Address: SOCIAL

Catherine Stringer

28 September – 8 October 2023


Opening event:

Friday 29 September – 5:30pm-7:30pm

Catherine’s exhibition will be opened by Seán Kelly. 

Seán is a Curator, Arts Writer and Re-emerging Artist.

Daily Opening Times :

9.30am – 5pm daily (Closing at 4pm on the final day)

Ocean Windows presents a series of luminous seaweed paper artworks inspired by the traditional rose windows of Gothic cathedrals and the universal symbolism of the circle.

‘Ocean Windows’ combines the delicate translucent textures of seaweed paper with the timeless appeal of traditional stained glass windows. Inspiration is drawn from the ornate rose windows that adorn European Gothic cathedrals, and the universal symbolism of the circle.

Tasmanian artist Catherine Stringer has been researching the making of paper from seaweed for over 10 years. This series represents a significant progression in her seaweed papermaking practice, with the development of new techniques and themes.

The artworks in ‘Ocean Windows’ are all circular in design and depict various marine themes. Each one is constructed from many different seaweed papers, handmade from a wide range of Tasmanian seaweeds. They are framed and displayed in a manner which allows light to filter though from behind, illuminating and enlivening the images.

The circle’s symbolic significance has traversed diverse cultures and religions throughout history, embodying themes of unity, wholeness and the cyclical nature of existence. It is evident in prehistoric petroglyphs and megalithic structures, the Eastern Yin-Yang symbol, the Native American medicine wheel, Celtic knots, and in the religious mandalas of Hinduism and Buddhism.

More recently, Jungian psychology recognises the circle as a powerful archetype originating in the collective unconscious. Jung saw mandalas as portals to the inner world, and manifestations of the psyche’s efforts to integrate and balance the conscious and unconscious aspects of the self. Meditating on mandalas was thought to promote self-discovery, healing and personal transformation.

The intricate stained glass panels within the awe inspiring rose windows of Christian cathedrals often depict spiritual themes and religious teachings. However the geometrical design and powerful radiant light mediate a profound effect on the viewer which transcends words. They can be viewed as metaphorical gateways between earthly and heavenly realms and expressions of humankind’s highest aspirations towards wholeness and coherence. They continue to resonate with viewers today, surpassing cultural boundaries and speaking to the deepest aspects of human experience and spirituality.

The seaweed paper artworks in ‘Ocean Windows’ meld organic materials with spiritual inspiration, tradition with innovation. Although not of the scale or grandeur of the Gothic rose windows they share their luminosity and circular design. Similarly, these ‘windows to the deep’ may allude to things that are ‘beneath the surface’ or usually hidden from view, but the ethereal evocative imagery promotes an initial visceral or intuitive response and invites contemplation and reflection.

Andrea Jordan & Sallee Warner

15 – 25 September 2023


Opening event:

September 15 – 5pm

Daily Opening Times :

Weekdays 10 – 4pm
Saturday 9.30am -4.00pm
Sunday 10am – 4.00pm
Monday 25th September 10.00 am – 4.00pm

STILL is an exhibition by Andrea Jordan, painter and Sallee Warner, ceramicist, revealing the humanity and beauty found in the simple objects of everyday life.

STILL

    Andrea Jordan Painting

    Sallee Warner Ceramics

This exhibition is a collaboration between two good friends: a painter, Andrea Jordan and a ceramicist, Sallee Warner, exploring a common approach in our separate disciplines. We share a love of art that is quiet and dignified, with intrinsic humanity and beauty. These qualities are reflected in the work that we each bring to this exhibition.

    Andrea:

The paintings are intended to be calm, quiet and contemplative – a still life, investigating the intrinsic value of everyday objects and celebrating the human touch. I have long admired that quality in Sallee’s ceramics, some of which can be found in my paintings.

I surround myself in the studio with my paintings and other collections, taking pleasure in composing the subjects and exploring the contribution of their shadows, seeking balance and harmony in the conversations between subject, lighting and shadow.

