JACQUI STOCKDALE The Quiet Wild

Transcription

1 Rama-Jaara the Royal Shepherdess, 2012

2 18 April - 19 May 2012 Catalogue essay by Jeff Makin The ghost of Frida Kahlo is a haunting one that permeates many artists consciousness bringing with it not just a tragic story but intoxicating aromas of Mexican exotic, masks, Voo-Doo, bloody Mayan rituals and Catholicism gone troppo. This is clearly evidenced in Jacqui Stockdale s latest exhibition at in works such as Negro-Returno, Long Gully. The white lacy heart-shaped overlay of ghostly trees conceals a part-portrait of Frida here depicted in front of Long Gully Bendigo, the Stockdale property, after the Black Saturday bush fire three years ago. This haunting shadowy backdrop appears again in Rama Jaara, The Royal Shepherdess, Jaara being the Aboriginal name for the Long Gully region. It is a personal aside of something that obviously touched this artist deeply, one to which she has bought her troupe of tableau vivant players to. Here, a Mauritian girl called Mimi, standing at attention, arms akimbo, dressed in remnants of regal colonial attire. The pose reminiscent of that of the Infanta Margarita in Velasquez s Las Meninas. The dog has moved from bottom right to bottom left, here a small spotted Chinese Joss paper effigy made for the journey to the afterlife, rather than a great bounding Spanish mastiff. Our young self-possessed Mimi stares directly out of the picture space not as an Infanta, but as one of nature s children, a shepherdess, her hairstyle resembling a ram s head, informing that part of the title, Rama a play on words. Both the artists brothers are also players in this tableau: the younger as Lagunta Man, Leeawuleena and the artist s twin as El Gato, van Diemonia. Lagunta is Aboriginal for Tasmanian Tiger and Leeawuleena for the land around Cradle Mountain. El Gato is the cat, and both carrying a filmic reference to the recent movie The Hunter, filmed around Cradle Mt in Northern Tasmania. While the compositional phrasing has more than a nostalgic whiff of 19th century still studio photography, seen here such staged manners marry well to popular cinematic culture. As this exhibition unfolds certain characterising concerns appear and reappear. Decapitation, and cross-cultural iconography make this a lavish art dining at the high table of pictorial fusion cuisine. Mexican masks, Joss paper, skulls, rites of passage tit-bits mix it with popular culture on the shag pile to produce a totally new hybrid. Folk memories merge with diaristic experiences, found objects flirt with finely painted trompe-oeil effects in an almost self-regulating metamorphosis. In this Stockdale becomes a sort of gatekeeper, a ring master choreographer who will both mystify and amaze you with her family carnivale. Picture by picture, costume by costume, the staged imagined and the real, combine into a most fascinating enticement I find impossible to resist. Jeff Makin, 2012

3 Lagunta Man, Leeawuleena, 2012

4 El Gato, Leeawuleena, 2012

5 Les Jumeaux, 2012

6 Negro Returno, Long Gully, 2012

7 Araneus, 2012

8 Jaguar Hombre, 2012

9 Carnivale of the Night, 2012

10 Princess Eucalypt, 2012

11 Infanta Shamanta, 2012

12 Dogboy of Gondwanan, 2012

13 Bala Opuntia, 2012

14 Crudelia De Mon Botanica, 2012

15 Luchadora Botanica, 2012

16 CV Highlights QUALIFICATIONS 1990 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting), Victorian College of the Arts SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 2012,, Melbourne 2011 Papercuts and Bloodlines, Venn Gallery, Perth 2010 Strange Archipelago,, Melbourne Still, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Hawkesbury Rolling Heads, Watch this Space, Alice Springs 2009 Reframing Darwin: Art & Evolution, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne Belle Arti Award (Winner), Chapman and Bailey, Melbourne Heads, Rex Irwin, Sydney 2008 Some Kind of Coyote,, Melbourne 2007 Circo, Antarisuite Cintermex, Monterrey, Mexico Nature and the Beast, Despard Gallery, Hobart Headland, Chapman and Bailey, Melbourne 2006 Still Moving, Hungry Ghost, Linden Contemporary Art Space, St Kilda Paper Moon, Orange Regional Gallery and toured Nationally 2005 Familija, Despard Gallery, Hobart 2004 Shooting the Picturesque, Chapman and Bailey, Melbourne 2001 The White Horse Darkly, Woods St Gallery, Darwin 2000 Into the Light, Access Contemporary Art, Sydney 1998 Harem, Adelaide Central Gallery, Adelaide AWARDS & GRANTS 2012 Finalist, Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award 2011 New Work Grant, Australia Council Finalist, Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award Finalist, Olive Cotton Award for Photographic Award 2010 Artist in Residence, Alice Springs Desert Festival Finalist, Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award 2009 Artist in Residence, Circus Oz, Monterrey, Mexico Winner, Belle Arti Chapman and Bailey Art Award 2007 Worldly Portraits, Arts Victoria Grant 2006 Finalist, Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award 2003 Bundanon Trust, Arthur Boyd Shoalhaven NSW Residency 2000 Professional Development Grant, Arts NT 1998 King s School Art Award, Sydney NSW 1997 Hutchins Works on Paper Award Willoughby Drawing Prize Access Contemporary Art Award, Sydney Eva 97 Painting Award, Adelaide Arts Tasmania Professional Development Grant 1991 Artist in Residence, South Hedland College, Pilbara, WA 1990 William Dobell Drawing Award, Victorian College of the Arts Theodore Urbach Award, Victorian College of the Arts COLLECTIONS Artbank Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery University of Tasmania, Hobart Albury Regional Galley Bundanon Estate Victorian College of the Arts Parliament House Hobart TAS William Tan Collection, Korea Benson s Property Group ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My very special gratitude goes to Chris von Menge for lighting the way and to Jonathon Ryder and Luke Stockdale for their exceptional graphic expertise. Thanks also to a wonderful team of assistants and models; Tilly Gwinner, Izzy Jane Hayes, Mimi Xavior, Ilka Xavier-Allen, Mark Stockdale, Luke Stockdale, Emma Pompey, Tiani Pompey, Roald van Wyk, KT Prescott, Sebastian Butler, Lily Mooney, Vanya Swinnerton, Bruno Moreira, Vasko Moreira, Jimmy Larwill, Maya Green, Tommy Spender and Luis von Menge. Fluffy Dog courtesy of artist Kate Rohde. Fancy dress by Rose Chong Costumiers. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body