this level while at Sam Rit.
Artist websites:
www.katiebrines.com
http://www.katiebrines.com/blog/
https://www.facebook.com/KatieBrinesArt?ref=hl
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Alba Lopez: Artist, Spain
I am a Spanish emerging artist. I graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). Currently studying a Master of Art Education in Social and Cultural Institutions in the Faculty of Fine Arts (UCM). In addition, I work as a volunteer at the Arturo Soria Institute of Madrid (Spain) teaching of artistic expression for teenagers between 12 and 14 years old, and also in prison Navalcarnero Madrid (Spain) with the Collective White Paper (Colectivo PAPEL EN BLANCO) artistic expression. On the other hand, I pre- professionally practiced in the Trébol Foundation of Las Rozas, Madrid (Spain). In the Trébol Foundation I work with disabled adults with performing arts activities: artist's books, portrait and self-portrait, collage, abstract expressionism, decorated, performance ...
My work could be defined at / Material / Color / Support / Three-dimensionality / Disorder / Force /
Currently, I have begun to change formats, to carry out work with living material: leaves, flowers, wood, iron, dirt, stones ... also am very interested in recycling. I seek the evolution of materials in time, a combination between abstract figurative sculpture and painting. Working on the identity, senses, feelings, what body, the living, the dead.
RESIDENCY GOALS
During my stay in Sam Rit I intend to work with natural materials from the earth, I intend to create my own work papers, and looking for mixed media and collage.
On the other hand, wanted to make portraits and drawings of hands, seeking the identity of people living in the village of Sam Rit. Also, I'd make a video report of my stay there, the way, the experience, the experience ...
As for work with the community, my idea is to make a collaborative work with children in the village school of Sam Rit.
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I am a Spanish emerging artist. I graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). Currently studying a Master of Art Education in Social and Cultural Institutions in the Faculty of Fine Arts (UCM). In addition, I work as a volunteer at the Arturo Soria Institute of Madrid (Spain) teaching of artistic expression for teenagers between 12 and 14 years old, and also in prison Navalcarnero Madrid (Spain) with the Collective White Paper (Colectivo PAPEL EN BLANCO) artistic expression. On the other hand, I pre- professionally practiced in the Trébol Foundation of Las Rozas, Madrid (Spain). In the Trébol Foundation I work with disabled adults with performing arts activities: artist's books, portrait and self-portrait, collage, abstract expressionism, decorated, performance ...
My work could be defined at / Material / Color / Support / Three-dimensionality / Disorder / Force /
Currently, I have begun to change formats, to carry out work with living material: leaves, flowers, wood, iron, dirt, stones ... also am very interested in recycling. I seek the evolution of materials in time, a combination between abstract figurative sculpture and painting. Working on the identity, senses, feelings, what body, the living, the dead.
RESIDENCY GOALS
During my stay in Sam Rit I intend to work with natural materials from the earth, I intend to create my own work papers, and looking for mixed media and collage.
On the other hand, wanted to make portraits and drawings of hands, seeking the identity of people living in the village of Sam Rit. Also, I'd make a video report of my stay there, the way, the experience, the experience ...
As for work with the community, my idea is to make a collaborative work with children in the village school of Sam Rit.
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Paulina Majda: Artist, Poland
Paulina Majda is a animation director, art director and set designer born and based in Poland. She graduated from the renowned Polish Film School in Lodz at faculty of Animation. She studied also at the Animation Workshop in Viborg (Denmark) and participated in Professional Course for 3D Artists. From 2005 she is associated with various film productions as animation director, art director, animator and costume designer including Oscar winning puppet animation “Peter and The Wolf” directed by Suzie Templeton. From 2010 she is working in Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw and creates animation fulldome productions for planetariums and fulldome theatres. The movies she was involved are shown and awarded at festivals around the world. From 2015 she is an expert in Polish Film Institute in Poland. At the same time she's consequently developing her individual painting style.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
I work in a field of film and animation for 15 years now (including my studies). I am particularly interested in traditional animation but also in experiment - linking traditional techniques with modern technologies and science. Although my background is traditional and my work has a hand-made touch I try to follow the spirit of my times and find the way to explore new technologies that recently take more space in my research. In the movies I say about surrealistic worlds but always combine with reality as a contrast and “safe ground”. I also refer to personal experiences. The sound and music play important role in my work and are inspirations for me.
At the same time I develop my personal painting style based on hand-made collages. I am focusing on colors, textures, various materials and shapes. This all stimulates my imagination and leads me into direction of surreal landscapes, even installations and recently the surreal portraits too.
RESIDENCY GOALS
During the residency in Sam Rit in Thailand I would like to make the next step in producing my short animation film. I am especially interested in developing the idea of the movie and artistic concepts which refer to the man and nature. I believe that staying in Sam Rit will find its own place in a movie as well.