I have developed the techniques employed in these paintings over many years, based originally on those of the master painters of the Renaissance.

The simplicity of subject matter in these paintings and the calming, muted colour palette allow the objects to speak quietly of their worth.

    Sallee:

“Something beautiful to behold in the form of an object you can use.”

My work is about making purposeful pots, using soft clay thrown on the pottery wheel, enhancing the throwing lines and ridges that reside in the memory of the making.

The simplicity of the form engages you not only in the function of the vessel, but in the unique textural quality of being handmade.

Things, things that we use every day surround us. By bringing this concept to the table and experiencing the contact of living with and using hand made pots we can elevate the ordinariness.

While using hand made pots you may notice a signature, maybe a shell imprint, subtle contours and character of forms. Traces of knowing it has been considered and thought through.

You may even know the maker, bringing a little bit of joy into your day.

Shanshan Ai and Xingming Wu

7 – 13 September 2023


Opening event:

7 September – 6.30pm

Daily Opening Times :

9am – 6pm daily

‘Entangled in Movement’ is an exhibition explores the connections between migration and traditional art memory. The exhibition brings together two artists to exploring these themes. Shanshan’s work focuses on the relationship between weeds and migrants, while Xingming remaining memory of Chinese painting to explore the concept of movement and migration.

Entangled in Movement: An Exploration of Beauty of Migration and Remembering

Overview:

‘Entangled in Movement’ is a group art exhibition that explores the connections between migration and traditional art memory. The exhibition brings together two artists, each with their unique approach to exploring these themes. One artist’s work focuses on the relationship between weeds and migrants, while the other employs remaining memory of Chinese painting to explore the concept of movement and migration.

Artists:

-Artist 1: Shanshan Ai, works are inspired by the idea that aims to explore a psychological expectation of migrants who survive harmoniously in the host country, in a similar manner as introduced weeds. This examination of migrancy and exotic plants, in the form of art might foster the emplacement and emotional identity of people who are living far from home.The artist creates intricate, layered compositions that invoke canvas materials and installation to create a sense of beauty and strength. Trying to find a close and positive connection which brings harmonious coexistence and mutual benefit, which are exists in both plants and humans. The artworks exploring the meaning of our existence and the direction of our common development.

-Artist 2: Xingming Wu, specializes in traditional Chinese ink painting techniques to explore the concept of dust-laden treasure and migration. The artists’ works are inspired by the ancient Chinese tradition of literati painting, which emphasizes the importance of the artist’s personal expression and interpretation.

Although across culture the art still rooted the traditional methods to bring art form in contemporary concept. Through delicate brushstrokes and subtle use of colour, the artist creates ethereal character that convey a sense of fluidity, motion and unfailing manner.

Exhibition Design:

The exhibition is designed to create a sense of beauty and eternity, a way of movement and flow, with the artworks arranged in a way that encourages visitors to explore the space two artists’ works. The exhibition space will be divided into two sections, with each artist’s works displayed in its own area. The First section will feature the mixed materials works of Artist 1 (Shanshan Ai), while the second section will showcase the traditional Chinese ink paintings of Artist 2 (Xingming Wu).

Conclusion:

‘Entangled in Movement’ is a thought-provoking exhibition that invites visitors to explore the connections between migration and traditional art techniques. By bringing together two artists with their unique perspectives on these themes, the exhibition offers a rich and nuanced exploration of beauty, movement, growth, precious value and human experience.

纠缠在迁移中：移民之美与回忆的探索

概述

“纠缠在迁移中”是一个两位中国艺术家的联展。展览目的在于探索移民以及传统艺术记忆之间的联系。这次展览的艺术家一位毕业于清华大学美术学院，任美术编辑多年。一位任教于中国美术学院。两位后又同时毕业于塔斯马尼亚大学艺术学院绘画系，师从同导，分别获得艺术硕士与艺术博士学位。

