Dwelling

Singularity 1

In collaboration with Chris Sprague

2014

Hand embroidered silk thread on digitally printed silk twill.

(h x w): approx 60cm x 60cm

Gathering Place (detail)

In collaboration with Rosemary O'Rourke.
2014

Hand embroidered, plant dyed
thread on silk.
(h x w): approx 60cm x 60cm

Liminal

In collaboration with Kristian Laemmle-Ruff 2012

Digital C-Type Print
64cm X 64cm

Heron

In collaboration with Kristian Laemmle-Ruff 2014

Digital C-Type Print
(h x w): 64cm X 64cm

Well

2013

Dry grass, beading line, hand spun thread. (core spun - stainless steel coated in mixed fibres)

Size: 44 x 15 x 15cm

I’ve had a great many threads of thought and feeling tugging at me while making this work. A central theme is the interconnectedness of the world, the thought that everything affects everything else, whether subtly or powerfully. I thank David Abram's sensitive writing for bringing to light the concept that the atmosphere and the mind are one and the same, in the way of the great Wind-Mind of the world that the Inuit call ‘Sila’.

The billabong near my home has been my muse for some years now. It serves as collaborator, anchor and sounding board for much of my creative process. Sitting in the grasses between the delicate twigs of young red gums often reminds me of Bill Neidjie thoughts on a blended body and landscape, ‘Grass – he just like your brother. In my blood, in my arm, this grass’.

Working collaboratively throws my own process into sharp relief. I tend to postpone closure, progressing quite slowly and holding a cloud of related ideas around me until they find their place in the work. Communicating this amorphous territory to others requires trust and patience from both sides. The nature of the exchange changes from one to the next but I’ve really enjoyed the common ground and understanding that’s emerged from quite different practices. It can be difficult (and, I think, irrelevant) to identify where the work began and who’s influencing whom.

For their receptivity and generosity, my thanks to this incomplete list: Ria Soemardjo, Myfanwy Alderson, Gillian Lavery, Chris Sprague, Kristian Laemmle-Ruff, Kim McKechnie and Michael Schlitz for his way without words.

Ilka White