Adam Veikkanen is an artist that uses stationery (eg. staples, sticky-tape, bubble wrap) to create works that reflect on creativity and Canberra. In ‘Cumulous Cloud’ Veikkanen invites Corinbank festival goers to create three-dimensional drawings using packaging peanuts.
Sculptor Al Phemister turns found objects and recycled materials into new and exciting creations. Al will be presenting his stunning new series of Dandelion sculptures, which recently won a major sculpture prize in the Hunter Valley. Al will also be presenting his “Pair of Shoes” sculptures and will be inviting festival goers to contribute to the “Corinbank Cockatoo”. www.alphemister.com
Artist Agnieszka Berger makes sculptures and jewellery in different materials such as ceramics, textiles with steel constructions. Her sculpture “Woolen Pods”, using fabric, bottle cups, steel, chicken wire, concrete and all wrapped in wool, contemplates the beauty of the “new” coming in each moment. www.berger.art.pl
Artist, Benita Tunks, uses recycled plastic coated copper wire to create web flower installations up in the trees at Corinbank. The web flowers are inspired by ancient Yantra designs used over the centuries by many cultures symbolising the interconnectedness between humans and the natural world and the need for balance between them. Over time we have begun to see ourselves as outside this system and as a consequence the balance has been lost with far reaching impacts on all living things. The flowers symbolise hope for reconnection to the natural world and are a prayer to the universe.
Remember the whalecopter at Corinbank 2009? Benjamin Gilbert returns with a new sculpture called ‘long-neck’, the latest in a series of mega fauna habitations pondering the vulnerability of existence. Long-neck is a large scale turtle carapace with a central hole, perfect for small visitors to peer from and observe the world. www.agencyofsculpture.com
byrd is a Canberra based contemporary painter, with works in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia and a great many more in accessible public spaces. At Corinbank he will be responding to both the space and culture of the festival with paintings made live on site and on architecture made and constructed from materials gathered on site. www.facebook.com/pages/byrd
Sculptor, Dan Stewart-Moore, presents ‘Seed of Doubt’, a sculpture based on the feelings he experiences when an unqualified climate sceptic is given the same platform as a qualified expert in the name of non-biased media. Dan says – ‘I use form, space, colour, light and ideas to create my work – within these parameters I use duality, word play and the odd visual sledgehammer to get my point across.’ Dan Stewart-Moore is a Murrumbateman based sculptor who works in a renewably powered studio.
Dubtable
James Nichols presents the Dubtable, an interactive tactile mixing table. It’s an intuitive interface that invites the user to twist, crush and mash sounds together to make all new music. Anyone can participate and mix a track, dub out with delays and make a tune! James Nichols, is a Sydney based mathematician, musician, programmer, and all round arts enthusiast, currently studying a PhD in maths and playing synths in weird bands. www.dubtable.net.
Ecology-Art-Poetry Workshop
Ecology, art and poetry come together in Corinbank’s 2012 program. Artists and writers are invited to a workshop on Sunday 12 February in the lead up to the Corinbank Festival, and on Sunday 3 March at Festival. The aim is to create poetry and art conscious of ourselves in the environment. Writers will write poetry inspired by art. Artists will create art inspired by poetry. We spark off each other’s art form and imagine a better world. Workshops will be facilitated by Hal Judge (mad scientist of literature), Sarah Rice (poet/art theorist), Paul Summerfield (eco-artist) and Joan Cornish (holistic life coach). For more details and to register your interest in these workshops, email hal@australianpoetry.org. Accompanying image by Paul Summerfield.
Woollen Blankets is an artwork by Canberra based artist Fiona Veikkanen who makes sculptures, drawings and other things. Interested in the borders between art and craft, public and private, Fiona Veikkanen recycles and reinvents many things including old blankets, inflatables, canvas, felt and curtains. Woollen Blankets turns humble household linen into delicate woollen webs. Engaging in everyday materials, these Woollen Blankets hope to transform the Familiar into something strangely new and wonderful. Fiona will be displaying Woollen Blankets in the Chai Tent. www.fionaveikkanen.blogspot.com
George Rose is a visual artist, designer, bike rider, summer lover, mural painter, beach appreciator, bush enthusiasts, chocolate sorbet obsessive, vegan eating, rather eccentric, friend collector, dance maker, explorer, star gazer, terribly excitable, day dreaming, maker of many crazy ideas and the designer of our Welcome to Corinbank sign. http://georgeisat.tumblr.com/
Students of the Hands On Studio present their exciting art and craft designs at Corinbank 2012. Works for the festival include ‘face in hole’ boards, wool lantern sculptures, flag bunting and wind chimes. Hands On Studio is a non-profit organisation that provides an arts education and life skills development program for adults living with disabilities. The studio is located in the M16 Artspace complex, allowing the students access to a mainstream arts environment. A team of experienced artists provide instruction in various mediums, and facilitate the exploration of artistic abilities and potential. This arts project was developed in partnership with ArtsAbility, ACT Community Arts Office. The Men’s Shed assisted with the construction of the ‘face in hole’ boards.
