Line of Vision Maggie Stein 2014
Launch event 6pm Friday 24 October
Newsagency Gallery, 332 Stanmore Road, Petersham.
The gallery will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 10am’5pm, until 9 November.
Visits can be arranged by appointment, for more information contact Bess on 0401 797 746.
Join our facebook event here
Line of Vision relates to that basic element at the beginning of most artists’ journeys: line. It also hints at what I do: record and interpret what I see and feel in my world within my own line of vision. I am inspired by my immediate environment, which, at this moment in time, covers the inner west of Sydney. Most of my stimulus comes to me as I cycle or walk the streets. While I’m motivated to create a vision of what I see, the view is layered with my collective memories and experiences.
My earliest visual memories include observing motes of dust as they fell through dappled light in our lounge room; tracing my fingers along the rich velvety surface of an old ottoman; and losing myself in the plaster ceiling patterns above my head as I lay in bed. Pattern, colour and texture in nature and architecture have always been important to me.
My work in the past year has expanded to include more drawing, and I’ve continued to explore lino printing and produce my Cuisenaire assemblages. Like many female artists, having a family has constrained my art making; but now my children are almost self-sufficient I feel I have more freedom to work on larger pieces and simply spend more time at my studio.
This year I have created my largest lino, Eveleigh Tracks. Allowing myself to work on this scale has been nourishing and an exciting learning experience. At times I felt that the work was leading me, as Keith Haring expresses:
‘When it is working, you completely go into another place; you’re tapping into things that are totally universal, completely beyond your ego and your own self. That’s what it’s all about.’
Each medium used in Line of Vision has its own distinct characteristics. Linoleum is an unforgiving material, well-suited to gritty, graphic subjects. It demands a methodical precise approach, especially when editioning. I find pastel rich and luxurious, and have focused on colour, form and creating atmosphere in the works included here. Cuisenaire rods lend themselves to play and I enjoy that they have a history and patina, which influences how I use them.
Sydney Artist Jenny Pollak eloquently describes the challenges faced by artists:
‘To begin with, it requires enormous discipline to make art. No one demands or even needs you to do what you are doing, and for the most part it is a solitary process. This means you must be incredibly motivated, even driven, and passion is a wonderful driving force. Consequently, it takes a certain kind of stubbornness (perhaps even blindness) to meet the task. You must first of all believe you will succeed in what you are attempting to do; and, in the face of repeated failure, acquire enormous resilience. Making art is not for the faint-hearted; flexibility, perseverance and sheer hard work are essential requirements.’
Line of Vision opens from 6pm on Friday 24 October at Newsagency Gallery, 332 Stanmore Road, Petersham.
The gallery will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 10am’5pm, until 9 November.
Maggie Stein will be at the gallery over the whole open period, and Friday afternoon visits can be arranged by appointment. For more information contact Bess on 0401 797 746. www.newsagencygallery.com.au
