Memories well mapped

MAPPING The Memories – Canal Creek Connections is a brand new exhibition by Brisbane-based studio artist Sharyn Hall, opening this month at Warwick Art Gallery.
Sharyn works in textile and mixed media and her works reference a small portion of her family history, when her grandfather and his nephew travelled overland from Victoria to settle in the Southern Downs area in 1926.
The works in the exhibition form a conceptual map of that time and place where the continuing search for gold was an important part of the community’s and her family’s heritage.
Searching for ideas for the exhibition have brought the artist to the Warwick and Karara areas several times in the past year to research the social, economic and environmental changes in the places where her relatives lived all those years ago.
Sharyn said the experience brought fleeting snapshot of times gone by that she had translated into her work in a conceptual way.
“With few personal written or photographic records, the search for information and documentation proved difficult,” Sharyn said.
“A hand drawn map, a faded photograph, a few documents, a mining lease, several newspaper clippings … all were small pieces of a larger untold story.“
“There comes a sense of loss – when observing changes to the landscape; to stand in a place and realise there once was a town, where now only memories and recollections remain.”
The absence of information and the ensuing search for personal history, coupled with the artists free-flow of ideas has challenged her experience, encouraging research and experimentation into new forms of expression, likened perhaps to that elusive search for the pot of gold, the chest of treasure … . of finding Eldorado.
Using photography as her source material, Hall has photographed and collated a vast library of visual reference for her artwork. Inspired by the colours and textures of the landscape as well as alluding to aspects of history in conceptual form.
The appeal of Sharyn’s work is the intrigue and discovery of her detailed surfaces. Her attention to detail, extensive application of pattern, both drawn and stitched, requires the viewer to take a closer look, to discover her intimate surface textures and intricate stitched details.
The layered element is also an integral part of her work; layers of dyed, stitched, cutback and embellished fabrics, translucent cut paper drawings and printed and painted papers, cover or expose her detailed surfaces.
She takes a fluid approach to media and techniques, experimenting according to her needs. This organic and somewhat playful process has become a benchmark of her artistic life.
Sharyn has taught extensively and enjoys her active involvement with international, national and state textile art associations. Her list of achievements is impressive. A Churchill Fellowship and a Quilters Guild scholarship have allowed her to travel and study in the USA, the UK, Canada, France and Japan. Her work has been included in national and international exhibitions, and has won quilting awards in Australia and Europe. Bernina Australia commissioned work and selected her as feature artist for a national tour.
Gallery director Karina Devine is looking forward to installing the exhibition after first meeting Sharyn at her Brisbane exhibition Argentum early in 2013.
“I was not aware of the gold prospecting history in our area and thought that this was a really worthwhile story to tell.” Karina said.
“I encourage locals to come and see Sharyn’s exhibition.”
“Her work reflects her heartfelt and at times disappointing search for information. It has a melancholy to it but at the same time the textures and techniques are exquisite”
The research and development of Mapping the Memories – Canal Creek Connections was supported by a grant from the Regional Arts Development Fund, a Queensland Government and Southern Downs Regional Council partnership to support local arts and culture.
The exhibition will be officially opened by Southern Downs Regional Council mayor Peter Blundell on Friday 22 August at 6pm. Warwick Art Gallery is open Tuesday to Friday 10 am to 4 pm and on weekends 10am to 1pm. Entry is free.