Exhibited 8th to 21st April 2022, 130 Art Studios Gallery, 130 Keira St, Wollongong
Home – you’re here
About & Bio – see below
Contact – see below
Austerity with Jokes (AWJ) 1-3
All works 160 x 210 cms executed 2022 @$1500
Stacks numbers 1 – 8
All works 120 x 180 cms executed 2020-21 @ $850
Networks 1-7
All works approx 30 x 40 cms executed 2020 @$250
Structure with motif 1-3
All works 40 x 50 cms executed 2021 @$375
Intersections 1-3
Intersections 1 & 2, 120 x 120 cms @$750; Intersection 3, 700 x 160 cms 2019 @$750
About
I set this website up to show work already exhibited and in the public domain. The work included in the Austerity with Jokes exhibition was executed from mid 2019 to 2022 and, except for some watercolour roughs, was derived through a rather idiosyncratic wax resist technique somewhat akin to batik. I began experimenting with this method over thirty years ago and was able to develop it on a full-time basis from 2019. One of the qualities of the method is the rich textural detail it produces. This quality is easily lost on reduction to a web-sized graphic, hence my interest in ensuring the work is exhibited in the round in the first instance.
I regard the work as strictly abstract in nature. That is to say it is not intended to allude to a spiritual or emotional realm – to represent – at least not consciously. My starting points revolve around the processes of making, the illusion of space and its negation, the satisfaction the eye gains from examining structure, interplay between hard and soft line, and the juxtaposition of the austere rectilinear forms with frivolous organic shapes and colours . Composition has also reasserted itself as a priority as a by-product of interest in structure. All these interests are marshalled through the prerogative of the eye: its desire to seek out rules, to group and set apart, to insist on maintaining its vertical/horizontal plumb-bob even in this two dimensional world and to sense both illusion and allusion. My work method also allows me to enjoy seeing the traces of past applications of wax re-emerge to echo and document the making process. And to constantly surprise me with its outcomes and inventions.
Like many works in batik-related fields, mine has been executed on calico or cotton and was exhibited unstretched as wall-hangings. I personally like this form of presentation, emphasising as it does the two dimesionality of the surface. The material support has been reinforced with a polymer size and a flexible sealant on the back. Additional rigidity is provided by lightweight horizontal batons (20x5mm).
Bio
I left school intent to pursue a life in painting and did so for seven years, during which I completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Auckland University. Family responsibilities and a period of international travel put an artist’s career out of reach for many years. I have continued to draw and paint as a recreational outlet during my working life as childcare worker, reprographic artist, journalist and occasional editor, academic, community development worker and local body politician. I have been working full-time on artwork since mid-2019. Austerity with Jokes is my first solo exhibition.
To contact me
I welcome inquiries concerning my practice and exhibited items. Please get in touch via the form below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
SIMON J EMSLEY 