Watercolour paintings, strands of woven ribbon stars and colourful native textiles will feature in three new exhibitions to open this month at Redland Art Gallery.
Cleveland painter and printmaker Brian Hatch will showcase a series of miniature watercolours and imaginative land and seascapes, as well as engraved zinc plates inspired by whale bone engraving techniques, from Saturday 16 July to Saturday 3 September at the Capalaba gallery.
Redland City Mayor Karen Williams said the exhibition, held in conjunction with Queensland Seniors Week 2016, was inspired by Mr Hatch’s travels around Australia and a fascination with the old art form of ‘scrimshaw’ used by Hawaiian whalers.
“The exhibition called Mini watercolours, modern scrimshaw and prints showcases Brian’s talents and interests in printmaking and painting,” Cr Williams said.
“His watercolours are inspired by a journey from Fraser Island to Tasmania’s Bay of Fires and Wilpena Pound in Central Australia, while the engravings are informed by his studies and travels in the United States.”
Cr Williams said two new exhibitions featuring a colourful selection of woven ribbon stars, textiles and artefacts would open at the Cleveland gallery from 31 July.
“Birkdale artist Maryann Talia Pau will exhibit Catching Light, an installation of woven ribbon stars, as part of her One Million Stars to End Violence project, which aims to raise awareness of the monumental work that needs to be done to end all forms of violence,” she said.
“Supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, Maryann’s goal is to exhibit one million woven stars at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games and she is calling on the community to take part by weaving a star during the exhibition, or delivering woven stars to the gallery.”
Cr Williams said a selection of Pacific art from the Searle Collection, including fibre, string bags, body adornment and small scale sculpture, would feature alongside the woven star installation.
“Ross Searle is a collector and curator of contemporary Pacific art, with his collections including contemporary textiles, weavings, bilums, baskets, sculpture, prints and paintings,” she said.
“Since his first visit to Papua New Guinea in 1989, Ross has been curating and collecting works from Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
“He has long been fascinated by how Pacific Art has been radically transformed by new techniques, influences and materials, and this exhibition will showcase how adapted materials such as European-made buttons and old coins have been used to replace traditional materials.”
Join the official opening of Catching Light: Maryann Talia Pau and Pacific Art from the Searle Collection on Friday 29 July at 6.30pm. To RSVP, please call 3030 4163 or email [email protected] by Wednesday 27 July.
A floor talk and morning tea with Maryann Talia Pau and Ross Searle will be held on Sunday 31 July at 10.30am, while a floor talk and morning tea with Brian Hatch will be held on Saturday 20 August at 10am during Queensland Seniors Week 2016.
Redland Art Gallery, Cleveland is located on the corner of Middle and Bloomfield streets, and at Capalaba Place, Noeleen Street, Capalaba. Visit Redland Art Gallery for more information about the gallery and its exhibitions.