‘Flour, Sugar Rice…’: an exhibition of new linocut prints by Fleur Rendell.
The Muse Gallery of Milawa is delighted to present an exhibition of colour linocut prints by Glenrowan-based Fleur Rendell, from 24 September until 17 October, 2011.
‘Flour, Sugar, Rice…’ is an exhibition that explores themes of home, family and memories, through a series of still life compositions of vintage kitchenware, childrens’ toys and domestic settings.
Many of the prints in the exhibition developed as an elaboration of a single image, Still Life – ‘The Dresser’, which illustrates the 1920s dresser central to Rendell’s kitchen. Its neat arrangement of cook books, tea caddies and canisters, along with a tray made by Rendell’s great grand-mother during the Depression, has an aesthetic balance that is symbolic of family harmony.
Images composed of objects from ‘The Dresser’ include ‘One More Cup’, with its teapot, strainer and caddy conveying the sense of ‘ritual’ in the tea making process. ‘Also, I don’t think you can underestimate the comfort of having morning tea with friends,’ adds Rendell. Meanwhile, the colourful set of 1950s canisters in ‘Flour, Sugar, Rice…’ are not only reminders of home-made cakes and biscuits, but also resemble a family in which ‘every member has been accounted for.’
Birds have been an important subject matter in Rendell’s work. In ‘A Tinny Find’ a bowl of onions is paired with an English biscuit tin decorated with robins. These birds are further celebrated in ‘Round Robin’, depicting a native robin that appears to have ‘flown off the biscuit tin and into the garden.’
‘Carl Jung said “the creative mind plays with objects it loves,” and I’ve been keeping that in my mind while deciding what these prints would be about,’ explains Rendell.
The vintage objects seen in ‘Flour, Sugar, Rice…’, from the slow combustion wood-fired stove of Rendell’s childhood home, to Polish enamel kettles, a bakelite bread bin, tricycle and roller skates, will be reassuringly familiar to a broad audience. Bold colours of apple greens, sky blues, fire engine reds and earthy browns also add to the works’ popular appeal.
Rendell is an accomplished artist who has exhibited in many group exhibitions in North-East Victoria and Melbourne. Her prints are held in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia. Rendell is also represented by Australian Galleries.
‘Flour, Sugar Rice…’ opens at 2pm Saturday 24 September, and closes 17 October, 2011.
For further information, contact:
Muse Galley of Milawa
at the Milawa Cheese Factory,
Factory Road, Milawa, 3678
Tel. 03 5727 3599
Email. contact@musegallery.com.au
Web. www.musegallery.com.au