Catching up with Yuria Okamura

Yuria Okamura won the 2011 Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award and we are catching up with her while she is doing a residency in Berlin at the Takt Residency Berlin Friedrichshain

Yuria, you won the Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award Prize back in 2011, how did the prize money help support your art practice?

The prize money has enabled me to undertake an artist residency program in Berlin for three months. It has been very inspiring to be able to work in a different city and meet artists from all over the world.

I noticed that you were part of a number of group shows last year. Can you give us an idea on what you have been working on, how your work has progressed and in particular your installation, Shifting that you made for the exhibition at Langford 120 in July 2012.

Since I received the award in 2011 until now, I have been building on similar ideas and trying out different references, mediums, techniques and presentation to explore how to best communicate my ideas. With Shifting, 2012, I wanted to create something that worked with the space I was given and I wanted to try working outside of the static nature of painting. So, based on a series of drawings of shapes I had made previously, I made larger cutout shapes that hover off the wall, creating shadow, reflection and a sense of movement.

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   Installation view of Shifting at Langford 120

   1. approx 200 x 500cm 

You graduated in 2010, how have you managed to keep making work, after leaving the structure of educational institutions?

For emerging artists, I think it is often hard to find a good balance between paid work, personal/social life and art practice, which includes both research and making. After graduating, I have made an effort to keep working as if I was still at Uni. I got a studio space where I can work amongst other artists and give each other feedback. I also give myself a deadline for each work to be completed so I can manage my time better. 

What’s next for Yuria and do you have any projects planned for the future?

I tend to alternate between experiment and refinement phases. I seem to be going through the experiment phase at the moment and enjoying creating a variety of small studies. So we'll see what comes out of them!

I'm hoping to keep researching  and developing my ideas while exploring different ways to represent them, and I would like to have one solo show per year. Also, I think artist residencies provide wonderful opportunities to meet artists from all over the world and I hope to do it every couple of years.

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   1. Inside is Outside, Outside is Inside, 2012, Acrylic, ink and rice paper on wall.
      Installation view from Seventh exhibition.
      

   Check out more of Yurias' work at her blogsite. Thanks Yuria for letting us know how you are going and I hope your residency in Berlin goes well. What a fabulous opportunity and I am sure alot of fun and hard work. It's great to see that the Award money has helped you continue your journey in art making. 

   
   

   
   

Applications Open: 2013 Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Awards

Applications now open.....close 1 August 2013.  

It's time to think about your work to submit for the Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Awards. You've got just under 3 months as applications are due 1st August 2013.The theme is open to what ever subject you would like to paint, draw or print. We are encouraging all artists to submit up to two artworks this year and it is open to those artitsts aged 18 - 30 years and live in Australia. 


WHAT'S NEW

Gallery Lane Cove are now offering a solo exhibition to the winning entrant along with the $5,000 cash prize. Also a first for this year, the exhibition will be held in the new, architect designed gallery space, in the centre of Lane Cove.

Inside Gallery Lane Cove, courtesy of Gary Steer, artist and photographer

You can also sell your work at the exhibition (if you do not win the Aquisitive Prize that is) or if you prefer not to you can always put not for sale. We suggest that those not wanting to sell their work write not for sale, rather than having an inflated price. 

It's really important to think about hanging and leaving enough time to either get your work framed (you will need to have large d-rings placed on the back of the work) or place strong and large d-rings on your canvases. We can not hang them from the frame as this not only can damage your work and important if you want to sell, but the new hanging system can only hang from d-rings. 

With over 60 entrants last year, there is a great opportunity to not only have your work shown and exhibited to an enthusiastic audience, but there are the prizes too. With over $7000 provided by the Lane Cove Council, The Lane Cove Art Society and Centrehouse Community Art Centre, this could really help you continue your art practice and development.

Please go to our website http://www.gallerylanecove.com.au/ to download an application form and for further details or call us on 02 9428 4898 if you need to discuss anything or email us at info@gallerylanecove.com.au.

Also follow us on facebook here.

Terrific Tuesdays

Free Artist Demonstration: Sip, Talk & Watch with artist Laura Carey this Tuesday, 23rd April from 6pm in Gallery Lane Cove.

Laura Carey, our featured artist currently showing in the Surroundings exhibition, will be giving an artist talk, providing an insight into her latest work on display. She will discuss how this body of work developed from her travels to Japan to the prints, paintings and installation  you see on the gallery walls.  

 She will also give a demonstration of her screen printing techniques, giving you a chance to see how these layered works come alive. Along with enjoying the activities you can grab a drink and mingle. Its no to be missed! Please RSVP to 02 9428 4898

Studio Bonnie arrives at the Foyer Gallery Shop Tuesday, 30th April!  

We are pleased to announce that you will now be able to find Studio Bonnies textile goodies in the Gallery Foyer Store, on Tuesday 30th April and be the first to get your hands on this new range.

Studio Bonnie is a local boutique design studio creating original handmade screen printed textiles and artworks. Their latest collection draws inspiration from the Australian bush and birdlife. The new Lorikeet and Lyrebird designs play on qualities of camouflage by drawing elements of bush flowers and ferns into the bodies of their stylized birds. The resulting designs are fresh and stylish with a touch of whimsy, and come to life on on a palette of brightly coloured linens and framed in embroidery hoops to hang on the wall or displayed on cushions.

                    

Illustrator Aura Parker and her sisters-in-law Interior Designer Marena Von Behr started their design collaboration in 2012, between them they have 30 years of professional design experience. Their styles and skills compliment each other and their love for fabric and the desire to make things has since grown into a sought after boutique homewares label. All designs are screen printed locally by hand at their studio in Greenwich one at a time. Studio Bonnie are passionate about colour, beautiful fabrics and patterns. They love what they do and their designs are a refreshing interpretation of the Australian bush.

