Just a few more laps

I have heard it said that the resulting work from a creative collaboration is often greater than the sum of its parts. With our exhibition just a few weeks away I have been contemplating what has emerged from the interaction Jacqui and I have had over the last year or so and have attempted, in a fumbling kind of way, to put it into words.

Here's what I come up with so far...

Half way through a party we started talking about pictures and pots. The idea of combining underwater imagery with vessels sang of avenues to explore and themes such as volume, containment, reflection and light started to take shape. By the end of the night collaboration had begun.

It was important that there was cohesion and interplay between the images and forms, although initially the practicalities of process directed our choices. Distortion of figures on a three dimensional canvas mirrors the magnifying effect of water, and not always in a flattering light. 

As conceptual elements developed, we made a decision to utilise only the open bowl form with its clear parallels to still bodies of water. The darkened engobe provided a sense of depth from which swimmers partially emerged.

The symbolism of water could not be ignored and explorations of a more personal nature also took place. Like the cathartic act of swimming itself, emotions surrounding grief and loss manifested in the work. Seemingly of their own accord, the works began to convey the feelings gained when swimming; the exorcism of negative energy that physical exertion allows; the opportunity to think, or even not think, in isolation; but also the sense of an intimate connectedness to others and the immediate environment.

This dichotomous notion of alone yet together reflected in the way our collaboration took place. Alone one threw pots, alone the other ‘scratched’ , swimming in our separate lanes but from time to time taking pause to inhale a collective, creative breathe, in the deep end.”                                                 

Jacqueline Kennedy and Sophie Milne

It has been, and I think will continue to be, a wonderful conversation without words.

We hope you can join us at the opening for a celebratory beverage or you find time to pop in to the Deep End at some stage during the course of the exhibition.

The Deep End

Sophie Milne and Jacquie Kennedy

11 to 25 Sep 2012

opening Tues 11 Sep 6-8pm

Potier

29 Mills St Albert Park

open hours Tues - Sat 10-5