Interstate Kaff-eine: Curvy 8 book launch + exhibition, Sydney

Yesterday I returned from a fantastic 24 hour trip to Sydney, for the launch of the CURVY 8 book + exhibition at aMBUSH Gallery in Waterloo. It was the first time I’d been to Sydney in over a decade, + the first time ever to Waterloo + Redfern, where I was to spend most of my day.

I flew up obscenely early, to make the most of a rare day off (office)work. After meeting the friendly Curvy and aMBUSH crew at the gallery, I went for a long, sunny walk around the streets of Waterloo, Redfern, Ultimo, Darlington + Alexandria, with a bottle of paste, paintings on paper, + no idea about where I was going, but a love for the familiar-but-different tumbledown Victorian houses + narrow streets.

When my feet got too tired to continue, I rested in the shade with some locals on the grass at The Block. In the warm, late afternoon sun, I returned to aMBUSH, which looked superneat for the night’s event.

I joined the the enormous crowd for the launch and for the first time ever, painted in front of an audience, along with talented artists Rebecca Murphy + Nicole Tattersall. For an artist who more often than not paints in isolation, in ever more isolated secret spaces, this was a very different environment in which to paint, but I really enjoyed the crowd + the incredibly positive feedback.

At the end of the night, I crawled into a comfortable bed for a few hours sleep in a lush terrace house courtesy of a generous friend. I crept away before dawn to return to Melbourne, + travelled straight from the airport to the office, where (arms still marked with paint + ink) I immediately turned on the computer, resumed writing my day-job documents, + daydreamed of being back in Sydney’s welcoming embrace.

Thank you John + Bill from aMBUSH, for your warmth, generosity + support; I’m looking forward to returning to have more art/fun with you both soon. Thank you Nicole + Rob from CURVY, for allowing me to be a part of your wonderful publication + exhibition, + showing me (repeatedly) where to buy Waterloo coffee.  And thank you AZB, for offering what is definitely the most spectacular place in which I have ever crashed.

I’ll be back there soon x

Cherrie Magazine interview May 2012

I was recently invited to give an interview about my background, my street, urban and rural work, + my inspirations for the rad Cherrie Magazine:

The May 2012 Cherrie Magazine is in stores now, or check out the interview online at:  http://gaynewsnetwork.com.au/readonline/issues/cherrie-latest/index.html

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Melbourne Central Kaff-column

I was fortunate to be asked back to Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, to paint some of my characters on one of the ground floor columns. I had a great time over the past two nights, composing the design + spontaneously creating the colour scheme, painting the characters in the quiet calm of the Centre after the shoppers had left the building.

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Country painting

On a wintry Anzac Day, Precious Little + I headed off to country Victoria, to paint in remote places. We stumbled upon a spectacular antique train carriage +, sheltered from the wind + rain, painted the afternoon away. I painted a young deerhunter, disrobing:

And Presh painted lush poetry:

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Curvy book launch + exhibition

I’m excited to have an image in this year’s CURVY annual (rad photo courtesy of Rowena Naylor):

Since I can’t bring the door in this photo to the launch exhibition, I painted an image , Secret Conversation, especially for the night:

CURVY BOOK LAUNCH AND GROUP SHOW

CURVY 2012
Date: Wednesday 9 May 2012
Time: From 7:00-10:00 PM
Where: aMBUSH Gallery 4a James Street, Waterloo Sydney

CURVY is an annual book and exhibition that features the most exciting female artists from 40 countries worldwide.

Over the eight years that CURVY has been hitting studios and bookshelves around the world, its philosophy to support and inspire amazing female artists has never let up.

Collaborating with women from design capitals including Paris, London, LA, NYC, Melbourne, Toronto and Tokyo – and from countries as far afield as Australia, Ecuador, Mexico, Moscow, Serbia, Latvia, Indonesia, Norway, Malta and Israel among many others, CURVY is a platform where the next generation of female creative talent can shine.

