Finn Ferrier
sculpture






11/2023

WOVEN

Works by -
Jennifer Robertson
Emma Fitts
Finn Ferrier
Tia Ansell

C. Gallery
50 Davis Avenue, South Yarra, 3141, Melbourne, VIC


C. Gallery is delighted to announce Woven, an exhibition of recent work by four contemporary fibre artists, which will run from 26 October – 1 December 2023. Woven includes work by Tia Ansell, Finn Ferrier, Emma Fitts and Jennifer Robertson.

The artists of Woven have centred investigation into material at the core of their process and share an innovative approach that captures the intersection of textiles, painting and sculpture. From Tia Ansell’s rigorous and geometric forms to the billowing and ethereal works of Jennifer Robertson, these fibre works both elevate and affirm the familiar materials and processes, and push the boundaries of craft into fine art.

Tia Ansell (b. 1995) is an Wellington-born and Melbourne-based artist, she appears courtesy of Lon Gallery. Working on a countermarch loom in over-painted cotton and silk thread, Ansell creates abstract geographies that playfully tease apart the traditional delineation between substrate and painted surface. Hung simply on the wall, the lack of framing calls attention to the materiality of the fabric and the process of weaving. Drawing on memories of familiar landscapes, the map-like compositions create an abstract yet approachable and organic form.

Finn Ferrier (b. 1981) lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand. For Woven, Ferrier has contributed four recent works from his Wharfware series which began in 2009 as a study on the materiality of rope. Utilising this ordinary material and imagining the handwork of sailors with long idle hours at sea, Ferrier creates fanciful vessels based on a logical progression of decorative knotwork. The vessels resemble cartoonish ceramic relics, creations of pure aesthetic value that explore the tension between traditional forms and the material pliability of rope.

Emma Fitts (b.1979) is a Christchurch-based artist whose mixed-media assemblages are driven by an investigation into materials and allusions to the functional forms and memories of familiar domestic objects and attire as well as local histories and lived experiences of past artistic and political personas. The resulting abstractions of saturated canvas, silk and synthetic mesh hover between and expand the boundaries of sculpture and painting. For Woven, Fitts has created two new works in vivid orange and yellow hues, mixing architecture, textile, painting and sculptural references to offer a fresh and bright look at a loaded history.

Jennifer Robertson (b. 1962) is an English-born Australian artist whose practice is focused on complex hand-woven textile wall artwork and objects. For Woven, Robertson has contributed four recent works, two of which are large-scale wall-mounted textiles that explore the interconnecting natural structure of honeycomb (found in graphene) and incorporate layered carbon fibre and linen that are woven into captivating, three-dimensional wall works. Also included in the show are Tectonic Lineations, Foliations and Tectonic Lineations 2, two voluminous and scintillating works whose soft curves are reminiscent of weathered rock formations. The paradox of their apparent mass contrasted with their ethereal yet structured composition explores analogies between geology and weaving, simultaneously complex yet insouciant.

Thursday 26 October to 27 November 2023


  







Finn Ferrier


(b.1981) lives in Auckland New Zealand. Ferrier has been exhibiting as an artist since 2002. His practice is focused on the object, story telling, materiality and place.

Ferrier’s Wharfware series began in 2009 as an excercise in exploring the materiality of rope.

This website contains a partial archive of my rope-work, representing one part of my practice.

Contact:

finnferrier@orcon.net.nz



Recent Events/ Exhibitions


2022

Dowse Museum: acquisition of ‘Covid Cup’ for their collection.

NZ Maritime Museum, acquisition of a body of work for their collection (2022)

New Zealand Maritime Museum, Edmonston Gallery temporary exhibition (2022) 

Objectspace: Weekly Objects. Series of editioned garlands.
(07-2022)

Soft Landing, Page Galleries, Wellington (02-2022)

Finders, Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui (12-2021 - 05-2022)

2021

Finn Ferrier: Ockham Lecture Series, Objectspace, Auckland

Leading Lights, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland.

Meet The Maker: Finn Ferrier. NZ House & Garden Magazine (April 2021)

Changing Threads 2021 Awards, Arts Council Nelson.
Award Finalist


2020

Finn Ferrier: Soft Garniture. Te Uru Art Gallery, Auckland (2020-2021)

A Few Too Many Hangups, 
The Tuesday Club, Auckland


2019

The Nineteen Gallery: Relocating Frances Hodgkins. Auckland Art Gallery (2019)


Wharfware


These rope vessels were originally constructed with idea that they could be made at sea by a sailor, passing time by creating decorative objects for their surrounding. These vessels are the logical progression from the practice of decorative knots.

More recently I have been thinking about my rope works like ceramics. Instead of working with the materiality of clay to express form, I work with rope and the inherent properties of this material. I do not use any chemical bonds. Friction, tension and gravity determine the shapes, along with personal experience and tacit understanding.  

These vessels are made in one direction with one piece of rope, with exception to handles, which are applied afterwards.

The conception of this rope-work series originally came about as an exploration of the ‘critique of preciousness’ a central theme in contemporary jewellery where it is the concept and making that determines the value of the object over a material value.

These vessels are intended to reflect a simple and elegant use of rope and rhythmic forms that allude to the processes of making and cyclical time.

++ See Ockham Lecure Series page for a talk on my practice ++

Photography: Sam Hartnett / Finn Ferrier

finnferrier(at)orcon.net.nz 











All works copyright
Finn Ferrier, 2022





Home