Natasha Wills, Townsville’s Bower Bird

Natasha Wills describes herself as a bower bird – collecting: hair, driftwood, bones, rustic debris, nests, sounds, fabrics, glances, burnt sticks, train tickets, shoes in exodus, toys, found images, paper… These objects or feelings make their way into my her work, sometimes in an objectified, tangible way, sometimes they morph into abstraction. Her experience of it, shapes what she does.

Courtney O’Connor, marketing intern at Youth Arts Queensland, interviewed Natasha to find out more:

Natasha Wills, Artist

How would you define your creative style?

I feel through trying to define my style, I’d be categorising my work, putting it in a box and closing it off. I would much prefer for the art I make to remain open to continual interpretation, for people to be able to see and feel what they will, reflecting their own beautiful or sordid memories, senses and consciousness to build their own unique view of the work.

What do you hope to achieve from Starburst?

I hope to make industry contacts. To broaden my interaction and engagement with the arts community in Townsville. I want to work to develop my practice and produce a fresh, new body of work.

Where do you go for inspiration?

Art is everywhere. I try and keep open and observant, so inspiration comes to me. It’s no use going looking for it, it runs away with its tail between it’s legs the moment I ‘try’ to find it.

What are your thoughts on your regional area?

I moved to North Queensland at the beginning of this year, on a whim. I came up from Sydney to visit family and am still here! Initially I was a little dubious about the art scene here and worried I might have planted myself in a cultural wasteland, but over the past six months I’ve burrowed my way under the surface and found lots of wonderful creative people and a strong and engaging art scene here in Townsville.

Do you think being a young person in your part of Queensland affects you artistic practice?

The environment and place definitely affects my practice, it informs my perspective and therefore the work I make.

Natasha Wills' Artist Studio

Introducing…Rebecca Edwards

Rebecca Claire Edwards holds a Bachelor of Photography. Rebecca is a Freelance Photographer and artist, her work is being showcased in an upcoming solo exhibition Effervescence in Circa 1907 Contemporary Artspace from 24 January – 19 February 2011 and Cell Art Space from 7 May – 4 June 2011. Her photographic work can be viewed on www.rebeccaclaire.com.au. Rebecca is a volunteer management committee member of Cell Art Space an Artist Run Initiative in the City Place, Cairns.

We interviewed Rebecca, and here’s what she came back with:

1.  How did you get interested in photography and curation?

I became interested in photography at High School, I enjoyed the practical and technical side of the medium. I was exposed and drawn to curation while working at a regional gallery.

2.  How would you define your style of photography and curation?

I define my style of photography as contemporary. It is feminine usually incorporating strong line, vibrant colour and mood. I have just curated my first group exhibition, the curatorial brief was for the artists to respond to the notion of north, and to their ideas about Queensland. 2D works were required to be A4 sized, however the show also featured 3D works including ceramics and sculpture. The artworks were limited by the physical size of the exhibition space the hanging of artworks was ordered.

3.  What do you hope to achieve from Starburst Regional Mentoring Program?

The Starburst program is a great opportunity for me as a young creative to gain more skills in a number of areas. I am looking forward to the mentoring aspect of the program where I will develop my grant writing skills to ensure Cell Art Space and my personal creative practice moves forward in a professional direction.

4.  What are your thoughts on the Cairns arts scene?

The Cairns art scene is expanding. I am thankful for the opportunity to be involved in Cell Art Space an artist run gallery space, through volunteering to manage the space I have made lots of contacts and received invitations to participate in group exhibitions. Annual events like the recentCairns Indigenous Art Fair are exciting for the region.

5.  Do you think being a young person in Queensland affects your artistic practice?

I think being a young person in Cairns, trying to make a go of your creative practice can be very competitive. There are limited opportunities.

On the road…

Today, YAQ Marketing Manager, Caro Jende and Marketing Assistant, Courtney O’Connor are heading to Mt Tamborine to meet with Cassie Bann, Starburst mentee.

We’ll post a video of the visit and interview as soon as we can – stay tuned!

Wearable Art, with Bonnie Simpson

‘My art is about connecting with my environment and where my environment can take me. I hope to produce art that is accessible to the wider community rather than the small minority’.  Bonnie Simpson

Bonnie Simpson is an award winning, local, emergent artist.