两位艺术家用各自不同的独特的方法来探索同一个主题——移民。一位艺术家的作品关注杂草和移民之间的关系，另一位则利用移民之后的记忆探索迁移和移民的概念。

艺术家1：艾姗姗

作品的灵感来自于一个旨在探索在东道国和谐生存的移民的心理期望——就像引进的杂草一样。这种以艺术的形式对迁移和外来植物的研究，希冀促进生活在远离家乡的人们对身份的认同以及情感的依托。艺术家创造了繁密分层的作品，援引画布材料和装置来创造一种美丽和力量的感觉传递。试图找到一种紧密和积极的联系，带来存在于植物和人类， 不同种族之间和谐共存和互利。艺术家的作品探索了我们存在的意义和我们共同发展的方向。

艺术家2：吴兴明

用中国传统水墨技术探索尘封宝藏和迁徙的概念。艺术家的作品的灵感来自于传统中国古代文人画，强调了艺术家个人表达和诠释精神的重要性。

虽然跨越了文化，但艺术仍然植根于传统的方法，艺术家将艺术形式带入当代的概念中。通过精致的笔触和对色彩的微妙运用，创造了空灵的气质，传达了一种流动性、运动和永不停歇的艺术表达。

余音

“纠缠在迁移中”是一个发人深省的艺术展览，它诚邀观众共同感受，探索移民和传统艺术技术之间的联系。

通过两位艺术家将各自对这个主题的独特视角结合在一起，展览展现了对美丽、迁移、成长、曾经的珍贵价值，当下的贡献和人类体验的丰富而细致的探索。

Curated by Lynne Howarth-Gladston and Paul Gladston

Long Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre,
77 Salamanca Place, Hobart
Saturday 19 August – Friday 1st September, 10-4pm

SOCIAL, Salamanca Arts Centre,
67 Salamanca Place, Hobart
Saturday 26 August – Sunday 3 September, 10-4pm

The Barracks Gallery, 
11 The Avenue, New Norfolk Saturday 9 September – Sunday 22 October
(Saturdays and Sundays only) 11-4pm

A Chinese artist presents contemporary visions of reciprocity between humanity, Nature and the heavenly.

This exhibition showcases videos, photographs and assemblages by the Chinese
contemporary artist Tan Lijie representing imagined coexistences between lived realities,
enchanted realms, reveries and dreamscapes.

The multi-dimensionality of Tan’s work gives rise to subtly transporting atmospheres and
myriad aesthetic affects which suspend fixed perceptions of the real as well as any orderly
sense of time and space.

Tan’s work is informed by personal concerns about the controlling expectations and
devastating environmental impact of present-day, materially obsessed, societies. It is also
marked by the residual traces of traditional Chinese Confucian-literati culture and its
aspirations toward a harmonious – mutually sustaining – aestheticized reciprocity between
humanity, Nature and the heavenly.

Enchanted Realities -Tan Lijie, Selected Works 2013-2022 is curated with reference to Johnson.
Tzong-zung Chang’s conception of the Yellow Box; an intervention with internationally
dominant modes of gallery display intended as conducive to the showing of works
characterized by the harmonizing reciprocity of traditional Chinese Confucian-literati
aesthetics.

Tan continues to live and work in her home city of Shenzhen at the border between mainland
China and Hong Kong – an interstitial space resonant with the indeterminate aesthetics of the
artist’s work.

WALK THROUGH THE EXHIBITION

CATALOGUE

The Artist

TAN Lijie (b. 1991) was awarded a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Intermedia School
of The China Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou (2017) and studied as an exchange student at
Kingston University, London (2015). A one-person exhibition of Tan’s work was held at The
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (2022). Her work has also been included in
group exhibitions at The Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart Tasmania, The Cipa Gallery,
Beijing, the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing and the Djanogly Gallery of The
University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. Her video, The World was awarded Best
Creative (drama) at the Global Chinese University Student Film Awards (2012). Tan’s video,
Haussmann in the Tropics is in the collection of the White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney.

