June Exhibitions 2019

Mariska Fenner and Chloe Dalamaras were involved in the First Coat Studios 'Emerging Artist LAB' from March - May, 2019. This program supports two early career artists through a free studio residency, professional mentorship, and exhibition outcome. This program was made possible thanks to the Regional Arts Development Fund, auspiced by BackBone Youth Arts.⁣⁣⁣

‘Per Mutua Nexis (intertwined)’ by Chloe Dalamaras is a series of images that explores the unspoken and often forgotten connection between the earth and the self. The body of work features Queensland-based dancers Lucy Hood, Jessica Jane and Brock Eric interacting with the natural structure of an Australian oceanic landscape.

“Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.”
― Jacques-Yves Cousteau

With a focus on water and air, Dalamaras fuses environmental elements and the physical form through similar tones, merging earth and human into one. With a background as a dancer and performer, she used her knowledge of shapes, linework and colours to merge together the dancers and the surrounding environment capturing moments of stillness against the constantly shifting landscape. The artist aims to draw connections to the subtle similarities between the earth, the elements and the human form.

Dalamaras comments on the current relationships society can have with the earth and the beauty that can be found when they connect and respond. With the uproar of technology and infrastructure, she has noticed how out of touch modern society has become with the earth.
This body of work serves as a reminder that we are of the earth and we intertwined with it in countless ways.

Chloe Dalamaras is an emerging visual artist & photographer based in Toowoomba. With a camera in hand, she is constantly drawn to creating interesting imagery of people and their surroundings.
Three years ago, after shooting her first roll of 35mm film, she decided to switch from shooting digitally and instead began working exclusively with 35mm & medium format film. Creating within the analogue format has uniquely shaped Dalamaras’ artistic process as a photographer. Her photoshoots are limited to 24 - 36 exposures meaning that every single shot counts - forcing her to slow down and really focus on what she wants within the frame.

Mariska Fenner is an emerging, multidisciplinary artist, working in Toowoomba, Queensland. She has recently completed a Bachelor of Creative Arts through the University of Southern Queensland, and has participated in a number of group exhibitions and artist exchanges. Her main practice incorporates both painting and printmaking techniques, with a focus on collage and the layering of unrelated imagery to construct narratives.

In the past, my collage process has involved cutting and pasting the figure or focal point of an image. In this recent body of work, I have been more interested in the remnants of that process: the imagery that remains in the absence of the figure. These new works have served as a vehicle for my own human experience in dealing with the death of a close friend. They reflect the innate human ability to find hope, create meaning and restructure a life in the context of loss.

‘Research for a Free Life’ examines the t h r e s h o l d between gentle and strong. This space is made by means of psychic check-ins (real or imagined) with the choices made by family members (genetic or chosen) before the artist. An authenticity of sexuality, identity and home are constructed here via work, salvage and craft. Also, by looking and listening… intuiting. Fabric accompanies film to accentuate the maker in filmmaker that is a new part of the artist’s practice. Each stitch and each frame are understood as a way to cross over which is the ultimate invitation of The Sleep Window.

Skye Thompson is a Toowoomba based filmmaker who has constructed The Sleep Window as the psychic space required for her practice to exist. Completing a degree in screen production at QCA in the 90’s she was part of the last cohort of film students who shot and edited on 16mm film. Further study in creative writing and gender studies (now defunct RIP) at the University of Qld led to her identifying as an archivist while living in Melbourne. Later she flirted with craftivism while living in East London in 2010. Since travelling to Japan and learning about Mingei she has shifted focus to emphasise the maker in filmmaker.