Knit Knot Weave Opening

                       Anthony Marinangeli, Artist Paula do Prado & Gallery Manager Felicity Martin

                                           Tegan Taylor, Artist Erin Morgan and Kalinda Doyle

                                                            Alice Brickhill and friends 

                                                      Libby Burrell and her mother

                     Lyn Baxter from Australia Textile Arts and Surface Design Association(ATASDA)
                                                                 attended with her mother

 "Knit, Knot, Weave" is the second exhibition in a series created to examine traditional handicraft materials and techniques in a contemporary art context, to be held at Gallery Lane Cove, on Sydney's Northshore.  Knit, Knot, Weave features nine artists working in embroidery, felting, stitching, weaving and crochet, from Sydney and Melbourne. The works are diverse, ranging from small intimate pieces to larger-scale installations, sharing a number of intellectual and aesthetic relationships. Some explore issues of identity and gender; others suggest the underlying process of materiality and making.

Libby Burrell, Alice Brickhill and Erin Morgan have recently graduated from the Sydney College of Fine Arts, UNSW; Paula do Prado, Alex Falkiner and Brook Morgan belong to the Sydney Textile Collective, making and lecturing in textiles; Gabriella Verstraeten and Carly Altree Williams are established artists, living and working in Melbourne, while Pru Gudex works across many mediums, but is particularly fascinated by the tactile process of felting.

The opening night was on Wednesday 13th March with most of the artist there to celebrate with us. Lindie Ward, Curator of Textiles and Lace at the Powerhouse Museum was there to open the exhibition and gave a beautiful speech about the fresh new work on show. The exhibition is open until 28th March and is a great opportunity to see some exciting contemporaneity textiles work.

Laura Carey - Surroundings Exhibition

Sneak peak of Laura Carey's upcoming exhibition!

Laura Carey has been our very first artist in residence and she is madly working on her upcoming exhibition, which will open on the 3 April 2013 from 6pm, in Gallery Lane Cove. Over the last 6 months Laura has been working on a new body of work (in the old 'Centrehouse' office on the front veranda of 178 Longueville Road), called Surroundings, which is an investigation into the built environment. Living in the inner city of Sydney and 'commuting' across the bridge to Lane Cove, where she teaches children's art at Centrehouse and works part time in the Gallery as the Gallery Assistant as well as preparing for the exhibition in the studio (busy busy lady). Laura's observations are colourful and whimsical with an edginess that comes from city living. Just recently back from a trip to Japan, with it's rich culture of screen and wood block printing, you will see a distinct influence and inspiration from the Japanese culture and city scapes in this body of work.

The exhibition will showcase her latest screen prints, which are made up of layers of colour, form, photographic techniques and unique characters that inhabit her environments. There will be a number of paintings, an installation and zines that celebrate qualities of the handmade. 

This Irish las, having studied Fine Arts in Ireland and in Sydney at the College of Fine Arts, Laura's practice as print maker and artist has brought her to Australia,  where she now resides. This rich layering of culture and the urban environment will prove to be a visually compelling exhibition.

Please visit the exhibition, which will run until 4 May.

If you are interested in the Artist in Residence program, please contact Gallery Lane Cove on 02 9428 4898 as we will soon be calling for applications for a new artist in residence..

Images. Works in progress...details from some of the screen prints by Laura Carey

Stitch & Sip: Coiled & Looped Objects Workshop

As part of our upcoming exhibiton, "Knit Knot Weave", we have invited Sydney based artist Paula do Prado to present "Stitch & Sip: Coiled & Looped Objects", a dynamic crocheting workshop.

About the workshop:
Whether you are a total newbie or a long time crochet devotee this workshop is perfect for you. Learn some quick and easy techniques to coil an object using crochet, you'll get one-on-one help to create your very own small object to take home. You'll get to handle some examples of artworks made with this technique and experiment with a range of different yarns and threads that you may not have thought of using before!

The workshop will be held at Gallery Lane Cove on Wednesday 20 March. The workshop is free but places are strictly limited. For bookings please contact Gallery Lane Cove on 9428 4898.

This workshop has been kindly sponsored by the Lane Cove Council for Seniors Week

Starting the Journey Opening Night

"Starting the Journey" opened last Wednesday evening. The opening was a great success and was attended by a number of local Sydneysiders. Congratulations to the artists for such a diverse exhibition and thank you to all the people who attended.

About the Exhibition
"Starting the Journey" features the works of emerging artists, Dianne Gerlach, Jenny James, Virginia Lee, Katherine Scott, Jill Stratton-Kelly and Gail Veness, all of whom were Diploma and Advanced Diploma students of the Sydney Gallery School, Meadowbank.

In starting their personal artistic journeys, the artists are consolidating new knowledge while exploring and forging their personal artistic and aesthetic directions. While the theme is shared, each artist interprets "Starting the Journey" in their unique way. This is reflected by the diversity of media, scale and style in the works exhibited, including painting, photography, drawing, printmaking and sculpture. The creation of the work is itself a journey, with planning, execution and final resolution all part of the final outcome and experience for each artist. Just as varied are the thematic approaches of these artists, whose inspirations are sourced from the natural world, the imagined world, humanity, social and historical subjects. Through the works in this exhibition, the artists invite viewers to reflect on journeys made or yet to be made.
 

"Starting the Journey" runs until Saturday, 2 March at Gallery Lane Cove, Upper Level, 164 Longueville Road, Lane Cove. Opening hours are Monday - Friday 10-4.30pm, Saturday 10-2.30pm.