I am also happy that I will have time and space for my individual work like collages, sketches and photographs inspired by surroundings of Sam Rit village. The nature, people, sounds, way of living and culture have always a great impact on art so I would like to be inspired by everything what Sam Rit has to offer. I believe there is plenty of it.
Artist website: http://paulinamajda.blogspot.com/
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Paulina Majda is a animation director, art director and set designer born and based in Poland. She graduated from the renowned Polish Film School in Lodz at faculty of Animation. She studied also at the Animation Workshop in Viborg (Denmark) and participated in Professional Course for 3D Artists. From 2005 she is associated with various film productions as animation director, art director, animator and costume designer including Oscar winning puppet animation “Peter and The Wolf” directed by Suzie Templeton. From 2010 she is working in Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw and creates animation fulldome productions for planetariums and fulldome theatres. The movies she was involved are shown and awarded at festivals around the world. From 2015 she is an expert in Polish Film Institute in Poland. At the same time she's consequently developing her individual painting style.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
I work in a field of film and animation for 15 years now (including my studies). I am particularly interested in traditional animation but also in experiment - linking traditional techniques with modern technologies and science. Although my background is traditional and my work has a hand-made touch I try to follow the spirit of my times and find the way to explore new technologies that recently take more space in my research. In the movies I say about surrealistic worlds but always combine with reality as a contrast and “safe ground”. I also refer to personal experiences. The sound and music play important role in my work and are inspirations for me.
At the same time I develop my personal painting style based on hand-made collages. I am focusing on colors, textures, various materials and shapes. This all stimulates my imagination and leads me into direction of surreal landscapes, even installations and recently the surreal portraits too.
RESIDENCY GOALS
During the residency in Sam Rit in Thailand I would like to make the next step in producing my short animation film. I am especially interested in developing the idea of the movie and artistic concepts which refer to the man and nature. I believe that staying in Sam Rit will find its own place in a movie as well.
I am also happy that I will have time and space for my individual work like collages, sketches and photographs inspired by surroundings of Sam Rit village. The nature, people, sounds, way of living and culture have always a great impact on art so I would like to be inspired by everything what Sam Rit has to offer. I believe there is plenty of it.
Artist website: http://paulinamajda.blogspot.com/
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Louise Kerr: Artist, New York, USA
Louise is an emerging figurative painter with a working artist career spanning more than 20 years. She has returned to College at the age of 42 and is currently working on her MFA at the prestigious New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture. Born in Scotland and growing up without electricity in an extremely rural place and now living in New York City, she has a unique and different perspective with the art she creates.
Artists statement:
I have been a maker art since I was three years of age. I have known all my life that this is my purpose. Constantly inspired by all living creatures, particularly human beings, I realized that no matter where I have lived on the planet, human relationships, religious and cultural traditions and personal interactions fascinate me. Visually, the light or environment changes, the work and the wear on the body, the food, the language, but the common narrative between people is always connected and familiar.
How I make my art and what it means to me is often driven by discovery and exploration, especially of the subjects I paint. I want to capture an essence of a particular moment, a feeling and translate it into a unique visual experience that allows a personal, and sometimes intimate experience, for the viewer.
Residency Goals:
I am extremely excited about my stay at Sam Rit. This is my first time visiting Thailand and the fact I get to be immersed into such rural, traditional life, is exactly what I was hoping for. During my stay I wish to document my experience though drawing from life, the culture, traditions, surroundings and people. I hope to see how their daily lives unfold and capture the small details that contribute to the spiritual and magical human connections in this part of the world.
I will work primarily with photography and on paper with dry medium such as (charcoal, pastel and graphite) when I am outside and will use my collected materials back in the studio space to create larger pieces, both large scale drawings and paintings.
It is my desire to contribute positively in whatever way possible to the community, through work, lending a helping hand, teaching and experiencing art making with children and, most importantly, sharing life and laughter.
Artist website: www.louisesart.com
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Louise is an emerging figurative painter with a working artist career spanning more than 20 years. She has returned to College at the age of 42 and is currently working on her MFA at the prestigious New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture. Born in Scotland and growing up without electricity in an extremely rural place and now living in New York City, she has a unique and different perspective with the art she creates.
Artists statement:
I have been a maker art since I was three years of age. I have known all my life that this is my purpose. Constantly inspired by all living creatures, particularly human beings, I realized that no matter where I have lived on the planet, human relationships, religious and cultural traditions and personal interactions fascinate me. Visually, the light or environment changes, the work and the wear on the body, the food, the language, but the common narrative between people is always connected and familiar.
How I make my art and what it means to me is often driven by discovery and exploration, especially of the subjects I paint. I want to capture an essence of a particular moment, a feeling and translate it into a unique visual experience that allows a personal, and sometimes intimate experience, for the viewer.
