Denise Dempsey
What part of the process of creating art do you like best?
I really like problem solving especially making sculptures or collages. How do I get this to work or join or stand up?
What is your working environment like?
I have a large studio with different areas for sculpture – carving, welding, assembling – and painting. It is my sanctuary and in the deep hills’ winter my potbelly keeps me snug and warm.
What kind of (formal & informal) art training have you had?
In my late forties, on long service leave, I did glass painting at the local community house and had a colour-inspired epiphany that art was my vehicle to myself. I quit teaching to do a Dip. of Visual Arts at Box Hill TAFE, finishing at Swinburne TAFE.
How has your art training affected the kind of art you produce?
When I started at TAFE I had no idea what I really wanted to do except that I had ignored my interest in art since year 12. The day I started sculpture with Van Komis and he spoke about working out the negative spaces in a sculpture, I was hooked.
Name some important influences and inspirations in your art career.
Some other influences on my art have been; Leonard French, Ernst Fries, Van Gogh and Margaret Preston.
What has been the most difficult thing you have encountered in your work?
The most difficult thing encountered whilst doing my work is counteracting my inadequacies when it comes to correct tools and their use. Hardware shops are my heaven!
Have there been major turning points in your art career?
I suppose the event that made me have courage to follow my dream was the 1997 fires. Our house and my family were threatened and it made me question what was important? Had I lived my life or had it lived through me? It demanded to be let out of the closet.
What has been the highlight of your art career?
The highlight of my career was when I managed a gallery in Balwyn and worked with the most amazing artists. I learnt so much!
Artist comment about “Impressions of a Still Life”
When I was young I spent hours tearing magazines into little pieces and making cheap mosaic lamps from old wine bottles. I liked giving them away and the puzzle solving skill required by the mosaic medium. Walker Street Gallery started a 9 x 5 exhibition, reminiscent of the exhibition held by the Impressionists in the 1800s. The Impressionists were influenced by Japanese Art and so I combined my love of Impressionism, paper mosaics and Oriental Art.
Artist comment about “Shrine of Memories”
I have collected odds and sods most of my life and after my mother died I wanted to use some of these long held memories in a sculpture. An image that stayed with me after travelling in Bali some decades ago was the proliferation of shrines along the roadsides. I thought a shrine of my memories was a grand way to remember my life and how my mother played a large part in it.