unfolding - Nan Tien Institute art exhibition 2 - 22 November 2012 12 IAVA artists explored the idea of unfolding in the context of Australian Artists in the Asian Century. Artists: Kendal Heyes, Jennifer Jackson, Garry Jones, Alena Kennedy, Flossie Peitsch, Jennifer Portman, Deborah Redwood, Robert Reid, Sue Smalkowski, Arja Välimäki, Vyvian Wilson, Mary Wingrave.

1. unfolding

2. 1
forward
What is enlightened education? On one hand, enlightenment is the discovery of the truth
about life. Enlightenment denotes the awakening that comes through the teachings of
Buddhism. Ontheotherhand,theEnlightenmentinEuropewasthemovementtoreform
society through the exercise of reason rather than tradition, blind faith and superstition,
and advance knowledge through science. Enlightenment from both East and West holds
the key to the awakening of Australia in the Asian century.
Nan Tien Institute is a bridge between East and West. Our vision for enlightened
education is to inspire learning that provides our region with a place for the exchange of
western and eastern arts and culture, contributing to knowledge and understanding in
an increasingly complex world.
Connecting the cultures is essential in many ways and lies at the heart of our mission. In
‘The Two Cultures’(1959), C P Snow identified the dangers of the gap between scientists
andliteraryintellectualsandcondemnedtheoveremphasisontheclassicsattheexpense
ofscience.Sciencebringsusknowledge,butwemustbeabletoquestionandthinkabout
scientific discoveries to unfold their layers of meaning. Robertson Davies in‘The Deptford
Trilogy: World of Wonder’ (1987) lamented ‘We have educated ourselves into a world in
which wonder, and the fear and dread and splendor and freedom of wonder, have been
banished. ’Art is as necessary as science to provide meaning in our world.
I am delighted to introduce this exhibition ‘unfolding’ in which our artists unfold the
meaning in different cultures through their personal experiences. They show us how
artistic meditation finds inspiration in the unbearable lightness of a bird on a twig and
how we can sense freedom by studying the natural world.
Folding and unfolding are leitmotifs in science and mathematics realising order in chaos.
Here is a simple experiment. Take a long strip of paper and fold it in half (right half over
left). Fold again in the same way (right half over left) and again and again as many times
as you can. Now unfold the strip of paper so that each fold is a right angle. As you move
along the strip, you will turn left or right at each fold and move a bit erratically until you
reach the end of the paper. This exercise in unfolding produces the remarkable ‘Dragon
curve’. So too, our artists allow us to see remarkable patterns in the world around us.
I thank Nan Tien Temple for ongoing support and encouragement for all the ventures of
our Institute and for the quiet space for our exhibition.
I thank Friederike Krishnabhakdi-Vasilakis for curating the exhibition and Siena Morrisey
for bringing everything together.
I thank the artists for challenging and enlightening us with their works.
Emeritus Professor John Loxton
Foundation Dean Nan Tien Institute
5 October 2012
lllawarra Association for the Visual Arts
cultivating_contemporary_visual_arts
cover image: Jennifer Portman, mono no aware (detail), watercolour on rice paper and carved board, 90 x 120 cm, 2012
acknowlegements
NTI and IAVA would like to thank Nan Tien Temple for providing the space for this this wonderful regional collaboration of artistic talent from
the Illawarra region in NTI’s second regional group art exhibition.We also would like to thank the Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery Order
of Australia, for acknowledging the idea behind unfolding as part of the cultural contributions to the Illawarra and beyond.
We thank all the participating artists for their willing support throughout the project and their commitment to the exhibition and the new
opportunities that Nan Tien Institute are developing for regional artists; the South Coast Writers Centre (SCWC) and its poets for their part in
the cultural dialogue across art forms, and to individual members of the Illawarra Association of the Visual Arts (IAVA) for their hands-on help
and knowledge.
Special mention deserve: Jennifer Portman, Alena Kennedy for general organisation and administration of this project, and their indispensable
advice throughout, and GreerTaylor for countless hours spent on making a record of unfolding in the form of a beautiful catalogue. We further
thankWollongong City Council, Particularly Megan McKell for their support and inclusion of unfolding as part of their Creative Dialogues series.