Residency Goals:
I am extremely excited about my stay at Sam Rit. This is my first time visiting Thailand and the fact I get to be immersed into such rural, traditional life, is exactly what I was hoping for. During my stay I wish to document my experience though drawing from life, the culture, traditions, surroundings and people. I hope to see how their daily lives unfold and capture the small details that contribute to the spiritual and magical human connections in this part of the world.
I will work primarily with photography and on paper with dry medium such as (charcoal, pastel and graphite) when I am outside and will use my collected materials back in the studio space to create larger pieces, both large scale drawings and paintings.
It is my desire to contribute positively in whatever way possible to the community, through work, lending a helping hand, teaching and experiencing art making with children and, most importantly, sharing life and laughter.
Artist website: www.louisesart.com
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Joolie Gibbs - Artist, Gympie, QLD Australia
Joolie Gibbs is a Queensland artist living and working in Gympie, where she is influenced in her subject matter by the natural environment. The Mary River holds a particular personal link to her past, having been born in Maryborough and raised in Hervey Bay, only an hour away.
Joolie is the Gallery Coordinator of the Gympie Regional Gallery and has been for 17 years. In 2014 she completed her Masters of Art in Fine Art (MAVA) at the Queensland College of Art, Brisbane, connecting once again with her own practice and taking it in new directions.
Joolie has been employed in many areas in her past, including modelmaking for Playschool TV program, tombstone artist, graphic design, paste up artist, tutor, set design, and desktop publisher. Her interest in papermaking and basketry, often gets included in her art practice.
Artist Statement
My current work comes under the banner of ‘Flood Language’, and draws on the inspiration from my environment through drawings, encaustic and handmade paper and sometimes other mediums. It is a reference to the climate change phenomenon and the increased change in environmental conditions, specifically the frequent floods endured in this part of the world.
I am enjoying the possibilities that have come out of this issue, and keen to explore other aspects. The largest of the recent series is a 9m long roll of paper, where I have used the technique of masking with ink and Mary River flood mud, to express the flow of the flood by linking to source material.
Drawing is a strong part of my practice, and the starting point for everything. Living in a rural setting has changed my imagery from a more figurative one to landscape interests. It is hard to avoid.
Residency goals
While I don’t see Sam Rit Residency adding to my Flood Language series (who knows?), I intend using the surrounding environment as a springboard to possible ventures. Having only 2 weeks to pursue and make art may be a bit pressured, but who knows what can happen? Being away from comfortable surrounds of the home studio and immersed into a village culture of another country is bound to be inspiring, and will go towards future exhibitions.
My thoughts are staying with drawing, with room to move on other areas. As I also enjoy portraits, there may be opportunities presented to me. It will also depend on how much art materials I can get into my luggage.
Website: www.jooliegibbs.com
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Joolie Gibbs is a Queensland artist living and working in Gympie, where she is influenced in her subject matter by the natural environment. The Mary River holds a particular personal link to her past, having been born in Maryborough and raised in Hervey Bay, only an hour away.
Joolie is the Gallery Coordinator of the Gympie Regional Gallery and has been for 17 years. In 2014 she completed her Masters of Art in Fine Art (MAVA) at the Queensland College of Art, Brisbane, connecting once again with her own practice and taking it in new directions.
Joolie has been employed in many areas in her past, including modelmaking for Playschool TV program, tombstone artist, graphic design, paste up artist, tutor, set design, and desktop publisher. Her interest in papermaking and basketry, often gets included in her art practice.
Artist Statement
My current work comes under the banner of ‘Flood Language’, and draws on the inspiration from my environment through drawings, encaustic and handmade paper and sometimes other mediums. It is a reference to the climate change phenomenon and the increased change in environmental conditions, specifically the frequent floods endured in this part of the world.
I am enjoying the possibilities that have come out of this issue, and keen to explore other aspects. The largest of the recent series is a 9m long roll of paper, where I have used the technique of masking with ink and Mary River flood mud, to express the flow of the flood by linking to source material.
Drawing is a strong part of my practice, and the starting point for everything. Living in a rural setting has changed my imagery from a more figurative one to landscape interests. It is hard to avoid.
Residency goals
While I don’t see Sam Rit Residency adding to my Flood Language series (who knows?), I intend using the surrounding environment as a springboard to possible ventures. Having only 2 weeks to pursue and make art may be a bit pressured, but who knows what can happen? Being away from comfortable surrounds of the home studio and immersed into a village culture of another country is bound to be inspiring, and will go towards future exhibitions.
My thoughts are staying with drawing, with room to move on other areas. As I also enjoy portraits, there may be opportunities presented to me. It will also depend on how much art materials I can get into my luggage.
