Cc: Spirit
Group Exhibition
"What does spirit mean to you?"
The exhibition was held at Woodburn Creatives in Redfern, bringing a personal, sometimes private, often taboo topic into public view, where a range of stories and opinions could sit side by side.
30% of artwork sales were donated to Heaps Decent, a non-profit founded by Sydney DJs Nina Las Vegas and Andrew Levins alongside American producer Diplo, empowering underrepresented, vulnerable and marginalised young people through music production and multimedia.
— Huon Lui
'USADA'
Woven tapestry
152 x 127cm
Spirit in its essence embodies what’s within a person - much like the physical form, it blooms, evolves and changes.
My piece speaks about how an inner spirit can be confused with physical perception, especially in a competitive/sport-like context. That image and the outer body might tell a different tale than really is.
‘Ignite’
Sculpture: sterling silver and brass
80 x 50 x 50mm
Spirit to me is the energy created between matter. The air around us, the rustling of leaves, the kiss of the sun on our cheeks; the interaction between beings, the pressing of flesh or the gazing of eyes between one another. Spirit is what binds physical with the non-physical; in belief, faith, or superstition. As human beings, we are capable of perceiving this connection and creating something magical, electrifying, powerful.
‘1 of 1 (Self-portrait)'
Sculpture: red spinel, green peridot, blue topaz, silver
70 x 50 x 10mm
Behind us, at its most essential, there is a composition that drives us. An arrangement of the most fundamental energy.
‘Hyper Nature’
Digitally printed on silk crepe de chine
110 x 110cm
Growing up in Australia, I had a unique childhood immersed in the Australian bushland. Not fully ‘Australian’, yet separated from what is culturally familiar, as a first-generation immigrant I’ve always wrestled with the frustratingly abstract notions of identity and place. Returning to the Philippines on multiple occasions, I found a culture that was both familiar and distant - which like Australia, has diverse indigenous groups and a history of colonisation.
I find the complexities of these histories and experiences - seeming to belong everywhere and nowhere - inexplicable and fascinating. As a result, and perhaps influenced by my background and formative experiences, I feel an affinity with indigenous and nomadic cultures. I am strongly drawn to nature, where I find personal solace, a sense of identity and spirituality.
— William Piestsch
‘Banzo’
Paper collage on wood, graffiti, resin
60 x 90cm
The word Banzo is of African origin and also similar to saudades in Portuguese, which represents a feeling of longing or nostalgia for one’s own culture and homeland, as opposed to a loved one, a family member, a moment in time, etc.
When you feel Banzo, it is almost like an external emotion that comes to you as an outside spiritual entity that lands on you. This work explores these emotions, which can be both frightening and enlightening.
‘Homenaje (Homage)’
Paper construction
38 x 49cm
Dedicated to the spirit of my great-grandmother and an oración that she wrote for my uncle many years ago. Text, words, thoughts, sayings, prayers, notes, photographs all become part of my personal archive, an attempt to understand who I am, forming part of my Querencia. Spirit, for me, is simply tied to the connection to place, cultural roots and those who came before me.
'Cerberus'
Acrylic on panel
35 x 40cm
To me, 'Spirit' lives through our past, present, and future; hence the symbolic Cerberus, whose three heads signify the three states of time. Contained in a body, the spirit lives and works from the inside out, manifesting the mind into worldly actions.
'Untitled 1’ and ‘Untitled 2’
Acrylic on watercolour paper
60 x 84cm
Not all truths are pretty, sometimes the truth is rough or coarse or even just a bit weird. But that’s all that beautiful texture that makes up life. I think that it’s important to acknowledge that truth, which can be hard: we all carry our biases and our expectations and sometimes that doesn’t align with our perceptions. However, there’s a real strength in that honesty and clarity.
Untitled 1 and Untitled 2 look at what makes a portrait truthful. How can someone be described in paint other than vanity or appearance? What is likeness in a portrait, and can it communicate more than a physical description?
‘Still Missing’
Digital video
Still Missing is a short science fiction film, set in the dawn of an obscure dream-like space age. Composed of archival footage shot mostly in the mid-20th century, the subjects of the film could be the human race in any technological age, past or future – perpetually feeling on the brink of incredible and important breakthroughs or disasters; atop some peak of intellectual and creative mastery, where only glory or oblivion awaits.
Examining a portrait of a living time, we see that the living time itself appears to have an ego, an overarching consciousness or spirit. Humanity as one appears to have had a subjective experience, made up of the shared experiences of its many participants. Following this thought, one wonders if the Universe itself is in fact a great subjective experience… or to put it another way, that we (its inhabitants) are simply the thoughts and dreams of God.
‘I Dream Of Flying’
Film photography, archival print, limited edition of 5
108 x 77cm
My favourite dreams are the ones in which I fly. But I don’t fly like super man. I hover above the ground. I get as high as trees and power lines but not much more. If I concentrate too much I start to fall. I worked through that a while ago, it’s my dream and I can do what I want!
The odd thing is when I fly no one around me seems to be amazed. I can’t understand why. They can’t fly and here I am hovering over them, but no one notices. I tried to come up with ways, in my dream, that I could prove to myself that I was flying and not just imagining it. None of them worked. Anyway a while ago I decided I didn’t care if any one noticed. I was going to fly for myself, free like a bird. I haven’t flown since.
