earthenware

dog

parrot, hammer, lorikeet, cockatoo

Purchased through the Horsham Art Gallery Trust Fund, 2024

Ballarat Bertie was presented to lecturer Neville Gower by students of the first course in Brewing at Ballarat University College (later Federation University)Plaster model of Ballarat Bertie, leaning on a bottle of Ballarat Bitter. Cast lettering on the base "Bertie the Cellarman: On the underface of the base some eight signatures/na,es and with blue felt pen "Property of B.U.C. N. Gower"Brass Plate "Presented to Neville Gower on behalf of Malting and Brewing Class 1990"ballarat bertie, ballarat brewery, gower, neville gower, brewing, brewing and malting, ballarat university college.

Decorated mask. Red, black, white, blue, gold. Used in role playing - Catholic school, Ba Rai, Vung Tao prov. Handcraftedmask, hand crafted

Although the 'Waler' was specifically bred for the Australian bush it proved a tough, reliable mount in the desert battles in the Middle East during WW1. Over 130,000 were sent overseas and of these 15,000 served with the Light Horse. None would return to Australia.Cold cast bronze figurine of an Australian Light horseman kneeling beside his "Waler" horse. Mounted on a wooden base with an engraved brass nameplate.THE WALER'S MATE AUSTRALIAN LIGHT HORSE

Uncle Jack Charles was a respected Aboriginal elder, a Bunerong, Boon Wurrung, Yorta Yorta, Palawa, Wurundjeri, Tungerong man, and an internationally acclaimed actor, mentor and activist. This inspirational, Indigenous gay man was part of the stolen generation and was taken from his family as a tiny baby. He survived the impact of this early childhood trauma by using drugs. Without support or housing, he was often homeless and imprisoned for long periods of time. True artistic recognition came only later in life. Often the most talented members of our community struggle with addiction and homelessness. This work asks us to take a closer look at the way the state criminalises human responses to trauma, which the state itself has often inflicted, willing us to face history more bravely and to treasure people sooner. Uncle Jack made profound and lasting change in legislation and public awareness on Aboriginality, criminality, and social justice in Australia. After his death there was an outpouring of grief across the country. Leonie worked closely with Uncle Jack over a decade developing this collection and now works with the Charles family to grow his legacy, which continues to positively impact the lives of thousands of people.

Tropical Flesh (ii) draws upon the slippery experience of identity to explore family connection. There are threads of dislocation and the thickness of tropical time. Silicone casts of tropical jackfruits are fused with a cast of the artists’s aunt’s foot, the cast of which was made upon her permanent return to Thailand. Together, the visibly-aged foot and a fruit that decays quite vividly, evokes a sense of time passing. The work is informed by the experience of witnessing members of family age in slices of time, across vast distances. The artist asks us to consider the work as a memento mori.

cockatoo

This work is a large structure of stones, a cairn. It is constructed using volcanic rock from the area and has a number of metal plaques set into the sides of the rock structure. On one plaque the wording reads “Remnant Bush”, another says “Urban Push” and the third plaque reads “Machine Axe & Fire”.

The Shakyamuni Buddha statue holds profound significance in Buddhism, representing the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, who lived around 2,500 years ago. The statue portrays Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, who attained enlightenment and shared his teachings to help others achieve the same. For practitioners, the Shakyamuni Buddha statue serves as a focal point during meditation, promoting mindfulness, peace, and a deeper connection to the Buddha's teachings. The Buddha is depicted seating in meditation on a lotus throne. His legs are crossed in the lotus position. His right hand is holding an alms bowl, signifying care and compassion for all beings. His left hand touches the ground in a gesture (bhumisparsha mudra) calling the earth to witness his determination to achieve enlightenment.buddhist art, tibetan buddhism, holy objects, statues