Website: www.jooliegibbs.com
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Jérémy Pailler - Artist, La Croix Is, Gartempe, France
Jérémy Pailler is a french illustrator and animation filmmaker. His first animated short film, “Gerdas Vej”, has been screened in multiple film festivals in the world and won prizes from Venezuela and the United States. He proposes a singular dialogue between his practice of ink painting and his taste for animated narrative forms. He works on a fine art PHD in a laboratory in Toulouse. Jérémy questions the dynamics ruling the artist's workshop and analyses the creative experiments that disturb the artist's strategies and systems. He is very much inspired by classical fairy tales, mythology and cinema. He travels a lot, articulating his experiences with his designs. His first illustrated children book, "Dragon Dancer" will be published this summer by London based Lantana Publishing. He is currently designing album covers for american musicians, and is preparing his new animated short film, an extraordinary journey taking place in the american indian culture.
Residency goals :
During my residency, I intend to illustrate chosen thoughts written by children of Sam Rit village about their lives, their dreams, their culture, stories that they tell themselves or else. I will use ink on paper, but in an experimental way. I really don't want to predict the pictures. I want to answer spontaneously to what the children will share.
Artist Website:
www.jeremypailler.com
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Jérémy Pailler is a french illustrator and animation filmmaker. His first animated short film, “Gerdas Vej”, has been screened in multiple film festivals in the world and won prizes from Venezuela and the United States. He proposes a singular dialogue between his practice of ink painting and his taste for animated narrative forms. He works on a fine art PHD in a laboratory in Toulouse. Jérémy questions the dynamics ruling the artist's workshop and analyses the creative experiments that disturb the artist's strategies and systems. He is very much inspired by classical fairy tales, mythology and cinema. He travels a lot, articulating his experiences with his designs. His first illustrated children book, "Dragon Dancer" will be published this summer by London based Lantana Publishing. He is currently designing album covers for american musicians, and is preparing his new animated short film, an extraordinary journey taking place in the american indian culture.
Residency goals :
During my residency, I intend to illustrate chosen thoughts written by children of Sam Rit village about their lives, their dreams, their culture, stories that they tell themselves or else. I will use ink on paper, but in an experimental way. I really don't want to predict the pictures. I want to answer spontaneously to what the children will share.
Artist Website:
www.jeremypailler.com
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Lisa Scrimgeour - Artist, Dundee, Scotland
My name is Lisa Scrimgeour, I am an emerging artist working with New Blood Art. I initially received a first class degree in Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design before completing a masters within Dundee University in Fine Art and Humanities. During my master I undertook an extra module in Sexual Politics, which transpired in my increasing use of feminist themes. I have since shown work in the CCA, Glasgow and was involved in the Dundee “tran-send” group exhibition 2014 which travelled, Maryland, United States and Museo della Carta e della Filigrana, Largo Fratelli Spacca, Fabriano, Italy.
My work has been inspired by many things over the years, but my main focus has always been instinctively about the elusive nature of identity. My paintings of people are distorted and deformed creations that become mere whispers of their former identities, exposing them to prejudice and stigmatised perceptions. The figures are no longer idealised images, their human exteriors no longer conform to their contemporaries. They have become the disengaged and ‘faceless’ of societal culture. The only way in which the viewer can penetrate through these disguises is to look into the eyes, in which they try to contemplate the vulnerability. In this way the paintings are seductive, working on the viewer to convey the alienation that exists within it. My aim was to portray the suffering and alienation associated with depersonalisation. Peoples response to these portraits should be an understanding of this issue and a feeling of anxiety. My work encompasses the struggle with self and the instability of the human psyche. On a psychological level, it examines the vulnerability of the human mind whilst also portraying an ambiguous portrait of identity. The purpose is to set an outline of an emotional state and allow each person to form a different, unique bond with the image. For some people, it may be considered disturbing but it aims to convey the reality of the multi-faceted human being.
Residency Goals
My fundamental goal during this residency is to engage with the community, to gain understanding of differing cultures. Breaking down barriers of what could be considered “otherness” is crucial for me, to build on my experience of the world round me. I plan on capturing portraits as this is detrimental to my work and I am excited to enter a new circle of people. During my stay I wish to fully experience my surroundings, becoming absorbed in the environment. In doing this I hope to find a better understanding of myself and those around me. Ultimately, My work focuses on people and my goal in my time here is to meet more of the diverse personalities that make this world the beautiful diverse phenomena that is so often taken for granted.
