Art and design, passion and exploration
Tree Line, Helen S Tiernan, Courtesy Coo-ee Gallery Bondi
Join me, Maisy Stapleton, on Arts Thursday on 4th December at 10:30 am – till noon.
Firstly, I meet up with Helen Tiernan, at the Coo-Ee Gallery in Bondi, where her solo exhibition Farming Without Fences is on show until 17th January.
The exhibition is inspired by historian Bill Gammage’s book, The Biggest Estate on Earth – How Aborigines made Australia, which tells of Indigenous husbandry of the land and its animals, particularly using trails of fire to create grassland areas and manage undergrowth.
Helen is a passionate and vibrant artist. The commitment to her heritage, both Indigenous and Colonial, has produced an extraordinary body of work, brimming with stories.
It references not only images used by early Colonial painters combined with her understanding of her Indigenous heritage, but there is also an overlay of the decorative world of antique furniture and wallpaper she knew as a child.
Helen Tiernan
Deco-roo II, Helen S Tiernan, Courtesy Coo-ee Gallery
Alejandro (Alex) Nam
In a different tempo, we are joined by Alex Nam, a young and innovative designer who currently works with timber offcuts that would otherwise be discarded, to produce lively and functional products.
If you’ve ever wished to work or train as a ‘designer’, Alex’s story of his development and learning is an interesting one and is as organic as his approach to design. His work couples a sophisticated sense of aesthetics and function with being open to exploring the possibilities and potential of material, ideas and forms.
Listen in to the conversation with Helen and Alex on Arts Thursday with Maisy Stapleton.
For further information on Helen and her exhibition you can also visit www.cooeart.com.au or www.helenstiernan.com.au or www.alejandronam.com to see Alex’s work.
Thanks also to Raymond Scott of Workshopped https://www.workshopped.com.au/ for linking Arts Thursday with Alex.
If you miss the program on 4th December you can still listen to the whole show through Eastside’s remarkable playback facility. Just go to the program guide, click on to Arts Thursday and scroll down to the relevant date.