NTI would like to acknowledge Friederike Krishnabhakdi-Vasilakis for her commitment and tireless efforts invested into curating this exhibition,
coordinating all of the artists and poets and for her understanding of NTI’s mission to build relationships with the community through art
complementing the cultural diversity of our region. We gratefully acknowledge Nan Tien Temple for their generous support and assistance in
providing the gallery space in the lead up to one of their major cultural festive programs. Many more staff than those listed have made valuable
contributions to the realisation of this exhibition including various media representatives, volunteers, members of the community, staff and
extended colleagues.Thank you.
unfolding
Australian Artists in the Asian Century
2 - 22 November 2012
Hai Hui Hall, Nan Tien Temple, Berkeley, NSW, Australia
Print: Kwik Kopy,Wollongong NSW 2500 Graphic Design: GreerTaylor
ISBN: 978-0-9873627-1-1
CuratorialTeam
FriederikeKrishnabhakdi-Vasilakis___ Curator
AlenaKennedy______________ CuratorialAssistance
JenniferPortman_____________ CuratorialAssistance
ManagementTeam
VenerableAbbessManKo__ AbbessofNanTienTemple&FoGuangShanAustralia
VenerableMiaoYou______ Secretary,BoardofDirectorsNanTienInstitute
SienaMorrisey_________ MarketingDirectorNanTienInstitute

3. 32
Following the British Century, the twentieth century was marked by American culture and politics
which were seen as taking over local cultures with the clever marketing strategies and branding
of products such as Levi’s blue-jeans, Coca-Cola and eventually McDonalds, using new visual
technology and visual culture, such as film and television as the preferred mode of dissemination.
Culturally, globalisation processes are those of adaptation, acculturation, assimilations and cultural
appropriation that move both ways, geographically and ideologically. Economically, globalisation
can be defined as the financial integration of economies around the world and as such trade and
investment are crossing national and language barriers. In Australia, today’s visual culture carries
these markers of political, social and economic shifts that in some ways reflect the heterogeneous
nature of Asia as a geographical space with multi-national, multi-cultural, multi-lingual peoples.
SueSmalkowski’swork BlueWaterReflectionsvisuallyalludestothesharedseasbetweencontinents;
at the same time, due to its anchorage in the Illawarra, the work creates a positive juxtaposition of
the local and the global.The translucency of blue and green hues creates a shimmer effect, like light
riding gently on the waves. The abstract shapes blur the lines between near and far and invite the
viewer to step closer and be immersed.
In Portions, Flossie Peitsch investigates symbols and signs, such as the QR (Quick Response) Code, as
aestheticdevicesthatcanbridgelanguagebarriers.QRCodesareakindofbarcodethatallowsaccess
to otherwise hidden information on a product. QR Codes were invented by a Japanese company in
1994, and seem to pop up like mushrooms after the rain, wherever we go. Peitsch’s installation can
be seen as an exploration of cyberspace as a discovery zone, a space where we turn away from the
local, and as Wendy Hui Kyong Chun suggests, ‘towards dreams of global connectivity and post-
citizenship.’It also puts forward the idea that computer encoding may gesture towards a democracy
built on disembodiment where physical difference and cultural diversity do not matter. Peitsch
explorestheQRcode,notonlyasasymbolofmodernaccessibilityandmobilitytocross-overbarriers
between the everyday and art, but as a‘common language’. She applies Western aestheticism in her
use of appropriated symbols and technique, and allows the viewer to recognise a visual‘language’
that replaces the vernacular. Lisa Nakamura discusses this in the context of Internet travel, where
[…]the transnational language, the one designed to end all barriers between
speakers, the speech that everyone can pronounce and that cannot be translated
or incorporated into another tongue, turns out not to be Esperanto but rather IBM
speak, the language of …technology.
Arguably, with this inter-spatiality and accessibility comes a set of limitations: narrowing the
experience of the user to the retinal reception, where ‘common language’ does not go beyond
opening doors, encountering the signifiers rather than entering the signified.
WediscoveradifferentapproachtoculturalconvergenceinAlenaKennedy’swork.Herworkisdeeply
embedded in her all embracing spirituality and subtly layered in wafts of colour and abstracted
form.While her works draw on the local landscape and nature, her paintings don’t depict country or
the land itself; her life experience which saw her travel across the continents from a young age, her
own family relations and her spirituality underpin every brushstroke – no realism or concrete shape
distract from the‘life force existing in all things’.There is a lightness in the misty, ethereal illumination
present in her paintings that dissolves any perceived sharp lines and borders.That which is separate
merges, folds into one harmonious existence. It is the space between these fading shapes and forms
that open up to the gaze and invite the viewer to explore the relationship between spirituality and
interconnectedness with nature. It is her gentle use of colour, both atmospheric and ethereal, that
speaks to the senses from within, immersing the viewer into unseen spaces in the landscape.
The invisible in landscape has played an important part in Chinese art for centuries. Chinese
landscape painting continues to this day a long history of cultural significance. From the escapism
to nature in the late Tang Dynasty (680–906AD), to the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) when landscape
painting of waterfalls and mountains ceased to be descriptive of the visible world, the paintings
rather conveyed the inner landscape of the artist’s mind.
unfolding
the Asian Century through the Eyes of the Illawarra
When the Nan Tien Institute invited local artists from the Illawarra Association for the Visual Arts to
work with the theme of the Asian Century, it very soon became clear that the ideas were manifold
about the way this could be approached. In this exhibition, artists explore the theme of unfolding –
Australian Artists in the Asian Century in the light of economic relationships in the region, cultural
hybridity, cultural multiplicity, spirituality, and mutual learning.