The Curators

Lynne HOWARTH-GLADSTON is an artist, curator, and researcher. She has exhibited her
paintings internationally, including in China, the UK, and Australia, and was lead curator of
the exhibitions ‘New China/New Art: Contemporary Video from Shanghai and Hangzhou,’
Djanogly Art Gallery, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK (2015) and ‘Dis-
/Continuing Traditions: Contemporary Video Art from China,’ Salamanca Arts Centre,
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia (2021). Her Ph.D. thesis is the first to engage critically with the
work of the nineteenth-century botanical illustrator, Marianne North. She was a contributor to
the BBC4 documentary, Kew’s Forgotten Queen: The Life of Marianne North (2016).

Paul GLADSTON is the inaugural Judith Neilson Chair Professor of Chinese Contemporary
Art at the University of New South Wales, Sydney and a Distinguished Affiliate Fellow of
the UK-China Humanities Alliance, Tsinghua University, Beijing. His numerous book-length
publications include Contemporary Chinese Art: A Critical History (2014), awarded ‘best
publication’ at the Awards of Art China (2015), and Contemporary Chinese Art, Aesthetic
Modernity and Zhang Peili: Towards a Critical Contemporaneity (2019). He was an advisor to the internationally-acclaimed exhibition ‘Art of Change: New Directions from China’, Hayward Gallery-South Bank Centre, London (2012).

Jonny Scholes

20 July – 1 August 2023


Opening event:

July 20 – 5.30pm

Daily Opening Times :

Monday-Thursday: 10:00am-4:00pm

Fridays: 10:00am-5:30pm

Saturdays: 10:00am-3:00pm

Sundays: CLOSED (open by appointment)

‘Interpreted’ is a series of woven tapestries portraying a year’s worth of global news as seen through the eyes of artificial intelligence (AI).

‘Interpreted’ is a series of woven tapestries portraying a year’s worth of global news as seen through the eyes of artificial intelligence (AI).

With a gaze fixed on the future, ‘Interpreted’ has its roots in the past. Since medieval times, woven tapestries have been used to record significant events. They portrayed truth as seen by the powers that commissioned them, and often contained mistakes made by weavers. The makers of AI products also have their own biases and ulterior motivations, which are invisible to the consumer. They, too, can make mistakes. With the use of AI tools growing at an alarming rate, ‘Interpreted’ raises timely questions about how facts are gathered, curated and presented to us in the new world we already inhabit.

Although the exhibition consists of physical tapestries, at its core ‘Interpreted’ is a new media project. Drawing on a decade of experience as a software developer, Scholes has created an automated program which continually reviews all news articles as they are published around the world. An AI tool is employed to create a single image that represents each day. Using generative art techniques, the days are collected into months, and incorporated into a unique tapestry design. The result is autonomously sent off to be woven and eventually delivered by post to Jonny Scholes’ studio.

‘Interpreted’ attempts to illustrate the erosion of information as it is captured, distilled and re-disseminated. To understand the works in this exhibition, the viewer must unpick each piece with a critical eye. There are potential inaccuracies at every step – commissioner, maker, distributor and consumer all play a hand. Scholes’ exhibition asks us to consider how the artificial curation of information will impact our future years, days or minutes – and whether we are happy for AI to become a core part of the way we record our history.

STATION

9 – 18 June 2023

Opening event: 

Friday 9 June, 5.00–8.00pm

Artist talks: 

Saturday 10 June, 2.00–3.00pm

Daily Opening Times :

Friday 9 – Monday 12: 10am–5pm or by appointment
Tuesday 13 – Wednesday 14: by appointment
Thursday 15 – Sunday 18: 10am–5pm or by appointment

This winter, STATION is traveling south to Nipaluna/Hobart, to present an off-site exhibition during Dark Mofo at SOCIAL on Salamanca Place.

Held over ten days in the middle of June, midwinter in the southern hemisphere, the exhibition takes inspiration from the traditions and rituals associated with the winter solstice.

The word ‘solstice’ comes from the Latin ‘sol’ (sun) and ‘sistere’ (to stand), translating literally to the day the sun stands still. Marking the darkest and longest night of the year, winter solstice is celebrated both as a symbolic death of the moon and a rebirth of the sun, as the days slowly begin to lengthen again towards summer. This duality is explored in many of the works included in the exhibition, in the tension between moon and sun, dark and light, birth and death.

