T R A N S I T I O N

2 person show
D R M A R K E L L I O T – R A N K E N
A N D
B E R N A D E T T E S M I T H

J U L Y 2 9 – A U G U S T 1 4 2011
at ART SYSTEMS WICKHAM,
40 Annie Street Wickham

Transition is our first exhibition since moving to Sydney from Newcastle and surveys the changes we are already perceiving in our individual work. Our ten years plus in Newcastle ended in March 2011, my PhD finished, the drawn out dramas of moving, changing studio and house, new schools, new contacts, friends and relationships. We now have and a new and dynamic urban context to be engaged with. It is not just a change of locale but a change of context, from regional centre to international metropolis even if it is only two hours down the F3. With this comes new aspects of work, do our past approaches to art remain valid, are new levels of experimentation called for and new contexts incorporated. A new, more vertical urban-scape and a far more complex cultural/social structure demand to be experienced and this is only the start. It is after all the nature of movement, change to challenge our comfort zone and everything once perceived as part of one's existence. That is the nature of movement - context changes and so do you, suddenly we are in transition – a place between. Our artwork in this exhibition explores this passage and shows where we have come from and part of the process of where we are going.

Dr Mark Elliot-Ranken & Bernadette Smith July 22nd 2011