THIS WEEK’S featured artist is another amazing local sculptor, Annie Long, who has a passion for creating both 2D and 3D works and will take part in the Murwillumbah Art Trail 2018 (MAT18) from May 18 to 27.
Annie has been living in Murwillumbah for the past seven years after growing up in Sydney and living in various locations in Australia and overseas – but never for more than five years.
“Murwillumbah seems to have settled the nomad in me,” she said.
“I’ve been an exhibiting artist since 2002 in both group and solo shows in Australia, Japan and Italy.
“I was the instigator and curator of MAT from 2014-2017, so I’m really looking forward to being an artist only in MAT18.”
Annie said her first true artistic love is sculpture for its flexible medium.
“Ceramic sculpture is the foundation of my art practice, clay is such a flexible medium which allows me to experiment with ideas and forms,” she said.
“My main inspirations have been travel and work in international language education which have informed recurrent themes of the journey (both inner and outer), the nomad and the migrant.
“In recent years, exploration into local stories and experiences have become an increasing inspiration for my art practice.”
Annie said she hopes to capture the MAT18 theme “Moving On” by creating a new series.
“In line with the Moving On theme, my work is inspired by our mercurial river which is one minute so benign and life giving and the next so destructive,” she said.
“Creating a new series of ceramic sculptures for the show is helping me process the events of the big flood and it has surprised me the depth and range of emotions that are still sitting under the surface.
“I will be part of a pop-up group show entitled ‘Easily Distracted’ with Jenny Sayer and Jennifer Grainger.
“All three artists were involved in the post flood clean up so the exhibition will be our expression of the resulting mayhem and joy: clearing, sculpting, scrounging, painting, gluing, chatting, playing, singing, sharing ideas, building friendships and rediscovering life.
“We also all like to work in a range of mediums and hence can be easily distracted in the studio.”