Monday, August 1, 2011

2011 International Biennale of Drawing and Graphic Arts

To my immense pleasure I was invited to submit something for the upcomming International Biennale of Drawing and Graphic Arts, hosted in Győr, Hungary. The given theme for the works was "Role Change".

Finishing up the Art Smposium on Saturday night after the exhibition, I launched right into my dyptych, being lucky enough to be allowed to continue working in the Graphics Studio in order to finish my entry. With the deadline a mere three days away, I start my days early and end them late, drawing like a maniac (Okay, drawing in a calm and orderly, precice and almost meditatively obsessive-compulsive manner....)

During the Art Symposium I began an illustration project of translating Hungarian folktales and Hun Legends through the eyes of someone who grew up on those tales, but in a far removed and completely different environment. I felt continuing in this vein fit perfectly with the theme of the Biennale.

Initally I had planned to inject a lot of "Australiana" into the illustrations themselves, but as I worked on the images this became more subtle, and less of a main focus. Instead my focus shifted to depicting the characters in my own unique way, transporting the scenarios into a modern context. As usual I sought inspiration from the people I find myself surrounded with, so these illustrations can double as portraits of the incredible people I have been meeting on my journey.

Animals play a big part in Hungarian folklore, and I decided to replace some with the animals I was more familiar with from back in Australia. As unfamiliar and foreign to the people here as European animals were to me, I decided to depict this dichotomy by reducing the animals to shades - resembling paper cut outs or props in a play.

Apologies that this was such a text-heavy post, I will go into more detail about the piece I am creating in the next post, along with a plethora of work in progress shots : )

Maybe just a little sneak peek for now......

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