deb mostert

On Saturday August 8th I will be having two sessions in conversation with Jodie Ferrari (Tweed Regional Art Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre) about my current project Drawing to Dis/Possess. NOTE!! these sessions postponed to future date due to COVID

At both of these sessions I will be drawing objects while we chat about the stories and value we place on things. There will be an exhibition of drawings, watercolours and oil paintings I have been making in recent times as I wrestle with my own consumption and collecting choices. We hope to reschedule these talks soon.

Drawing to Dis/Possess

 An experiment into how I might be able to dis/possess myself of material belongings.

I am making drawings, sketches, and paintings of things I have, but no longer need, in the hope that through the act of making an ‘iconic transfer’ I can rid myself of possessions.

Alongside, must be the equally vital act of not seeking to possess any more things. So, I am making drawings, sketches, and paintings of objects I covet, stuff I’d love to acquire, things that are tempting me but maybe don’t really need to own.

How do I manage my own collecting habits and be more vigorously present in my enjoyment of the objects I own or wish to own?

Is the act of drawing them enough? Can I be content to have enjoyed them, spent time with them, observing their aesthetic or functional beauty or reveling in their nostalgic blast?

Can I draw to dis/possess?

in which I chat about what a sketchbook could mean to us at such a time as this and a demo of a fun drawing exercise to try.

Just before Covid 19 restrictions started to mean that life was changing and teaching was going to be different, I was delighted to spend 2 days a week for 4 weeks at St Margaret’s Anglican girls school with grades 7, 8, 9 and 10 students as we worked through a variety of art projects around their themes of ‘soaring’. I hope to return at some stage and see where their investigations took them.

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I’m very proud to be included in this current exhibition
http://onespacegallery.com.au/exhibition/shiver/
with this new work
Shark as Object  2019 watercolour 46 x 61 cm

This work has come about through my weekly visits to draw and document objects held at the Queensland Museum. A deep love and fascination of natural history and a long-standing practice within the genre of still life have collided to produce the perfect storm of subject matter and conceptual concerns. The ideas around the objectification of creatures has led to a d-evolution of the shark, from the valuable museum holotype skin of the Grey Nurse shark down to kitsch soap holders and shark suit–wearing Lego figurines. How do we feel about the various images of shark within our popular culture? From shiver to shudder, can it help our understanding and appreciation for the shark as an integral and important species? German mystic St Hildegard of Bingen said in the eleventh century “If we fall deeper and deeper in love with creation, we will respond to its endangerment with passion.” If this is the case, maybe even a plastic, grinning, dancing effigy of a shark can be redeemed.

Prints of this works are available through OneSpace either framed or unframed
Digital print on 308gsm 100% cotton paper, paper size 68cm x 48cm, Edition 20 (1-20 available), 

as hundreds of dedicated Urban Sketchers descended on Brisbane city and drew hard for 3 days. Thanks to the Brisbane chapter of Urban Sketchers International for organsing the event. It was so much fun to be with talented tutors from Asia, interstate and local and be drawing and documenting the city together with many enthusiastic sketchers.

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28-29th September at University of Southern Queensland

and we did have fun sculpting and using ready mades, to make molds. We then cast in resin. Thanks to McGregor for another great workshop experience.

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