'MNEMONIC CHRONICLES'
ART EXHIBITION
'As images run through my head
I find myself watching me watching you and I cannot help but smile.'
'Painting you drawing me' Oil on mdf panel
Dates: 26th June2019 to 13th July 2019 Wed to Fri. 10am to 4pm Sat. 10am to 4pm
Opening night 5th July 2019 6pm to 8pm & Artist Talk 13th July 2019 10am to 2 pm.
THE TEDDY CHRONICLES
"My Alter Ego is a Teddy Bear"
As I watch you watching me
I see a light in your eye and the reflection of myself,
me watching you.
As I stand with my arm reaching out for you,
I find you no more, you are an image in my head, an image past
You are the desire I have to find a little of you within me
And a little of me within you
but I am lost in the field and I cannot help but think if you are with me still.
And at every brush stroke I bring you to me, thinking:
If I find myself lost, lost in the field,
I have the image to remind me of what was and what is,
For there may be none no more.
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| TRUST LOST |
The memory I have of my mother playing with a whole group of teddies in her old age remains a vivid memory. After her passing, the white teddy bear that was her favourite was the only one I kept. It became a mnemonic object for me and every time I look at it I remember mum. It made sense then, that in my research regarding family and the mnemonic, the sweet adorable cuddly not so white 'transitional object' became the alter ego, something that one can refer to as ‘ that happy place.’
As memories detach from themselves and repeated images run inside your head the visions take their own persona and thus the sentimental objects that remind you of your past experiences come alive and manifest within a world of their own. Imagining and recreating the past that was that is that is no more. For that is all there is but images that run in your head and say ‘hey you remember me!’
The teddy bear chronicles relate how we use mnemonic objects to trigger memories, weather we consciously are aware or not. It investigates through a series of painted panels, how memories are formed and triggered.
The panels show a series of childhood images that by using mnemonic objects, were brought to my conscious self and in sketching i related my love of art to these memories. In using film ideologies and ethereal landscapes I related the feeling I felt as each memory was triggered via the images that popped in my head through my imagination. I thus imaged myself watching me as we all relive our memories by such means. The series has a sketch book with 80 or so sketches, in which 22 were realised in paintings to create 'the teddy chronicles.'
THE GREAT DOG I AM WHAT I KNOW
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| WHITE HORSE SPEAKS |
Palettes investigated were related to the artists of the time but childhood colours also became a major part of the palette and as yellow, green and blue were favourites at that time, they became 'the colour stage' for the works, in relating colour to mood once again, as per the 'Mnemonic Panels' 2017-2018.
This was a continuation of research regarding the mnemonic. The previous works, 'The mnemonic panels' relate memories not only to facts but also to a state of 'self' . When we attach our sentiments to these memories the memories become subjective due to our feelings attached to our experiences. The works are similar only in that these use photographs as the mnemonic object and thus solidifies a truth in some way.
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DON'T CALL ME KITTY
Oil on mdf panel |
Another photograph related to the previous panels where the family dog 'Minou' is centre stage and the feet in the background related to a previous photograph that became the painting called 'the lecture' painted in 2017, the dog Minou' had to be painted. I have a record of the palettes previously used but decided not to use it and to paint the new panel, regarding the subjective feelings that are attached to when thinking of my family dog. The thing is I do not feel so sombre about my dog. The panel resulted in a similar but brighter palette than the previous works. I just used a different blue to my restricted palette. Replaced Prussian blue for manganese blue hue and ultramarine blue hue. For rest of works scroll down to 2018 entry of the MNEMONIC PANELS.
THE UNFAMILIAR FAMILY PORTRAITS
This series is the beginning of a new investigation for a future exhibition. It continues with the unfamiliar and asks how the effects of family breakups marks each of us differently or similarly as we are all individuals.
The investigation centres on how family portraits may be painted today by the attachment of experiences, cultural aspects, and societal influences. I have designed a 3 page questionnaire asking specific questions of how the past experiences of divorce or separation may affect individuals. This investigation takes it out to the public, and with it I ask each person to answer the questions as comfortable as they feel to, and then give me a selfie of themselves and their family.
I ask anyone that is interested in partaking in this investigation to contact me by email. syndyispaint@gmail.com .The participant must have experienced a break up, either they separated or divorced or lived through a family break up. This is not limited to gender and any individual from any background .
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PORTRAIT OF A CHILD AT 7 ; 'LOOKING FOR TEDDY'
Oil on 12mm cotton canvas |
PORTRAIT OF A CHILD AT 7: Looking for teddy. In starting a portfolio I begin with myself .
With my experience the alter ego became a fixture of the self, as once my teddy was taken, and I found myself by the age of 7 separated from my father, my birth surroundings and also seeing my mother for a few times a month (for a while at least). It imprinted the fact that my imagination had devised imaginary friends, which is normal for a child.
One of my imaginary friend was a mnemonic memory. The imaginary friend was a boy that lived down the road from where I had previously lived. I have many good real memories and imaginary ones that i made up in play. In my creative self, I re-imagined my friend to savour the sense of what was that now was missing in my life per se. The other imaginary friend was Jesus Christ.
By seven years of age the experiences of morality and attachment were founded very strongly . My virtues and ethics had begun to question the experiences and the self. It goes deeper but that remains with me. My alter ego is thus developed at the age of 7, hence, my portrait shows me at 7.
MNEMONIC TEARS
Letters 1to5
There
is a box full of written letters that mark the mnemonic of a period of 5 years,
documenting the time my mother and I lived in Europe. The
letters were written by my mother and addressed to my father, with some notes
from me to my father as well.
This
artwork challenges authorship, possession, sentiment, truth, ethics and morals,
and the theoretical term of what it means to keep a memory ‘hot’.
THE HOT MEMORY
‘Get over it will you; and move forward.’
‘you can ignore me all you want, but I still exist.’
‘I Was, I Am, I Will be’
This work was with the collaboration of Mark Elliot. Without Mark’s glass artistry I would not have been able to make this idea into a reality. In challenging the author, as I see myself as the sole author, of this project I cannot deny that the collective influences as often happens in art were a part of this project. I asked Mark for a statement regarding the artwork, and thus included his email correspondence and added a link to his site.
Mark Eliott
Instagram: Mark Eliott Glass
Website: markeliottglass.com
Facebook: Mark Eliott
Email: mark@markeliottglass.com for info
on upcoming glassblowing workshops etc.
Statement on my participation in Cinzia’s work
I first encountered Cinzia’s work in 2018 during her group exhibition at 107 Projects in Redfern, Sydney. I was touched by a series of intimate yet strangely uncomfortable paintings, which held my gaze while passing from my studio each day. A kind of still life theatre, they clearly spoke of episodes in a teenager’s autobiographical story. I was therefore enthusiastic when Cinzia later hired me to fabricate glass vessels to accommodate old family letter grams from a traumatic period in her childhood. I was also honoured when she offered to include my name and words in the exhibition.
Together with her partner Daniel, Cinzia and I discussed technical concerns such as how to avoid burning paper whilst heat-sealing it inside glass vessels and the attributes of possible shapes such as round Christmas tree ornaments, cocoons or pendulous breast shapes. After considering the symbolic implications of each, Cinzia settled on an approximation of the teardrop. So here are the letters - open yet sealed as they will probably remain – visible yet safely untouchable in their scientific-glass ‘time capsules’, for thousands of years into the future.
https://www.markeliottglass.com/
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