Canberra based artist Elefteria Vlavianos talks to us about her practice and the inspiration behind her work in the Momentum 18th Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial opening at JamFactory 29 October

Tell us about yourself, how did you become a painter/printmaker?

I am not sure when I became a painter; because as far back as I can remember I have always painted and loved drawing. Having said this I have been painting on a full time basis for about 8 years. My earliest memories of printmaking are working with large scale silkscreen print in South Africa; however my adventure into etching and lithography came about in collaboration with the master print maker John Loane.

Which painters/ printmakers, craftspeople, writers, artists, musician, anyone do you find particularly inspiring?
I have a range of painters/ printmakers – craftspeople, writers, artists etc. that I find inspiring. The range is quite eclectic. In art historical terms, I am currently looking at the work of Eva Hesse and Arshile Gorky. My interest these artists is related to formal and transformation aspect of their work. My interest in their work connects to issues regarding, cultural displacement, translation and renewal. At the same time I am equally interested in the work of Robert Ryman, Barnett Newman and Agnus Martin

Within a contemporary – Australian context – I think that Australia has a huge wealth of artists so it is very hard for me to pick. So to mention a few artist whose work I am interested in include Bea Maddock, Hossein Valamanesh, Vivienne Binns and Juan Devila.

A key writer for me at the moment is John Berger – in particular his books – The Sense of Sight.

Have any of these people had a specific influence your way you approach to making? If so, how? For all artists the list of ‘artists’ they keep and return to time and again, each provide a little insight into approaches, processes and ways of thinking about art – in general – and practice specifically.

The work of Eva Hesse and Arshile Gorky is of current interest to me. Gorky’s late paintings fascinate me because I identify a translation of culturally specific imagery into a contemporary abstract context. In relation to Hesse’s work, I am interested in her investigation of materiality, structure and form beyond the limits of a modernist approach to formalism. I see her work as shifting the position and idea of the visual object from that of a statement to a question about art, culture and life. I find this approach appealing because it opens up all kinds of possibilities of what art might be, how it can be conceived and constructed. I am also fascinated by the way in which she investigated the materials she used in order to find new ways of making them speak.

Recently, I had an opportunity to meet the painter Juan Devila. We had this most amazing conversation about, tradition and transformation in painting - the move between representational and abstract work particularly in painting. This conversation was about carrying over a particular kind of cultural tradition and aesthetic into a contemporary context. This conversation will probably keep with me for a very long time.

Are there any specific quotes, ideas, places that influence this current body of work?
A current quote that I like very much is by Anni Albers – from “Material as Metaphor in Selected Writings on Design”

“How do we choose our specific material, our means of communication? ‘Accidentally’. Something speaks to us, a sound, a touch, harness or softness. It catches us and asks us to be formed. “

Is there any specific collections, museums that you have found inspiring and why?Last year I had an opportunity to visit the Benaki Museum in Athens. I was particularly interested in their textile collection form the Ottoman Empire prior to 1920’s. The collection was magnificent. It was the first time I was able to look at a large collection of traditional textiles form Anatolia and compare – motifs, colour, scale and techniques used and compositions employed.

Welcome us to your studio - where is it, do you share the space, if so what are the benefit of a shared space?

At the moment I have a studio at an artist run collective in Canberra known as ANCA or Australian National Capital Artists inc. I have a studio on my own, but there are 20 other studio’s in the complex which means that you can meet and interact with other artist. It’s an absolutely wonderful facility, and community.

My studio is quite big, and is filled with stuff. At the moment I am in the process of stretching and gessoing my next lot of canvasses. As a result the walls and floors are covered with white canvasses of differing sizes. I also have two tables that have works on paper on them that I am working on. There are normally a few things happening at once in the studio, which is the best way to be for me. I like to have things in a kind of progression.

The work for the exhibition: Can you describe the specific themes reflected in this body of work?