She has won many awards in Mackay Student Festival of Fashion and last year was voted the winner of the People’s Choice Award for Artstreet, as part of the Festival of Arts.

In the last nine months Bonnie has been commissioned by groups to create posters for events, logos and branding, window displays and wearable art gowns. Bonnie is currently illustrating a children’s book. She is completing her mentorship for Starburst in partnership with Crossroad Arts, who will   assist her create a major art project by the end of the year.

Bonnie’s project aims to produce an interactive installation piece that explores the creation of networks within the natural environment, the media, humans and the internet. The work will focus on establishing a link between these networks with the use of sound, light, fabrics, movement and images.

We interviewed Bonnie to find out more about her artistic practice:

1. How did you get interested in wearable art and installation art?

I became very interested in wearable art at the beginning of grade eight at Mercy College when my high school art teacher, Ms Dolores La Spina, introduced it to me as an interesting way to express my use of texture, shape and structure and colour application. Since then I have participated in fashion competitions and exhibitions each time growing my skills on structural application and ensuring the dress has a reliable strength both artistically and structurally.

My interest in installation art has grown since participating in Artstreet as I discovered it was an effective and audience engaging way to exhibit wearable.

2. How would you define your style?

I have found that my style is very elaborate but at the same time there are smaller messages in the tiny details. When I create any art piece I like it to provoke people in some way. Their reaction does not need to be extravagant instead it may be that they stand a while to search an art work for images or hidden texture, however when I create a wearable art piece I want people to be amazed, to have the fascination of the creation and the materials that has gone into its birth.

3. What do you hope to achieve from Starburst?

From Starburst I hope to learn how to make art my career instead of my hobby. Art is a passion for me and to be able to learn from other artists about how to market myself, find exhibition and funding opportunities will help create my future as an artist. Starburst will be a wonderful opportunity to explore the creative industries.

4. Where do you go to for inspiration?

When I’m looking for inspiration for a piece I will surround myself in magazines and books. The books may be children’s books or biographies of other artists and the magazines range from fashion to sport to art. As I gather information they are pulled together to create new ideas in a visual diary for future work to be developed.

5. What are your thoughts on the Mackay scene?

The Mackay art scene is a growing area with many dedicated people working to establish Mackay as a creative artistic area that supports the growth of young artists.

6. Do you think being a young person in your part of Queensland affects your artistic practice?

I believe that living in a regional city such as Mackay has a great influence on my artistic practices. I believe that there are more opportunities to become well known as a local artist as I do not need to compete with a larger population of emerging artists for opportunities.

In Mackay there are opportunities for artists to exhibit their work in competitions however not many opportunities for emerging artists to really learn from other artists on developing skills and learning new techniques. In major cities they have a larger number of workshops with a wider variety of artistic forms compared to the limited range offered here.

Behind the scenes of Starburst!

This week, we’ve done something a little different – we’re giving you a little sneak peak on the people behind the scenes of Starburst Regional Mentoring Program.  This week, we have Courtney O’Connor – she is a Marketing Assistant at Youth Arts Queensland, completing an internship through her studies at Queensland University of Technology.

Caro Jende took some time to find out a little more about Courtney…   

Firstly, tell us a little bit about yourself …

I am a student at Queensland University of Technology studying the Bachelor of Creative Industries (Interdisciplinary & Integrated Marketing Communication). As part of my study I am an intern at Youth Arts Queensland in the role of Marketing Assistant for the Starburst Regional Mentoring Program.

Outside of my study, I work at Queensland University of Technology, as a Research Assistant for an arts research and development project. In addition to this I am on the Committee for Youngbloods Queensland, a part of a national club for young and emerging professionals in marketing, advertising, public relations, events and media. This year, I am a blogger for the Brisbane Festival, as part of the Critical Mass project run by Arts Queensland.

Aside from all of this I am obviously a big lover of the arts. I also love to cook, dine out and eat scrumptious foods – especially cheese and wine! I’ve been lucky enough to travel, having visited Japan, New Zealand, England, France – next stop Thailand in March 2011!

What do you currently do with YAQ?

My role as Marketing Assistant at YAQ is primarily on the Starburst Regional Mentoring Program. This program supports young people in regional and remote areas of Queensland to get their creative ideas off the ground, whether it be in new media, film or curation. I look after the communications on the project from liaising with project partners, developing a blog to profile our wonderful artists, creating media releases and connecting with arts organisations to get our word out!

