THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS ONLINE EXHIBITION
Hello and welcome!
This is an exhibition about life in lockdown, real or surreal. All artforms were welcome.
This was an opportunity for us all to come together and find the joy and inspiring light during these challenging Covid circumstances.
This is also a fundraiser for Women for Afghan Women. 100% of all money raised from the live opening event ticket sales PLUS sales of these artworks will be donated to Women for Afghan Women, who have given permission for us to fundraise on their behalf through Mama Creatives.
If you are interested to purchase an artwork please email anna@mamacreatives.com to arrange payment and confirm delivery (which may incur an extra shipping cost if not a local pick up).
WATCH THE REPLAY OF OUR LIVE Online Exhibition Opening with 16 special guests making cameo appearances. More details and access here. Recording available until Sunday 17 October, by donation from only $10. All funds raised will be donated directly to Women for Afghan Women.
Thank you and please enjoy!
MOVEMENT & DANCE
NAME: Renata Commisso
AGE: 33 (Mum of a 20 month old)
LOCATION: Sydney – (Canada Bay)
ART MEDIA: A video of a dance creation we made as a community class via zoom.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Move and Groove is a creative community to encourage authentic and free flowing movement. This video was made at the end of our last class in Sydney’s lockdown last week. It reflects movement and sensations we created together throughout the last four months.
We created this piece playing with our screens and enjoying the different ways we can use them. Being in lockdown the zoom calls are plenty, and it was about time we had a bit of fun how we could look into them and through them.
What you see are incredible women moving and finding joy even in these hard times.
3D & SCULPTURE
NAME: Catriona Pollard
AGE: 52
LOCATION: Sydney
TITLE: Hidden Deep in the Forest the Faeries Sleep.
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Basketry, Muehlenbeckia vine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: It’s the invisible world that lifts our spirits so we can believe beyond the knowing. I’ve been making this during lockdown where fear and frustration is in the air as thick treacle. Let’s imagine another world for a moment. Random woven Muehlenbeckia as tall as a wall. Lots of Faeries sleep here.
Website: www.catrionapollard.com/art/
NAME: Miriam Koshy
AGE: 44
LOCATION: Goa, India
TITLE: Ars Moriendi (The art of dying)
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: GI rod, Gauze, epoxy and acrylic. 101.6 x 50.8 cms.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: This is a poetic interpretation of the key elements in the Inuit story of the Fisherman and the Skeleton woman, from Women Who Run With The Wolves, a feminist classic by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. In re-telling international myths and fairy tales, the messages within them are dissected for the modern woman. The story of the Skeleton Woman examines our struggles to comprehend and deal with the Life-Death-Life cycle. It recognises death as the beginning of growth, altering our perspective of the end as something to fear.
The ancient symbol of the Ouroboros (the snake eating its tail, a symbol of infinity) holds within its endlessness, time (the hourglass), cosmic rhythm (the heart as a beating drum ) and the skeletal remains of the fisherman and his Woman, which are forever suspended together in an endless un baile con La Muerte, the eternal Dance of Life & Death.
When we go beyond the fear of death and change and embrace all that needs to die is us to make way for new ways of being, we untangle the Skeleton Woman and make her our ally. In doing so she beats at our heart drum, heralding the life that we need to fulfill the essence of our being.
The pandemic, which has been for all of us a time devoid of the usual distractions and busyness of life .It has forced us to slow down and re-examine ourselves to understand what ways of being need to be shed to make way for a life lived with greater purpose in alignment with our changed values .
Ars Moriendi , has been my homage to this inner act of shedding following the liminal space that the pandemic put us in.
FOR SALE: MAKE AN OFFER
2D VISUAL ART: PAINTING, DRAWING, ILLUSTRATION
NAME: Katie Ravich
LOCATION: Sydney
TITLE: There is always someone somewhere thinking of someone else
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Mixed media on wood
DIMENSIONS: 255mm x 255mm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: This painting was created during the quiet hours of contemplation when my family was sleeping and the world outside is dark and still. In my mind I was thinking of how I could connect with others so far away across the darkness to create some lightness in their hearts. Each dot is a thought and each thought travels along its own path to reach out and mingle with others no matter where they are. There is always someone somewhere thinking of someone else.
FOR SALE: SOLD
Instagram: katieravichart
NAME: Yaeli Ohana
AGE: 48
LOCATION: Sydney
TITLE: Almost Freedom
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Acrylic on canvas panel (framed if you want)
DIMENSIONS: 12.5 x 18 cm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: Women need freedom and equality no matter where they are born.
