Tomorrow’s collectable art on sale at Otago Polytechnic

Friday, November 13

Tomorrow’s collectable art on sale at Otago Polytechnic Dunedin School of Art SITE

Otago Polytechnic’s Dunedin School of Art will again be transformed into an art gallery for the annual SITE exhibition, opening its door to the public and showcasing works from graduating BVA, graduate diploma and honors students that are potentially some of tomorrow’s leading artists.

“This is a great way to get into the art market, a lot of our artists from Dunedin School of Art have gone on to be collected and very well represented in galleries nationally and internationally and it’s a really good opportunity to buy their work at an affordable price,” says Rachel Allan, Lecturer in Photography.

All disciplines are represented including painting, print, photography, jewellery, electronic art, sculpture, ceramics, textiles and printmaking.

“There are students engaged in technology of the moment and there are also students using traditional and historical processes; there’s no predetermined idea of what art is, and we do not have a school style. At SITE you can turn the corner and come across something that you’d never think you’d ever see,” says Ms Allan.

Two Dunedin School of Art students exhibiting in SITE have used materials that aren’t traditionally associated with sculpture.

Shelley McConaughy has created a three tiered wedding cake 155cms high (including plinth) and 45cms in diameter made entirely of dryer and vacuum lint and bound with resin. “Second wave feminism is of central interest to my research and work, in particular sexual division of labour. For many woman just below the surface of a traditional union lies a life at home cooking, caring, and cleaning. This work can be perceived as cynical, although perhaps there is room in society for less fairy stories and more reality,” says Shelley.

Lily-Jean Redgrave has created a stacked furniture sculpture. “I wanted to work with furniture because I like it as a material, its structure and it comes in such diverse shapes and sizes. I’ve tried to explore how furniture is perceived, it is a very comforting object but if it’s not on the ground it provokes a different form of comfort,” says Lily-Jean.

“Students are pushing the boundaries, with some engaging in practices that explore sustainable notions. Unfortunately the cost of making art is a factor in production, finding ways and means that perhaps use unusal objects or materials that don’t cost a lot or that are going to be thrown out anyway is encouraged at Dunedin School of Art,” says Rachel Allan.

ENDS

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