The artists and poets explore the Asian century as a lived experience rather than an anticipated
phenomenon of the future; they provide perspectives on the global that are anchored in the local.
The artworks by the twelve local visual artists, and the poems by the poets enter into a dialogue
with each other and with the viewer, inviting us to reflect on our cultural ties and relationships in the
region. Melissa Chiu, former director of Gallery 4a in Sydney, wrote over a decade ago that
‘[a]n interesting aspect of the current situation is the way Australia “imagines” itself
within the region. By this I mean the way that Australia chooses to project and promote
representations of itself within Asia.’(2001)
She further points out how Asian-Australian artists have been increasingly contributing towards a
cultural shift in Australia and that other Australian artists demonstrate a ‘consistent interest [that]
demonstrates a broader cultural shift that is central to Australian contemporary art,’ including
Indigenous art practice.
The curatorial concept of this show, to unfold intrinsic connections with Asian cultures (all the while
keeping in mind that what is perceived as‘Asian’is continuously merging with main culture and has
become part of our daily experience), aims to enter into this discourse of a cultural shift, by thinking
about today and what the future may hold in this fascinating period in economic and social history.
The selected works reflect the lived experience of Asian perspectives, teachings and knowledge in
the artistic practice of artists working in the Illawarra.
While economic transformations have been taking place on a large scale globally, over recent
decades Australia at large and the Illawarra in particular has been experiencing and acknowledging
subtle cultural shifts that affect all areas of society. Federal politicians like Kevin Rudd and Julia
Gillard have been emphasising the common economic, political and cultural interests shared by the
two continents, Australia and Asia, for years.‘We share a region of the world; we share an ocean’said
Gillard during her trip to India in October 2012, a notion that has its impact on local culture as well.
Globalisation is a term that has become more widely used of late to demarcate the phenomenon
of a shrinking world as it were, marked by technology and cyberspace, as well as transcultural
citizenship. But globalisation did not start this century or even the last: the nineteenth century,
dubbed the British Century marked the height of British colonialism, expanding over large parts of
the world, feeding the engine of capitalist existence—industrialisation—that changed ways of life,
not only in the so-called mother-country, but countries that the colonial endeavour touched alike.
It was a time of great movement and exchange of goods and ideas in all directions, geographically,
ideologically and artistically. Concepts and visual markers of culture changed their contexts, and
were re-worked and re-thought continually.
These processes, while often forced and sometimes organically grown, melded existing visual
cultures into new forged systems of knowledge – culture.When Jane Austen convinced her readers
that what became to be known as the Paisley shawl was a must-have-fashion-item in Victorian
England, nobody considered its original context. Named after a Scottish town, it belies its roots
in Persia, and even its route via the Kashmir region of India to England. Its distinct pattern was so
intricately woven and complex that direct imports from India could cost the equivalent of a house.
Trade and commodification of cultural items of this kind from other countries became fundamental
to the rise of the bourgeois establishment and changed local tradition and customs on either
side of the oceans.

4. 54
Twoartistsfocusonaspectsofmutuallearningbydrawingonvisualfamiliarityintheirpaintings;Arja
Välimäki in her work The Joy conveys shared experiences between people of diverse background,
away from their country of birth, while Mary Wingrave’s visual‘appropriation’of what would appear
to the untrained eye as Chinese symbols cites the visual familiarity with cultural markers that are in
constant flux in a multi-cultural community such as the Illawarra.
Symbols of spirituality across religions can become the tools to engage in making new connections
and meanings. In the installation Crossings, Deborah Redwood encourages intercultural dialogue
through the visual literacy propagated through religion and ritual through the suggestion of a
bridge made of palm fronds.
Vyvian Wilson’s work Hold the Sound (vessels) embodies spiritual convergence through its allusion
to the importance of sound and visualisation in Buddhist practice.The colour symbolism in Buddhist
practice is a visual representation of the cyclical existence of life, the temporary re-birth represented
in the wheel of life. The teapot’s vibrant colour, orange, is one of the six colours (the sixth colour
being a combination of the five: blue, yellow, red, white and orange) of the aura which Buddhists
believe emanated from the body of the Buddha when he attained Enlightenment, with orange –
being the essence of Buddhist teachings – which is full of wisdom, strength and dignity. Wilson’s
spiritual contemplation through the image of her grandmother’s Chinese teapot in her illuminated
installation Hold the Sound (vessels) weaves personal memory into the colonial fabric of history,
evoked by her practice of Mindfulness, maintaining constant awareness. Wilson beautifully pays
homage to the truly inspiring space of the Nan Tien Temple and Nan Tien Institute for us all that
allows us to reflect on our practice in context.
