The Collector Series at A Staple Space

Melbourne, Australia: Founder and Director of The Collector Series Laura Thompson has curated a group exhibition of work by four early career female artists. The exhibition, entitled vis-à-vis will be presented at A Staple Space; a wellbeing centre in the heart of Melbourne on the 6th and 7th of December 2014.

Thompson has selected paintings, ceramics, jewellery and video installations by Fiona Williams, Inari Kiuru, Jacqui Shelton and Kari Lee McInneny McRae. All artwork will be available for sale.

vis-à-vis explores the influence of self-designed personas; how the aesthetic responsibility of identity is influenced by upbringing and cultural affiliations, but largely self-determined. The exhibition underscores the ways in which we set personal, familial and social expectations in an attempt to control external views and grasp the future. The exhibition title, vis-à-vis, meaning face-to-face, places us in front of ourselves. It is a reminder of our vulnerability and that we only own the present moment.

The exhibition will allow visitors to engage with A Staple Space. A Staple Space Creative draws upon the arts, literature and creative writing of its surroundings to expand its audience to encompassed health and wellbeing. A Staple Space welcomes vis-a-vis as its very first collaboration, marrying three key passions: the arts, local craftsmanship and young

female entrepreneurship.

Fiona Williams engages a process that is both intuitive and conceptually oriented, to explore the complexity of the image as a means to record and articulate. Working primarily between photography and painting Williams investigates the inherent nature of materials and the idea of representing transience.

Inari Kiuru, a Finnish-born artist observes and portrays the hidden extraordinariness of everyday subjects. Her most recent pieces are imaginary future forms, contemplating what might evolve at the inevitable merging of industrial, urban and natural environments.

Jacqui Shelton is an interdisciplinary artist investigating the utilisation of physical action and artistic labour. Shelton will exhibit trying to get a project off the ground after so much is like take one and take two, recordings made in Berlin’s Tempelhofer Park as people attempt to get their kites airborne. The works are part of an ongoing series which reflect on the human desire to achieve new heights and the gravity that keeps us tethered to reality, grounded.

Kari Lee McInneny McRae draws upon the interaction between colour, texture and shape. The sculptural painting included in vis-à-vis is a single work, comprised of different paintings each made with a colour depicting a certain memory or emotion. Her additional small and delicate functional ceramic pieces play on the idea of fragile strength.

Exhibition dates: Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th December 2014. Open 12 – 5pm each day. Location: A Staple Space: Level 8, 388 Bourke Street, Melbourne, 3000 Art Salon (artist talk): Sunday 7th December, midday. Tea & Liefje chocolate will be served.

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