STROBED
A place to see a few photos and a few words about Sydney art exhibitions when you can't get there yourself. Or when you want to see photos of yourself on the internet.
Proliferation – Kath Fries [Gaffa]
when: Opening night Thursday 1 July 2010, 6-8pm. Exhibition continues until Tuesday 13 July 2010.
cost: Free.
where: Gaffa Gallery, 281 Clarence Street, Sydney.
From Kath Fries:
Please join me for the opening night, 6–8pm Thurs 1 July And my artist talk, 2pm Sat 10 July
‘Proliferation’ is a new installation by Kath Fries at Gaffa Sydney that fills the gallery space with hundreds of feathers. The gallery space will appear to be bursting at the seams as hidden stuffing spews forth and strands of feathers trail down the walls and explode out of the cracks between floorboards. The artist will tend the installation daily and viewers will be able to see it change and grow over this period.
Feathers have featured as a consistent motif in Fries’ work over the past three years. In ‘Proliferation’ the artist has used recycled feathers — reclaimed stuffing from an old sofa, an inconsequential material usually dismissed as debris — to comment on humanity’s destructive urges and continued environmental abuse. The use of feathers within this context provokes emotionally volatile responses from attraction to repulsion.
In this installation Fries creates a space that conjures dreamlike connections and evokes cautionary myths and fables. ‘Proliferation’s’ fleeting and temporal qualities resonate a sense of tension, balancing between the immediate present and the possibilities of the unknown.
An artist’s book titled ‘Feather’ will also accompany the installation. The publication features a selection of photographs taken by the artist that present an illuminating insight into her ongoing explorations of this material. Fries’ photography is both informed and complementary to her installation practice and offers a unique perspective on her art practice.
Kath Fries completed a Masters of Visual Art at Sydney College of the Arts, the University of Sydney in 2008. She has been exhibiting at Gaffa Gallery since 2006 and has created site-sensitive temporal installations for numerous national art festivals including Rockingham WA, Hunter Valley NSW, Drummoyne NSW, Lake George NSW and Bryon Bay NSW. She recently completed an artist-residency at Laughing Waters VIC and was awarded a ‘Facetnate’ scholarship from the Japan Foundation’s Emerging Artist Program.