Unfolding alludes to the concepts of discoveryand revelation,as well as meaningtransportedin
timeandspace.Inthatsense,theartandpoetryinunfoldingpeelsbackthelayersofexperiences
in an intercultural and transcultural environment that have shaped history before and after the
arrival of colonialism in Australia. It acknowledges the ongoing relationships and merging of
cultures within the Asia-Pacific region by unfolding the many relationships and connections
that have grown over centuries with the merging of peoples and ideas into contemporary
culture in the Illawarra and beyond.
Friederike Krishnabhakdi-Vasilakis
IAVA Curator, Curator of unfolding, Director South Coast Writers
References
Ames, F. (1988). The Kashmir Shawl. Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors’Club
ABC Lateline (2012). PM Stumbles in India, Wednesday, 17 Oct. 2012, http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/
s3613066.htm
Barnhart, R. M., et al. (1997). Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Chiu, M. (2001) Asian-Australian artists: Recent Cultural Shifts in Australia. Apexart Conference, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - July
2001 http://www.apexart.org/conference/chiu.htm
Department of Asian Art.“Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368)”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yuan/hd_yuan.htm (October 2012)
Hui Kyong Chun, W. (2004).‘Othering Space.’In Mirzoeff, N. The Visual Culture Reader, second edition, Routledge: London,
p.255-263
Nakamura, L. (2004).‘”Where do you want to go today?”Cybernetic Tourism, The Internet, and Transnationality.’In Mirzoeff,
N. The Visual Culture Reader, second edition, Routledge: London, p.243-254
Shohat, E. and Stam, R. (2004).‘Narrativising Visual Culture: Towards a Polycentric Aesthetics.’ In Mirzoeff, N. The Visual
Culture Reader, second edition, Routledge: London, p.37-59
Similarly, mountains become visual markers in Jennifer Jackson’s paintings. She finds her inspiration,
like Kennedy, in the local landscape of the Illawarra. Visually however, they allude to the symbolic
language firstly associated with Chinese Landscape painting. Jackson playfully inserts feathers and
newspaper snippets instead of painting delicate birds and calligraphy, moving confidently through
the conceptual landscape of postmodernism.
AnotherkindofconceptuallandscapeornaturepaintingiswhatJenniferPortmanillustratesthrough
the borrowing of the Japanese concepts of nature in Motoori Norinaga’s (1730-1801) expression
‘mono no aware’ - describing the ephemeral nature of things with a ‘sorrow at evanescence’. It
made me notice the blooming cherry trees at the Nan Tien Temple flowering beautifully one day,
and upon my return a few days later, the pink petals were replaced by green shoots to mark the
coming of spring. No trace, but the memories of pink and gentle perfume remain. The cherry tree
is metaphorical of all life and through its beauty we are made to stop – gasp – and reflect on the
impermanency of our own existence. This knowledge carries on into contemporary culture; in the
story-telling of manga artists and in anime we discover elements of mono no aware as a thread
weaving through the story of passing moments of pain, sorrow and happiness, past and present –
interwoven realities.
A commonly used phrase springs to mind reminding us to put all emotions into perspective: ‘This
too shall pass’ is a proverb that re-occurs in many cultures; most famously adopted from the story
about King Solomon’s fear of getting caught up in a moment of extreme emotions, he asked for a
remedy and the phrase was presented to him inscribed in a ring. But stories travel and we hear the
same tale in India. Here, the Maharajah spares the lives of three wise men after having received the
gift of consolation carried in the phrase, and this phrase has lived on in Hebrew folktales, Turkish
folktales and Persian Sufi poets and the modern vernacular in English-speaking countries to this day.
Journeying stories are present in the title Kendal Heyes chose for his work, The Breeze at Dawn,
which is borrowed from the Sufi poet Rumi, also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (1207-
1273), a Muslim poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic. Heyes’ anchors his work in reading and
drawing, and explores spirituality and philosophy through poetic truths by paying attention to the
artistic process and conceptualisation. By using pyrography – writing with fire – which is one of
the oldest techniques used across all continents, he offers a metaphorical communication between
cultural ideas, a visual translation of philosophical concepts found in cultures often conceived as
‘other’. His practice reflects an experimental approach to being in a particular place at a particular
time and in the pyrographical drawings, referencing Rumi’s words of a specific place and time.
