TWO NEW EXHIBITIONS OPENING IN APRIL
The Hawkesbury Regional Gallery is excited to present its latest exhibitions Escape Artists and Inner Worlds , which celebrate the creativity and imaginations of artists working in North West Sydney , the Blue Mountains and Perth , Western Australia .
The artists utilise a diverse range of media and techniques , including mosaic , installation , drawing and film to explore ideas and narratives that are at once uniquely personal and yet at the same time inherently universal .
Escape Artists : Caitlin Hepworth & Marian Shapiro
Escape Artists is a creative collaboration between contemporary mosaic artists Caitlin Hepworth and Marian Shapiro . They tell personal
Marian Shapiro , No place like home ( detail ), 2019 , mixed media mosaic , 54 x 39 x 2cm , courtesy the artist . stories with universal relevance themed on escape and displacement , as well as extending the boundaries of and accessibility to mosaic art ; an ancient artform with diverse contemporary application . Using the medium of contemporary mosaic they explore timeless themes by referencing physical and psychological states , covering distance and time from both personal and universal perspectives .
Over the last three years Marian and Caitlin have worked closely together exchanging ideas and processes producing a synergy which has resulted in a body of work comprising both individual and collaborative artworks where the whole is more than the sum of its parts .
Caitlin ’ s body of work navigates the transition through psychological states towards emotional freedom . Stemming from personal and community experience of natural disaster , her work symbolises the ability of individuals and communities to transcend emotional , physical and psychological struggles . This investigation takes the form of hanging and freestanding sculptural mosaics which reference ancient female warrior forms and the freedom and transcendence evoked by birds in flight .
Marian ’ s starting point is the conjunction of her personal family history and the current refugee crisis . In the early 1900s her great grandparents fled Lithuania with their young children . They were lucky and found asylum . Over a century later , the story continues . Many millions of people are currently in flight all over the world , in search of a better life . Marian ’ s response to this is to examine the journey of people from one life to another , escaping from the known , to the unknown . Visually , her point of departure is multi-faceted , inspired by old maps with their tears and discolorations , the maps at the back of in-flight magazines and the migration patterns of both birds and humans .
Stories such as these and others of adversity , displacement , natural disaster are common in the communities of Western Sydney . It is important to acknowledge these personal histories , and the strength of the individuals and communities built on the resilience that surviving these journeys require .
Inner Worlds : Nastaran Ghadir , Jody Graham & Nazanin Marashian
Inner Worlds is an exhibition that speaks about INSPIRED ACTION , AWAKENING , GRIEF , HEALING and
Jody Graham , Urban explorers , 2022 , charcoal on paper , 110 x 110cm , courtesy the artist & Nanda \ Hobbs , Sydney . Photo : Graeme Wienand .
EMPOWERMENT . Artists Jody Graham ( Australia ), Nazanin Marashian ( Iran ) and Nastaran Ghadir ( Iran ) create work that draws audiences into immersive spaces of contemplation and connection to their ‘ inner worlds ’ through their personal daily ritual and contemplation . Their works are meditations on the cycles of life and the expansion of selfidentity through various rites of passage and materiality . A core creative principle of each work is a deep reverence for the feminine principle and the intersection between art and life .
Both exhibitions will be accompanied by a range of public programs , including artist talks , demonstrations and artistic workshops .
ESCAPE ARTISTS AND INNER WORLDS Open to the public on Friday 14 April at 6pm , all welcome Exhibitions continue until Sunday June 4 For more information on the exhibitions and related programs go to hawkesburygallery . eventbrite . com
26 ISSUE 155 // APRIL 2023 theindependentmagazine . com . au THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT