Opening of 'Land Currents'
Last Saturday my first solo art exhibition opened, which I am so very excited about!
It is a collection of 12 artworks called 'Land Currents'. These artworks are a celebration of the landscapes that we feel most at home at. The exhibition is on from the 3rd of August until the 22nd of September, 2019, at the Koorie Heritage Trust in Fed Square, Melbourne. The exhibit is made up a number of digital prints on textured, fine art paper that gives the artworks a beautiful depth.
About Land Currents
Land Currents is my first art exhibition, proudly hung under my actual name, Maddi Moser, rather than my Chlo & Co business name (which was actually a very proud moment for me!).
The creation of this set of artworks was a very interesting process for me. Most of my artworks so far have been commissioned work so I’ve treated these in the same way that I do with any design process. I have done this with artworks that now proudly hang on client's walls and I have also created work for the Kyeton Hospital and the Bright Hospital. For this exhibition however, I haven’t been taking someone else’s ideas and making them visual, instead I’ve had to reflect on what I would like to say and what I would like to see in my artworks.
Land Currents is a body of work that has developed from wanting to create a style that reflected my culture and myself as an individual.
I’ve been inspired by David Dunn’s artworks (Done by Dunn Art) from an early age when I saw some of his work at a market when visiting Albury Wodonga. His artworks have vivid colours and dark silhouettes. I’ve always thought that the way he had created his own original works that still honoured his heritage was amazing.
When creating artworks for myself I really like to use watercolours and lino prints. The style I have developed use the appearance of both watercolours and prints but are created in the digital space which reflects my love of design and photography.
The subject of the collection of ‘Land Currents’ then came out of my own reflection of what my culture means to me. When I am feeling connected to the land I feel connected to culture whether I am on Taungurung country or not. My mother instilled in us, from an early age, a love and respect for the land that I feel has carried through with me when I have started to understand my culture.
Land Currents represents how land connects all of us. In particular I have looked at my favourite landscapes that make me feel at home. I think this is a feeling we can all share. Everyone has a place they love to go back to whether that is a childhood holiday spot or a favourite running track. Some people like sitting by the river and others like to hike up mountains to see the view.
Installing the Exhibit
Part of the exhibition process was actually installing the artworks into the gallery space.
When developing the artworks I had mapped out an idea of where I thought the artworks would hang which influenced the size of the artwork that were eventually printed.
Once printed we took the artworks from Wodonga down to The Koorie Heritage Trust to install.
The actual way the artworks were hung on the wall was really cool. We tapped a nail into the wall (after a lot of measuring!) and then a magnet was placed on top of the artworks to hold them in place. The result was a neat, small fixture that held up the image and matched perfectly with the white border of the prints.
Land Currents Opening Speech
While at the opening I gave a short speech about my artwork. Below is the speech I delivered - minus a lot of 'ums'!! Apparently speaking to a group that consists of more than 25 people is a bit nerve-wracking for me!
Hi everyone, My name is Maddi Moser and I am a proud member of the Taungurung community. I am the artist behind the collection of works on level 2 called 'Land Currents'.
Land Currents is a body of work that celebrates our relationship with landscapes. It symbolises how we all have a connection with a particular place, a childhood holiday spot or where we live. It is a place we feel most at home. We can share these places.
The collection is also an exploration of my own culture and what 'on country' means to me.
The style you see took me a while to develop. I wanted to find a way to represent my heritage and continue my culture while finding something that reflected me as an artist, as a photographer and as a designer. I was inspired from an early age by David Dunn who creates beautiful and vivid work. I was very interested how he used such rich colour. I also got to talk to Mick Harding about Taungurung symbols and art styles which was very useful to me when developing my own artwork.
Each artwork in the collection is a mixed media artwork that consists of a photo, an colour overlay from hand-painted high-flow acrylics or watercolour and digital Illustration.
I'd like to thank everyone for coming and hope you enjoy viewing all three exhibits.
I also wanted to thank those that helped me make it happen, the girls at The Koorie Heritage Trust, Kate and Moorina, our wonderful installer Beth and my mum, Janet Moser, who has always encouraged me to develop my art and then helped me negotiate the artworks from Wodonga to Melbourne to be installed!
For more information visit The Koorie Heritage Trust's Website here or you can find my exhibit on level 2 at The Koorie Heritage Trust in Fed Square (Melbourne). You can also contact me here if you would like to you are interested in purchasing an artwork and I can pass on the collection and pricing.
All photographs/artworks are by Maddi Moser and are not to be used without permission.