‘Jimmy’
Digital photography, archival art print
42 x 60cm
For me I guess Spirit is getting to the essential nature of something, whether that’s a person, a place or a time. It’s the Soul, the invisible truth humming just under the surface. We become aware of it sometimes in still moments, in the spaces between, when we look into unguarded places.
‘Webbing Foliage’ and ‘Leno’
Digital photography, archival art print
69 x 94cm
A body of work which considers symbols of the past and the potential trajectory of the Australian interior. Images such as a man chopping wood or the inside of a union meeting room then flourish into moments of sublimation within the landscape through their sequencing, with each photograph acting as an ongoing ‘pause for effect’.
Through an expanded documentary approach, personal narratives weave into a series of portraits, landscapes and interiors to make an illusory reading experience which denies conclusiveness and the bold summation so often associated with photography. Produced in Hill End and Broken Hill this chapter develops upon Lynagh’s past work, continuing its reflection upon the wake of industrialisation.
‘The Lives Surrounding Lake Atitlan’
Digital photography
31 x 31cm each
Past the sombre green forest surrounding Lake Atitlan, scattered amongst the mountainous streets of San Jorge are homes of the surviving Guatemalan Mayan Elders and their families.
Their faces are a reflection of a spirit guided by faith, hope and love but a life suppressed by the Guatemalan Civil War, massacres of entire villages and widespread use of forced disappearances, inevitably leading to the Guatemalan genocide.
‘Intangible Goods’
Installation: mixed media
76 x 184 x 83cm
We seem to have everything we need in our consumption-fuelled society. Except the stuff we increasingly need - bravery, connection, friendship, purpose…
Intangible Goods imagines what it might look like if we could shop for our deeper emotional needs as easily as our more superficial ones. Inside a vending machine are ten snack-sized products designed to feed your spirit, not your sweet tooth - made with the help of mental health professionals.
— Monica Pronk
‘2’x6'
Typography, large format print
60 x 180cm
What does spirit mean to me? I thought long and hard about this question, and whilst spirit certainly means a great deal to others, sometimes as a guiding principle, as a sceptic of the ephemeral, I’ve struggled to define what it really means to me. What I can say with more certainty is what I believe it isn’t. I might have ‘spirit’ or a ‘soul’ but I place no focus upon it.
What this piece tries to encapsulate is the importance of being in the present, finding happiness in the life we already lead, not the next. Such is that ultimately we all end up in the ground, 2’ wide and 6’ deep. Well, at least until someone shows me some proof otherwise.
‘Sunbeams’
Digital photography, archival prints
Set of 3, 42 x 60cm
I wanted to capture this by using mirrors to reflect the beaming sunlight, held by an ethereal being, set amongst natural landscapes: floating in the ocean, on a wild dune at sunset and perched on a rocky cliff. I captured these at both sunrise and sunset, as the sun and moon flow. This natural energy that we are part of is what I find magic and I wanted to harness this energy and light within the images created.
To me, there is something spiritual in the eternal energy of nature and our connection to it, and to me, this is the meaning of Spirit.
‘God Is Within You’
Digital illustration, archival art print
40 x 50cm
I said “I’m trying to find God”.
She said “God with within you”.
And I knew she was right.
‘Connection’
Digital illustration, digital print
85 x 120cm
To me spirit is related to the idea that we are all connected together as part of a network. The smallest act of kindness that we carry out can spread and influence others, and acts of negativity permeate and have the ability to infect people.
We all have the power to influence the world, and we can decide whether this is negative or positive through every action and interaction we carry out everyday. When we’re gone, the way we’ve lived our lives remains imprinted in the minds of the people we’ve connected with.
Maya Angelou said “At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” In that sense our spirit continues to live on long after we’re gone.
‘Solum:Simul’
Digital video
With this piece I explored the relationship between internal and external factors that guide the spiritual journey. The start represents birth, a womb and/or galaxy. Then a shape appears in the abstraction. More shapes join and move together as one, harmony and chaos. Alone and together, at the same time.
The video was intended as sort of a loop, no start or end, no final goal. Just a beautiful eternal dance of the spirit.
— Rochelle Corby
‘In a Digital World’
Typography, vinyl decal
44 x 44cm
This artwork was designed with Serafim Mendes to explore augmented reality and how it will change the way we interact with technology in the future. The message is only fully revealed in 3D and motion when viewed through Omse’s AGENDA2020 augmented reality app.
'Liquid Sunshine’
Digital photography with original music
30 x 20cm
Spirit (to me) is the language between nature and the human form. The emotion, the energy, the vibrations, the sounds we feel and experience from nature is what feeds life. Cherish it and don’t take it for granted.
‘Javea’
Acrylic on watercolour paper
210 x 90cm
At a house party, someone suggested my spirit animal should be a cyan-coloured dolphin. The next day I Googled, ‘How to find your spirit animal’, just out of curiosity...
One click led to another and soon I found myself reading about totems, the zodiac signs, natal charts and varieties of eastern and western astrology. That opened the door to Kabbalah, Bhagavad Gita, Akashic records, quantum physics, The Holographic Universe, inner earth, ancient aliens, root races, theosophy, alchemy, tarot, synchronicity, law of attraction, astral travel and the higher self.
5 years after that house party, I find myself deep down a rabbit hole of ancient and modern concepts. So for me ‘spirit’ means personal exploration.
‘Kokoro’
Graphite on paper
42 x 60cm
Fundamentally, we are made up of two parts. The physical and non-physical. The body that you can see and feel is the physical vessel that embodies the most important part of you: your non-physical (spirit).
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