Catriona Pollard, Where Love Meets The Stars, 2019, wonga vine, charcoal, copper, 124 x 105 x 20 cm
Australian fibre artists draw from the world at hand. Catriona Pollard’s story shows how this adds a particular sense of place and time to the work.
I’ve always seen the world through nature; the way it presents wonderful shapes, textures and forms which I notice and admire, even if I’m in an urban environment. I can’t remember a time I wasn’t deeply connected to these forms. This work is an interpretation of my world view and is part of a new body of work for my solo exhibition, Falling into Longing.
This summer I was on holidays where my parents live in a small coastal town near Port Macquarie and a huge storm came through. As I drove down to the beach for a swim, I noticed trees had fallen down and there was one area in a car park where the fallen trees were covered in coastal vines.
Every basket maker has secateurs and gardening gloves in her car, so rather than relaxing on my holiday and go swimming, I spent hours and hours (with amused onlookers) removing the vines and creating the first stage of many sculptures, including this one. I hung this in my lounge room for a few months and had a “dialogue” with it about what form it will take.
I had an idea and tested it on a smaller version, and then spent many days looping using copper thread and applied several layers of charcoal to it. I use many forms of materials such as clay, sandstone and charcoal, as a way of reconnecting us to the earth.
Sydney fibre artist Catriona Pollard’s fifth solo exhibition Falling Into Longing includes sculptural basketry and assemblage works that explore the concept of longing and how we move towards our desires and the impact that has on our lives. It will be on 20 June to 14 July 2019 in Sydney Road Gallery, 563 Sydney Road Seaforth NSW 2092 (Thursday – Saturday 10:00am – 4:00pm and Sunday 9:00am – 12:00pm). You can meet Catriona herself on Saturday 22 June 2019 1 – 4pm.
