Conversations with the Collection

Lionel Bawden & Stephanie Taylor

Collection Statement:

Sydney based artist Lionel Bawden explores the tangible and sublime growth of ideas within an individual’s imagination achieved through his meticulously crafted organic and sculptural forms.

Bawden’s use of coloured pencils as the dominant sculptural medium contrasts the rigid machine made individual pencils with the elegant and sensual forms of the sculpture. This demonstrates a strong contrast between the confined physical world and the thriving landscape of the mind.

Bawden’s work also explores the transformation from early childhood familiarity to myriad possibilities of the adult imagination. The recurring organic honeycomb motif is reminiscent of beehives, and alludes to the microcosms of cellular organisms existing in our world and the endless possibilities surrounding them.

Stephanie Taylor
Hunter Valley Grammar School
Dynamics of Roy (2011)
Sculpture

ARTEXPRESS Artist Statement:

Dynamics of Roy is an appropriation of Rhythmic composition in yellow green minor (1919) by Roy de Maistre. My work discovers the dimensions within his two-dimensional work and represents them in a three-dimensional form. This allows viewers to see the many different levels within de Maistre’s work and to explore new angles. As de Maistre’s work evolved a theory of colour harmonisation based on analogies between colours of the spectrum and the musical scale, recreating the work in 3D adds another perspective, where high and low points represent the different tones and the different pitches in music.

Curriculum Linkages
Frames:

Analyse with reference to the structural frame how both artists have used rhythm, colour and form to emphasis the shape of the completed sculptures.

Conceptual Framework:

The coloured pencil has been appropriated by both artists. Is this an attempt to comment upon the changing nature of traditional art materials?
Discuss.

Practice:

Both artists have used coloured pencils as the dominant medium in their work. Discuss how these artists have manipulated their chosen medium in contrasting fashions to express their ideas.

Download ARTEXPRESS 2012 Conversation with the Collections.