Artist website: http://newbloodart.com/artist/813/lisa-scrimgeour
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My name is Lisa Scrimgeour, I am an emerging artist working with New Blood Art. I initially received a first class degree in Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design before completing a masters within Dundee University in Fine Art and Humanities. During my master I undertook an extra module in Sexual Politics, which transpired in my increasing use of feminist themes. I have since shown work in the CCA, Glasgow and was involved in the Dundee “tran-send” group exhibition 2014 which travelled, Maryland, United States and Museo della Carta e della Filigrana, Largo Fratelli Spacca, Fabriano, Italy.
My work has been inspired by many things over the years, but my main focus has always been instinctively about the elusive nature of identity. My paintings of people are distorted and deformed creations that become mere whispers of their former identities, exposing them to prejudice and stigmatised perceptions. The figures are no longer idealised images, their human exteriors no longer conform to their contemporaries. They have become the disengaged and ‘faceless’ of societal culture. The only way in which the viewer can penetrate through these disguises is to look into the eyes, in which they try to contemplate the vulnerability. In this way the paintings are seductive, working on the viewer to convey the alienation that exists within it. My aim was to portray the suffering and alienation associated with depersonalisation. Peoples response to these portraits should be an understanding of this issue and a feeling of anxiety. My work encompasses the struggle with self and the instability of the human psyche. On a psychological level, it examines the vulnerability of the human mind whilst also portraying an ambiguous portrait of identity. The purpose is to set an outline of an emotional state and allow each person to form a different, unique bond with the image. For some people, it may be considered disturbing but it aims to convey the reality of the multi-faceted human being.
Residency Goals
My fundamental goal during this residency is to engage with the community, to gain understanding of differing cultures. Breaking down barriers of what could be considered “otherness” is crucial for me, to build on my experience of the world round me. I plan on capturing portraits as this is detrimental to my work and I am excited to enter a new circle of people. During my stay I wish to fully experience my surroundings, becoming absorbed in the environment. In doing this I hope to find a better understanding of myself and those around me. Ultimately, My work focuses on people and my goal in my time here is to meet more of the diverse personalities that make this world the beautiful diverse phenomena that is so often taken for granted.
Artist website: http://newbloodart.com/artist/813/lisa-scrimgeour
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Geoffrey Krist - Artist, Connecticut, USA
My name is Geoffrey Krist I am 22 years old and was born and raised in Connecticut. I have been exposed to art my entire life, I can never give an exact age on when I started creating.My passion brought me Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design and graduated with a BFA in Sculpture in 2014. I am now setting out to prefect my craft and find my way through the art world.
My art mainly stems from my obsessive personality. An observer described my collection of materials as “mining”, digging about for certain objects and gems in the dross of human consumption. I use collected cast off items as materials to create works that address human basic instincts and natural habits. My work can range from fabrics to metal, but most if not all of my materials are collected or found. I have a very raw style by working intuitively; this creates movement and emotion in my works. Since I can remember I was always intrigued by why people do what they do, their rituals, habits, and flaws. I explore why in our modern culture there is such reckless excess and waste, as well as the effect it has on the natural world. I hope to explore the gap between nature and the man-made world.
Residency Goals
During my time at Sam Rit I hope to be able to explore the way the manufactured world and the natural world collide. Through found materials and a variety of attachment and building methods I hope to create a work or series of works that explore this contrast of worlds. I also want to experience another cultures ideas and views on this subject. I want to see how different peoples view this relationship between the man-made and natural. As well as work on my own practice as an actual artist emerging into the art world.
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My name is Geoffrey Krist I am 22 years old and was born and raised in Connecticut. I have been exposed to art my entire life, I can never give an exact age on when I started creating.My passion brought me Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design and graduated with a BFA in Sculpture in 2014. I am now setting out to prefect my craft and find my way through the art world.
My art mainly stems from my obsessive personality. An observer described my collection of materials as “mining”, digging about for certain objects and gems in the dross of human consumption. I use collected cast off items as materials to create works that address human basic instincts and natural habits. My work can range from fabrics to metal, but most if not all of my materials are collected or found. I have a very raw style by working intuitively; this creates movement and emotion in my works. Since I can remember I was always intrigued by why people do what they do, their rituals, habits, and flaws. I explore why in our modern culture there is such reckless excess and waste, as well as the effect it has on the natural world. I hope to explore the gap between nature and the man-made world.
Residency Goals
During my time at Sam Rit I hope to be able to explore the way the manufactured world and the natural world collide. Through found materials and a variety of attachment and building methods I hope to create a work or series of works that explore this contrast of worlds. I also want to experience another cultures ideas and views on this subject. I want to see how different peoples view this relationship between the man-made and natural. As well as work on my own practice as an actual artist emerging into the art world.
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Nurten Yuksel - Artist, Prague, Czech Republic
Nurten Yüksel, a Turkish artist, graduated from The Faculty of Fine Arts, Marmara University in Istanbul. She received her master's degree in Academy of Arts, Design and Architecture in Prague, Czech Republic.