This edition, the eight in the series, introduces the latest wave of exciting female visual artists in a new hard copy format and builds on the momentum of previous years with a new batch of boundary breakers.

The 2012 exhibition and launch features a selection of original work from artists in this year’s book including a special inclusion by issue 8 feature artist Miss Van.

The CURVY show kicks off the Semi-Permanent 2012 program – it’s an event that is not to be missed.

Limited copies of the book will be available for purchase at the show.

For more information head to www.curvy-world.com

ARTISTS IN 2012 BOOK:
Alice Amsel / Alyson Pearson / Amy Blue / Andrea Offermann / Andy Mccready / Anne Cobai / Anne Numont / Annie Davidson / Basak Savcigil / Bec Winnel / Beth Emily / Brett Manning / Bridge Stehli / Candy Yan Yan Ng / Carli Hyland / Carmen Hui / Carol Farrell / Catherine Esters / Cheryl Orsini / Danielle Bolton / Deb / Dominique Merven / Elise Lampe / Elodie / Erica Williams / Erin Flannery / Eve Young / Faith 47 / Felicity Gardner / Hayley O’connor / Jana Brike / Jessica Ng / Jessica Page / Jo Ley / Julianee Trew / Kaff Eine / Kathryn Renowden / Kelly Mckernan / Kelly Smith / Lady Poise / Lara Marshall / Lilian Darmono / Lilly Piri / Lily Mae Martin / Lily May / Lucy Hardie / Lucy Macleod / Marcela Bolivar / Maria Finna / Maria Mosquera / Maude Guesne / Melissa Contreras / Mimi Leung / Miss Van / Moie Preisenberger / Nadeesha Godamunne / Nat Carroll / Nom Kinnear King / Orlagh Murphy / Phoebe Johnson / Rebecca Terborg / Rena Littleson / Rosalind Clark / Sally Zou / Samantha Decarlo / Sonya Fu / Sorina Williams / Supersonic / Susan Purnell / Tabitha Shafran / Tiffany Rysdale / Venetia Cussen / Zan Von Zed /

See you there   x

 

A Really Good Friday

Aerosoulmate Precious Little and I hit the road early on Good Friday for some country driving, 90s power ballads + painting in isolated places, on a perfect, balmy Autumn day.

We painted in the gorgeous ruins of a remote, long-abandoned mudbrick farmhouse, surrounded by sunshine + silence, punctuated by gentle breezes + the chattering of cockatoos + galahs.

As we headed back along the dirt roads into the town for dinner, the lush thunderstorm that had been creeping up during the afternoon broke overhead. So we hit the brakes, cranked the CD up, jumped out of the graffmobile + broke out some sweet moves on the gravel to Total Eclipse of the Heart, with only the startled sheep + roiling clouds as witnesses.

We followed the storm back to Melbourne, entertained by the extravagant light show + confirming that, if we did get killed by lightning on the way, it would’ve been a pretty superneat last day on Earth for us both.

Happy Birthday Presh.

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Deerhunter Unclad

I spent the day in a stinky lane-way, under beautiful, sunny Fiztroy skies, painting one of the characters I designed for my LMFF Windows by Design window.

Thank you to St Jude’s, for the gorgeous old door (and the other door in the same location, which I will paint in a couple of weeks) + the coffee; thanks to my friends, who kept me company + entertained me in my breaks; + thanks to the kind people who chatted with me, unobtrusively took photos + complimented my work. I loved being out in the sun, in the lanes, taking my time, painting again.

And thanks to the guy who asked my permission to piss in the lane. When you gotta go, you gotta go.

