Master of Fine Art and Design Exhibition
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
Friday 21 November was the opening of John Ingleton’s MFAD examination exhibition at the Sir James Plimsoll Gallery at the Centre for the Arts in Hobart. It was opened by Professor Noel Frankham who co-ordinates the Coursework Masters program.
Photographers Jake Thomashow and James Da Costa, shown here with John’s signature “Bee Dance” print, are also part of this examination exhibition which is open daily from 12-5pm until Sunday 30 November.
John’s work, titled “Bee Dance or, The Consequences of Collecting” consists of eight individual but related pieces which consider the collecting practices of the early French explorers and their environmental consequences for contemporary France.
The body of work includes lithographic, screen, woodblock, drypoint and digital print mediums on paper, acetate and perspex.
“Collection 2 (cartographic)” is based on patterns derived from images of five of the 1000’s of plants collected.
“Collection 2” (detail) each panel carries an example of coastal maps drawn by the French and a contemporary description of the plant in French
“Collection 3 (Bibliographic)” a series of book forms which utilise bee shapes within a fleur-de-lys to reference Napoleon’s emblematic use of the bee to replace Bourbon iconography
“Collection 3” (detail) the bee shapes are filled with partial drawings of plants as well as portions of French coastal drawings of Australia
“Swarm” bees transfer genetic material between plants just like human collectors who transport and propagate plant material. Unfortunately this process can sometimes become problematic when plants are transplanted from their usual habitat.
“Swarm” (detail) each bee form consists of paper and acetate glued together. The paper prints include details of plants as well as coastal drawings and map references. The acetate is screen printed with an organic texture
“Herbarium” a series of light boxes which reference the practice of collecting and storing plant material
“Herbarium” (detail) Eucalypt
