slow art day

with judy watson and guests

Sat 1 July 2023

9am – 4.30pm

Join contemporary artist Judy Watson for a masterclass combining bush walking and a hands-on, nature-inspired ink workshop. Leading the group for the guided walk is Kabi Kabi traditional custodian Lyndon Davis, who will share the history and botanical knowledge of the Lake Cootharaba area. In addition, Dhana Merritt will make tea from collected local ingredients for participants.

At the gallery, Judy will talk about her artistic practice and public artwork, followed by a workshop involving drawing with ink using sticks and grass, creating your own hand-made bamboo ink pen and experimenting with ink washes. There will also be an opportunity to monoprint various textures collected from the natural environment.

Event Outline (with approximate times)

8.50 am | Meet at Lake Cootharaba

9 – 10.45 am | Guided bush walk with Lyndon Davis

10.45 am – Tea by the lake with Dhana Merritt

11.15 am – Travel to gallery (approx. 30 mins)

11.45 am – Arrive at Gallery. Find car park. Settle in for presentation.

12 pm – Judy presentation and brush-making

12.30 pm – Lunch break

1 pm – 4 pm – Hands-on workshop, option for more tea

4 pm – 4.30 pm – Workshop clean-up”

About the Artists

Judy Watson was born in Mundubbera, Queensland. Judy Watson’s Aboriginal matrilineal family is from Waanyi country in north-west Queensland. The artist’s process evolves by working from site and memory, revealing Indigenous histories, following lines of emotional and physical topography that centre on particular places and moments in time.

Spanning painting, printmaking, drawing, sculpture and video, her practice often draws on archival documents and materials, such as maps, letters and police reports, to unveil institutionalised discrimination against Aboriginal people. Exhibiting extensively since the 1980s, Watson co-represented Australia at the 1997 Venice Biennale and won the Works on Paper Award at the 23rd National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award in 2006. She was also the recipient of the National Gallery of Victoria’s 2006 Clemenger Contemporary Art Award. In 2011, Watson’s exhibition waterline was shown at the Embassy of Australia in Washington DC, and in 2012, she exhibited in the Sydney Biennale. In 2018, the Art Gallery of New South Wales staged a major exhibition of her work titled the edge of memory. Watson has also received commissions for several public art projects across Australia, including fire and water at Reconciliation Place in Canberra in 2007, ngarunga nangama: calm water dream at 200 George St in Sydney in 2016, and in the same year, tow row for the Gallery of Modern Art’s 10th Anniversary in Brisbane. A significant solo exhibition of her work will open in March 2020 at Ikon Gallery in Birmingham. Her work is also included in several significant Australian and international collections, including all of Australia’s state institutions, the National Gallery of Australia, the Tokyo National University of Technology, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the British Museum, and MCA/ TATE. Watson is an Adjunct Professor at Griffith University, and in 2018, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Art History by the University of Queensland.

Lyndon Davis is an internationally acclaimed artist, educator and cultural performer. He was born and raised on the Sunshine Coast and is a Traditional Custodian of the Kabi Kabi people. Davis’ arts practice represents his deep connection to Country. Most recently, Davis has been making work that visualises the calls of different species on Kabi Kabi Country using cymatics, the science of visualising acoustic energy or sound.

Dhana Merritt is an artist, collaborator, curator and health scientist based in Meanjin (Brisbane). Informed by vis medicatrix naturae – the healing power of nature, her practice explores the medicinal properties and health benefits of plants via sensorial interactive artworks and events.

Location

The walk will occur at Lake Cootharaba, followed by a workshop at the Gallery.

Participants will be responsible for their own transport between Lake Cootharaba and Noosa Regional Gallery.

The meeting location at Lake Cootharaba will be communicated in a confirmation email a week prior to the event.

Masterclass includes

Guided walk

Tea

Presentation and artist talk with Judy Watson and facilitated workshop.

All required workshop materials

Light lunch – There is an opportunity to advise of any dietary requirements when making your booking.

You will walk away with

Botanical knowledge

Indigenous history knowledge

Hand-made brushes

Ink drawings and nature prints

Other important information

Please arrive 10 minutes early to avoid late starts and allowing time to find a carpark.

FAQs:

What can I bring?

Please wear weather appropriate clothing.

Water bottle

Old clothes/apron

Hat

Closed in shoes

Gloves – optional

Optional – Feathers, leaves, grasses etc for making brushes.

Investment $200

Saturday 1 jul 2023 9am - 4.30pm