EXHIBITION: ‘ILLUMINATE - THE ART OF ILLUSTRATION’
Anglesea art space
10-21 june 2021
Helen interviews Helen!
HG1: There are two very different styles on display in this exhibition, how did you come to working in this way?
HG2: I started working with fine line technical pen, watercolour and pencil a long time ago. I used technical pens in graphic communication in high school, then my first job out of school was being a ‘tracer’ for a small engineer company where I transferred the draftmen's drawings of roads, drains and sewers onto architectural film – before computers did the job! I was originally influenced by my older brother and sister, who I considered to be both artists when I was in school. My brother Ian was a scientist, but he also did these very fine line hatched cartoons and he had a couple of Leunig books on his shelves. I would sneak into his room to look through them and was captivated by the style and the sheer kookiness. Ian would also draw cards for birthdays and I started to do that too, and it just kept going.
I decided to study sculpture at RMIT in the 90s, and while we were learning to work in a very conceptual way, I continued to draw in my more illustrative style. I had a couple of peers say to me, well you aren’t really ‘drawing’ (in a Fine Art sense), they’re illustrations - and I remember feeling quite offended. I didn’t see a distinction in the way that I made. To me it was all about the same process of being curious and finding different ways to express myself.
In my late 30s I became involved in the Melbourne International Animation Festival (MIAF). We were receiving about 3,000 short, independent animated films from around the world. Through the process of watching films to program and pulling images for promotion, I began to appreciate the very broad range of what auteur animation is - which is predominantly moving art. I still held quite strong ideas of what was ‘good’ art, or ‘interesting’ art, but quite quickly my passion to support a wider range of art developed, in particular drawing. So with no studio space, it was a no brainer to start drawing with the aim to exhibit. I had my first solo drawing exhibition at Chapman and Bailey in Collingwood where a friend was working. I produced a huge body of work that captured many ideas and styles, and they all sort of came together. The strongest element was the fine line style, creating odd little scenarios or stories that were often quite intuitive in their composition. The next solo drawing exhibition was at Lowrise Projects in Richmond.
The second style, drawn with ink and much more cartoony, emerged just before I moved to the Surf Coast - but really developed when I was traveling from here to where I was working in Sunshine in Melbourne’s west. I would sit on the Vline for just under an hour and I wanted to use the travel time to draw, but I was struggling to come up with anything. I decided to loosen my approach – try not to think about it too much - to just relax and see what happened. By drawing daily a collection of quirky, but sometimes really sweet and intimate moments evolved - using an ink brush pen (Pentel) that I fell in love with and a good ol’ fine line ink pen you can now buy at the supermarket. I was invited to show a few drawings in an Illustration exhibition organised by local artist Cinnamon Stephens Cinnamons art - Studio 66 and I created a zine called Marshall > Sunshine > Marshall that included some of these ‘doodles’. Then during Covid lockdown I created more doodles while I was very unwell. I wondered what would happen if I scaled them up a bit and added more detail. The first couple were included in the MAC Open day, a new community-led multi arts centre in the old Torquay sports and recreation venue. One included stand alone characters and the other was a bit more considered and had more depth. I was very fortunate that an artist bought the latter which was amazing, as I was a bit scared to put them out there! But I received such positive and encouraging feedback – as was the feedback I received when I posted the doodles on Instagram and Facebook. It was a surprising shift.
HG1: You mentioned before you studied at RMIT, what kind of formal training was that?
HG2: I decided I wanted to study sculpture, which I hoped would give me a really good foundation in drawing while I explored making 3D objects. I had been working at Myer doing mind numbing data entry for months and moved into a share house with two women who were studying sculpture at what was then Chisolm (now Holmesglen), and a light bulb went off – this is what I wanted to do. In the foyer where I had to pick up my pay there were these beautiful bronze sculptures of the female form that I adored. When no-one was looking I would run my hand over them and I got really excited - no, not in a weird way!!
But after completing three years of undergrad, then two years part time doing my honours, I came out really not knowing how to draw technically, or even how to sculpt for that matter! They didn’t teach foundation drawing skills. It was a odd time. Our lecturers would say “painting is dead” and we were encouraged to be much more free form and conceptual. I remember one project we did in first or second year – we had to create a visual diary every day for a month. I ended up doing these little illustrations and putting them all on a big piece of paper to display. They were really well received but there was also a critique that dismissed them as something ‘other’ to what they were trying to teach. So while the work I exhibited became more and more obscure and experimental, and I played a bit with sound, I continued to draw cards for friends and family. Whenever there was a fundraising exhibition at one of the artist run spaces, I would enter a drawing on wood which would nearly always sell. People often questioned why I wasn’t pursuing this side of myself. It was a damn good question! As I moved from share house to share house, my work spaces got smaller, so downsizing meant focusing solely on drawing.
HG1: Your drawn work has always been very illustrative, have you published or had any commissions?
