Access Arts Professional Development Seminar #1
On Tuesday, 20 March 2012 Professional Development hosted the first of a series of Artist Seminars. Access Arts Professional Development members were invited to speak about and present some of their current art work. The intention of the seminar series is to give individual artist members the opportunity to discuss and debate each other’s work in a critical and non-competitive environment.
John Briggs – Visual Artist

Artwork: Abstract image of a man jumping over a fence, with what looks like the ocean and sand in the background. The man has his left hand stiff and out to the side as though he is making a stop gesture or is pushing something away.
Artwork by John Briggs
John showed recent images and spoke about his ideas for a forthcoming exhibition around the experience of those with Multiple sclerosis. His unmistakeable and highly articulate style presents striking and vibrant images playing with ideas of perception and representations of the body. His use of colour and the subtle digital manipulation of his original images allow him to present and re-present shifting moods; sometimes the same image is repeated in “multiple” forms.
Colleen Stevenson – Photographer and Visual Artist

Artwork: Brightly coloured painting of a pond filled with fish, lilies and grass. In the background are sharp blue mountain peaks and an orange sky evoking sunrise/sunset
Artwork by Colleen Stevenson
Colleen presented a collection of recent photographs and paintings. Her images often investigate multiple layers and planes in the natural world. Sublime images of water, flowers; leaves caught on spider webs; things caught between two worlds. Her macro images of the insides of found rotting fruit and growing moulds, while natural – become abstract. Colleen also spoke of her experiences as a Forgotten Australian and how her membership of the Access Arts Camera Wonderers and Brisbane Outsider Artists over the last two years had allowed her to develop an evolving art practice that helped her re-centre and has taken her images all over the world.
Magda Labuda – Photographer and Visual Artist

Artwork: Black and white photograph of a woman wearing a cabaret style corset. She is leaning against a wall and stretching her head back. The woman is clutching an old fashioned dial-up phone receiver to her ear with her right hand. She is gripping the phone cord in her left hand and looking out (pensively) to her left
Artwork by Magda Labuda
Magda presented the different themes she concentrates on in her practice: cityscapes, macro images; portraits and landscapes. She spoke of her recent successes at Art from the Margins exhibitions and her growing body of work as not only an art photographer but also a professional event photographer. She presented images taken across the world: snow from her time in Holland many years ago and more recently architectural images using reflection and shadow, imaginary landscapes captured from the real world in Tasmania. This allowed us to see the considerable progression of her ideas and skills over an extended period of time.
Anthea Patrick – Sound Artist
‘What is really nice is if time, days, weeks have lapsed, and I re-enter those recordings, it brings those experiences exquisitely alive, more alive, I feel, than if I were looking at photographs through an album. The recordings seem to capture the experience in time so fully, in a 3 dimensional form.’
Quote from Anthea Patrick on working with sound as a medium
Anthea chose a performative contribution with a recent soundscape and projected text explicating her process. Using sound in a personal search for truth she captures single moments and transforms them through digital processing and manipulations. We were touched by the depth of her ideas and the complexity of her practice: making each small moment of the past live again in the present. As a sound curator she called for collaborators in a new project:
The Access Arts Soundscape Project where members can take a small digital sound recorder for a week and map out their sound worlds. These sound recordings will then be re-mixed and presented as a growing soundscape via the Access Arts www site. If you would like to find out more information or to register your interest for this collaborative project, please call the Access Arts office.
Damian Stewart – Composer and Performance Artist

Image: Damian in a costume. His face has been painted white and he has black makeup around is eye. He has reading glasses on his face and is wearing trousers and braces over a white collared shirt. He is also wearing a black tie, black gloves and black top hat. He is holding a cane in both hands in front of him and has his head down as though he is looking at the floor.
Damian also chose a performative presentation with projections and original music – a prologue to a multimedia work currently in development. Using Creative Commons and Public Domain access, early 20th century science fiction and fantasy film is cut up and redacted into an investigation of the “New World Order”. Performances, music, sound, still and moving images collide to create a performance installation investigating representations of disability, power and control. His performance, in character, introduced the Guardian of the New World Order who has created a computer game: Transmigration. All you need to do to be happy is play the game! He also called for collaborators to join him in the New World Order. The work will involve both live performance and video production – new and original black and white video shot over the next few months will be combined with the found footage to create and immersive performance environment. Damian will also be developing a journal and calling for writings around ideas of contemporary performance and community activism. Please call the office for more details about Damian’s project
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The seminar, a pilot for the series, was very well received and some excellent and challenging feedback was forthcoming all round. Another long term Access Arts member artist attending noted that all the artists were seeking to move beyond the everyday into imaginary worlds, that this “connected everybody regardless of their chosen art form and was the beginning of a new, small underground movement, with artists working at the equivalent of PhD level, quietly re-invigorating disability arts practice in Brisbane”.
There will be at least two more seminars this year and I encourage all interested to look out for dates in future newsletters and to make the effort to attend. If you wish to attend via Skype let us know and you can eavesdrop and contribute.
Fizzy pop and chocolate biscuits were available at the break, and enjoyed by all.
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In other news:A number of new artist members are beginning mentorships with us in digital media, ceramics, painting and poetry.
The Camera Wonderers are working on their documentation of the Brisbane Jazz Club see: http://www.redbubble.com/people/access
SAFE Fund News
Two of our regional members have received SAFE grants for equipment purchases one member from the Gold Coast for a mentorship. Our Indigenous art support in the regions also continues apace with new members receiving exhibition and mentorship support.
And here’s hoping the Easter Bunny showers you with chocolate!
Zane Trow
Professional Development Coordinator.