She is a multi-disciplinary artist and her works deals with expressions of her life experiences, exploring her own identity with identity of a place and responses to irony in conceptual contexts. Yuksel's art works give us some perspectives about the synthesis of different cultures and its feelings, and sometimes in the frame of politics with different medias.
She is currently living in Prague for 8 years and teaches Art&Design in an International School for 4 years.
Residency Goals
I am very glad to have this opportunity and I really like the Sam Rit Residency Program's aim for artists which provides good opportunities to collaborate and have connection with the local people in Sam Rit village. Therefore I am very excited to have cooperation with Thai culture and get a chance to find out about their cultural understanding and tolerance of different viewpoints.
I propose to have some collage techniques and mixed media works and would like to discover Sam Rit village's students abilities with an interactive project. Then I would investigate and explore the ideas of transformation through the visual process of the works. The professional development will follow up my goals in the creative environment.
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Nurten Yüksel, a Turkish artist, graduated from The Faculty of Fine Arts, Marmara University in Istanbul. She received her master's degree in Academy of Arts, Design and Architecture in Prague, Czech Republic.
She is a multi-disciplinary artist and her works deals with expressions of her life experiences, exploring her own identity with identity of a place and responses to irony in conceptual contexts. Yuksel's art works give us some perspectives about the synthesis of different cultures and its feelings, and sometimes in the frame of politics with different medias.
She is currently living in Prague for 8 years and teaches Art&Design in an International School for 4 years.
Residency Goals
I am very glad to have this opportunity and I really like the Sam Rit Residency Program's aim for artists which provides good opportunities to collaborate and have connection with the local people in Sam Rit village. Therefore I am very excited to have cooperation with Thai culture and get a chance to find out about their cultural understanding and tolerance of different viewpoints.
I propose to have some collage techniques and mixed media works and would like to discover Sam Rit village's students abilities with an interactive project. Then I would investigate and explore the ideas of transformation through the visual process of the works. The professional development will follow up my goals in the creative environment.
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Christine Gaughran - Artist, Cork, Ireland
Chris studied four years on Sherkin, a very small island off the coast of West Cork in Ireland, under an innovative programme run by Dublin Institute of Technology, tailored to bring third level education to geographically remote communities. Upon completion, in 2012, she was awarded BA (Hons) in Visual Arts. Chris continued her studies at CIT Crawford College of Art in Cork City, gaining her MA in 2014. She has exhibited in various group shows in Ireland, Wales and UK, and also has shown videos in Irish short film festivals. Using a variety of media her practice explores our connection with place, and the consciousness we share with the earth, with animals and plants, with all life.
Residency Goals
Currently making preparations for my first solo show in 2015 I hope to include work from Sam Rit Residency. My stay at Sam Rit will be my first-ever journey outside of Europe so I expect to be overwhelmed with new impressions: architecture; places; people; climate; language; landscape; flora and fauna; and more. Whilst discovering Thai customs and culture I hope to record and make response to the community through my work, keeping an open heart and mind to my environment, using digital photography and video to collect material that can be further developed after my return home. At the end of my stay in Sam Rit I plan to travel to South Thailand, there to meet with family from Australia and Ireland, to further explore together. The works of Bracha Ettinger have recently been introduced to me, I have begun studying her writings and anticipate her work will have a profound influence on my future studio practice. (http://www.egs.edu/faculty/bracha-ettinger/biography/)
A selection of Chris' film and experimental video work is available here: https://vimeo.com/user22547753
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Chris studied four years on Sherkin, a very small island off the coast of West Cork in Ireland, under an innovative programme run by Dublin Institute of Technology, tailored to bring third level education to geographically remote communities. Upon completion, in 2012, she was awarded BA (Hons) in Visual Arts. Chris continued her studies at CIT Crawford College of Art in Cork City, gaining her MA in 2014. She has exhibited in various group shows in Ireland, Wales and UK, and also has shown videos in Irish short film festivals. Using a variety of media her practice explores our connection with place, and the consciousness we share with the earth, with animals and plants, with all life.
Residency Goals
Currently making preparations for my first solo show in 2015 I hope to include work from Sam Rit Residency. My stay at Sam Rit will be my first-ever journey outside of Europe so I expect to be overwhelmed with new impressions: architecture; places; people; climate; language; landscape; flora and fauna; and more. Whilst discovering Thai customs and culture I hope to record and make response to the community through my work, keeping an open heart and mind to my environment, using digital photography and video to collect material that can be further developed after my return home. At the end of my stay in Sam Rit I plan to travel to South Thailand, there to meet with family from Australia and Ireland, to further explore together. The works of Bracha Ettinger have recently been introduced to me, I have begun studying her writings and anticipate her work will have a profound influence on my future studio practice. (http://www.egs.edu/faculty/bracha-ettinger/biography/)
A selection of Chris' film and experimental video work is available here: https://vimeo.com/user22547753
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Jaz Graf - Artist, Jersey City, NJ, USA
Jaz Graf works with paper and print, utilizing traditional printmaking techniques, digital imaging and varied book binding methods. She manipulates plant fibers, textiles and wire, often combining elements and mixing media. Jaz exhibits locally and internationally, and maintains a studio practice in Jersey City, NJ.