I made this work in 2008 and at the time I was interested in the way in which memory can be carried over though material tactility. I was interested in the relationship between the intimacy of work and how they might connect individuals to a particular time, place or event. I had this feeling to create something that was intimate, jewel-like as well as being expansive or a movement in time. This interest is connected to themes regarding time, rhythm, and regeneration. In addition I also wanted the works to be seductive and to slow the viewer down into looking.

Describe your method of production in this current work?

My methodology is process driven and highly detailed. I also wanted to straddle the boundaries between – drawing, printmaking and textile genres. So in relation to this, I was quite playful. At the time I did not want to think to hard about the result, it was more a matter of making, so that one work lead to another. There are 6 in this series, but they in fact are part of a much larger series of 14 works. They were installed in a single line so that the viewer would move from one to the next in a progression.

Melbourne based artist Vicki Mason talks to us about her practice and the inspiration behind her work in the Momentum 18th Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial opening at JamFactory 29 October

Tell us about yourself, how did you become a jeweller?
A visit to Fluxus jewellery gallery and workshop in the mid 80s in Dunedin NZ when I was an arts student studying the classics helped get me hooked on the idea of a career in the crafts as a studio jeweller.

Which jeweller, craftspeople, writers, artists, musician, anyone do you find particularly inspiring?
I’m a greatly inspired by the work of Julie Blyfield along with numerous other wonderful jewellers like Otto Kunzli, Lucy Sarneel, Svenja John to name just a few.

Outside my field the works of Karl Blossfeldt, Paul Klee, Hundertwasser (Friedrich Stowasser), William Morris, Georgia O’Keefe, Margaret Preston, Lucien Henry and many others are always inspirational. Aussie writers like Kate Grenville, Alex Miller and Peter Temple... as well as garden writers like Richard Aitken and Peter Timms always leave me feeling refreshed.

Have any of these people had a specific influence your way you approach to making? If so, how?
I think I’ve been influenced by the clarity of vision that Julie Blyfield seems to convey in her work.

Are there any specific quotes, ideas, places that influence this current body of work?
My observing the curious nature of a Kumquat tree given to me by a family member many years ago that I have planted in my herb garden affected the development of some of the works in the exhibition. This tree’s stem is formed from two separate parts. Onto a root stock of some kind a Kumquat tree has been grafted and it is this join and the process undertaken in order for this to happen that intrigued me.

Are there any specific collections, museums that you have found inspiring and why?
A visit to the Powerhouse Museum as well as the AGSA in 2009 to view some Australian colonial jewellery as part of a fieldwork trip for my Masters study has been the most recent source of contact with collections of artefacts. The use of Australian indigenous flora in some of the works I viewed is really stimulating.

Welcome us to your studio - where is it, do you share the space, if so what are the benefit of a shared space?
I work from home in the suburbs of Melbourne due to family commitments. I get tonnes done but often miss the chatter of a shared space.

The work for the exhibition: Can you describe the specific themes reflected in this body of work?
This series explores concerns to do with place and belonging. I was thinking about hybridity and grafting, often associated with agricultural and horticultural practices to fuse two plants to achieve a desired outcome. The idea of grafting is used in some of these works as a metaphor for the migrant experience, where a fusing of sorts takes place. The series creates a sense of how disparate elements can be engineered and come together to create something completely new. I used motifs from a variety of historical sources as well as indigenous flora from the area where I live to try to generate new meanings and create new ornamental forms that speak to this concept of fusion.

The work arranged in a circle, relates to the ideas of systemisation and classification in the study of botany, to Petri dishes, and to the circular form of pots into which we put many plants.

Describe your method of production in this current work?
These works mix hand-fabrication processes with industrial processes. The combination of industrial techniques and processes with obvious craft processes brings together old and new technologies. These processes in combination with the choice to use an old established material (metal) with a new material (plastic) was aimed at reflecting the underlying concepts of the work with its mixed focus.

