Brooch -The subject...
Fitzroy Library Exhibition Space
4 August - 5 October
Contemporary Brooches & wearable art in various media
Garden of Eden, plastic beads & safety pins, 8 x 5 x 3 cm, by Monika Zechetmayr
Looking for a conversation starter, why not wear a brooch, handmade by CAS members and suitable for wearing day or night with either formal or casual wear? Members contributed to this Inaugural Exhibition at the Fitzroy Library and produced an eclectic range of wearable art pieces. Using creativity and ingenuity artists devised many contemporary pieces for submission, especially those of Cressida Fox who used found objects to construct her work, in particular a work entitled Rover. Rover as well as a white horse was mounted on a dark padded fabric background, creating a vintage yet contemporary piece of wearable art.
Candy Box, mixed media on felt & leather, 6 x 8 x 1.5 cm, by Joy Elizabeth Lea
Waratah, Raku fired clay,5.5 x 6 x .5 cm, by Helen Clancy
Kath Bibi Ostermark adopted a practical and quirky approach and mounted her brooches on vividly coloured cardboard rectangles. Lucy, her cat creature sported a soft feline body fashioned from sheep wool. Vibrant purple in colour Lucy would be an ideal choice of accessory for cat lovers. Brooches fashioned from surgical steel as well as anodized aluminum were submitted by Robert Lee, each work exhibiting the creative ability of their designer, and Angry Cloud (Melbourne Cyclotron) was a superb surgical steel piece with angular asymmetrical work. A work that imparted a hard-edged metal impression was softened by the use of line work, which gave an organic feel to the smooth polished surface. This brooch came with a little caption; ’pop it in the autoclave, and wear it for your next booked surgery.’ Other works of interest were two pieces of formed engravure plastics (unique), quirky little figures of Art Man and Art Woman.
Eccentric Artist, mixed media, 8 x 8 x 2 cm, by Rosemary Mangiamele
Lucy, mixed media, 5 x 10 x 0.5 cm, by Kathe Bibi Ostermark
Pink Burlesque, a work contributed by Joy Elizabeth Lea displayed evidence of Joy’s background in textiles. This work was a textured beaded creation using designer threads, diamantes, seed beads, and fresh water pearls stitched and mounted onto leather.
Rosemary Mangiamele’s work reflected her own well-rounded personality as in the Eccentric Artist, made using a circular design, hand painted and embellished with a sizable gemstone. Original, quirky and definitely brooches worn to reflect one’s beliefs, perhaps attracting similarly minded.
Review by Joy Elizabeth Lea
Angry Cloud (Melbourne Cyclotron), surgical stainless steel (unique), 10 x 3.5 x 0.5 cm, by Robert Lee
Martian Relic, mixed media, 9 x 5 x 0.5 cm, by Shelley Vincent
Rover, mixed media, 5 x 10 x 1.5 cm, by Cressida Fox
Yesterdays Beauty Today Use, plaster, old jewellery & acrylic paint, 3.5 x 3.5 x 1 cm, by Neda Starac