Professor Alan Merry commissioned the work from New Zealand artist Heke Collier as a gift to the College at his retirement from Council. This artwork was carved by Heke Collier in May-July 2016. It is made from native New Zealand Rimu timber. Heke named this carving Mauri Ora which translates to vitality, well-being or the healing life-force. Tihei Mauri Ora (breath of life) is a well-known Māori saying that was uttered by the first human being. Māori believe that all people and all things have mauri. This carving symbolises the many shapes and forms of mauri with reference to the Māori creation story, and the spiritual and natural worlds. Māori refer to the heavens as Ranginui the sky-father and according to the Māori creation story, Ranginui was pressed against Papatūānuku the earth mother. Their children did not like living in the cramped, dark space between them. One of their sons Tāne separated Ranginui and Papatūānuku to allow light and life into the world. The central male figure carved into Mauri Ora (above) is Tāne. To his right (far right) is his mother Papatūānuku and to his left (far left) is his father Ranginui. Papatūānuku gives birth to all things including human kind and provides the physical and spiritual basis for life. The takarangi (spiral) design in the carving (to the left of Tāne) symbolises the life cycle. Whenua, the word for land also means placenta - organ that nourishes the baby in the womb. Women are associated with the land (whenua) because the land gives birth to people and so do women. In tribal history women have had influence over land and men. Papatūānuku is depicted in the carving to the right of Tāne. Ranginui played a pivotal role in the birth of the sun, moon, planets, stars and constellations – collectively called Te Whānau Mārama (the family of light). Human life and knowledge were said to originate in the realm of Ranginui. Tāne ascended the heavens to retrieve three baskets of knowledge: te kete-tuatea (basket of light), te kete-tuauri (basket of darkness) and te kete-aronui (basket of pursuit). Ranginui is depicted in the carving to the left of Tāne. Tāne had many different roles, and he was given different names to reflect these roles. He is called Tāne-mahuta as god of the forest, Tāne-te-wānanga as the bringer of knowledge, and Tāne-te-waiora as the bringer of life, prosperity, and welfare. His teachings and knowledge are relevant in contemporary times, and the cell-phone carved into his left hand represents this. Tuatara feature in the Māori creation story and some tribes view Tuatara as kaitiaki (guardians) of knowledge. Given that they have lived for more than 220million years. There are birds or manu surrounding Tāne in the carving, who represent Tane’s voice or the voice of the forest. The flax or harakeke depicted in the carving represent the family unit and reinforce the importance of kinship ties. There are plants, ferns, and birds carved into Mauri Ora play an integral role in the life-cycle which represent rongoa Māori or Māori medicine. Traditional Māori carving in Rimu, a native New Zealand wood, with paua insets.merry, alan, anzca council, collier, heke, kaiwhakairo, master carver, rimu

Jean Appleton (1911–2003) Born Sydney, New South Wales A painter and art teacher who studied at the East Sydney Technical College, completing a diploma in drawing and illustration in 1932. In 1935 she travelled to London on a cargo ship. Strongly interested in modern art, she studied under Mark Gertler and Bernard Meninsky at the avant-garde Westminster School.With the outbreak of the war she returned to Australia, thereafter teaching at Canberra Grammar and then at the Julian Ashton and National Art Schools in Sydney. Portrait of a male by Jean Appletonportrait, jean appleton

red tail black cockatoo

bundoora homestead

Through the use of sensors and digital controls, FIDO talks to passers-by, wags its tail, wiggles its ears and lights up at night. The materials used, the form and the interactive nature of this monumental work were chosen specifically to respond to the friendliness and vitality of Fairfield Village and enhance the sense of community for this dog-loving precinct.

Six white sculptural components: a tall bud-like form, a reclining form that refers to various kinds of animals (possum, dugong), a round form that visitors to the park can sit on to view the artwork and three squarish forms that define the space the art is placed in and that park visitors can also sit on. The work relates to the themes outlined in the artists brief, particularly to the “Present” and “Future” with an emphasis on the natural environment. The colour and the reclining form, which appears embryonic, bring to mind birth and new beginnings and the bud, the flowering of life

The work consists of a sculpture and seat. The sculpture is a tree form and the seat is based on a leaf shape. History is evoked through the flora and fauna imagery, from Indigenous plants to those of the farms, back-yards and kitchen gardens of the area, and diversity is evoked primarily through figures holding hands. Both pieces are fabricated from powdercoated mild steel.

glass

This work consists of three “piles of rock-like forms” set in vertical formations. The work is made from clay and cement. The clay used in these pieces reflects the history of the site by referring to the earth and to the brick manufacturing that took place in the area. The formations of the rocks represent the strength of the community and the building blocks of our multicultural heritage.