Of a more narrative character is the work Settling in by Garry Jones. His work enters into a dialogic
interaction with fragments of past-present in relation to place that play into the way (local) identity
is formed. A boat sailing in the background, a Macassan vessel or a ship of early European colonial
endeavour, in the foreground an Adirondack chair, Jones connects past and present through
landscape or Country, embodied by the cabbage trees and the sea and land animals on the flowery
printofthefabricinthemiddleground.Theambiguousmalefigure,whichmaylooklikeamissionary
haunting the grounds, like ghosts of unresolved issues in history that linger, is in fact a reference to
the way Ulladulla Mickey represented himself in his self-portraits. Jones challenges stereotypical
representations of and views on what an ‘authentic’ Aboriginal person looks like. His work re-
evaluates cultural relationships, allowing for a polycentric vision where ‘the visual [is] located’, as
Shohat and Stam identified, ‘between individuals and communities and cultures’. Drawing on
Aboriginal artist Ulladulla Mickey who negotiated his identity in the face of the colonisers in the
19th Century, Jones emphasises the importance of open-mindedness towards a transcultural and
transitive place that is the Illawarra, from which to look and to be seen by the world.
In Robert Reid’s A Garden from the Indus an overlapping of two artistic processes, poetry and
painting takes place. He uses romantic elements of imagination and the reconciliation of perceived
binary concepts behind black and white, ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’, by drawing black lines across a
white canvas. Reid’s use of symbolism and myth, simultaneously suggesting many things, as the
lines of black and shades of white, upon closer looking, quietly dissolve.

5. 76
Unfolding
Morning light, then slow shimmering sounds
begin a new day for the faithful.
Sounds of the Buddha reverberate
from North to South in ever increasing vibrations.
Gentle thoughts are offered to embrace a new life
in search of a pathway to spiritual peace.
Cleansing sounds to despatch anxieties
and free the karmas of burdened souls.
The white light knew nothing in the South
until the sound of the gong turned heads.
The drum of spiritual fulfilment has sounded
and called to those with furrowed brows.
The temple of Life has arisen in our midst.
Available to the world are the ancient arts,
teaching pathways to peace and tranquillity
through ancient practices taught with humility.
Our land is enriched by people from Asian countries
blending their ways with those who are here,
ancient and modern,
and have been infused into a new mosaic.
An added dimension has arisen; spiritual
nourishment.
A philosophy of seeking space in one’s mind,
influenced by the rays radiating from
the Holy Body of the Buddha.
People of the Illawarra love opportunities
that nurture their minds in the arts
who respond to creative philosophies
and discoveries, with welcoming arms.
Ken Chellanor
You Are 21 Now
I
This is the time to unfold the map
of love-thy-neighbour and let’s lay it
out on the table. Read the map now.
Just don’t take it for granted that
mountains are always brown trees
are always green seas are always
blue etc. For all you know mountains
could be blue too.
II
You sound funny when you say
you don’t like going to Chinatown
when the word China is clinging to
your body you don’t realise your
appearance is practically made-in-china
or watching Bollywood movies they are
too ridiculously happy you don’t realise
you sneak in spontaneous moves horse-
dancing to gangnam style or eating Thai
green curry you say it’s too hot you don’t
realise you always take your sushi with
large chunks of wasabi.
III
You are 21 now big enough to seek
companion of others. You’ve been a
mama’s boy for so long you don’t
realise you’ve been worshipping her
like Hamlet too attached sometimes
he forgets she’s his mother not his queen.
You’ve grown so fond of your Uncle Sam
too you wish he had been your father.
IV
Now it’s time to celebrate differences
not just by skin colours or geographical
families but also through accents not
Aussie enough to you.
Nash AK
Conversing
koi converse in colour
lighting fire to the water
and our imagining...
Nasirin leans on a eucalypt
experimenting with sonnets and haiku
poised in concentration
a heron, foot raised
reminds me of a poem, forgotten
Bluewren presents himself, a vivid compliment
to the pinkblossom.
Rhiannon Hall

6. 98
Intimate Moments 1-4, mixed media on paper, 28 x28 cm (framed), image 10 x10 cm, 2012
My paintings revolve around depictions of the landscape from differing, multiple perspectives.
I often use multiple images to suggest a sequence or various stages in the journey. Here we
see memories of moments in time: tiny fleeting moments passing through an imagined or
remembered landscape. We view the scene from a cropped composition creating a cut off
effect, which is an Eastern practice adopted by the West. Text is used to bring a moment of
intimacy to the artworks. You pause to read and ponder on the words and images.
The “scene” is a landscape of melded images, signs and memories experienced in the Eastern
manner of journeying though the painting.
My paintings concentrate on markmaking and abstraction with reference to Eastern art,
combined with atmospheric depictions of the landscape. I endeavour to show my experience
and memory of places visited and of the Illawarra where I live.
I use mixed media and collected items to suggest a narrative in the painting.They are clues only
and the story of the work unfolds to the viewer though their own eyes and experiences.
The paintings are a personal, spiritual and intimate reflection of my evolution as an artist.
Jennifer Jackson
The Breeze at Dawn, pokerwork and flame on paper, 80 x 170 cm, 2011
The title for this drawing is from a poem by 13th Century Sufi poet Rumi:“The breeze at dawn
has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep….”