FOR SALE: SOLD
Website: Yaeli Ohana
Instagram: yaeli_ohana_artist
NAME: Eve Ohana-Roberts
AGE: 10
LOCATION: Sydney
TITLE: Journey. to the Light
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Acrylic on canvas panel
DIMENSIONS: 20.5 x 25.5 cm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: A positive and uplifting message for all girls and women
FOR SALE: $30
NAME: Hannah Ohana-Roberts
AGE: 7
LOCATION: Sydney
TITLE: Looking into the Future
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Acrylic on canvas panel
DIMENSIONS: 20.5 x 25.5 cm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: I hope women have a better future around the world.
FOR SALE: $30
NAME: Laurel Whale
AGE: 15
LOCATION: Sydney
TITLE: Inferno Dragon
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL:Drawing 6B lead pencil
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: During COVID-19 lockdown and being in an LGA of concern, with the harshest of lockdown rules, I struggled with home schooling and the lockdown itself. I begun reading about dragons and continued my drawing hobbies and started merging the two in this dragon fantasy world in my mind. I drew this dragon from a daydream I experienced where a woman came across an enormous cave and found this huge legendary dragon. The theme “through the looking glass” relates to my drawing because through the looking glass of my imagination, came Inferno, the fire dragon. Inferno is my escape from the reality of COVID-19 and the lockdown we have faced.
NAME: Jennifer Reid
AGE: 51
LOCATION:Cobbitty NSW
TITLE: Burgundy Flowers ‘The earth laughs in flowers.’ ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Gouache on paper
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: I believe the earth truly does laugh in flowers; perhaps even burgundy flowers!
Art has been a healing balm almost my whole life, for as long as I can remember. It has been especially therapeutic through life’s most difficult challenges, so when faced with the fear of Covid and lockdowns, I turn to art for therapy. Through art, I connect with the inner parts of myself, to others and to the world around me. Art has a spiritual energy that somehow manages to shift my mindset towards positivity and hope. It helps me to see things more clearly and to focus on the good in my life. In the presence of art and creativity, I am inspired, my imagination soars, joy is sparked and my soul is free.
NAME: Julia Gietzmann
AGE: 57
LOCATION: Merrylands, NSW, Australia
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Painting (acrylics)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: Painting…Life in Lockdown. Art became a meditative and spiritual anchor when the outer world felt noisy, unhinged and unstable.
FOR SALE: OFFERS ACCEPTED
NAME: Haeley Heng
AGE: 13
LOCATION: Melbourne
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Acrylic paint / watercolour on canvas
DIMENSIONS: 12 x 16in / 30.5 x 40.6cm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: This piece is about someone looking over what a rollercoaster of a year we have had. Each image reflects what I think people have faced throughout the year and how time feels like it has come to a standstill. The flames represent the bush fires, water for flooding and green grass patches as people started their own gardens. The other images represents how I felt, what I did, along with things from the news.
NAME: Robyn Holtham
TITLE: The Phoenix
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Acrylic on stretched canvas
DIMENSIONS: 91cm x 91cm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: This work represents myself in a way. I suffer from a chronic pain issue and painting is a sort of a release from this. I have rediscovered painting during Covid after roughly 40 years when I was trained to ‘render’ items of jewellery for prospective customers in the days before computer assisted design. The Phoenix represents a new beginning for me and a departure from a realist style into a freer, more intuitive world.
NAME: Julia Scuderi
AGE: 57
TITLE: Tree Woman
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Gouache on paper
DIMENSIONS: A4
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: This piece explores the importance of feminine wisdom and energy. Her voice is so important for the health of humanity. It is a reminder of the innate wisdom of nature and our connection to it, the need to listen.
NAME: Belinda Heath
AGE: 50
LOCATION: Blue Mountains
TITLE: Hamburgh Hen Portrait
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Acrylic paint, varnish, gel and ball point pen on canvas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: I keep and breed numerous types of chickens, as part of our backyard agricultural system. Each bird, even from the same breed, is remarkably different in personality and social disposition. Here, this is a detailed portrait of ‘Doreen,’ a Gold Spangled Hamburgh hen. She is typically flighty, as most Hamburghs are.., these are not the sort of chooks that will wander over and eat from your hand. They are more aloof, retaining a ‘wild bird’ sensibility. However, she is a very political hen in her group and very careful to not be too dominant. The ‘middle road’ birds are often the best fed, not working too hard to retain authority yet not hiding from bullies either. Lockdown gives me a lot more time to observe these intricacies of our backyard flocks.
FOR SALE: SOLD
NAME: Gabbi Lancaster
AGE: 52
LOCATION: Sydney
TITLE: Evening walk at the dog park
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Acrylic paint on canvas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: Living in the city and yearning for the bush….I find myself fantasising that this small stand of trees in the dog park is vast and wild and free. This is one of an ongoing series of the illusion in the dog park theme.
