pulleys and thread

orbital exhibition

At the beginning of the year I was invited to create work for a new community space in Altona Meadows called Orbital which is run by Hobsons Bay City Council.  Heather van Heerwaarden curated the show and I was joined by Naomi Nicholls and Larissa MacFarlane who are fellow onefourfour-ers!  The exhibition space consists of 6 lightboxes so we had 2 each to make site specific work for.

I decided to create the work in Altona Meadows and photograph my response to the environment.  Well, my 7yo pressed the shutter for me and we spent a lot of time taking photos of him jumping and running towards the camera......  He's obsessed with stop-motion animation!

The weather was pretty crazy that day, when we got there it was thick cloud and the light was dark and almost foggy which was great for me!  But by the time we wandered around for ages trying to decide on two perfect spots the bright midday sun came out shining.  I'm always happy to work with the elements so we carried on.

The first image we shot was some rocks amongst the grass with the city in the background.  I really wanted to do something different for this exhibition and I had planned to show this image as a series of four scrolls that fit together.  In the end I used four different images which I printed, rolled into scrolls and lined up to expose different parts of each image.

We then shot the following image and the plan for this one was to sew gumleaves from the dress with all the cotton exposed, I absolutely love sewing into photographs and want to do more of it but haven't had the time to just play and experiment.

It was an interesting process creating work for a particular size and trying something new, I forgot what it's like to get out of my comfort zone!  That's never good, I have a bunch of ideas I want to try and need to make more time for being uncomfortable in my work.

We had our photo taken with the mayor one night and I super quickly (had the boys with me causing a ruckus) took some photos of the work all lit up and it looks great.  The work will be there until August so if you happen to be visiting Aldi's in Altona Meadows....

Larissa staged handstands all over Altona Meadows and documented the process...

Naomi created a site specific installation for one of the lightboxes and some teeny tiny art books for the peep hole...

And here's how mine turned out, I think I'd like to print the leaning one full frame and sew the leaves on again and get it framed.  I really do love the sewing, or adding other mediums to make the photo more than a straight print.  Just like how I love to create installations when I'm exhibiting work so it's not just a line of photos on the wall.  Maybe I want to make my work a fuller experience?  That's not quite the right word I'm looking for, fuller experience sounds a bit arrogant or something...

Anyhoo I want to say a HUGE thank you to Hobsons Bay City Council for supporting the arts, they've commissioned me for a variety of things over the years and I really appreciate it.  Thanks to Heather for curating the show and giving us free reign on what we wanted to create.  It's been awesome.

This Wild Song - new website!

I'm so excited to have finished the This Wild Song website and it's now live!  There's a list of the artists involved with the first few interviews, plus you can join the This Wild Song mailing list to be notified when a new artist is featured on the site!

This is my portrait of Nell and you can read my interview with her here.  I'll write a Behind The Scenes post about my shoot with her soon! x

Ps. I now have an instagram account dedicated to the artists of This Wild Song at @thiswildsong

onefourfour exhibition

We're very excited to be exhibiting the complete one hundred and forty four works from last years onefourfour!  A huge thank you to Erika from The Art Room for hosting the pop up exhibition.

There will be free drawing sessions held on the Sunday as well!  Please come say hi, I'll be there both days :)

thisplace. opening

Thank you so much to everyone who came along to the opening of thisplace!  It was a brilliant turn out and I really appreciate everyone's support.  And thank you to Town Hall Gallery who are brilliant to work with and put on awesome openings!  I lugged my camera to the opening but of course didn't take a single photo, luckily THG took some photos on the day.

There's still plenty of time to see the work and contribute to the installation as the show is on until the 22nd.  Plus I'll be in the gallery doing an artist talk on Saturday 14th February from 1pm.  Following the talk there will be an Art Hunt where the audience will be invited to hunt for art treasure in the building it's going to be fun!

thisplace. exhibition opening this Saturday!

Well, the day is almost here!!  I'm so excited to see the show finally come together!  

thisplace. has been an ambitious project for me as I've created so many elements for the show; a photographic series, two performance films, an interactive installation, an Art Hunt, and activities for the children.  The exhibition breaks the barriers of the traditional white cube gallery and embraces the chaos of being a parent.   

I've definitely experienced first hand how difficult it can be to attend exhibitions and experience art with young children so it was imperative to create interactive art in a family friendly space.  And, hopefully, we can open an honest and non-judgmental conversation about what it’s really like to be a mother.  To encourage the conversation to continue after attending the exhibition, the audience is welcome to photograph how they’ve experienced the show and share on social media using the tags #thisplace #townhallgallery #ilonanelson

thisplace.

opens Saturday 10th January 2-4pm

Town Hall Gallery

360 Burwood Road, Hawthorn VIC 3122

www.townhallgallery.com.au

performance piece for thisplace.

We recorded a performance piece for my solo show thisplace. which I'll write more about soon, but in the meantime here's a write up of the experience by participant and artist Siobhan Kelley http://siobhankelley.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/girls-can-do-anything.html.  Thanks Siobhan!! x

onefourfour: november

I didn't really have a clear idea for November's theme of UNDERNEATH, probably because my head is so full preparing for my solo show...   I just happened to walk past this wall in my house when the light was amazing (afternoon natural light my favourite) and my son was already playing with the hood that had come off my jacket.  Lucky for me he's always happy to help me create and I got a few shots before he lost interest.  Ooh shiny! 

I really love the mood in this and the low rim light is perfect, I definitely want to shoot like this more often.  Makes me happy.

onefourfour interview

One of the many parts of onefourfour that I love is interviewing the artists to learn more about their practice, and this month I had to interview myself!  Kinda awkward.  And really, really hard to answer my own questions!!  If you'd like a squiz it is here.

thisplace. exhibition

 Climbing the mountain © Ilona Nelson

thisplace.

opens Saturday 10th January 2-4pm

exhibition runs 13th January - 22nd February 2015

360 Burwood Road, Hawthorn VIC 3122

www.townhallgallery.com.au

That's not funny © Ilona Nelson

Well, it's been almost three years in the making... but it's nearly time for my solo show thispace.!  It's a new media series featuring photography, film, interactive installations, plus colouring-in and a giant blackboard for the kids.

thisplace. explores the realities and complexities of motherhood, questions what is left unsaid, and aims to start an honest conversation (without judgement!).  I've found it difficult to see exhibitions with my children and this show will definitely be kid friendly!  I want you to feel welcome to come in and hang out (it'd be great if mum groups used the space to catch up), to make noise, interact with the work, contribute to an installation with any thoughts about motherhood and what maternal means to you - you don't have to be a mum.  There'll also be an open studio happening next door so you'll be able to see art being made which I think is very, very cool.

I've got the whole room pictured in my head and it looks so awesome.  I hope I can pull it off.

onefourfour: October

Our theme for October was COLOUR.  I really love the work everyone made for this theme, you can see them all on the onefourfour blog here!

arvo glow.

I'm sorting through the photos I've got sitting on my computer, trying to get stuff off so I can load more on.  Just found this nugget from July.  Goodness me I go all swoon-like over the afternoon glow.  SO.  GOOD.

glee