The symbolic egg form at the heart of this design echoes the hope for recovery and new life, and for the rebirth of the land. The piece also references the conservation role of the park and in particular the role this park plays for the many birds that live and nest within. The 4 metre high egg form is made from recycled timbers and is designed to be tactile, organic and peaceful within the environment. (Objective A1455462)

This is a sculpture made from bands of steel formed into tall “crown-like or inverted “v” shapes”. The work has panels of etched copper with text in different languages riveted onto areas of the steel that overlap. The design expresses and reflects Darebin’s cultural diversity and the history of the site.

"This work is a snake that is constructed with a skeletal framework of thin strip steel and fencing wire. The framework is covered with Hessian which is then covered with three layers of fibreglass blanket and resin. The entire snake is painted with acrylic artist’s paints and acrylic house paint. The snake is approximately six metres long by one metre wide. This work represents “Mindi” the Red-Bellied Black Snake. The Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation regard “Mindi” as a spirit of good fortune. (Objective code A1571518)"

A curving stainless steel sculpture of linked human figures, 4 metres wide, 2 metres deep and 2.5 metres high. The Connection depicts many people coming together in an animated, alive way, the separate components becoming one. It refers to the meaningful links between different groups in the community and the connections which contribute to harmony in Darebin.

Two petal-shaped forms made of galvanised steel. The petals represent voyage, destination and arrival to a new place.

Galvanised steel structures shaped like doors or windows with etched copper panels with images on them and patinated surface colour. The designs express and reflect Darebin’s cultural diversity and the history of the site, from the land of which the Wurundjeri are the traditional custodians, to brick works (Northcote Brick Company) and then finally as the Northcote Landfill.

"AN UNCANNY LIKENESS It’s difficult to escape the flight of the imagination in Lynda Draper’s new work. Set within a dream-like milieu, an anthology of wondrous and majestic objects float and bob in space. Referencing kings and queens, and the flamboyance of the French Baroque, these large filigree works are woven from clay, and while not explicitly figurative, possess familiar facial markers which bring into play the metaphysical qualities attributed to inanimate objects by human memory and experience. Draper spent the European winter near Versailles, where marble sculptures set among the gardens are shrouded in the winter months to prevent frost from taking its toll on precarious limbs. And while the influence from her residency is certainly evident, rather than stimulating work of this nature, it has merely activated and amplified elements of her recent practice. From smaller ‘tiaras’ in 2016, her work has evolved into sizeable ‘crowned portraits’ of clay. Hovering somewhere between the real and the unreal, these works are architectural and figurative, formed and formless, literal and fictional. They bewitch and amuse, revealing multiple characters and personalities only after careful observation. The medium of clay is so exquisitely anomalous in Draper’s work that it becomes, to the viewer, an afterthought rather than a dialogue prompt for works that are traditionally contextualised by their medium. And this is how it should be. Clay has undergone a renaissance in the past decade or so; no longer is it in the domain of craft. With a strong conceptual narrative and by pushing the medium beyond its natural limits, ceramicists like Draper can be counted among Australia’s significant artists who contribution is gaining ground in contemporary art discourse. And yet, it is the use of clay which makes Draper’s work so utterly extraordinary. Ambitious in scale, virtuosic in composition, she has the ability to make the unmakeable. Drawing from a conventional practice of coiling and handbuilding, the maker’s hand is evident on every square inch of her work. The uneven coils are shaped by the impressions of her grip on the responsive nature of the material. But Draper somehow dispenses with the inherent limitations of the soft clay medium, manipulating it in a way which defies physics and logic. Her award-winning installation for the Sidney Myer Australian Ceramic Award in 2019 is testament to an artist whose practice has consolidated. Her ambition, robust conceptual thinking and technical understanding of materials have reached a zenith which has been rewarded her with one of the most prestigious prizes in Australian art"

Wooden poles made from treated pine with painted designs in acrylic paint. The work also includes 12 Redgum “stepping stones” set into the ground in concrete pads.