The Unfurling

Suzanne Davey, The Unfurling, textile, resin, 350cm x 450cm x 450cm

Exhibited in 3D Poolside, Warringah Aquatic Centre, curated by Bronwen Dugan. Drifting dreamily in trees by the poolside The Unfurling explores ideas about the importance of sanctuary for us all, having the opportunity to escape from our everyday struggles. We are all subject to forces beyond our control but a taking a breath of air, connecting with precious natural environments can nourish and transform us so we are ready to face the world once again with renewed hope and resilience.

Suzanne Davey, The Unfurling, textile, resin, 350cm x 450cm x 450cm
Suzanne Davey, The Unfurling, textile, resin, 350cm x 450cm x 450cm
Suzanne Davey, The Unfurling, textile, resin, 350cm x 450cm x 450cm

Garden of Cruel Delights

site responsive installation Coal Loader Waverton
Suzanne Davey, Garden of Cruel Delights, plants, wood, metal, bricks, stone, jute, copper, 250cm x 250cm x 800cm

A site responsive installation exhibited at the historic Coal Loader, Waverton, as part of the North Sydney Art Prize, curated by Alison Clark. The work was located on the Coal Loader Platform, surrounded by community garden beds. It extends and builds upon The Garden of Cruel Delights photographic series exploring our inter-relationships with plants.

site responsive art installation Coal Loader Waverton
Suzanne Davey, Garden of Cruel Delights, plants, wood, metal, bricks, stone, jute, copper, 250cm x 250cm x 800cm

Statement:

The Coal Loader is an exchange zone between us, plants and environmental forces, where flora experience constant transformation through our destructive and constructive actions. Tactile and material interventions performed on living plants are utilised to examine concepts such as empathy, control, adaptation to showcase the power of plants to lead us to better futures.

site responsive art installation
Suzanne Davey, Garden Of Cruel Delights, installation detail
site responsive art installation
Suzanne Davey, Garden Of Cruel Delights, installation detail
site responsive art installation
Suzanne Davey, Garden Of Cruel Delights, installation detail
site responsive art installation
Suzanne Davey, Garden Of Cruel Delights, installation detail
site responsive art installation
Suzanne Davey, Garden Of Cruel Delights, installation detail
site responsive art installation
Suzanne Davey, Garden Of Cruel Delights, installation detail
site responsive art installation
Suzanne Davey, Garden Of Cruel Delights, installation detail
site responsive art installation
Suzanne Davey, Garden Of Cruel Delights, installation detail
site responsive art installation Coal Loader Waverton
Suzanne Davey, Garden Of Cruel Delights, installation detail

Public Art Avalon Art Carnivale

Windsongs public art installation and flags both feature in the public art carnivale at Avalon. Created by Suzanne Davey, Christina Frank and Lisa Marshall they feature reconfigured discarded umbrellas and together they speak of fragility and the power of transformation.
 
Suzane Davey, Christina frank, Lisa Marshall Windsongs public art installation, mixed media 350 x550 x 400cm

Groundswell Public Art Installation

Suzanne Davey, Groundswell, recycled clothing, resin, paint, steel, 350cm x 800cm x 400cm

Groundswellis an energetic public art installation created for the ENLIVEN festival, Mona Vale. The work was commissioned by Pittwater Council and was made in partnership with the charity Lifeline.

Made from donated recycled clothing Groundswellis a suspended installation made from pants of all shapes and sizes. Lots of legs appear to be surging forward, walking and running, and hopefully creating a ripple in the local community.
The work draws inspiration from the site. Davey states, “ As soon as I saw the Lifeline Centre in Bungan Laneway and its recycled clothing I knew exactly what I wanted to do. To me Lifeline is all about reaching out to life and connecting with others for support. Clothing is all about people and living.”

Special thanks to Lifeline for their generous donation of clothing.

Groundswell installation , shadow detail
Family enjoying the Groundswell installation at the ENLIVEN festival
Rear view detail, Groundswell installation
Detail, Groundswell

Window reflection, Groundswell

The Echo of Invisible Things HIDDEN

Suzanne Davey, The Echo of Invisible Things, clothing, resin, paint, 240cm x 60cm x 60cm

The Echo of Invisible Thingsis a memorial column, dedicated to human fragility and vulnerability. It is a response to contemporary narratives of abuse, homelessness, abandonment and neglect by public institutions.  The work uses a a classic architectural element to reference institutions such as churches, temples, museums, theatres and government.  Clothing is utilised as a social and cultural signifier of identity, memory and our psychological ties with others. The clothes are traces of the bodies that once wore them, mementos to individual and collective lived experiences; an echo of tragedy.