Heike Qualitz is a graduate from the ANU School of Arts in 2009. Her work draws on her passion for sculpture, photography, sound and the art of life. Engaging with space and light is possibly best describing her intentions of working with the main stage (and then some) for Corinbank 2012.
Jack Dallwitz is a Canberra-based artist whose main areas of interest include fixed and portable melodic percussion instruments, conservation of (and the interplay between) angular and linear momentum, and playground equipment for grown-ups. Jack will be presenting a pair of sound-sculpture installations
Jane Crick is an experienced clayworker and arts educator. Jane will be presenting her sculptures ‘the Sylvias’ and will also be running her ‘Hot to Pot’ workshops where Corinbankers can get involved in handbuilding their own sculptures. These workshops are based on her program at Moonshill, her purpose-built studio at Tarago, where a variety of programs are offered throughout the year. www.janecrick.netfirms.com
Jim Sharrock and Matthew Armstrong will be creating percussion instruments on site to form a percussion garden. Take a stroll through the garden and immerse yourself in the wild sounds blooming there. Stay awhile and be part of the living sound system. Explore the tangles of the garden and discover the rare and exotic instruments living there: These strange creatures like being hit with sticks. The ecosystem is finely tuned and, in the right hands, will yield up a melodious bounty. For players 0 – 100 years old.
Katie Anderson-Kelly presents her Positivitree. The Corinbank Community is invited to contribute to the growth of the Positivitree, a steel sapling that will bloom over the weekend as festival goers decorate it with messages of hope, joy, and positivity. Come along and leave a happy thought! www.akakatie.com
Participants at LEAD have been busy lending a hand for the festival with site preparation, postering and visual arts projects. LEAD is an organisation that facilitates opportunities for people with disabilities to enjoy life as valued members of our community. Corinbank is a great way for participants to develop skills, friendships and promote community inclusion. www.lead.asn.au
Remember the clothes swap? The Corinbank Quilt? Michele Grimston and the girls are back and this time it’s MASSIVE with a new workshop called Green Threads! Bring along your unwanted clothes and join these committed clothing recyclers for swapping, costume making, puppet making, performance workshops and theatrical festivities galore. Guaranteed to make your wildest fabric dreams come true.
Paul Summerfield paints whimsical fantastical landscapes. Using digital media, he creates imaginary worlds and stories that weave relationships with our urban & natural landscapes.Inspired by his surroundings, travels and dreams, his artworks are filled with ideas, adventures and hidden details. Paul will display paintings to inspire writing at the Ecology-Art-Poetry workshop and create an artistic response to the poetry produced. www.ageofwonder.org
Canberra artist, Rachel Develin, creates sculptural arrangements, using recycled waste materials, producing a variety of objects which reference nature. Works on display at the festival include letters and words created from everyday recycled product packaging. Her work comments on excessive consumerism and the resultant waste of a society, obsessed with commodities. Various materials including soft drink bottles, ring pulls, yoghurt containers, DVDs, found objects and scrap metal are just a sample of the materials that appear in Develin’s arrangements. Once deemed rubbish and on the way to landfill, these remnants of our consumerist culture have been reinvented and invigorated with an organic lustre.
Artist Sally McKittrick presents an eclectic mix of creative folk who are waiting to meet you at Live Art Speed Dating! Artists and performers of all backgrounds and persuasions will engage curious Corinbankers in performances, workshops and intimate art based ‘dates’. This is a rare opportunity for festival goers to mingle with Corinbank’s creative force, chat about their craft and work in tandem to tackle art based tasks. Germinate, cultivate and collaborate! Dating spaces are limited – first in, best dressed.
Sculptitoons Workshop
Julian Clavijo and Alexander Esenarro are Colombian sculptors who work across animation, political and civic sculpture.
They will be running “Sculptitoons” workshops from Benjamin Gilbert’s turtle sculpture where Corinbankers can have a quirky plasticine caricature made of them in just a few minutes– a great chance for you to fully experience the sculptural process from start to end and interact with the artists all in playground environment.
Typically Colombian, the artists are jovial and relaxed characters with unnerving talent. www.sculptitoons.com (Photo: Monalisa by Alexander Esenarro)
Victoria Lees is a Canberra based artist that has created decor and installations around Canberra at festivals. Victoria will be creating her string and crochet installations amongst the trees as well as a mandala of recycled and found objects.
VJ Lard Lad (aka Raz)
A part of the original Artcore collective from Sydney in the late 90s. Summer Dreaming, Peats Ridge fest, and still bragging about the Mx10 mash-up for Claude Young at the Metro back in the day. By popular demand bringing biological ephemera, colourful plasmas and the beautiful nature for the Corinbank festival experience.