This is a pyrographic drawing, made with heat and flame. It combines hand-drawn lines, burned
into the paper using an electric pokerwork machine, with the shadow traces of flamed-over
objects. The drawing is made to be explored close up; it includes passages of text from the
poem, and because the pokerwork lines are scored into the paper, it subtly changes with the
movement of the viewer. In this sense it unfolds and reveals with close viewing, reflecting the
theme of the poem, of truths revealed through striving and attention.
Although founded in Islam, Rumi’s work, with its incisive mystical and psychological insights
and the inventiveness with which he addresses his themes, creates a bridge between cultures
and religions. Coleman Barks, translator of Rumi’s work, identifies as fundamental to Rumi’s idea
of Islam, that‘for Muhammad the way was always unfolding’.*
* Barks, Coleman, 1995, The Essential Rumi. Harper Collins.
Kendal Heyes

7. 1110
Globes in the Grass, acrylic on canvas, 91x102 cm, 2011
My art is inspired both by my interest in the natural world and by my spirituality. I practice
a spiritual exercise which originated in Java, Indonesia. The founder called it Subud and it is
based on surrender or openness towards the infinite presence, sometimes referred to as God,
the creative life force, the universal energy. This approach transcends barriers of religious and
cultural belief systems and harmonises with my personal understandings and views on life.
My spirituality intersects well with my interest in the natural world as I am absorbed with how
everything is connected; the cosmic processes of forming and evolution and patterns in nature.
I glaze layers of paint over each other, building translucent images which suggest landscapes
or life forms. I attempt to explore the‘space between’– an un-mapped, unknown region which
exists between and around objects – beyond the seen – the matrix within which all things
are suspended.
Alena Kennedy
My art practice is motivated by my interests in cultural identity, particularly where these
revolve around issues of indigeneity and post-coloniality, and the contemporary struggle for
authenticity in‘representations of self’and‘connection to place’. Settling In draws on the work
of the late 19th century south coast artist Ulladulla Mickey, whose art effectively documents the
evolving inter-relationships between Aboriginal and European communities on the coast, and
their corresponding yet incommensurate connections to that place.
As with elsewhere across Australia, the negotiated roles that many south coast Aboriginal
communities must have played in the viability of early local industries, are far from recognised.
InthisregardthereareresonanceswithAsianAustralianexperiences,particularlythroughthe19th
century colonial practices of Aboriginal and Asian labour exploitation, where labourers and their
families were denied civil and human rights, as later legislated under the White Australia Policy.
My work represents a subjective response to Mickey’s art through my own sense of connection
to the Illawarra, referencing colonial history and the emergence of contemporary Aboriginal art
as an ongoing site of resistance and accommodation in this continually transforming physical
and cultural landscape.
Settling In, screenprint, 76 x 56 cm, 2009
Garry Jones

8. 1312
My work for unfolding explores personal memories, relating to the sense of mono no aware,
evoked by the captivating beauty yet underlying impermanence of the cherry blossom.
The cherry blossom embodies the transient nature of things, love and life; blooming with
breathtaking magnificence for a short time and – when a breeze hits the tree – the delicate
flowers drift to the ground, provoking a sadness at their passing.
The most famous of the cherry blossoms are the white-blossomed Yoshino from Japan, which
were introduced into Korea and Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period in the early C20th
and can now be found in abundance throughout Australia – including my old garden in
Blackheath, in the Blue Mountains.
The propagation of cherry trees throughout Asia was accompanied by the tradition of cherry
blossom viewing parties (Hanamis). Hanamis are very significant events in Japan and having
a picnic lunch under a blossoming cherry tree is a popular Japanese tradition which has since
been embraced and weaved into the culture of many Asia-Pacific countries, most recently into
Australia’s spring calendar. Cherry Blossom festivals in Auburn and Cowra encourage visitors to
bring along a picnic, sit under the trees and engage in a traditional Japanese celebration.
mono no aware, watercolour on rice paper and carved board, 90 x 120 cm, 2012
Jennifer Portman
PORTIONS, mixed media, 40 x 30 x 10 cm plus, 2012
Instead of drawing attention to how the cultures differ, I wish to highlight where cultures align
– the commonality of community / spirit / communication through the world wide net. From
my recent visit to China, it is apparent to me that we share equally and energetically through IT,
a common language.
My recent work with QR Codes designed initially by my Shanghai-living son, seems to fit very
well into this discourse.The QR Codes (Quick Response) used transcend other language barriers.