NAME: Vee Malnar
LOCATION: Canberra
AGE: 62
TITLE: Alice in Futureland
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS: 8″ by 24″ or 60 x 120cm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: I started painting “Alice in Futureland” based on Alice in Wonderland, myself as a child as well as the current times we are in, just before lockdown started. Everything felt quite unreal. There was fear and uncertainty on the news and social media. Alice, depicted in my work is looking at the viewer, asking where is this all going? She has the courage and strength to look at the viewer, and to wait patiently until an answer is found. Alice represents all of us, who have fallen into the rabbit hole and want to find our way back out. The world right now needs so much care, freedom of rights, support and the need for all people to come together.
FOR SALE, PRICE: SOLD
NAME: Louise Trevitt
LOCATION: Sydney
AGE: 49
TITLE: I Am The River
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL:Acrylic on Linen, 2021
DIMENSIONS: 75cm X 100cm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK:
I cover the pain in my chest with my hand
I hold it tight so it doesn’t explode
My head so heavy with thought
It’s like haven’t taken this mask off in months
I just want to fall into you and melt away
Cleanse me
Let these feeling and thoughts float away
I want to breathe underneath
I want to be you.
NOT FOR SALE: SOLD
NAME:Louise Trevitt
LOCATION: Sydney
AGE: 49
TITLE: Rise
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Acrylic on stretched linen
DIMENSIONS: 1.5 m X 1.5 m
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: This painting came forth during a time when I felt I was turning my sadness from being disconnected from my family and friends to feeling solace and sanctuary within my body. It came from turning the noise down from the outside world and going deeper within….. I then felt a RISE of knowing and remembering of inner peace and safety.
NOT FOR SALE
NAME: Shani Nottingham
AGE: 50
LOCATION: Cowra, Central West NSW
TITLE: Looking Beyond 123
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Mixed media- old vintage book page, gesso, watercolour, gouache, ink, metallic paint/ sparkles
DIMENSIONS: 5 x 7.5 inch
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: This is a small, intimate mixed media picture, of a young woman. During lockdown, I began using art materials at hand, having run out of my usual papers and paper mediums – the re-use of discarded books, giving the pages another life, another purpose. Seeing possibility and solution in a problem, rather than stopping.Pivoting 2020/21. Looking beyond to find alternatives.
FOR SALE: $45
NAME: Shani Nottingham
AGE: 50
LOCATION: Cowra, Central West NSW
TITLE: Growing to love them (4 plants)
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Mixed media- watercolour, gouache, pencil
DIMENSIONS: 21 x 14.5 cm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: During lockdown, my environment became even more important- and nurturing my garden, my plants, became a lovely ritual and routine. I constantly sketched them, doodled pics of them, painted little pictures of them. Watching them grow and thrive was one of the little delights that brought great pleasure and joy in such a strange time – I have grown to realise how much I need this green stuff around me.
FOR SALE: $50
NAME: Andrijana Miler
AGE: 47
LOCATION: Bosnian Artist living in Sydney – on the land of Wallumdegal Clan of the Darug nation
TITLE:Self-reflection at the bathroom sink
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Digital collage photography
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: Freedom in the act of disAppearing
FOR SALE: $80
NAME: Margaret Rolla
AGE: 65
LOCATION: Newcastle, NSW
TITLE: The Inside of Wilderness
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Collage, mixed media
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: For me, the 2021 lockdown was a time for grieving, reflection, and healing. Since becoming widowed earlier in the year, I was grateful for the isolation and solitude. my home became a sanctuary, the walls wrapping me in their warmth and memories as I looked outwards to a brighter future. My artwork represents the confusion and overwhelm of this period, yet through all the tangled briar and debris, there is growth and beauty on the distant horizon.
NAME: Dianna Kellerman
AGE: 61
LOCATION: Newcastle, NSW
TITLE: Abstract In Blue
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Mixed media acrylic, charcoal and ink
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: The concept of this painting is that the rings lead from one “world “ to another and there are obstacles and gateways through life. As we entered a new way of being… never experienced in my lifetime…of pandemic, panic, misinformation, fear and isolation from loved ones, I found myself insulating myself in my home. Doing my art became my form of comfort. I didn’t leave the house for 4 months in 2020 except to go to doctors’ appointments. Being immunocompromised made me extremely cautious, to the point of panic, hysteria and some downright obsessive behaviours in cleanliness. I was protected by my daughter and friends who shopped for me, made sure everything I needed was done. The different shapes in this painting represent the different parts of my life compartmentalised, as I felt compartmentalising my thoughts and actions.
