The Manjimup Art Gallery welcomes the opportunity to showcase the extraordinary talent of local artist, Louise Tasker, through an exhibition of contemporary jewellery as art entitled, About Body.
Although each piece is spectacularly unique, there is a common theme of water, and the way our relationship with this life-giving source shapes our love of both surf and forest environments. This is particularly evidenced in works such as In the break, Bypassing Summer Flows, Water rights and Breaking wave.
Similarly, a visually stunning neckpiece speaks of the edge of the land bordering the ocean, declaring our hedonistic love of sun, sand and surf. The sun becomes gold reflected as silver on water over which it rises and sets. The continuous spirals echoing the constant rolling of the waves and the infinite cycles and rhythms by which we live.
Louise has employed a range of metalsmithing techniques to develop the works. Each has been chosen for its meaning i.e. carving tree shapes into cuttlefish (collected from Windy Harbour) and casting gold into the mold to create a ring reminiscent of a forest road, or marrying different metals together to create whirlpools and water markers.Like the cuttlefish, found objects, sourced from local environments, feature in many of the exhibition pieces including sheoak, marron gastroliths, sea urchins, driftwood and shells.
"About Body builds on previous exhibitions staged at the Manjimup Art Gallery throughout the year that demonstrate the depth and variety of artistic talent in the area", said Shire President, Paul Omodei.
About Body will be on display at the Manjimup Art Gallery (Cnr Rose and Mount Streets) from 19 October to 16 November 2019.
