July 22nd – August 10th, 2019
Shopfront Gallery, North Metropolitan Tafe
149 Beaufort Street, Northbridge, WA
JULY 22ND – AUGUST 10TH, 2019
Shopfront Gallery
North Metropolitan Tafe
149 Beaufort Street
Northbridge, WA
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When we are bored or desperate or overjoyed or curious, we have a special activity into which we can channel energy, with which we can express
our deepest hurts and losses,
our greatest joys and loves.
We can, in a special sense,
make our words flesh.
We, who can make, are the lucky ones.
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When we are bored or desperate or overjoyed or curious, we have a special activity into which we can channel energy, with which we can express our deepest hurts and losses, our greatest joys and loves.
We can, in a special sense, make our words flesh.
We, who can make, are the lucky ones.
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FOLLOWING THE THREAD, LET THE CLOTH SPEAK
These works exhibited together at Shopfront Gallery represent the latest decade of Artwork by Marjorie Coleman.
Shopfront Gallery, North Metropolitan Tafe, 22 July – 10 August, 2019
Marjorie Coleman has long been one of Australia’s most respected quiltmakers, acknowledged as a pioneer and leader in the field. By the 1970’s she was established as a national ground-breaker in the making of contemporary quilts with a strong Australian identity, featuring designs based on native flora and fauna.
Beyond the influence of her extraordinary body of work, Marjorie has contributed much time and energy to the advancement of the field. Many have benefitted from her teaching and from her involvement in the development of exhibition opportunities in formal gallery spaces. Always willing to offer an encouraging word, she has informally mentored many a younger maker.
However it is through her art that Marjorie speaks most powerfully. Her textile works are the product of a sharp intellect, astute observation, and empathy with her subject matter. They invariably exhibit fine craftmanship, but this is subjugated to their purpose as a means of self-expression.
Over the years Marjorie has explored many unconventional materials and processes. She describes all her works as explorations, with a constant tension between discovering new processes whilst submerging these into what the piece is saying.
“I want to master technique and then forget it. When it is the how of the piece that first draws attention rather than the what, I feel that the piece is disappointing and will eventually pall.”
After many decades of arts practice, Marjorie is still finding new means to give voice to her ideas, but latterly her interest has turned from the quilt medium to the predominant use of stitch, sometimes as line, sometimes as blocks of colour, but always following her personal narrative.
“I fancy that the stitch stands as something like the alphabet: not existing in its own right unless and until it serves the greater purpose of conveying something beyond itself.”
Now in her nineties, Marjorie exhibits less often but has continued to produce new work with a strength and vigour that belies her age. This exhibition draws from a prodigious body of work made in the last decade, which she describes as having been stitched for her own enlightenment.
“I regard myself a stitcher of ideas. To work on an idea in whatever medium is fulfilling and even exciting; there is no space for boredom or unhappiness.”
These recent works, largely stitched on linen or silk organza, are restrained, often delicate and sometimes ethereal. They are introspective, drawing on a lifetime of experiences and ideas and reflecting Marjorie’s passion for the bush and the underwater world. The same Australian native plants and birds that appeared in her early work are still present. There are also the sea creatures, such as the weedy sea dragons, familiar to Marjorie from her many years of snorkelling among them. One work might ruminate on the inhabitants of a limestone wall passed on a ramble, another might explore the habits of water birds observed over the seasons at nearby Lake Monger. Bush birds might join Marjorie in searching for the Tree of Life.What remains constant is Marjorie’s intention to reflect her life as a contemporary Australian, living in this place at this time.