I regularly update our blog:        http://starburst2010.wordpress.com/

and Twitter:                               yaq_starburst

 

How did you get involved with YAQ?

I first found out about YAQ when a lecturer introduced a few different industry organisations to my class. I checked out the YAQ website, and decided to become a member. After this, I kept up to date with what was happening through the eNewsletter and when an internship came up through university, I was really keen to take the opportunity as I was really interested in supporting the arts, cultural and creative industries for young people in Queensland – it was perfect!

What do you like most about your role at YAQ?

My role at YAQ has been exciting as I have had the chance to talk to and meet lots of creative and inspiring people. Our Starburst mentees have such energy and exciting works, and the people at YAQ are helpful and friendly. My role has been varied and has allowed me to ‘take hold’ of my role, which has been a great learning experience.

The unexpected – what struck you most about working at YAQ?

Over my four months at YAQ, I have been most surprised by the collegial nature of everyone. There seems to be good communication and everyone is so positive, helpful and willing to answer any questions – even the silly ones!

What inspires you?

I’m really inspired by the many creative entrepreneurs around Brisbane and Queensland. It excites me when I hear of a great creative idea and want to get involved to promote and communicate to Queenslanders how exciting our own creativity is.

Where to from here? What is your ultimate goal for the next year or 3 years?

I really want to continue with arts marketing and development. Over the next year, I want to develop a stronger understanding of the arts and creative industries to complement my studies and background and attend more industry events, such as the Regional Arts and Culture Conference in Bundaberg. In three years, I want to be diversifying my knowledge in arts in Queensland and Australia, to have an impacting role in an organisation and travel overseas to see how the arts and creative industries are functioning in other countries from the emerging arts to the international.

Introducing: Brett Walsh from Cairns

Brett Walsh, a 22 year old performer, has founded and runs Vidual Violation, a weekly night out for creatives to get on stage and test their work.

Brett first got interested in performance with speech and drama classes during school. Over his time, he was also performing in eisteddfods, public speaking, debates, musicals and amatuer theatre.

To continue pursuing his artistic interests, he began a Bachelor of Arts and continued performing and facilitating workshops in remote communities near Cairns and the Cape.

Having secured a position in Starburst, Brett hopes to continue Vidual Violation. For eight weeks, every Thursday night, youth, over 18 years old meet at a local theatre to “perform, laugh and make some noise”, as Brett puts it. Having already done a pilot for the event, Brett hope this time around doing pre-preformances will help grow numbers and provide a space for young people in Cairns to do what they love and meet others interested in the arts.

Brett explains that youth in Cairns often partake in the culture of drinking excessively, partying and sport. He finds that arts activities for youth are rare and that there are negative attitudes towards the arts. For example, Brett states that ‘drama’ in school is considered “bludgy” or “snobby”, female dominant, and overall a waste of time and money. He has found that sustaining his practice for himself and others in Cairns means full time work outside of the arts and actual arts work part time. On the other hand, Brett states that organisations, such as, Pop Robot, The Young Company, and Tropical Arts are creating opportunities for Cairns performers and audiences.

Creative Pioneer of the Pioneer Valley: Adrian Harris, Artist

Adrian is a visual artist from the Pioneer Valley, west of Mackay. He is using visual arts to explore and develop his interest in the creative process and how it may inform his concept of self. He will be exhibiting his findings later this year.

“My interest [in art] came from learning what I could create…I liked the freedom I experienced while creating work”, says Adrian. This freedom has moved him to an electic style of work, with a clear influence from surrealism in the form of drawing, scultin and painting using oils.

From the Starburst experience, Adrian is hoping to learn as much as he can from his mentor and emerse himself in the creation of his art.

Being an artist based on a farm, outside Mackay, he doesn’t get to meet other artists very often, but the ones he does meet are helpful and generous to share their knowledge. However, the picturesque Pioneer Valley can have its ups and downs, with Adrian once travelling for two hours to get two small tubes of paint! In this case, it sounds like the pros outweigh the cons for this artist, with Adrian saying, “there is a sense of peace I get from living on the farm that truely inspires me”.

Adrian's local area: The Pioneer Valley, near Mackay, Queensland