The Ballarat Independent.

There are alternatives for artists to formal galleries, applying for grants, writing applications, and paying both hire costs and hefty commissions to get their work shown.

Pondering on the problem of artists waiting around for other people to help them out and the high costs of hiring a gallery exhibition space, John Wrigglesworth realised he was living with the solution. With a lounge and adjoining dining room larger than many gallery spaces, he could put on an art show without being reliant on anyone else. It would be artists doing a positive thing for themselves.

Art exists in homes. Most of the art that is sold ends up on display in this environment where it is part of the daily family life, not in a gallery, museum or hospital. So an exhibition in a home is an ideal environment for the art.

A home showing is relaxed and informal. It's a way of doing an art show in a personal manner. It's a great way to meet people and have conversations. People can sit down if they need to rest their feet.

"There's been lots of talk about art, culture and the desires/needs of artists but not much action. I don't think a culture can be organised or created out of meetings but grows from actions by individuals just doing what they love, whatever the limitations. I have the room, had met the people I admire, and here we are with our first show!"

John Wrigglesworth
John's stories emerge from a background begun in 1970's suburban Melbourne, honed through more than a decade of props making and Art Direction in film and television and now based for the past two years in Ballarat.
His smaller works have been exhibited in Melbourne, Hong Kong and London. His most recent showing was as part of Lorne Sculpture Show.

Dawn Whitehand
Dawn has been a practicing artist for approximately twelve years. During this time she has participated in national and international exhibitions; taught from her studio, in schools, community centres and University; has had images published in several books; has published journal articles; and attended overseas residencies. Most recently, Dawn was invited to participate in the Gangjin Ceramics Festival in South Korea where she exhibited with other international artists and demonstrated her ceramic techniques during the festival.

Dawn's works in this exhibition feature sculptural ceramic works that interact and change the nature of the space they occupy. Made of clay, these sculptures also recall their origins within the Earth and the textured and organic glazed surfaces heighten this connection. It is hoped these notions rekindle an awareness in the viewer that they too are from the Earth, and just as the sculpture occupies and changes space so too do humans. These sculptures, therefore, being a portrayal of the natural surroundings, serve to prompt a reaction in the viewer, encouraging a healing of their disenfranchised relationship with the environment.

In the current eco-political climate it is important to re-awaken humanities natural embedment and connection with the Earth, as this will enable people to view the environment not as the ‘other', but as an integral part of themselves.

Jennifer Powell
Jennifer has been a practising artist for more than thirty years, working in a broad span of media which include drawing, painting, sculpture, and performance art. She has had a number of articles publish, has performed and exhibited at a number of arts festivals and has been a major contributor at a number of large creative events hosted by Deakin University.

"My work has always been the way I have made sense of my world and it chronicles my explorations through the wild sometimes dark spaces inside myself collecting experiences of the divine feminine. My hope for my work is that by exposing my humanity in this way I might touch a resonance in the viewer that might move or inspire a little wonder and a sense of mystery. I was keen to be part of this exhibition because like John I wanted to show art removed the elite isolation of the gallery and displayed in the human spaces of the domestic space."

Brodaigh de Carteret
Imagery provides Brodaigh with a journey, an answer or a question. Her work has been described as atmospheric, with sensitive line work. She is told she "moves very well over the paper... the images have a realistic quality, yet are expressionist in mood & tone".
Brodaigh is seeking commissions for portraits in oil, clay and charcoal.

SuburbiART:
Four Ballarat artists are showing works in a relaxed, domestic setting for one weekend only. Come along and enjoy an intimate viewing of their artworks, some recent, some a little more vintage.
WHO: John Wrigglesworth, Dawn Whitehand, Jennifer Powell and Brodaigh de Carteret
Where: 15 Victoria Avenue, Ballarat
When: Saturday and Sunday 20-21 November, 2011 10am-4pm

Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to meet and chat to the artists, and maybe even acquire some original artworks.