Ap-ro-pos

Bilk Gallery is delighted to be launching their 2018 calendar with Ap-ro-pos. An exhibition of personal stories and makers narratives by established Western Australian jewellers Brenda Ridgewell, Robin Wells, Claire Townsend, Helena Bogucki and Christel van der Laan.

Ap-ro-pos is an exhibition born from a shared desire to foster growth and creativity within the group while also stimulating the artist's individual practices. It celebrates the artists love of handwork, explorations of materiality as well as showcasing their varied and wide range of skills that have been developed over decades. 

Brenda Ridgewell’s recent work explores the pleasures of time and loved ones, using traditional materials to explore the beauty of the individual.
Claire Townsend celebrates her memory of her grandmother by translating fragile pieces of her embroidery into metal.   She makes marks to mimic and honour the stitching, the tedium and the preciousness of the everyday.
Christel van der Laan seeks poetry and preciousness in her use of unlikely materials and processes. The discarded and the overlooked occupy center stage, along with finding materials and childhood treasures.  
Robin Wells work reflects her continued interest in our impact on the natural environment. Fire-affected landscapes and foliage imprints like ghosts of the bushland left behind, these pieces evoke the feel of a fossilised record, referencing our endangered native plant species. 
Helena Bogucki’s work begins in the field. Researching; taking samples; and collecting field notes from her explorations whilst revealing fragments of Western Australia’s history and her role within the portrayal of these narratives. 

The exhibition will be officially opened at 6 pm by David Walker.
Brenda Ridgewell and Claire Townsend will be attending the opening and will be available for interviews on the 22nd to 23rd February.