NAME: Dianna Kellerman
AGE: 61
LOCATION: Newcastle, NSW
TITLE: Abstract on Orange
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Mixed media acrylic, charcoal and ink
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: It struck me as I was painting the Abstract in Blue that I needed to contrast the colour in a second painting with whirlwind movements. The whirlwinds were both out of control and rhythmic. The whirlwind of emotions, the whirlwinds of change across the world. The barrage of sadness…
NAME: Rachel Carroll
LOCATION: Sydney
TITLE: When the sky fell into the Ocean – part 1
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Encaustic on board
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: Encaustic is an ancient technique that uses wax and natural pigments. It is a very organic and spontaneous way to create art. previously it was also used to preserve art. Preserve is a good word for our times, to preserve nature, art and our way of life. I have chosen to preserve a sense of calm in the chaos through this artwork.
FOR SALE: $350
TEXTILES & EMBROIDERY
NAME: Carol Watson
AGE: 54
LOCATION: Sydney
TITLE:
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Latch Hook Rug on Hessian backing using many types of wool
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: In March 2020 as NSW was plunged into our first lockdown and the days stretched into weeks and months, I thought it would be a wonderful idea for the family to work together to create a latch hook rug. My vision of us all sitting around the dining room table working away on our chosen corner of the rug, chatting and enjoying each others’ company was short-lived as the rest of the household soon lost interest and drifted off to their screens.
NAME: Belinda Heath
AGE: 50
LOCATION: Blue Mountains
TITLE: Covid Quilt
ART MEDIA/MATERIAL: Reclaimed fabric and thread on poly-cotton and wool ground
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: I construct quilts out of reclaimed fabric, either sourced from used clothing from household, or using random off-cuts purchased in op-shops. Preferring to stitch without a plan, I like to assemble elements and never measure nor iron beforehand. In this way, I feel freer to construct a narrative as I go. During lockdown, I started to appliqué little Corona-type viruses using raw, Buto-style stitching and French knots. These progressively reminded me of dandelion heads. Dandelions are one of my favourite plants. They are often derided as a weed, although every part of this plant is nutritious for humanity and animals alike. Dandelions grow in spite of all our attacks and assaults on the environment, even sprouting through concrete. We don’t always recognise and appreciate what a beautiful and resilient gift they are. Likewise, this pandemic has been an assault on how we exist as social entities, but if we recognise the resources around us we can still grow. If we are particularly persistent, we can even flourish and enrich those around us.
POETRY
NAME: Beverley Kellerman
AGE: 85
LOCATION: Sydney
Lockdown Contemplation
I look out my window, what do I see
October winds and the rhythm of trees
Green green green all the way and the
Quietness of a Thursday afternoon.
With the silence of cards inside, and games not broken,
Others like myself have done their daily walk
Of movement of the body, on a lovely sunny day.
The quietness around gives one a chance to contemplate
On months gone by and months to come
Of movement; of stillness; of hopefulness
And the world-wide prayer that many may be saved
For the future…
And what it may bring…
Positiveness takes on a new meaning
Against those who negate and will not vaccinate
For reasons best known to themselves
Our complaints are so petty and trivial
Surviving the onslaught; and need to be buried right now.
Our sympathies resting with those whose world has been sharply turned upside down
Slowly, ever so slowly
Our battles against this disease, will one day decrease
For this we together all yearn.
NAME: Liz Mackinlay
AGE: 49
LOCATION: Manly, Sydney
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: Poet, CEO, child of the universe.
Poetry because we need to access the light to make lives full of joy.
That Friend
You know that friend?
That when you met,
you laughed like you’d met the one soul that got the deliciousness of life
and the Universe’s joke on us
that we really were too serious for our own good?
Who then welcomed you to be part of her family?
And dropped everything when the next adventure appeared
so that you could experience that joy together
Who gives you unconditional love,
and scooped you up for those trips to the emergency room,
even when an ambulance would have been better??!!
Who frankly, you could have fun in a cupboard with,
if good wine and cheese were also stocked there
I’m blessed with this friend
And my hope is
that you get to take your shoes off with someone who can be yours
NAME: Liz Mackinlay
AGE: 49
LOCATION: Manly, Sydney
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR WORK: Poet, CEO, child of the universe.
Poetry because we need to access the light to make lives full of joy.
Into the Universe
Seeing the sky through champagne bubbles
The heat and light
that lifts me into the universe
Weightless,
at one,
free and alive
I throw myself
into that glittering space
and know that I am
released and free
Twins
How can we fully express our gratitude
when real miracles occur?
Medicine and magic
Mary and the Royal Melbourne
conspired to bring dual perfection into our lives
Lives blessed by impish grins and bubbling laughter,
and the knowledge that what really counts
is who we love
If you are interested to purchase an artwork please email anna@mamacreatives.com to arrange payment and confirm delivery (which may incur an extra shipping cost if not a local pick up).
WATCH THE REPLAY OF OUR LIVE Online Exhibition Opening with 16 special guests making cameo appearances. More details and access here. Recording available until Sunday 17 October, by donation from only $10. All funds raised will be donated directly to Women for Afghan Women.
Thank you and much gratitude
xx