Exhibition

22 Artists Pair Up In An Experimental New Exhibition, ‘Between Painters'

‘Between Painters’  is a new experimental art project and group show curated by Victorian artist Charlotte Alldis.

Longing for a sense of community last year, Charlotte reached out to 21 female and non-binary artists across Australia – including TDF favourites Emma Creasey, Minna Leunig and Amalia Keefer – inviting them to work in pairs on a series of collaborative artworks.

After nine months of work, the resulting 26 pieces are on show from today at Backwoods Gallery in Collingwood!

Written
by
Christina Karras

An inside look at the ‘Between Painers’ exhibition at Backwoods Gallery!

‘Here We Are’ by Mia Boe and Katie Eraser.

From left: ‘Woman III, Woman I, Woman II’ by Emma Currie and Kayleigh Heydon. ‘Further Thoughts On Reciprocity’ by Emma Currie and Kayleigh Heydon. ‘The Comfort Of Conviction, The Discomfort Of Doubt #1 & 2′ by Billie Morris and Sophie Sun.

‘Meeting In The Middle I’ by Charlotte Alldis and Sonia Gill.

‘Meeting In The Middle I’ by Charlotte Alldis and Sonia Gill.

From left: ‘Imagined Place’, ‘Bella’ and With Rocks And Palms‘ by Montana Kitching and Elena Larkin.

‘Imagined Place’, and ‘With Rocks And Palms‘ by Montana Kitching and Elena Larkin.

From left: ‘The Hunt For The Ethereal Floating Fish’ by Emma Creasey and Ileigh Hellier. ‘Seeping’ by Lotte Frances and Charlotte Ghaie.

From left: ‘The Hunt For The Ethereal Floating Fish’ by Emma Creasey and Ileigh Hellier. ‘Seeping’ by Lotte Frances and Charlotte Ghaie. ‘Twofold Reflections’  by Amalia Keefer and Minna Leunig.

‘Twofold Reflections’  by Amalia Keefer and Minna Leunig.

‘Woman Against The Tide’ by Lucie Howson and Hannah Nowlan

‘By Myself But You’re There #2’ by Lucille Bone and Maya Irving.

From left: Series by Ellie Hannon and Zoe Irving. ‘By Myself But You’re There #2’ by Lucille Bone and Maya Irving. ‘By Myself But You’re There #1’ by Lucille Bone and Maya Irving.

A close up of the 30-piece series by Ellie Hannon and Zoe Irving.

Writer
Christina Karras
3rd of June 2022

For artist Charlotte Alldis, collaboration is woven into creativity.

‘It wasn’t a new concept, but it is an important concept – one that I wanted to celebrate,’ she says of the inspiration behind her experimental art project, Between Painters‘.

During lockdown last year, she was living rurally at an artist residency at Dunmoochin, located 30km away from Melbourne. Removed from her locality, feelings of isolation eventually crept in. But instead of succumbing to loneliness, Charlotte saw it as an opportunity for a collaborative project – ‘bringing artists together’.

‘I reached out to artists, some of them are friends of mine, some of them professional acquaintances, some I have never met but admire their practice,’ Charlotte explains. ‘The brief was that this project is intended to be challenging, a way of finding inspiration and exploring the artists’ practice through disruption and enquiry.’

It turns out she wasn’t the only one longing for a community either, as all 21 creatives she contacted said yes to being involved.

While Charlotte’s original vision was for the pairs to be selected at random, she decided to carefully pair the artists herself, guided by similarities in their themes and processes.

‘I planned out the pairs in what I felt was going to work as best as I could know, but ultimately, it was up to the two artists to collaborate and find ways of connecting and form their own vibe,’ she says.

The collaborative outcomes from these pairs blends subject matters, stories, and concepts in a rich tapestry of colour and form. Charlotte worked with Melbourne-based artist and designer Sonia Gill on a series of dream-like paintings, while Emma Currie and Kayleigh Heydon’s artworks offer a combination of their distinctive art styles. But not all of the pieces are easily distinguishable by an artist’s regular style of work, Charlotte says – which is all part of the fun of the resulting exhibition.

‘There were times when the artists were finding working together challenging due to location, different mediums, different ways of communicating which was all part of the project’s intentions,’ Charlotte adds. But the learning curves and new ideas is something each participant can now take into their own, solo work. And Charlotte even has intentions for a second iteration of the project in the near future too!

‘I hope [the exhibition] leaves the audience feelings inspired and challenged,’ she says. ‘There is a lot of intimacy, imagination, and magic in these works.’

See ‘Between Painters’ at Backwoods Gallery, Collingwood from June 3 – June 19.

Backwoods Gallery
25 Easey St
Collingwood, VIC

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