#02 IN ISO | Clare Milledge

For Love[for]Art #02, Sydney-based artist Clare Milledge's site specific work Little shrike-thrush calling in the gully: in praise of shadows (2020) a pentaptych in the Byzantine hinterglasmalerei technique. Words gathered from following ecologists in the field and dating apps draw together environmental and anthropological observations to formulate a unique lexicon.

Milledge's practice re-examines contemporary environments with a focus on our engagement with ecology through art, in particular through the use of the historical figure of the artist-shaman. Working with fieldwork as her primary methodology she collects, re-organises, transforms and re-presents recordings, information and material gathered on ecological surveys and site visits. Her research output takes the form of public installation environments that variously incorporate glass paintings, textile works, costumes, sets, collaborative experimental sound and performance.

Words gathered from following ecologists in the field and dating apps draw together environmental and anthropological observations to formulate a unique lexicon.

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EXHIBITION INFO

CLARE MILLEDGE
Little shrike-thrush calling in the gully: in praise of shadows
2020
oil on toughened glass, lead, galvanised steel wire
47.5 x 46 cm five parts each

The work was developed partly through reflection on the influential 1933 text In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, who wrote of the beauty of the outdoor Japanese toilet, set in nature. Tanizaki praised the Japanese toilet as a place of repose to experience nature and applauded the virtues of natural textures and lighting while rejecting the Western modernist white toilet. Taking this into account, I undertook fieldwork with ecologists and bush regenerators as well as using other sources such as dating apps to gather text and material reflecting current environments. The resulting text paintings are designed to be read in the quiet of the toilet setting with the light of candles and/or natural light. - Clare Milledge

claremilledge.com
@claremilledge

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Milledge lives and works between the lands of the Arakwal people in Bundjalung country (Broken Head, Northern NSW) and the lands of the Bidjigal and Gadigal people (Paddington, Sydney). She obtained a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Sydney College of the Arts in 2005, completed her honours in painting from Sydney College of the Arts in 2006, and received a Doctor of Philosophy from the Sydney College of the Arts in 2013. Selected solo exhibitions include Strigiformes: Binocular, Binaural, performance for Tori Wrånes solo exhibition Hot Pocket, curated by Stina Høgkvist, Museet for Samtidskunst (Oslo, 2017); Altus Duel: Total Environment, Gertrude Contemporary (Melbourne, 2014); Maximalist Ritualist (with Carla Cescon), Australian Experimental Art Foundation (Adelaide, 2012); and Lord Owl, Institute of Contemporary Art Newtown (Sydney, 2010). Selected group exhibitions include Second Sight: Witchcraft, Ritual, Power, UQ Art Museum (Brisbane, 2019); Ruler, rete, Arndt Art Agency, (Berlin 2019); What Remains, Fotogalleriet, (Oslo 2017); Remedial Works, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (Perth, 2017); Erewhon, Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Melbourne 2016 and touring NetsVIC to 2018); The Mnemonic Mirror, Griffith University Art Gallery and UTS (Brisbane and Sydney 2016); Magic Object, Adelaide Biennial, (Adelaide, 2016); Dämmerschlaf, Artspace (Sydney, 2016); Neverwhere, Gaia Gallery, (Istanbul 2015); Writing Art, Artspace (Sydney, 2015); Unstable Parts in an Unfriendly Place, Institute of Contemporary Art Newtown (Sydney, 2013); Un-Acclimatised, Monash University Museum of Art (Melbourne, 2012); and Neo Goth: Back in Black, University of Queensland Art Museum (Brisbane, 2008). Her work is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne), Buxton Contemporary (Melbourne), 10 Cubed (Melbourne), Monash University Museum of Art (Melbourne), and Artbank (Sydney). Milledge has been awarded a number of grants and scholarships, and was one of the inaugural Artspace studio resident artists in 2015.

Clare is represented by STATION Australia.