I playfully design art which offers access – not to those with traditional ‘art knowledge’– but
those with IT gadgets, such as iphones. ACCESS presents QR codes morphed potentially as
both art and the entrance to art. PORTIONS articulates the admirable Japanese and Chinese
cultural attention to beautiful presentation and delicate packaging. It compactly suggests
the collection of preconceived ideas one culture has about another, shown in deeply layered
‘prepackaging of identities or truisms’ while showing the impossibility of storing all these
notions. Intricate decoration – infused with usable QR Codes – is referenced in
ENCODE. All installations translate equally well cross-culturally. The workable QR
Codes used here actually link to websites which interspatially extend the discourse
on Art, Asia and Information Technology.
Flossie Peitsch

9. 1514
I have created this work by painting over the text of my poem ‘A garden from the Indus’. The
surface of the painting was created by drawing and painting many layers of text and gesso on
linen. The aim of this process was not to illustrate the poem but to create a surface from the act
of writing. As the surface of this painting emerged the text of the poem dissolved, revealing the
spaces between the words.
A garden from the Indus
A magic carpet floated south emerald green and golden.
Threads and knots of blue and red untangled by the ocean.
A tree a peacock pond and flower their paradise unspoken.
In the poem an image of a paradise woven into a magic carpet is untangled and unspoken, by
the ocean. In the artwork the image is created by the viewer from the lines and boundaries,
visible and imagined.
A garden from the Indus, 90 x 90 cm charcoal and gesso on linen, 2012
Robert Reid
Crossings, wood, steel and copper, 150 x 140 x 48 cm, 2012
The base for this work is the unfolded pattern for a Japanese fan (the sensu). I chose the fan as
the base since it represents one of the first cultural items to be adopted by the west (in the early
1800’s). Its uses in Asia go beyond just keeping cool, it has been used to send signals in wars, to
signify social status, in dance and so on.
The unfolded fan also approximates the shape of many ancient bridges in Asia. It is across this
bridge that two unfolded palm frond shells unite, hence the name“Crossings”. The movement
of the two palm frond shells is reminiscent ofYoga andTai Chi, intricately curving and delicately
balanced, suggestive of the meeting of East and West.
While the palm tree is significant in Christian religion, considered a gift from God, hanging from
the palm frond shells are “Peepal” leaves, important to both Hindus and Budhists. In Hindu
religion it is considered that a trinity of gods resides in the Peepal tree. The Peepal tree is also
known as the“Bodhi”tree under which Buddha meditated and received enlightenment.
“Crossings” attempts to symbolise the principles of spirituality creating harmony between
merging cultures.
Deborah Redwood

10. 1716
The Joy I, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 122 cm, 2012
Thispaintingtalksaboutthefreedomthatonecanhaveinapeacefulmindandtheintersections
between Australian and Asian cultures. It relates to my personal experiences during meditation
classes taken over a two year period at the Nan Tien Temple.
It shows the intersections between Australian culture, my Finnish cultural background and
Asian cultures.
The bright colours in the painting discover and play in a harmonious and peaceful manner. The
act of spreading the paint with a paint brush onto a canvas is one of the ways that I meditate
in my daily activities.
I recognise the colour in‘The Joy I’as the colour I wear and have in my home and have also seen
at the Nan Tien Temple. The play between the colours indicates to me the joy and freedom that
I can achieve within spiritual practice.
The three cultures interlink in my artwork and are intertwined and crossing each other’s
pathways discovering a feeling of joy. It depicts the fact that it all starts in one’s heart and
spreads from there like a ripple effect – the love that is created by spiritual practice is strong
and it is pure, clean and free from suffering.
ArjaVälimäki
Blue Water Reflections (detail), oil on canvas, 128 x 300 cm, 2010
Asian techniques like scroll painting, calligraphic drawings, ink brushwork, compositional
devices such as multiple viewpoints in Chinese landscape paintings, Asian art disciplines with
their many rich layers of fluid paint, varnishes and patinas, capture between them the random
events of experimental techniques. I lavish textured contemporary paintings with the subtleties
of Asian demographic and tradition, in which cultural heritage is drawn upon as a source
of inspiration.
As early as mid twentieth century the traditions of metaphysical speculation in Hinduism,
Taoism, and Zen Buddhism have provided artists with a conceptual basis for the understanding
and representation of the visionary, spiritual, and universal potential of abstract art.
My work, primarily abstract, is increasingly informed by my response to landscape. Individually,
and collectively, my paintings oscillate between portraying the minutiae of rock pool and tidal
life on the shores of the South Coast, to depicting the magnificence of the Illawarra escarpment.
Theseresponsestonaturearelayeredandintricate,thethematicemphasisonlinesandrhythms
within the work suggests not only the passage of nature and the seasons, but also its intricate
architecture and finely-woven interconnectedness.
Sue Smalkowski

11. 1918
As a child born and schooled in the Illawarra, I have always been aware of the multicultural
society in which I live. A rich history of migration from the Asia-Pacific region to the gold fields
in Southern NSW and Victoria form a part of the local history of those regions, one where my
great grandfather participated as a publican. More recently I have become involved in a small
way with meditative practice, the martial arts, and an interest in Chinese art and calligraphy.