Patsy Hely talks to us about her practice and the inspiration behind her work in 'To There and Back' opening in Gallery 2 at JamFactory on October 29

Tell us about yourself, how did you become a ceramic artist?
My grandmother and mother had some quite lovely ceramic objects, English and Japanese mostly, that I always loved, but had never been curious about how they came into the world. Then one day in the 70’s in England I was wandering around St Ives with a friend and we passed a pottery workshop and - looking through the window - saw someone throwing a pot. It had never occurred to me that pots were made by hand – but I think I was hooked on the spot.

Which ceramic artists, craftspeople, writers, artists, musician, anyone do you find particularly inspiring?
I’m most influenced I think by the written word. The person who over a period of time has had the biggest impact on my thinking and, therefore, on my making, is the writer Phillip Rawson. His text ‘Ceramics’, written I think in the 60’s, is the most critically engaged reflection on pots I’ve ever read and I can still read it today, though I’ve read it many times, and still find new insights. Lately, I’m struck by the concentrated act of producing an extended imaginative text such as, for instance, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel or Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin – both bring a whole world to life.

I’ve just written an essay for an exhibition marking the 80th birthday of Les Blakebrough. I’ve come away from doing the research for that absolutely full of admiration for someone who has managed such a long and fruitful career and made a very tangible contribution to his field. The work I probably most love having at home is that of Kirsten Coehlo, it is just so perfect both to use and to see sitting on the shelf.

Have any of these people had a specific influence your way you approach to making? If so, how?
I think both Les and Kirsten have a strong sense of what they want to make and are very interested in trying to learn something for themselves through developing work. When I work for an exhibition I need to totally immerse myself in a set of ideas that I find valuable and that relate to issues I’m interested in intellectually – so I feel that I know more after I’ve developed a body of work, not just made more. Phillip Rawson’s view of ceramics as an art with a long historical trajectory has always informed my making. It’s given me a love of the history of ceramics and taken away any need to feel I have to make something ‘new’, I’m happiest making work that is connected to that trajectory, even if I’m the only one who recognizes it!

Are there any specific quotes, ideas, places that influence this current body of work?
It has grown out of previous work and a long held interest in intersections between souvenirs, the recording of experience and ideas about place and belonging.

Are there any specific collections, museums that you have found inspiring and why?
I spent a few days wandering the V & A last year - I think that is probably a craftsperson’s heaven. Seeing the collections there reinforces for me that imaginative acts, like making something, are worthwhile pursuits.

Welcome us to your studio - where is it, do you share the space, if so what are the benefit of a shared space?
I work alone in a small studio behind the house. I’ve shared studios in the past and enjoyed that but now – I much prefer working alone and have come to rely on the space it opens up for reverie.

The work for the exhibition: Can you describe the specific themes reflected in this body of work?
I’m interested in how experience of place is recorded both by myself and by others. There is a long tradition of this in ceramics, as both souvenir and document. I’ve been to Adelaide quite a lot over the last few years and spent quite a bit of time walking the city and taking photographs. Painting these images now is a way of thinking about place, of remembering experience - immersing myself in recollection. Many of the images are somewhat mundane, city streetscapes for instance, and it’s a challenge to make something visually interesting through the manipulation of materials.

Describe your method of production in this current work?
All of the work is slipcast porcelain painted with combinations of ceramic under and overglaze and ceramic lustre.

JamPacked speaks to Annabelle Collett, who's work is exhibiting in Momentum, the 18th Tamworth Textile Biennial, showing at the JamFactory, 29th October to 5th December

Tell us about yourself, how did you become a textile artist?
I have always loved pattern, it’s history and significance across all cultures, on all types of surfaces. At Art School, looking at modern and abstract painting, I always felt the designs would look great as printed fabric. From the early seventies I have been playing, experimenting and making patterns on material. Frustrated with the fabrics available commercially I have hand painted, hand printed and knitted textile designs for items that I have constructed to sell as fashion and soft furnishings. Over the last decade I have made art pieces as abstract coverings, intentionally unwearable, incorporating social comment reflecting current concerns. Over the years I have also collected a huge amount of patterned vintage textile lengths as a reference to textile designs from the 20th Century.

