I have been a practicing artist in Kandos for about 17 years. My work has centred around understanding both the area and the local art style. I have made works that pictorially represented the landscape, experimenting with mixed media: charcoal, watercolour, pastels, ink and oil sticks on paper. As a student at Alexander Mackie CAE I was involved in the initial years of the Sydney Biennale so unsurprisingly began to focus on concepts that grew out of the environment and used natural collected materials for making and understanding.
From the late 1990’s more artists moved to the area and exhibited at Number 47 in Rylstone, over time they created images through which I have come to view the landscape, celebrate the past and give life to the lost. From 2010 visiting artists were involved in AIRs with Kandos Projects and as an outcome of the residency many participated Cementa_13.
My exhibition space was ‘The Brown Owl’ a deep pink, visually busy shop and gallery space full of pattern and colour. The shop was gradually cleared and in its place my drawings, sculptures and altered prints in black, grey and white created a calm and reflective space. The space defined the selection of works by its characteristics, a ‘white box’ with added colour, mirrors and shop furniture. It was a challenge to stay true to the focused and uncluttered intent of the work of which explores line and plane through the interaction of the body with the paper, charcoal and weight of the clay and effect of gravity. A re-working of ‘Response’ could have involved performance referencing the previous function of the shop. But ‘Response’ was a work which began in a residency at DRAWinternational in Caylus, France working between drawing and sculpture to extend my installation practice and to maintain the clarity of the work was essential.
As an artist, it is assumed that my imagination but if you had asked me to imagine a future for Kandos, I had begun to imagine leaving it. Cementa_13 has brought a change to how I think and view Kandos, the relationship between the spaces and the works are now stories that enrich my narrative. I can imagine a Kandos that has a future which is economically and culturally healthy. Cementa_13 has begun the development of an environment that fosters and enables creative thinking for people all ages. This can benefit the group and the individual no matter what their future employment maybe.
Christine McMillan 10/3/2013