When visiting the AGNSW, one of my favourite places is the Asian gallery. Books based on
Chinese history and culture are also on my‘favourites’list.
Visually, I see some Chinese influence on my own artwork of mono-prints, using symbols and
ciphers in an abstract format that resemble Chinese script.
Ciphers, monoprint, 52 x 59 cm (framed), image 30 x 35 cm, 2011
MaryWingrave
Hold the sound (vessels) detail, digital photo on paper, 29 x 41 cm, 2012
Mindfulness meditation is a beautiful gift to us from Buddha.
It is employed successfully by Western psychology to alleviate a variety of physical and mental
conditions………….I struggle with the practice of mindfulness.
Its hard for me to let go of the self-talk, the self scolding and the worries….but I strive to be in
the moment, nowhere else….just to hold the sound – the whip bird’s calling, echoing down
from the escarpment, the sea pounding, the crackle of fire, the trickle of tea pouring from the
pot, leaves brushing their mother trunks in that extraordinary afternoon light……just to hold
the sound and nothing else.
In this work I will attempt to create my own state of mindfulness by playing with repeat images
of a golden teapot. The digital image repeated on paper scrolls is of a gold aluminium teapot
lit mysteriously from within. This particular teapot is an object that nurtures in me a sense of
calm & well being and which also invokes a nostalgia for many afternoon teas shared with my
grandmother and her special‘golden teapot from China’.
VyvianWilson

12. 2120
unfolding artists
about IAVA
lllawarra Association for theVisual Arts (IAVA) is a not-for-profit artist run initiative (ARI), it is a
network that promotes and cultivates Illawarra contemporary art and its artists.
Catering for professional, practicing contemporary visual artists and art workers it provides a
forum in which to network cooperatively in the Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama LGA’s.
IAVA aims to:
• raise the profile of contemporary visual art in the Illawarra
• promote Illawarra visual art beyond the region
• coordinate IAVA group exhibitions
• support solo exhibitions by members
• conduct artist workshops
• encourage and facilitate knowledge sharing
• coordinate travelling exhibitions
The Hanging Space Art Gallery
IAVA runs a gallery space in Woonona that features monthly exhibitions by IAVA members.
For more information about IAVA and The Hanging Space Art Gallery visit :
www.iavacontempart.org
Kendal Heyes
painting | drawing | printmaking | photography
kendalheyes@hotmail.com
kendalheyes.blogspot.com
0416 527 929
Deborah Redwood
sculpture | installation
lingums@yahoo.com
www.deborahredwood.com
Jennifer Jackson
mixed media painting
jenniferjackson@ozemail.com.au
0409 659 193
Robert Reid
painting
robertwsreid@gmail.com
www.robertreidart.net
04 2393 9514
Garry Jones
screen printing | painting | sculpture
garryj@uow.edu.au
0423 622 129
Sue Smalkowski
painting | drawing
suesmalkowski@gmail.com
smalkowski@bigpond.com
Alena Kennedy
painting
alena@alenakennedy.net
www.alenakennedy.net
0425 316 469
ArjaVälimäki
painting | sculpture
arja.valimaki@hotmail.com
0415 659 244
Flossie Peitsch
installaltion | performance | painting
flossie.peitsch@gmail.com
http://flossiepeitsch.com
0457 726 257
VyvianWilson
painting | drawing
vyvwilson@gmail.com
Jennifer Portman
painting | drawing
portmanj@hotmail.com
MaryWingrave
drawing |printmaking | mixed media
mary1945@tpg.com.au
about SCWC
unfolding poets
The South Coast Writers Centre provides the essential infrastructure for Australian literary
culture in the Illawarra, Kiama, Shellharbour, the Southern Highlands, and South Coast of NSW
incorporating the local government areas of Bega Valley, Eurobodalla, and Shoalhaven.
The South Coast Writers Centre’s mission is:
to provide effective resources and networks for writers and readers in the South Coast and
Southern Highlands region
• to promote the development of writing and literary culture in a regional context
• to facilitate a high standard of professional development and practice by writers
in the region
• to develop existing and new audiences for writers and writing
• to value the distinct literary cultures of the South Coast and Southern Highlands
• to maintain an awareness of issues of access and equity in all the activities of the Centre,
including employment policies, promotion of writers, community development and
audience development
• to maintain the participation of membership in the running of the Centre
• to develop the SCWC as part of the arts and cultural infrastructure of the South Coast
and Southern Highlands region
Nash AK
cherrigolds69@gmail.com
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nash.kencana
Ken Chellanor
kch34564@bigpond.net.au
Rhiannon Hall
http://rhiannonhall.blogspot.com.au/
rh160@uowmail.edu.au