Nicola Cerini led a monoprint workshop in the Gordon Gallery, in front of her beautiful printed linen artworks.
Monoprint is an easy instant and one-off original printing process and we highly recommend you try your hand at this technique.
A rough interpretation of the technique: The participants use various coloured ink on a plate (usually a simple piece of glass), and introduce various ways of mark-making from scratching to drawing directly into the ink. Thereafter, paper is placed on top and the ink is transferred by rolling with a brayer (this could be done with strong hands or even a spoon, but even pressure is advised). Peel the paper off the plate, and reveal the masterpiece!
Here are a couple of images of the reveals, and the process…
It’s with great pleasure that we are able to share these images with you from our official opening on Saturday 14 August 2021.
Thanks to the Gordon Gallery, the City of Greater Geelong, Sharjah Institute of Heritage, , the Barwon Estuary Project and Humans of Geelong for their support in realising this show.
The opening began with a Welcome to Wadawurrung Country by Elder Nikki McKenzie, supported by Norm Stanley on the didgeridoo; a ceremony we all acknowledged as befitting the themes and depth of our project and our regard for the mangrove landscape.
We were honoured that Libby Coker MP officially opened the event and we’re grateful for her important words and interest in our project.
Curator Zahidah Zeytoun Millie acknowledged the support of our partners and introduced the work of our 13 artists, all focused on raising awareness of the beauty and importance of mangroves.
To Peter Martin, thank you for presenting the opening oration so eloquently.
The afternoon gave our 50 visitors (we were restricted by Covid 19!) a fascinating range of perspectives that included a human element in addition to the multi media artwork. Choreographic artist Jacqui Dreessens performed a sensorial interpretation of mangroves in dance with video, and Richard Collopy presented a passionate talk on a traditional owner’s perspective of mangroves. Viewers were enthralled by the depth of thought and detail presented in the multi media Mangroves from the Art exhibition.
We are very grateful to everyone who came out to support us, especially during this difficult time with lockdowns. We were sad to miss a few of the artists not being able to attend – some stuck locally (Nicola Cerini and Kerrie Taylor), and some abroad (Geraldine Chansard in Belgium, Stephanie Neville in the UAE and Alexis Gambis in France).
Credit for all images goes to photographer Phil Hines. Our thanks to MC Daniel Zeytoun Millie.
Libby Coker MP, Richard Collopy, Deb Taylor, Zahidah Zeytoun Millie, Helen Martin, Enrico Santucci
Curator Zahidah Zeytoun Millie and Libby Coker MP
Opening address by Rev. Peter Martin
Libby Coker MP
Libby Coker MP
Traditional Didgeridoo
Stephanie Neville
Arabic Majlis
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Richard Collopy
Richard Collopy
Richard Collopy
Richard Collopy
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Nicola Cerini
Nicola Cerini
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Deb Taylor
Deb Taylor
Students of Barwon Heads Primary School
Jacqui Dreessens
Jacqui Dreessens
Jacqui Dreessens
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Helen Martin
Helen Martin
Kerrie Taylor
Kerrie Taylor
Curator Zahidah Zeytoun Millie, Dr Russell Kennedy, Richard Collopy
Still from movie by Geraldine Chansard and Pauline Dupin, and Kerri Taylor sculptures in foreground
Why not try your hand at some fun printing techniques! Any skill level welcome!
A small fee applies, but yummy afternoon tea is supplied!
Please book directly with Nicola, on her website: nicolacerini.com/workshops
Due to Covid regulations and current lockdown, the exhibition and events has to be postponed. The opening is now on 14 August and we will update the dates and times of the events shortly. You can still view the list of events to make your choices to attend…booking details will be shared shortly!
In the build up to our upcoming exhibition (26 July!), we check in with some of our participating artists on how they are preparing their works.
This story from Nicola Cerini about her inspiration and work process is particularly enjoyable:
— “The work was inspired by a couple of fun kayaking trips through the Mangroves at Barwon Heads in Victoria with all the artists in 2019 and 2020 arranged by the curator Zahidah. Despite getting pretty wet in my leaky kid-size kayak on my first trip I went back for more. On the next trip in a grown-up sized kayak I managed to take lots of photos which helped me decide how I wanted to represent what I’d seen. It’s such a unique ecosystem down there in the Mangroves. I had no idea the Barwon Heads Mangroves were there until I became involved in this project. In my early twenties I spent some time on Lizard Island in far north Queensland and also on the mainland and was fascinated by these murky mysterious landscapes that came and went with the tide. I’d always associated Mangroves with a tropical climate so it was exciting to find that we had our own cold climate Mangroves very close to home.
I was drawn to the various textures and layers from the water, up through the muddy root systems that almost reached the low lying branches of the large Mangrove trees. There were beautiful light spaces filtering through the branches often creating silhouettes and bands of horizontal colours in the distance representing the sky and banks of green brackish friendly plants. The contrast of the solid ancient Mangrove trunks against the delicate leaf and flower silhouettes was striking. Looking into these landscapes was like exploring a new world, exciting!
My work will be printed on linen and there will be two pieces, both 1.4 x 2m.–
A photo of the mangroves taken by Nicola from her kayakHere is a sneak peek of a close up detail of one of Nicola’s artworks inspired by the mangroves which she will present at the Mangroves from the Water exhibition
Here is a short video by Nicola in her studio..
Mangroves from the Water opens on 26 July 2021, Gordon Gallery, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
‘Mangroves from the Water’ is a group multimedia art exhibition that would have been opening today in Geelong, Australia, to celebrate the Mangroves Day 26 July, https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/mangroveday.
Due to the Corona virus pandemic the exhibition has been postponed to 26 July, 2021.
In celebration of the upcoming Mangroves Day, ‘Mangroves from the Water’ committed International artist Stephanie Neville has designed our poster.
In collaboration with the Mangroves Fosters Community, Ocean Tree Studio (Maya Greven) in Florida who have designed a poster for the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem.
Mangroves from the Water artists and quest speakers are artists are:
Alexis Gambis, Nicola Cerini, Enrico Santucci, Deb Taylor, Richard Collopy, Jacqui Dreessens, Geraldine Chansard, Helen and Peter Martin, Malcolm Gardiner, scientist Oskar Serrano and Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
We are all excited to share this special day with fellow international eco-warriors passionate about the preservation of the mangroves!
Here is the schedule of talks, events and performances during our exhibition:
Mangroves from the water
Gordon Gallery, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
26 July – 15 August
The exhibition will provide viewers with a range of media to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. The artists also hope to see discussions occurring throughout the exhibition in a series of colloquia.
The artists are:
Alexis Gambis, Nicola Cerini, Enrico Santucci, Deb Taylor, Richard Collopy, Jacqui Dreessens, Stephanie Neville, Geraldine Chansard, Peter & Helen Martin, and Zahidah Zeytoun Millie.
The exhibition event will open on International Mangroves Day, 26 July, and end on 15 August 2020 during National Science Week (15-23 August). Workshops on weaving, printing and painting will run during the multimedia exhibition and guest speakers will present related talks on mangroves and the Barwon region.
Guestspeakers:
Date/Time
Guest Speaker
Location
Title
15 Aug,
1000-1100
Oskar Serrano
Deakin University
Coastal wetlands as weapons for climate change mitigation and time capsules of the human past
Mangroves from the Water (MFTW) 