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• 

  Dragoriana says:

  "Unsensored10.
  Collingwood Gallery.
  14-25 August, 2010.
  
  Rhys Allen, Olga Bennett, Roberts Birze, Sandy Birze, Jock Blakley, Natalie Blom, Richard Buckley, Zaeem Burq, Matthew Carr, Dave Carswell, Lucian Chaffey, Andrew Cosgriff, Sophie Curzon-Siggers, Barbara Fischer, Stacy Gillett, Tim Heraud, Ross Holmberg, Tim Johnson, Matthew Joseph, Mike Le Fevre, Jaye Loring, Suzi Macbeth, Iain Maclachlan, James Mcmanus, Piers Morgan, Jodie Noonan, Vinnie Piatek, Amy Piesse, Ambre Pitt, Richard Plumridge, Mike Reed, Kevin Reeve, Karen Riley, Ahmed Sabra, Jesper Sidhu, Deanne Smith, Cameron Stephen, Paul X. Stoney, Reynandi Susanto, Jesse Swallow, Liam Thomas, Jacqueline van Zetten, Michael Verhoef, Marcus Visic, Christian Were, Dee Whalan, Katherine White, Liam White, Damian Young, Robert Young and Chris Zissiadis.
  
  
  
  Walking through the door of Collingwood gallery, an amazing buzz of energy hits you. People have already started drinking and mingling an hour before the opening begins, and anyone is welcome to join. The expertise of both visitors and artists range from complete beginner, to the doyenne of photography. The wonderful thing about the atmosphere is, that even people who have never touched a camera, can appreciate a beautifully produced photo. There are no art snobs, merely people who are enthusiastic about the work they do, and are quite happy to share their visions and listen to you share yours.
  
  In seeing Unsensored10, I felt a tad like a traitor being a part of the digital world. But, many if not most of the members of the Melbourne Silver Mine actually embrace both old AND new technology. With such a boom of the likes of iPods, iPhones, iEverything, it is a glorious sight to see people in a modern world holding a candle to this craftsmanship. The kind that should never have an expiration date. There are some 70 works on display. They are all beautifully complete. Images range from abstract black and white architecture, to softly focused portraits with a light colour palette, even to unique methods of super imposed landscapes. Given that there were 50 artists exhibiting their vast collections, I was hard pressed to favour only a few works. And also to pinpoint one concept, as they varied from artist to artist.
  
  One of the enthusiastic shutterbugs of the night, was Paul X. Stoney. When you meet him, you are greeted with a warm smile and a glow of energy. You can tell straight away that his passion for his creations are not merely a flight of fancy, but something quite deep. To witness him in action is an honour. Especially when he spots a worldly looking elderly woman shuffling through the hip crowd, and he is compelled to snap her before she vanishes back into the sea of figures. Paul is an artist who captures the beauty of what many people would see as trivial moments in time, or every day objects that we would pass by.
  
  One of his exhibited works entitled 'The sword is yours Arthur', is a classic statue of a woman holding a cover above her head as water cascades around her. Paul has chosen to encase it in a black mount board and a black frame. Which in extending the darkness around her, enhances the warmth and emotion. The water is frozen in time, which along with the soft shadows really highlight her profile. The image is in classic black and white. The background is of a crisp quality that would most likely not work to such an effect in colour, especially when it comes to highlighting such movement. When I look at this image, my memory immediately gets taken back to my childhood of running out to the front porch during a powerful storm, and being protected by the curtain of water flooding over the roof.
  
  To me, the subject is a real woman, sheltering from the storm of a more emotional rather than literal form. Her face gives me a feeling of sadness or regret, a huge weight upon her shoulders. A sculpture as this perhaps would be viewed by others as a romantic one, such as the life sized Venus de Milo, which reflects on celebration, not sorrow. Looking at my current work, I feel strongly drawn towards this image, even with no prior knowledge of its concept. These kinds of figurative pieces link me to to past experiences, which heavily influence the way I create art. I feel that Paul's work emphasises importance on emotion and aesthetics, rather than using concept as the first focus. We both apply layers and depth to our work. Bright colours or basic forms are recognised as not the only way to draw in a viewer. I also see that experimentation and multiple processes are highly valued to form final pieces.
  
  The Melbourne Silver Miners are not camera shy (pardon the pun). So if you want to learn more about these talented people, or see their work from Unsensored10 and other events, you can visit silvermine.org.au/ and www.flickr.com/gr...
  
  
  
  Emma Bolvary."

  16th September, 2010

Joined:

August 2008

I am:

Male and Taken