 
Installed in Rookwood Cemetery the work references memorial and funerary architecture such as chapels, arches, churches and temples.
Above: Clothing detail, Suzanne Davey, The Echo of Invisible Things, clothing, resin, paint, 240cm x 60cm x 60cm


Wind Songs: Art In Odd Places

Suzanne Davey, Christina Frank, Lisa Marshall, Wind Songs, umbrella covers, thread, dimensions variable
 
WIND SONGS is a public art project created by Suzanne Davey, Christina Frank and Lisa Marshall for Art in Odd Places Australia 2013 exhibited 14-15 September Dee Why Beach, 21-22 September Manly Beach.

WIND SONGS is a dynamic, colourful installation that uses an everyday object, the humble umbrella, and transforms it from the ordinary into the extraordinary. A mass of umbrellas have been de-constructed and re-configured in new and surprising ways. The ‘fly away’ work responds directly to the elemental landscape of Manly and Dee Why. Floating in the sea breeze it sings songs about fragility, struggles and the power of transformation.



Wind Songs Dee Why Beach
 
 
Wind Songs Manly 
 
Project Rationale: Umbrellas are utilitarian objects charged with memories and a myriad of metaphorical possibilities. Nostalgia for summer holidays at the beach, fresh sea breezes, life saving flags, experiences of wild storms, rain and wind and our basic human need for shelter and protection are all evoked by the humble umbrella.
 
Umbrellas are also delicate and fragile objects. In strong winds umbrellas have a tendency to ‘fly away’ and de-construct. On windy days at the beach runaway umbrellas cartwheel dangerously across the sand. On wild wet days locations such as the Manly Corso are littered with discarded rain umbrellas, sad and forlorn, inside out and broken.
 
The installation is a large colourful, geometric canopy/banner/structure constructed from found and collected umbrellas and arranged together in a tessellated pattern. The installation responds directly to sea breezes, creates bold shadows patterns on surfaces and creatively expresses the umbrella’stendency to ‘fly away’ in response to wind. Through its dynamic composition, its re-construction and final transformation of multiple umbrellas into a new form Wind Songscan remind the viewer of…….
  • the fragility of life
  • being in the moment, the brevity of life
  • everyday struggles: weathering storms, the whirl of life, the risk of the things we depend on de-constructing and flying away.
  • transformation and re-ordering eg: moving through major personal changes or crises
  • memories and nostalgia for summer holidays, childhood, beach days

Wind Songs project proposal drawing
 

ADRIFT in Manly

ADRIFT, recycled polystyrene, fishing line, glow in the dark paint, bamboo
3.5 m x 4.5 m x  2 m

ADRIFT is an ephemeral public art installation created in response to Manly Esplanade; its physical qualities, and the way people interact with, and utilise the site. 

It was exhibited as part of ‘SEE: Manly Public Art Project’ along with the work of 23 artists. The project was the result of a collaboration between Eramboo Artist Environment, Manly Art Gallery and Museum and Kendal Henry, an innovative New York artist and public art curator. 

ADRIFT, recycled polystyrene, fishing line, glow in the dark paint, bamboo
3.5 m x 4.5 m x  2 m


About ADRIFT:
Manly Esplanade is a site where drifting occurs, both seen and unseen. The ebb and flow of tourists, weekenders, commuters, ferry’s and boats, wind and water is a constant. It provides escape from the day to day, respite for many socially disadvantaged people and is a site of rescue for some. Along with escapist play and respite comes the flotsam and jetsam of broken boogie boards, surfboards, fishing floats and line, esky’s and buoys drifting on ocean currents. 


These leave a dark aftermath: lethal litter for birds and sea creatures and toxic chemicals for our food chain. 

Threaded polystyrene shards (like ‘neptunes beads’ seaweed,  pearls, swimming lanes) respond gently to air currents. At night the installation glows, referencing the phosphorescence of the sea which carries the lethal drift ashore.


It started with a broken surfboard shard washed ashore and blowing around the Manly Esplanade.


Recycled polystyrene was collected and completely sealed to prevent further environmental damage.




 The coated shards were threaded on fishing line, arranged in an ‘ocean current’ pattern 
and painted with glow in the dark paint.
The final size of the installation was adjusted to the dimensions of the site.

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