This exhibition was held in February, from the14th to the 25th at Percolator gallery in Paddington where Sophie Munns carried out a nine month studio residency onsite. ,
Since launching the project Homage to the Seed in 2010 Sophie Munns has undertaken a series of Artist-in Residencies, engaged in ongoing dialogue and research whilst continuing to paint and document material gathered along the way. As the 4th year of the project unfolds this exhibition will present the artwork and current preoccupations which will also feature in a program of “Biodiversity Dialogues”.
This exhibition featured work that had evolved from the project over a period of 4 years. Several paintings were included from residencies in 2010, 2011 and May 2012… with most work recently developed during the Cairns residency or since returning from there last October.
Lino-printing and working on cloth are both processes that have been used by the artist over the past 30 + years, at different key times. In thinking about Bio-cultural DIversity it seemed only fitting to rethink the role of cloth and textiles in cultural life over time and place and the way it is intrinsically linked to plants for fibres and also artistic mediums.
Plant material … Seeds, fruits, seed capsules and more… have long held a fascination for the peoples of the planet in daily life as well as being a critical means for survival and development of society on many levels. This exhibition stems from both extensive research around the world of seeds and pondering the cultural heritage of the planet and its direct and indirect relationship to seeds.
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During the Sept-October 2012 Cairns Botanic Gardens Residency Sophie Munns worked on cloth for a number of works. An extraordinary piece of Belgium Linen 50 cm wide yet 4 metres long became the shows signature piece.
Another of the cloth works was a 170 cm x 80 cm linen piece with a linen thread used for the stitched edges. Read this studio blog post for notes on the 2nd work ‘Seeding a new mythology’.
This lead to the latest series of artworks on cloth completed for the february Exhibition which can be seen here.
