February 1st

 The date just cried out for me to post! 1/2/21.

I went to the NGV today to see the Triennial exhibition, my first venture out on public transport in about 10 months. Of course, my Myki card had expired. That necessitated a walk from one station to another where you can get a new one - fortunately my two nearest stations are not far apart from each other. 

I had to book online for the NGV too. As I had seen that there were delays on the trains, I had decided to go by bus. But by the time I had fixed up my ticket, the trains were back on time and I was able to get there at the time I had said I would be there. 

There were plenty of people there but it was easy to move around and there was no problem with social distancing. It was actually good not to have a big crowd, you could see the works and didn't have to dodge around people taking photos! There were a few (me included) but it was easy to see the works. This social distancing, timed entry thing might not be all bad!

There is so much to see that I decided not to overload myself and to go back. It was exciting enough to go on public transport! And to walk around the city. I didn't want to wear myself out.

Just to prove that I did use my camera, here are a few images. 

These are of shadows on the floor. You could walk through the installation. Most people were looking up, I think I was the only one taking photos of the floor (at that time, anyway).

Installation by Kengo Kuma, Kengo Kuma Associates and Geoffrey Nees' Botanical pavilion 2020.  Here is a link to the exhibition, with reference to this work.

I seem to have been inspired by shapes and illusion again. Maybe I am still influenced by all the calls for entry that had Vision as the theme last year. And I really do like optical illusions. 

Using my small pieces of indigo dyed silk.

As I have mentioned previously, the Machine Embroidery Group, which is an interest group at the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria, is having a challenge this year. We are asked to make an A5 (14.8 x 21 cm, 5.8 x 8.3 inches) piece that is inspired by a different famous artist each month. This month it is Van Gogh.

I am waiting to go to the upcoming Van Gogh exhibition that will be at the NGV soon, but decided to bite the bullet and do one before I have the chance to attend.

I was all set to do an image using my fabric collage method. I got out all the bits and pieces I thought I might need. It is amazing how much stuff you might need to make such a small piece!

Then I came across the small pieces of indigo dyeing I had done recently. One piece seemed to be perfect for the sky.

I ironed it onto some adhesive interfacing, placed some other larger pieces (larger than I had planned to use) and then put a few fiddly small pieces, which had been Vliesofixed. Then I got out my newest favourite thing, silk roving (or whatever it is called). I laid that out over some Vliesofix, ironed it on gently, then sewed it all on to make sure it will stay. I also added a few small pieces of wool left over from some tapestry weaving.

Voila! My Australian version of a Van Gogh image. (You can see the inspiration as one of the scrolling images at the NGV site.)

Ballet and Fashion exhibition

I just have to blog today with the date being 10/11/12.
A friend and I visited the Ballet and Fashion exhibition at the NGV a few days ago.  It was not very large but it was interesting to see the various costumes and the materials they had been made with.  They all had to be rather sturdy to stand up to the rigours of the dancing although there were some that would have been impossible to dance in, they must have just strutted around the stage.
The other thing that surprised me (it does every time I see an example of it) is how minimal the designers' ideas are, just a sketch.  The costume makers must be extremely talented to be able to translate some of those ideas into usable costumes.

We didn't spend much more time at the gallery as we agreed that it is best to see the exhibition you have come to see and them move on - too many exhibitions make you forget what you have seen.  But you can't walk around the gallery without see other things, they are just there!
Of course, we went into the great hall and enjoyed looking at the stained glass ceiling, especially as it was a lovely sunny day.  The tapestries on the walls in there were a must see also.
And the water wall was even more interesting than usual because it had artwork on it.  It is part of the Rally: contemporary Indonesian art exhibition.

From the outside

From the inside

Then we moved on to Federation Square to see the woven installation of Patrick Dougherty.
It great to see it on such a beautiful day, in such an interesting place.

So, despite our desire to limit our viewing to one specific exhibition, we managed to see lots more. Not only that, we were very taken with the shadows on the ground at Southbank, made by a verandah roof.