A Map to Nowhere

Jenny Bolhofner's exhibition 'A Map to Nowhere' opens at Hand Held next week.

Jenny has sent this beautiful exhibition over from America for her first solo show outside of the US.

Jenn will be in Melbourne from Wed 10th to Saturday 13th and we'd love for you to meet her.

Well schedule a meet the artist afternoon on the 13th and hopefully lots of you will be able to drop in and say hi.

 

"A Map to Nowhere"

Maps are supposed to tell us where we are. They show us how to go from point A to point B. Maps reveal relationships. They represent space and orientation. But I always wondered what a map of isolation would look like. How do you show space without anything in that space? How do you depict something without having anything nearby to determine scale, location, or relation? How do you make a map to nowhere? A life changing move to Guam, a tiny island in the Pacific, left me examining this idea. Suspended there, insignificant in the vast sea, I experienced feelings foreign to me- feelings of isolation and detachment. In this body of work, I wanted to explore these feelings through research and attempt to translate my emotions into something more calculated and scientific. I turned to Charles Darwin's studies on nature, geographical isolation and evolution to help symbolize my own feelings of severance. His work provides relevant theories on the creation and extinction of plant and animal species in areas isolated by geographic barriers. Living on an island, I could relate to these ideas of natural selection and allopatry (the process by which a population of species becomes separated by a physical barrier and divides into two different species). Collecting plant life around Guam, I incorporated them into my work to represent my own feelings of separation. Aesthetically, I used topographic imagery to attempt to connect personal feelings to something more tangible and universal. While emotions are ambiguous and hard to pinpoint, I feel that maps provide a platform in which the viewer can relate. Likewise, the use of repetition in imagery and process (i.e. layers of sewing) were integrated to connect the viewer to the concept of the mundane. Each stitch mimics the continuity and monotony of isolated living.

 

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Life as a Solo

Renuka Rajiv's stunning drawings, artist sketchbooks and quirky paper mache sculptures are on display at Hand Held as part of her 'Life As A Solo' exhibition - on until March 16th.

 

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Life As A Solo

Renuka Rajik's solo exhibition 'My Life As A Solo' opens this Thursday 21st Feb 6-8pm.

 

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Sampler @ Hand Held

Hand Held's first exhibition for 2013 is 'Sampler' by Mardi Nowak opening Thursday eve at 6pm and continues through to February 16th.

The series of works Mardi has produced for “Sampler” have predominately started their life in the moving image; mostly that of music film clips.

“Sampler” translates images of female pop stars in fleeting and sometimes candid moments into the traditional and centuries unchanged medium of woven tapestry. Using a variety of very low tech methods to obtain source material, pixilated images are transformed into the corresponding beads and pixels of tapestry, creating an interrogation between the plastic pop world and artisan techniques.

“I’ve been interested in images of women, particularly in contemporary life for quite some time. As a child I was a bit obsessed with watching music film clips, studying what they were wearing and emulating their choreographed moves in my own amateur dance classes. The pop world as a child was an imaginary one. Nothing seemed real. Colours were muted or super saturated. The lyrics were predictable but also mirrored scenarios in our lives. Love lost, happiness, melancholy. You could lose yourself in this world. All of this contradicts the tapestry and art world. To me, tapestry is serious, time consuming, and situated in a long history. But I want my tapestries to be like a pop song; fun, addictive and something that gets stuck in your head.” – Mardi Nowak

Summer BAZE

The wonderful BAZE (book and zine exhibition) opening on Thursday night with a big crowd and excellent response.

Today (Saturday) is our last trading day of the year so don't miss out on the chance to buy a unique gift or stocking filler - I'm here till 5pm today.


We reopen on Wednesday January 16th so you will still have a chance to check out this great show and all of the fabulous (50+) books and zines on display.

Summer BAZE

 

Join us at Hand Held for Summer BAZE (Book Art and Zine Exhibition) opening next Thursday 20th December 6-8pm.

Books will be available to take home on the night so dont miss out - take this opportunity to purchase a unique Christmas gift, seriously cool stocking filler or a little something for yourself!

We're open Friday and Saturday too so plenty of time before Chrissy to drop in and pick something up!

 

 

Melt

 

Jill Hermans and Chloe McColl revealed their exciting new works at Hand Held this week at the opening of their new show MELT. The word 'Melt' inspires visions of soft undulating surfaces, intense colours, unusual shapes, unexpected unions and exciting textures and this collection of contemporary jewellery does not disappoint. Drop in and see the exhibition in the next few weeks.