Which textile artists, craftspeople, writers, artists, musicians, anyone do you find particularly inspiring?
I have always loved artists whose work could be easily converted to textile designs. Artists like Jackson Pollock, Stuart Davis, Sonia Delaney, but there are also many others, too many to mention.

Welcome us to your studio - where is it?
I moved house and studio about 18 months ago into quite a large place. My studio is upstairs in a large room with fabulous natural light and a big balcony.

I have a room dedicated to my collection of vintage fabrics and another room referred to as the ‘inside shed’. I have been very productive in this studio space, as, for me, these elements of space, light and ordered accessibility enliven my creative energies.

The work for the exhibition: Can you describe the specific themes reflected in this body of work?
The work in this exhibition is from a much larger collection titled ‘Disruptive Pattern Syndrome’ which made up a solo exhibition that I have exhibited in many galleries around Australia in the past few years. With this body of work I have used many types of camouflage fabrics to convey the elements of visual disguise. In contemporary society camouflage sits in a broad arena from military application to fashion items. This has allowed me to explore, abstract and play with the principal themes of similarity and difference.

Describe your method of production in this current work?
For this work I wanted the opportunity to create my own ‘camouflage’ fabric, using the digital process of designing and printing, now readily available.

Playing with patterns and shapes that I created on the computer in Photoshop I developed many designs that followed the principals of merging and blending. I have had these designs digitally printed onto short lengths of cotton drill, in 4 different colour ways. The sewn garment plays with the notions of a military uniform and is placed in front of the panels of the same fabrics to create a chameleon pattern play that I’ve called ‘Neo-Camo’.

JamPacked speaks to Jane Bowden, who's work is exhibiting in Momentum, the 18th Tamworth Textile Biennial, showing at the JamFactory, 29th October to 5th December

Tell us about yourself, how did you become a jeweller?
I bought my first piece of jewellery, a small silver ring, when I was about 11 in Sydney. From the day I put that ring on I wanted to be a jeweller.

Which jewellers, craftspeople, writers, artists, musician, anyone do you find particularly inspiring?
I find so many things inspiring. I love architecture, Japanese furniture, well crafted pieces including well crafted jewellery. Pieces that you can’t work out, just by looking at them, how they were made. Detail…… Objects that make you want to hold them. Trips to other countries, different cultures are inspiring.

Are there any specific quotes, ideas, places that influence this current body of work?
These pieces are inspired by the process of weaving and the small central ring becomes the loom for my piece, and the beginning point. The ring forms have developed as I weave. My aim was to create that link between the internal and external form. I like the way the weaving is translucent and you can see the internal form if you look closely. I have been inspired by forms of the Aboriginal eel fishing traps.

Is there any specific collections, museums that you have found inspiring and why?
I love visiting galleries when I’m travelling. I love the history of the pieces. Who made pieces and when, and what happened to them. Who wore or owned pieces. I love the emotion and life a piece has.

Welcome us to your studio - where is it, do you share the space, if so what are the benefit of a shared space?
Our arcade - Gay’s Arcade, Adelaide SA

Our studio and gallery
Zu Design - Jewellery + Objects

Our Gallery

I work from my studio and gallery in Gay’s Arcade, Zu design - jewellery and objects. Gay’s Arcade is a part of Adelaide Arcade and is such a beautiful place to work in. Our Gallery show cases over 80 artists from across Australia. Roman and I run Zu design and we have access tenants who share our space. It’s great sharing a space with other jewellers. We share equipment and help with making solutions. I find it inspiring.

Our Workshop

The work for the exhibition: Can you describe the specific themes reflected in this body of work?
Woven ring series for MOMENTUM - My work for this exhibition is about the momentum and rhythm in the process of the weaving and construction of each of my pieces.

Describe your method of production in this current work?

I begin with a small central form and then add many pieces of silver wire which become the warp for my weaving. I use a very fine piece of silver or gold wire (0.3mmin diameter) as the weft and I weave my ring form. In these pieces I have varied the colour using different metals including sterling silver, 18ct white, 18ct pink gold, 22ct gold and beryllium treated sapphires.