New Beginnings from Bundjalung- Brian Irving.

The Art opening here at Ceramic Break on the long weekend was a corker. The sun shone, the artists glowed and everyone had a rip snorting time. Our Member for Northern Tablelands, Adam Marshall, officially opened the proceedings saying that he has been following Brian's work for a long time and likes the way it is evolving. We were lucky to welcome back, Fabio Tolli from Armidale. His music was both fabulous to listen to and even attracted some of the audience onto the dance floor of grass, they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Huesos

Now the fuss and palaver of Christmas and New Year is over Kerry is hard at work in the studio on the final composition in the series ‘Polar Bear’.

It is a highly complex narrative, set in a seal resort, somewhere in Mexico.

There are seals sunning, body surfing and just hanging out as all leisure seekers do. A sombrero wearing polar bear wanders the resort carrying souvenirs in a huge basket. There is a touch of violence with polar bear guards attacking a polar bear that is trying to eat a seal and there are whale and human bones in abundance.

Symbolism, metaphors, social comment and good old Kerry imagination abounds.

The composition is called ‘Huesos’ in Spanish (bones in English) and will be finished soon.

The final weeks of 2014.

Kerry has been busy travelling, exhibiting, going to openings, hosting openings, Park maintenance and having fun. 

 
In late September he was in a group show in London.  The Gagliardi Gallery in Kings Road, Chelsea is a great venue and the Gagliardis know how to have an opening; lots of fabulous food and wine, great people and of course, marvellous Art..

 Before leaving for London Kerry had 2 small sculptures enlarged using 3d printing. This was Kerry’s first use of the process and when he returned from overseas he discovered there was a lot of work still to be done to retrieve the finer details of the pieces before they are cast. Sanding styrofoam is not a pleasant activity.

 

 

 The ‘Quirky Festival’ was held at Ceramic Break on Saturday 11^th October and it coincided with our last opening of the year. The Festival was organized by the Gwydir Shire’s amazing Georgia Standerwick and her terrific team and it was a fabulous week of creative workshops for all ages and interests run by local artists.  At Ceramic Break we were lucky to have the vocal talent of Fabio from Armidale who was a great hit.  Kerry really enjoyed the day.

 

 Since then Kerry has been on the road delivering bronzes to two separate shows in NSW, one at Mudgee and the other in the Hunter Valley. When these are sorted he will return to the studio.

 

A Flaming Giraffe

In days of old, when knights were bold and times were full of laughs

Creative Kerry, so hip and merry created tall giraffes.
 

Now these steel beings, so full of meanings arcane and full of wonder,

Had flames fly high to light the sky, delight the crowds down under.

But sad to say there came a day when mechanisms failed them

And so for years despite the tears there was no fun or flaming.
 

Then all at once ‘Oh what a dunce’ said Kerry all excited

‘She will be cleaned, her pipes all reamed, and she can then be lighted’

Kalloo, kallay, oh what a day when FG  was re-lighted

We sang, we shout, we danced about and we were all delighted.

 A few days ago there was a gathering at Ceramic Break to witness and toast the Flaming Giraffe's rebirth. It was a glorious occasion and the evening was further enhanced by the chance arrival of an old friend. A photographer of many years, Val took some amazing photos, one of which is on the blog, and she was moved to write her own appraisal of the evening. 

'Beneath a full moon we wait.
Ears cold. Toes numb.
Collective intake of breath. The eyes glow red.
Gasps at the flicker of blue. Flames erupt from the head.
Cries of delight. The neck is ablaze.
We cheer.
Dali's giraffe in full metal jacket actually alight.
Behold the splendour of Dali.     Val


 

 

The Tiger Club Revamp..

After a whirlwind visit to the foundry where lots of hot air and mutterings accompanied a frenzied casting, patinating and painting, Kerry had a five minute rest before returning to the studio to contemplate the improvements he wants to make to the base of The Tiger Club. 

This large sculpture investigates the sordid side of male culture.  It is an installation of bronze, fibre optics and mirrors which, having 150 individual pieces and a steel base, took Kerry 2 years to complete.  Not being satisfied with the original support as he felt that it did not truly complement the piece, Kerry has designed a more elegant and aesthetically pleasing base to enhance the beautiful sculpture.

Sculptors of large and complex pieces have to have a good understanding of engineering and be able to draw up accurate plans.  Kerry has spent quite some time nutting out the design of the base, transferring it onto paper and translating it into a cardboard model to ensure that the base will be cut and welded correctly.

So far so good, but as was once said, the proof is in the pudding and this pudding has yet to be baked. Keep an eye on this space.

 

 

The Casting..

It is very cold in the studio but the indomitable artist Kerry is hard at work; wearing a hat and a complete set of thermal underwear, he perseveres. The series ‘Polar Bears’ is nearly complete and many of the pieces are in the process of being cast at the foundry.

At the foundry the wax figures are individually dipped into a ceramic slurry which hardens around the piece and after the wax is melted out (usually with the help of a blow torch) the mould is filled with molten bronze. Once the bronzes have cooled, which takes about an hour, each piece is checked to make sure there are no bronze short runs which can result in missing fingers or toes.

Kerry’s narratives are usually made up of several figures and a base and these are then welded together and patinated or painted.