WENDY LUGG, 2019
CLOSE X
ENERGY, (triptych)
Walking the Thread: Land-Sea-Air
The Tenants
Catalogue of Treasure
Like, Don’t Like
Becoming
Drop-Ins
Boab Dreaming
Referred Splendour
Lest I Forget
Along The Track
Study for a Landscape
Value Adding
Dancing with the Stars
Hide and Seek
Lifeline #2 – Land, Sea, Air
Fashion Babes
The Pool
San Blas Suggestion
The Aria Awards
About Banksias
Full Fathom Five
Self Portrait
The Search for the Tree of Life
The Search for
the Tree of Life
There are ten pieces in the series that explore different paths for the search. The searcher finds itself in a number of situations in it’s quest for the tree of life.
#1. In The Light
#2. In The Dark
#3. In The Mists
#4. In The Village
#5. In The Past
#6. In The Mirror
#7. Within
#8.In Discards
#9. Across Time
#10. Here, There, Where
Walking The Thread: Land-Sea-Air
2014
93 cm x 62 cm, linen, rayon, cotton threads, hand stitch
I think it was Paul Klee who talked about taking a line for a walk and this notion engages me. My thread is wandering through things of land, sea and air. The notion that everything alive is linked is a theme I have used in other works.
The Tenants
2012
131 cm x 50 cm, a variety of thread on linen, hand stitched freely and simply
Ruminating on what happens over time on a limestone wall in a public walkway.Note the wall’s tenants; butterfly, grubs, flowers, leaves, snail, notice, lattice, spider.
Catalogue of Treasure
2012
74 cm x 57 cm, linen and cotton fabrics, various threads, hand stitch
Images of places and objects that speak to my heart.
Like, Don’t Like
2015
71 cm x 54 cm, linen, various fabrics, cotton thread, hand stitch
I like native plants and find roses a cliché.
Becoming
2015
98 cm x 62 cm, linen, other fabrics, cotton threads, hand stitch, fused
The transition of things as they develop.
Drop-Ins
2014
40 cm x 40 cm, linen fabric, embroidery threads, hand stitch
A lot of different birds drop in to my balcony for a drink.
Boab Dreaming
2019
116 cm x 59 cm, linen and other fabrics, cotton threads, hand stitch
The boab in Kings Park was a seedling when these figures made history.
Referred Splendour
2014–15
67 cm x 40 cm, linen, rayon and cotton thread, hand stitch
As pain can be manifest quite far from its source (this is known as referred pain), so the bird’s splendour is experienced
Lest I Forget
2015
98 cm x 68 cm, woollen blanket, cotton fabric, cotton thread, hand stitch
Memories and activities to do with my Father. A Gallipoli man and later a pioneer surveyor covering a great deal of Western Australia. He did the original survey of UWA. My mother and I occasionally stayed with him on survey camps, though we usually lived on our farm in Denmark.
Along The Track
2012
201 cm x 26 cm, sketches from a notebook, hand stitchery on self dyed cotton fabric, hand drawing, hand stitch
Indications of what might be seen on a bush ramble. Others have been there too.(Sketches and stitches of a walk taken.)
Study for A Landscape
2011
58 cm x 68 cm, coarse cotton thread on linen, simple stitchery by hand
A garden plan, semi-abstract
Value Adding
2017
143 cm x 60 cm, cotton threads, various fabrics, hand stitch
Stitchery added to, or over drawn forms using previous images.
Dancing with the Stars
2018–19
53 cm x 53 cm, cotton thread on linen, canvas, hand stitch
Native plants are stars.
Hide And Seek
2016
83 cm x 27 cm, silk, embroidery threads, dyeing, hand stitch
Patterns and colours. A combination of stitching and drawing on fabric.
Lifeline #2 – Land, Sea, Air
2015
113 cm x 46 cm, linen, cotton threads, cotton tape, fabric, hand dyed, hand stitch
Land, sea and air – all lives connected.
Fashion Babes
2014
41 cm x 41 cm, silk organza, composition organza, embroidery thread, hand stitch
The weedy seadragon is my favourite animal and is very elegant. It’s elegance and fashion is analogous to fashion models.