The exhibition will feature works by a group of STATION artists, including Jon Cattapan, Adam Lee, Clare Milledge, Nell, Jason Phu (who is presenting a major work for Dark Mofo), and Hobart’s own Heather B. Swann and Jake Walker.

Tasmanian Ceramics Association

Wednesday 3 May – Tuesday 23 May 2023

Daily Opening Times :
10am – 4pm

Exploring the various creative interpretations of the theme Revolutionary, this exhibition draws its inspiration from the evolution of ceramics over time to what is now modern day ceramics.

Modern day sculptural and functional ceramics still use the fundamental building and finishing techniques that are the basis of all ceramics.

Although the process of creating ceramics from earth has changed little over thousands of years, today’s ceramicists have made numerous advances in each stage of the process. By using modern expertise and glaze chemistry and applying varied sources of heat, unique forms, textures and colour are created on clay.

Drawing inspiration from the evolution of ceramics over time, Revolutionary explores the varied range of ceramics that can be created using combinations of ancient techniques and modern technology to produce functional, evocative, and imaginative works of art.

This exhibition allows each artist to personally interpret and fully explore the theme Revolutionary – whether it be functional pottery or sculptural works – with the aim of showcasing the diverse range of ceramics being created by experienced and emerging Tasmanian ceramicists.

Rachael Tanner

Friday 26 May – Saturday 3 June 2023

Daily Opening Times :
MONDAY-FRIDAY 10 AM – 4 PM
SATURDAY 10 AM – 3 PM
SUNDAY CLOSED

This art project considers transformations in the natural history museum and how we focus on the cultural meaning of a specimen as it is photographically reproduced and transformed through interdisciplinary approaches to meaning making.

The artwork will speak in diverse and emotive ways to those interested in natural history, ecology, technology, collections, ethnography.

Rachael works occurs across divergent theoretical and practical disciplines; museological studies, visual arts, and yoga. These divergent modes of philosophical thought peel the layers of consciousness on multiple tiers. Primarily her work as an artist deals with oil paintings, digitisation and remediation techniques. Her arts practice is grounded through embodied physical and metaphysical explorations of the human or post human experience, and in this particular exhibition, through the lens of natural history specimen. Her work results in a rich visual inquiry. Her creative process ebbs and flows into various undulations which are responds to ecological and ethnographic anthropologies. Much of her installations and digital remediations express the cyclical nature of life, the sacred, and ephemeral, resulting in a transformative experience which unfurls over time and on differing planes.

My work is museological, and therefore looks at the way we can use visual material to communicate cultural, social, anthropological ideas to engage audiences into a deeper relationship to themselves, their community, their’ environment and connection to earth. Ultimately, the practice is an exploration of the human – earth relationship which looks at how we can express connection to the sacred and ephemeral of our biological and ecological heritage beyond the illusion of separation developed through the construction of the system. The collaboration between specimen, digitisation, and visual arts explores the subject of conservation and preservation of the natural world within an ideal that encourages symbiosis and reciprocity with earth.

Her work leads you into geometric blossoming, looking beyond the veil of form and separation, and towards meditation, co-creation, foundation. Rachael is working with content from the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Lepidoptera (moth) collection, and draws upon the mystic and symbolic meanings of the moth/butterfly to inspire her work.

There is an extensive amount of opportunity in the visual exploration of digital materials as I use the scientific visual data to shift traditional knowledge paradigms on empirical documentation strategies. I am interested in how we are creating and documenting knowledge in the museum through digital and analogue mediations. This project suggests the need for museums to shift the current knowledge paradigm and documentation schema that is based on an empiric scientific epistemology, towards producing photographic reproductions which facilitate diverse interpretive, and emotive encounters with specimen research. By this means the museum could return the agency to the specimen and thereby create a construction of natural heritage that is based on reciprocity with nature, co-creation, and aura enriched experience. The aesthetics and

expression of scientific visualisation and communication is an important tool in developing a cultural memory bank which fosters environmental reciprocity and cultural change in our ecological conservation practices. To implement this shift into a new, and more productive paradigm of knowledge construction, the museum needs to consider how digital visual materials are communicating; the semiotics, rhetoric, and indexical style of the image as integral to forming cultural meaning, memory, and value. Working within the nexus of arts and science is an exciting position as it allows for breadth and depth of creative capacity.

