The Drawing Gallery, 18 – 29 October 2021
‘1+2’ is a group show that brings together works produced by first- and second-year Masters students at the National Art School. Tasked with collaborating long-distance, the artists considered the individual and collective experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic through a lens of domesticity. Switching paint brushes for knitting needles, printing presses for cameras, their work reflects the odd squeeze of studio practice into the home environment. Ultimately, it is a testament to the tenacity and madness required to feed ‘the creative beast’ on whatever imagination is left while waiting for the next AusPost delivery.
Revealed at the summation of the 2021 Sydney lockdown, this exhibition concludes a period of multiple frustrations, anxieties and sadness. Within it are the traces of perpetual NBN works, ‘unstable connections’ across new media platforms, and a heightened awareness of birth and death as the natural constants in everyday life.
The result of this equation of drawings is a longing for care, comedy, and connection. As we grabble with the bizarre experience of reveling in the minutia of daily walks and crochet, amidst a backdrop of riots and global upheaval, the result is a turn towards creativity as solace.
Unfortunately this exhibition is not open to the public however images of the works and documentation of the exhibition will be posted here.
Installation View 
Installation View 
Installation View 
Lynley George, After Birth 1, 2021, mixed media, dimensions variable 
Mia Domansky, Melinda Hunt, Wendy Miller, Collaboration I, 2021, ink and mixed media on rice paper, 154 x 88 cm 
Nic Fern, After Birth 5, 2021, mixed media, 37 x 142 x 46 cm 
Armando Chant, Stephanie Houghton, Belinda Yee, Isolated Affinities, 2021, graphite, varnish, wax, graphite powder, watercolour on paper and card, 94 x 54 cm 
Sarah Furness, After Birth 4, 2021, mixed media, 52 x 44 x 20 cm 
Amelia Skelton, After Birth 2, 2021, collection of works, mixed media, dimensions variable 
Kaye Shumack, Untitled Sydney Drawing, 2020, pastel on paper, 46 x 47 cm 
TC Overson, Fiona Billyard, Judith Ajani, Minutes, 2021, graphite, charcoal, ink, cooking oil, and crayon on paper and photographic images, dimensions variable