The Pool
2010
48 cm x 54 cm, various fabrics, hand stitch, reverse appliqué, appliqué
An experiment with raw edges…the fish swim over a sand patch. The raw edge slashes suggest the ‘twinkle’ of the water.
San Blas Suggestion
2010
58 cm x 59 cm, cotton and synthetic fabrics, embroidery and machine thread, reverse applique, appliqué, hand stitch
I collect Molas (from the San Blas Islands). This is not a Mola but I wanted to explore the visual effect of a striped background behind a water bird in its familiar territory.
The Aria Awards
2018–18
93 cm x 62 cm, linen, rayon, cotton threads, hand stitch
Bird-song out-performs human song.
About Banksias
2017–18
88 cm x 49 cm, linen, rayon fabrics, cotton thread, hand stitch
Musing about different stages of a banksia.
Full Fathom Five
2015–16
102 cm x 62 cm, silk organza, embroidery thread, hand stitch
Sea matter in the deep. The title is a quote from Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’.
Self Portrait
2014
88 cm x 88 cm, organza, various fabrics, cotton thread, hand stitch
All that lives is connected. Everything alive is connected to everything alive.
The Search for the Tree of Life series:
#1. In The Light
2007
53 cm x 53 cm, cotton thread on linen, canvas, hand stitch
The Search for the Tree of Life series:
#2. In The Dark
2007
100 cm x 59 cm, silk organza, embroidery thread, interfacing, hand stitch, appliqué
The Search for the Tree of Life series:
#3 In The Mists
2007–8
98 cm x 61 cm, various fabrics, embroidery threads, hand stitch, appliqué
The Search for the Tree of Life series:
#4. In The Village
2007–8
101 cm x 62 cm, cotton fabrics (hand dyed) cotton threads, hand stitch, appliqué
The Search for the Tree of Life series:
#5 In The Past
2008
104 cm x 86 cm, cotton fabrics, cotton threads, hand stitch, appliqué
The Search for the Tree of Life series:
#6. In The Mirror
2008
91 cm x 58 cm, silk organza, various fabrics, cotton threads, hand stitch
The Search for the Tree of Life series:
#7. Within
2008
60 cm x 68 cm, silk organza, silk, cotton, various thread,fused appliqué, hand stitch
The Search for the Tree of Life series:
#8. In Discards
2009
120 cm x 57 cm, organza, chiffon, embroidery thread, feather, seeds, fabric pen lines, hand stitch, fabric pen lines
This one uses discarded dressmaking shapes and the seeds from the fruits which are depicted in the series. The birds continue the search.
The Search for the Tree of Life series:
#9. Across Time
2009
71 cm x 73 cm, organza, cotton thread, pencil, hand stitch, drawing
The Search for the Tree of Life series:
#10. Here, There, Where,
2009
98 cm x 83 cm, nylon chiffon, polyester taffeta, fabric backing, embroidery threads, hand stitch
The bird is the searcher but finds only one of the fruits.
ENERGY (triptych)
#1 – Action,
#2 – Exchange
#3 – Stored
2015-16
#1 – Action, 76 cm x 41cm; #2 – Exchange, 78 cm x 43cm; #3 – Stored, 76 cm x 41cm
linen, viscose, paper, canvas, embroidery thread, insulated copper wire, hearing aid batteries, hand stitch, gel pen drawing
Energy can be changed from one form to another, or stored. It cannot be created or destroyed.The first law of thermodynamics is a statement of the conservation of energy. Here ACTION refers to the second law of thermodynamics. EXCHANGE refers to the relationships between all forms of energy. STORED has reference to the Cloud and the energy available.
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It seems to me to be quite important that what we make reflects ourselves. Whether we stitch or whether we hammer seems to be not as important as the fact that we are giving shape to our sensibilities, colour to our insights.
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I fancy that the stitch stands as something like the alphabet:
not existing in its own right unless and until it serves the greater purpose of conveying something beyond itself.
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MARJORIE COLEMAN 2025