SHOW OF THE WEEK

rockin' the suburbs

The wonderful jeweller Vicki Mason is in the throes of installing her latest show at Craft Victoria; Vignettes from a Suburban Front Yard. Think about it for a moment. Lawns, manicured trees, rows of box hedge, native versus introduced. Our desire to create a natural idyll in our urban settings. The topic is ripe for the picking off the cumquat topiary.

Vicki is a keen observer of the natural world and has strong sense of shape and colour. her combinations of precious and non precious materials and her meticulous finishing technique always give her work a sense of completion. She thinks deeply about scale and motif and takes care to  never over cook an idea or wander off into kitsch.

These are the shows we really enjoy at HML. The sense that the maker has created a body of work for exhibition and imbued it with ideas and narratives. It is a beautiful garden Vicki Mason has tended and we plan to give her a congratulatory bouquet when her show opens this Thursday night 6-8 at Craft

Show runs until 27 July.

WORKSHOP OF THE WEEK

cast your vote

You may recall a couple of months ago the ladies of HML participated in a fantastic 2 day concrete casting workshop hosted by the brilliant Kirsten Perry. She is repeating this fantastic class over the next two Sundays at Artifice over in Williamstown and we can't recommend it more highly!

bubble wrap texture on my planter

You do get a bit messay and you spend quite a bit of time concentrating very hard which we found exhausting but so so much fun. it's a great opportunity to learn something new and be inspired by a really lovely artist at the same time.

Beck's brutalist inspired giganto block

You can read about our concrete adventure here and you can get in touch with Artifice here. RAMONA

SHOW OF THE WEEK

just can't get enough

The ladies of HML are huge fans of Kate Just. We wrote about her amazing show at Craft Victoria back in 2011  and even her encredible show last year was one of our favourites. It will be great to look at her development between 2010-2013 in her latest show at Glen Eira Gallery. This showcases Just's PHD work and promises to be just as clever and witty as we've come to expect (anyone for knitted burial suit?).

Just is one of those visual artists who use craft technique to explore not just form, function or fashion but social commentary and women's history. As you can imagine we are HUGE fans at HML

The show only runs until June 16 so you better get there on the weekend or you'll miss out. Gallery is open 1-5 so take an afternoon to go southside and check it out (I'll be there Sunday - last minute! But I am determined!) RAMONA

GRUMBLE OF THE WEEK

days of Yore

Just a quick note to you all about the recent controversy surrounding complaints made against Linden Gallery and artist Paul Yore for his contribution to the Like Mike exhibition. Having met Paul I can tell you that he takes his art (and his craft) very seriously. Yes his work does challenge, does push the boundaries of acceptable taste and can make you feel very uncomfortable. Isn't that what artists are meant to do? One of the major social issues of the day is the sexualization and modification of children in the media, and we are glad that there are creative people out there exploring this darkness to perhaps bring us into the light. Here's hoping that instead of 10 years jail, Yore receives a gigantic Ausco grant to continue fighting the good fight. grrr. RAMONA

SHOW OF THE WEEK

put your stampel on it

We are loving the current trend for retailers enriching their spaces by including well curated exhibitions by stockists/artists. It gives us the customer a chance to become audience and just soak in the aesthetic. It makes us understand the retailers perspective as much as the makers. We've seen this recently with show at Hut 13 and Mr Kitly and of course Dagmar Rousset have had some great shows, including the wonderful Eddy Carroll's show last year. This time it is the lovely Andrea Shaw of the brilliant Stampel label who is flexing the creative muscle with a series of new textile works (like the magical one above). Andrea is a whizz with colour and intuitive stitching  so we cant wait to see what's in store and in store (get it?) RAMONA

Stampel + Dagmar
Dagmar Rousset
157 Gertruse Street
Fitzroy

Show Opens this Thursday night