HG2: No, not really! When I was involved in MIAF we would have someone create a branding illustration for each annual festival. One year we were a bit stuck and my partner suggested we use a work I had drawn for a group exhibition. I reworked it and incorporated it into the poster, website and other promotion, and people really liked that it had such a different feel. Then the last MIAF I was involved in before I had to leave, the opportunity popped up again. I had made some cards and a calendar from work I exhibited at Lowrise Projects and was selling them in URSA Studiohouse, a friend’s shop in East Brunswick. I chose one of the drawings and developed the four characters digitally. I was so pleased with the outcome, they were bold and interesting and ended up being one of the most successful branding illustrations in the ten years I co-ran the festival. I was hitting my stride.
After this, I thought maybe I could actually turn illustrating into a job, but my life was unfortunately turned upside down, so it didn’t happen. Then at the beginning of last year someone I studied with at RMIT saw my doodles on Instagram and got in touch. He had grown a very successful furniture design business and wanted to collaborate on an ad campaign - which was exciting! We caught up at the beginning of Covid, but unfortunately I couldn’t continue due to ill health.
Organising and participating in this exhibition has been a fabulous experience. Through talking with the other artists and learning so much conducting these interviews, I’m beginning to focus again.
HG1: Has moving to the Surf Coast influenced your ideas?
HG2: Yeah definitely. I’ve become more playful again. I was able to look at my older drawings and realise - oh, that was rather subconsciously reflective of what was going on in my life! Things that I couldn’t see at the time had come through. I had to walk away from a very manipulative relationship and the festival, which was a part of that, to rebuild my life. Some of the artists in this exhibition have talked about art as therapy, and there’s definitely evidence that it was helping me make sense of things that could only be deciphered much later. The first drawings I did after I moved down here were included in an illustration exhibition organised by local artist Cinnamon Stephens Cinnamons art - Studio 66, they were beautiful dancing women with seaweed filled with such joy and lightness. I also adapted some previous ideas to create more detailed scenarios in forests - eg, I had joined the local ukulele and singing groups, so it was easy to bring that wonderfulness into my drawings.
While I was traveling on the Vline to work and back over two and half years, my ink drawings got a bit weird as my mental health began to deteriorate. At times friends would contact me to ask if I was OK, as once again I couldn't really see what I was drawing in the moment. The subconscious really is quite incredible. I then moved into a house with a dog and cat and they started to appear in a lot of the doodles. Having lived alone for over five years I really enjoyed the company of animals, so they came to the forefront of what I was doing. As I played more, trying to draw daily again, they sort of morphed into hybrid creatures, somewhere between horses and dogs (dorses?!), and there were lots of long flapping arms and other odd characters that were quite lovely and free.
HG1: What would you like to do next?
HG2: Well Helen, that’s a very good question (laughs!)! I feel as though I want to be finished with this kind of work for now, but I have an inkling (no pun intended!) they won’t leave me in hurry. I want to play more in 3D. I miss constructing. Currently I find myself surrounded by so many sculptors who are really good at what they do and I’m quite embarrassed that I studied sculpture for FIVE years and I don’t know how to sculpt (laughs hysterically!). I was a very exceptional box maker though!
I did a hand building ceramics course with Dani Salvo - Be My Keeper Ceramics Studio in Ocean Grove which was really sensational. I made this quirky bust before Covid, but it’s sadly been abandoned - just waiting to be drawn on or have some interesting glazes applied if it hasn’t fallen apart. But I’m also aware at how unsustainable ceramics can be. I’ve made friends with a few artists down here who are working in an ephemeral and sustainable way which I really admire, but I’m not sure how to bring that into my practice. There’s also the new experimental drawing sessions run by George Carmen at Multi Arts Centre - Torquay (The MAC). It has been great to focus on different drawing methods, stripping things right back. He showed me a Youtube video a while ago, a conference for tertiary educators in contemporary drawing held during Covid. Individuals gave brief presentations about what they were doing or what they were interested in - I was reminded just how much I used to experiment in art school and the years following, and that was a genuinely positive reflection. It also confirmed that I would ultimately like to lead some sessions.
So yes, more sculptural stuff, a bit of painting, some experimental drawing, some illustrated products. I’ll continue sharing the work of artists and other stuff going on right along Victoria’s west coast through @ourcreativecoast. I’m also currently President of Surf Coast Arts Inc which is a community organisation run by volunteers since 1994, and I’ve just become Coordinator of this space for a year which I’m incredibly grateful for – it’s all a big loop back. During honours I started working at 200 Gertrude Street in Fitzroy (now Gertrude Contemporary) a very experimental gallery with local and international studios for emerging artists, and I was involved in a fabulous artist run space called Grey Area Art Space with RMIT painting and VCA drawing grads. I’m already feeling very much at home in the role, it makes sense for the first time in a looong time.
There’s such an extraordinary amount of creativity down here which I’m tapping into. I’m hopefully moving in a new direction of creating – whatever that might be – and that’s super exciting.
HG1: Thanks Helen
HG2: You’re so welcome Helen (LOL!!)
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