Engaging with the specimen as their placed under the lens of the camera, what is experienced is a unique, tangible discovery of its aura, a mythical and enchanting nature. The work attempts to participate with the mystical and ephemeral qualities of the natural and human world which relate to ancestral wisdoms. Her work encourages a reflection of the digital visual materials as being a contemporary tool for creating new knowledge paradigms through encounters within a reality that mediates the ultimately mysterious nature of our ecological and biodiverse world heritage, that too resides within the human being and community.

Ultimately the art works aim to facilitate a deepening cultural relationship and shared sense of responsibility towards conserving the mystical, ancestral wisdoms that reside within the human beings deep psyche and inner knowing. It is about creating a reciprocal human-environment connection in a way which flows cyclically, similarly to the laws of yoga, union, our oceans, rivers, streams, winds, and life on earth.

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Saturday 22 – 30 April 2023
Daily Opening Times:  10AM -5PM
Variations: Not open Anzac day (Tue, April 25 )

Crossing is an immersive interactive installation, negotiating ever-shifting waters and exploring our relationship to the sea and the act of crossing.

Experience the mesmerising journey of Crossing, an immersive installation that explores the themes of being close to the sea and the act of crossing. As you enter the space, you are greeted by wooden pathways and screens that cover the gallery floor; these are evocative of pathways, bridges or stepping stones. With each step, you are transported deeper into the experience, surrounded by fluid animations and immersive sounds that evoke the sensation of water and waves.

Drawing on Petterd’s personal connection to water, the installation invites you to experience the sensation of being on a beach and stepping over stones, creating a dialogue with the ever-shifting waters around you.

Engage with the installation through your movement and become part of the experience,  The installation draws you into a mesmerising dialogue with the ever-shifting elements of the space, encouraging reflection and contemplation. With pathways guiding your journey, you are invited to move between, to be in transition, and to arrive at a deeper understanding of your relationship to water and the sea.    

Robin Petterd is a digital media artist based in lutruwita/Tasmania, Australia. He completed a practice-based PhD in digital media from the University of Tasmania and has exhibited his work in events across Australia, the USA, and Europe. Petterd has curated international touring exhibitions and taken part in residencies in Japan and the Netherlands.    

Hobart Photographic Society Inc.

Friday 17 – Wednesday 29 March 2023

Daily Opening Times :
10:00 AM – 6:00 PM (8:00)
Variations to Daily Opening Times :
Open until 8pm on Friday and Saturday

This is a public exhibition of original photographic works produced by members of the Hobart Photographic Society.

This is an annual exhibition with a collection of works by our members covering a wide range of genres including but not limited to landscape, portraiture, wildlife, macro, urban and creative images.

It is expected that there will be 70 large format images on display plus a video display of a further 200 images. It will be open to the public and is anticipated to attract local, interstate and overseas visitor as it has in past years. HPS members include winners of numerous national and international photographic awards.

We believe that as with any art form unless it is shared with the public audience, colleagues, and friends it is not fully appreciated and is often lost forever. The exhibition offers an opportunity for our diverse and talented members to showcase their best or most meaningful work with others in our community.

The exhibition also provides us with an opportunity to describe the workings of the society and encourage new membership.

Past exhibitions have been reviewed by local media and been described as being of the highest order of presentation and diversity.

This exhibition offers visitors from interstate and overseas an opportunity to view our images and share something of the experiences and lives of the people living in our community.

As the majority of images on display are sourced from Tasmanian based suppliers they demonstrate the expertise and professionalism available in this state.