Residency Goals
During my time at Sam Rit, I intend to explore ancestral origins, superstitions and local traditions, specifically related to the natural environment. It will be documented through photography, writings and mixed media on paper. I'm happy to share this experience with my partner, Laos Fois.
Artist website: http://www.jazgraf.com/ / www.jazgraf.wordpress.com
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Jaz Graf works with paper and print, utilizing traditional printmaking techniques, digital imaging and varied book binding methods. She manipulates plant fibers, textiles and wire, often combining elements and mixing media. Jaz exhibits locally and internationally, and maintains a studio practice in Jersey City, NJ.
Residency Goals
During my time at Sam Rit, I intend to explore ancestral origins, superstitions and local traditions, specifically related to the natural environment. It will be documented through photography, writings and mixed media on paper. I'm happy to share this experience with my partner, Laos Fois.
Artist website: http://www.jazgraf.com/ / www.jazgraf.wordpress.com
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Jordan Hart - Artist, QLD Australia
Jordan Hart (b.1985) completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts/Honors at the University of Southern Queensland in 2007. His first state exhibition involved work being selected for Craft Queensland's exhibition Unleashed in 2007. Whilst balancing a career as an arts teacher in Dalby State High School, Jordan has also had work in group and joint shows at Jugglers Art Space in Brisbane, KILN, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery and made Creative Space Toowoomba. In 2013 he completed working on a joint exhibition in paper-cuts that were displayed on the Sunshine Coast in May.
The screen-prints of Samuel Tupou and cutouts of Sally Smart, along with suburban imagery, street and pop culture inform Jordan's current arts practice. Taking inspiration from the relationship that society has with commercial media, Jordan's work experiments with the colors and geometric shapes associated with mass advertising and marketing. These over-saturated images are then re-invented in a simplified and meditative form to explore the essential line and color within commercial design. Jordan enjoys working in the mediums of pen, gouache, spray paint and paper cutting.
Residency Goals
My aim and purpose for participating in the Sam Rit Residency program would be to continue to develop a body of work for future exhibitions. As a foreigner and visiting artist to Thailand, I believe it would be my duty to involve myself amongst the community and take part in the cultural traditions, village life, cuisine, activities and family environments in Sam Rit. These traditions and cultures such as rice farming, fishing, cooking, craft activities and way of life would assist to inform the development of my own practice and research into how this culture operate and influences. Having the opportunity to experience Thailand with the assistance of an interpreter will also open more opportunities to visit a variety of iconic locations, communicate with locals, businesses and families.
The exploration of different cultural identities and lifestyles that are evident in Thailand will aide my practice which is inspired by the relationship society has with mass media, advertising and popular culture. I examine how these influences can impact our everyday identity and how Western Civilisation has shaped its own identity on these institutions. By examining how culture can impact the life and traditions of individuals, families and society as a whole, my purpose is to value those simple and often overlooked characteristics of life. Thailand’s unique heritage, culture and iconic identity will provide an opportunity to observe how this influence has occurred and taken effect in a non-European culture/eastern civilisation. Observing how the urban, suburban and rural environments function, particularly in a remote village such as Sam Rit, will assist answer my question as to how far mass media has infiltrated or how strong Thailand traditions are being pursued.
The practical application of these day to day experiences within the community will develop as my time goes on which will include experimentation with mediums such as gouache, portrait drawing, painting and photography. However, I want to maintain my interest and history in the art of paper cutting to explore and communicate how the environments of Thailand appear.
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Jordan Hart (b.1985) completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts/Honors at the University of Southern Queensland in 2007. His first state exhibition involved work being selected for Craft Queensland's exhibition Unleashed in 2007. Whilst balancing a career as an arts teacher in Dalby State High School, Jordan has also had work in group and joint shows at Jugglers Art Space in Brisbane, KILN, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery and made Creative Space Toowoomba. In 2013 he completed working on a joint exhibition in paper-cuts that were displayed on the Sunshine Coast in May.
The screen-prints of Samuel Tupou and cutouts of Sally Smart, along with suburban imagery, street and pop culture inform Jordan's current arts practice. Taking inspiration from the relationship that society has with commercial media, Jordan's work experiments with the colors and geometric shapes associated with mass advertising and marketing. These over-saturated images are then re-invented in a simplified and meditative form to explore the essential line and color within commercial design. Jordan enjoys working in the mediums of pen, gouache, spray paint and paper cutting.