Deerhunter Unclad, aerosol and acryclic paint on metal door, Fitzroy 2012

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Kaffeine v Husk for LMFF Windows by Design

The Kaff-eine v Husk installation is now officially open at 176 Collins st Melbourne, as part of the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Windows by Design project. Come and see some new Kaff-eine characters and techniques in an unconventional environment, from 1-31 March 2012. The walking tour of all the LMFF Windows by Design windows, complete with map and links to information about each artistic collaboration, is available here:

http://everguide.com.au/arts-and-culture/fashion/news/windows-by-design-walking-tour-ffg.aspx

Thank you Alex Zabotto-Bentley and the AZBCreative team, for inviting me to be a part of Windows by Design + trusting me enough to allow me complete creative freedom. Thank you Husk, for providing me with a wonderful temporary gallery space, and dressing my bagheads so beautifully.  And thank you City of Melbourne, Peroni and Harpers BAZAAR, for supporting the project.

It has been fantastic to receive such positive feedback about my new work in the first week of display, and to have spoken in person with so many supportive folk as I was installing the aerosol, cardboard and masking tape works last weekend. Thank you for all of your kind words.

A short interview in the City Weekly about my work for the Windows by Design project can be found at:

http://www.thecityweekly.com.au/news/local/news/general/lmff-takes-over-city-windows/2473528.aspx

Fitzroy Flasher has also written about the Kaff-eine v Husk window, even though it falls slightly south of Flasher’s usual flashing grounds:

http://thefitzroyflasher.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/kaff-on-collins.html

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Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival: Windows by Design

I am excited to have developed some new characters for release in Husk’s Collins st store next week as part of the Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Windows by Design project, curated by the fantastic Alex Zabotto-Bentley and his team from AZBCreative, presented by the City of Melbourne and supported by Peroni and Harper’s BAZAAR.

From the LMFF official program:

“LMFF Windows by Design invites key Melbourne retailers to partner with local design talent from a range of creative industries to collaborate and develop incredible, eye catching and engaging window displays during the month of March. Exploring these ephemeral galleries will be a feature moment of the LMFF Cultural Program that will captivate Melbourne.”

Alex and the AZBCreative team have curated a broad range of displays in a variety of CBD locations, with the following stores and collaborators:

Alice Euphemia + Edwards Moore
Bettina Liano + Mark Denver
David Jones + AZBCreative
Dedece + Mary Lipshut Vintage
Euroluce + Emma Coulter
Gorman + Dion Horstman
Harrolds + Bernadette Trela
Honor Among Thieves + Aaron Kinnane
HUSK + Kaff-eine
Scanlan & Theodore + Lucas Grogan
Swensk + Mark Douglass
Zambesi + Marcos Davidson

Husk gave me free rein to create, + I have had fun composing a design that brings my street work right into an indoor retail space, for an audience who may never have seen my work in its natural environment.

The Kaff-eine Husk window will be on display from next Monday, until the end of March x

I Heart Fitzroy project

I heart Fitzroy. To celebrate moving in to my awesome Fitzroy studio, I created a series of 12 original paintings on chipboard panels with aerosol, acrylic paint + pigment ink. The images were quick sketches of Kaff characters (mistakes + all), signed + numbered.

I placed the 12 panels around Fitzroy last night, + was stoked to find out that some had already been re-homed by morning, neat.

Lisa found ‘Emile’ within a couple of hours (happy photo courtesy Lisa Ritchie):

Sam found a few panels, including ‘Charlie’, during separate trips (neat action photo courtesy Sam Andrews):

And Rowena + Linda also found panels during a sunny early-morning walk (photos courtesy of Rowena Naylor Photography). I love this action pic, on the same rickety chair that I used to place ‘Noah’ up high:

Maude sniffed out ‘William’ down a lane that I had never seen before last night:

Less than 24 hours after they were released, all of the panels have been found, + the characters have new homes.  A big thank-you to everyone who photographed + shared their successful missions. I don’t deliberately revisit my street art, so I rarely find out what happens to my work, once completed.  It has been a joy to see the pics, + know that these characters have gone to loving homes x

I Heart Fitzroy x