Artists WA – showcasing West Australian artists

Embargoed 1st October 2008

Childhood daydreams, influence for new photographic exhibition

Cast your mind back to your childhood days, adorned with your mother’s pearls, dancing in the garden, feathers and flowers in your hair, playing dress-ups. You were just a girl, energetic, curious, carefree and full of high hopes and dreams.

…Like I saw in your dreams, , is a series of post-process digital photographs and illustrations, capturing the child-like fantasies and day-dreams so many little girls had before evolving into women.
The exhibition focuses on the energetic, curious, illogical yet beautiful nature of the girl within the woman. Each piece features a single female in a depiction of the imagined views many women had of themselves as children; mystical, glamorous and beautiful.

Held at The blend(er) gallery in Joondalup with opening night on Wednesday, October 22nd 2008 at 7pm, …Like I saw in your dreams will be on display for 2 weeks. During which time, art-enthusiasts can invoke their inner childhood dreams between 10am and 2pm Tuesday to Friday and between 6pm and 9pm Friday to Sunday through to closing night Saturday,
November 1st.

The surreal environment in each photograph suggests the different points of view for each individual, in which the female subject is displayed in a closed, solitary universe, totally at peace and fulfilled by her own existence.
The artist Mu incorporates aspects of ‘lyashi-kei’ girls from Japanese culture as well as elements of Zen Buddhism, in a surprising synergy with Perth-based models.
The exhibition excites the imagination and challenges viewers to consider whether they are living the life they dreamed of as children. Whether they are the person they imagined themselves to be. Whether they are happy and fulfilled by their identity.

A combination of soft light, organic shapes and strong colours has been used to manifest the dreamy, surreal yet powerful representation in each piece. Adding to the mystical atmosphere of the photographs are mixtures of elaborate fabrics, feathers, flowers and pearls evoking a chic atmosphere and vogue-esque style.

Originally from Japan, Mu has a unique western-Japanese art style, developed through her visual and design experience in both Australia and Japan. While much of her background has been in illustrations, Mu’s photographic passion has developed in recent years, blossoming into what can only be described as a wonderfully, unique representation of the world as she sees it.

A joint venture of the City of Joondalup and the Joondalup Community Arts Association, the blend(er) is a community gallery offering the perfect forum for local artists to exhibit their work in a collaborative environment.

For more info, please contact Mu Okayama-Everitt on 0400 666 066 or email mickandmu@theroute777.com

Kaleidoscope
An exhibition of photography by David Garland,
Subway tunnels, Stations and Train Yards.
25th July – 12th August.

Kaleidoscope presents a series of photographs that expose the secrets of a deep, dark and luminous underground world.

Photographed in London, Prague, Rome, New York, Kuala Lumpur, Copenhagen, Paris and Istanbul, David captures the true beauty of these empty, lonely places, allowing his audience a rare glimpse at
an environment usually seen only by a handful of workers, homeless and graffiti writers.

This is a wonderful oppurtunity to view beautiful images from around the world, from cities that few of us ever have the chance to visit and from locations that only the truly intrepid go to sight-see.

Keith and Lottie invites you to come explore with opening drinks on Wednesday the 25th of July from 6pm.Kaleidoscope runs until the 12th of August 2007, Seven days a week 11am – 6pm.

Keith and Lottie
276 William St,
Northbridge 6003

Seng is a Perth-based documentary and art photographer, working predominantly with digital photography and digital media. He is a coordinator of the ‘Photographers in Perth’ online community and has organised and participated in a number of local and national exhibitions, including ‘From Pixel to Print’ at the Perth Centre for Photography, the upcoming ‘Dare to Bare’ at the KURB Gallery, and the Red Lens Photography Award in NSW.

Seng is currently undertaking a photography project entitled ‘Sons of Beaches’, which sees him documenting the exploits and experiences of WA surf lifesavers over the surf life-saving season in 2006-2007. ‘Sons of Beaches’ focuses on re-representing an image that is iconic Australian – the photographs present different ways of viewing, presenting and thinking about surf-lifesaving as a tradition or institution that is traditionally masculine, even militaristic.

Son of a Beach

“Australians invest heavily in our icons – we invest in it qualities that we deem valuable, admirable: courage, mateship, strength, endurance, all qualities which are associated with the surf-lifesaver. It is also a very male-dominated culture because of its roots and even though there is a fair proportion of female to male lifesavers today, the values and traditions to which surf-lifesaving clubs adhere to are still fairly masculine. This traditional view of surf-lifesaving has been promulgated through Australian and International media and while it makes for exciting viewing, I think that it repeats ideas, concepts and emotions that already exist in the Australian imagination.

“‘Sons of Beaches’ is about re-representing an image that is iconic Australian. The project is called ‘Sons of Beaches’ because I wanted to examine the way the icon constructs and presents certain ways of thinking about ‘masculinity’. What I want to do is to look for different ways of viewing, presenting and, thus, thinking about surf-lifesaving as a tradition or institution. Not necessarily challenging established beliefs about the icon but creating visuals that ask viewers to look at surf-lifesaver as something beyond the stereotype.

“Surf-lifesaving competitions can be a real spectacle for viewers. There is a great deal of action going on in these events. What I am most interested in, however, are the moments in-between that reveal the human face behind the drama that unfolds in these events. At the end of the day, we are talking about individuals who are devoting a large proportion of their lives to surf-lifesaving – people from diverse socio-economic background who have this dedication to the cause and competition as the common element binding them together. In ‘Sons of Beaches’, I want to catch the more human aspects of these events – aspects that might make people stop and stare, and wonder, even if for a moment, about what they are seeing. Sometimes, there is humour is the images; it is to humanise the icon – when you can laugh at or with someone, you’re acknowledging him or her as a peer, rather than as something which is objectified and distanced, which is what usually happens with icons.”

White Pointer

Cheeks

City Boys

Carine Thevenau is a freelance photographer specialising in the fields of advertising, editorial, music and fashion. Her artistic vision varies from conceptual, ideas based images through to raw photojournalistic styles. Carine’s interest in photography dates back to PIAC, a youth extended learning program which she attended at the age of 8, where she produced a series of black and white, self developed photographic works as part of an assessed project. Her love and passion for the photographic medium has led to a successeful career and in 2004 was labelled “a leading photographer of tomorrow” by Ilford photographics when she was selected to exhibit as part of the Photo Imaging World Exhibition” in Darling Harbour, Sydney. Carine’s images have been shown in galleries across Australia and more recently at the Los Angeles Centre Of Digital Art in the United States.

Rosie

Beaufort 1

Beaufort 2

Karnivool

To check out more of Carine’s work visit www.carinethevenau.com.