Residency Goals
My aim and purpose for participating in the Sam Rit Residency program would be to continue to develop a body of work for future exhibitions. As a foreigner and visiting artist to Thailand, I believe it would be my duty to involve myself amongst the community and take part in the cultural traditions, village life, cuisine, activities and family environments in Sam Rit. These traditions and cultures such as rice farming, fishing, cooking, craft activities and way of life would assist to inform the development of my own practice and research into how this culture operate and influences. Having the opportunity to experience Thailand with the assistance of an interpreter will also open more opportunities to visit a variety of iconic locations, communicate with locals, businesses and families.
The exploration of different cultural identities and lifestyles that are evident in Thailand will aide my practice which is inspired by the relationship society has with mass media, advertising and popular culture. I examine how these influences can impact our everyday identity and how Western Civilisation has shaped its own identity on these institutions. By examining how culture can impact the life and traditions of individuals, families and society as a whole, my purpose is to value those simple and often overlooked characteristics of life. Thailand’s unique heritage, culture and iconic identity will provide an opportunity to observe how this influence has occurred and taken effect in a non-European culture/eastern civilisation. Observing how the urban, suburban and rural environments function, particularly in a remote village such as Sam Rit, will assist answer my question as to how far mass media has infiltrated or how strong Thailand traditions are being pursued.
The practical application of these day to day experiences within the community will develop as my time goes on which will include experimentation with mediums such as gouache, portrait drawing, painting and photography. However, I want to maintain my interest and history in the art of paper cutting to explore and communicate how the environments of Thailand appear.
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Sue Lederhose - Artist, QLD Australia
Sue Lederhose grew up in country Queensland on a mixed dairy farm. After completing her schooling she obtained a teaching degree and worked in several rural schools. In 1981 she married, and in the ensuring years had five children, ran a business, worked as a teacher and became involved in her community and church.
Sue was always interested in art and in 2002 she decided to seriously pursue her interest. She initially learnt form books in the local library and later she attended workshops to further her skills. From the beginning of her art career she has successfully exhibited her work in competitive exhibitions all over the state, putting together a string of awards. She has recently been published in the ‘Artist’s Palette’, been featured on a TV ‘Colour in Your Life’ episode and is a sought after judge. Her career in teaching has naturally flowed on to art teaching to both adults and children. Her solid grounding in theory as well as her own practice has made her a popular teacher.
Artist’s Statement
Sue sees the beauty of God’s creation everywhere and paints in an impressionistic style that makes her soul sing. She uses watercolour, pastel and mixed media with a wide variety of subjects drawn from her local rural area.
Sue loves to teach and help others on their own creative journey. Her ambition is to continue to learn and explore the visual arts with a passion.
Residency goals
I am thrilled to be able to spend time in Thailand with my family. I am particularly looking forward to immersing myself in the culture of every day life in a rural village. I intend to take copious photographic reference material as well as complete many on site watercolour sketches. I am particularly looking at the landscape but also including the people who live and work there. On returning to Australia my goal is to paint a whole exhibition showcasing my experiences at Sam Rit.
Artist website: http://www.lederhoseart.com/index.html
Sue Lederhose grew up in country Queensland on a mixed dairy farm. After completing her schooling she obtained a teaching degree and worked in several rural schools. In 1981 she married, and in the ensuring years had five children, ran a business, worked as a teacher and became involved in her community and church.
Sue was always interested in art and in 2002 she decided to seriously pursue her interest. She initially learnt form books in the local library and later she attended workshops to further her skills. From the beginning of her art career she has successfully exhibited her work in competitive exhibitions all over the state, putting together a string of awards. She has recently been published in the ‘Artist’s Palette’, been featured on a TV ‘Colour in Your Life’ episode and is a sought after judge. Her career in teaching has naturally flowed on to art teaching to both adults and children. Her solid grounding in theory as well as her own practice has made her a popular teacher.
Artist’s Statement
Sue sees the beauty of God’s creation everywhere and paints in an impressionistic style that makes her soul sing. She uses watercolour, pastel and mixed media with a wide variety of subjects drawn from her local rural area.
Sue loves to teach and help others on their own creative journey. Her ambition is to continue to learn and explore the visual arts with a passion.
Residency goals
I am thrilled to be able to spend time in Thailand with my family. I am particularly looking forward to immersing myself in the culture of every day life in a rural village. I intend to take copious photographic reference material as well as complete many on site watercolour sketches. I am particularly looking at the landscape but also including the people who live and work there. On returning to Australia my goal is to paint a whole exhibition showcasing my experiences at Sam Rit.
Artist website: http://www.lederhoseart.com/index.html
