RETURNING 'HOME'

Returning Oil on linen 50 x 94 cm 2012

 

COSMIC ADDRESS finished yesterday and now I am back home...but not yet back into the studio. That will take awhile. Lots of emailing, following up, plus lawns to be mowed and other domestic jobs to catch up on. AND, writing a post for my BLOG is a priority!

 

The exhibition was great...a terrific success...on many fronts. I sold some paintings, held 4 different but very enjoyable functions/events and chatted to an amazing number of people. I'd estimate that around 280 people saw the exhibition over the 12 day period. I am HAPPY!

 

This is one comment from a visitor to COSMIC ADDRESS: What a wonderful delight to meet you today and not only view your most amazing three dimensional transformational cosmic paintings but also connect in such a deep manner on cosmological/spiritual expanding concepts and precepts.

 

Please take a virtual tour of some of COSMIC ADDRESS by watching the video below. It's a kind of returning to the exhibition.

 

 

 

 

RETURNING 

Returning [image at top] was one of the paintings that attracted many people. The beautiful green lured them 'home'. The concept of an 'address' in the title of my exhibition COSMIC ADDRESS got people thinking. An 'address' can mean many things. Even a place within! And, that's where we went last Thursday night when my friend Gabriele Engstrom lead a COSMIC SOUNDS MEDITATION with her wonderful Tibetan bowls. About 20 people came along. After a short 'cosmic' talk by me and an introduction by Gabriele, we dimmed the lights and people lay down on their mats. Very quickly the beautiful sounds of the bowls washed over us, their vibrations seeking to explore our inner psyches...or so it seemed. It was like returning to yourself, a returning to the cosmos...a returning 'home'. At the end of the 25 minute meditation Gabriele gently 'returned' us to the here and now. 

 

Gabriele and I are conducting a workshop combining a Tibetan Bowl meditation with drawing...yes actual drawing! It will not be a 'how to' workshop, but a stimulation of creativity to seek out inner symbols. Details below.

 

 

Cosmic Ouroboros oil on linen 120 x 150 cm 2012

 

SCIENCE AND ART 

Cosmic Ouroboros was another painting that attracted a lot of comment at COSMIC ADDRESS. People were intrigued by the background...and then very interested in the symbol of the ouroboros and how it has been appropriated by modern cosmologists as a visual descriptor of the relationship between the quantum and cosmic worlds. Many people with science backgrounds loved this painting. And, I loved them, because when a scientist 'gets' a lot from a painting which is essentially an artistic and symbolic expression of scientific processes, I feel connected...I feel I've done my job...so-to-speak!

 

And, my BLOG post for Cosmic Ouroboros is by far the most popular post on my BLOG 

 

This is another comment from a visitor to COSMIC ADDRESS: Fantastic exhibition! Truly amazing colours, most difficult part. choosing a favourite. So interesting learning more about cosmology, your knowledge is incredible.

 

Landscape of Everything Oil on linen 80 x 140 cm 2013

 

Landscape of Everything was one of the paintings that sold. It will be stirring the imaginations of workers and clients at a Brisbane law practice...

 

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

COSMIC SOUND AND CREATIVE WORKSHOP

Tibetan Bowls Meditation and QiGong lead by Gabriele Engstrom

and

Drawing inspiration with artist Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox

Saturday 9 November 2-4pm

Quaker Meeting House 10 Hampson St, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane

You will be taken beyond Earth-bound horizons channelling energy and inspiration from the Universe to awaken creative impulses to hear and feel new vibrations and to create drawings which reveal your core symbolism.

Yes, it’s a different kind of workshop!

Please wear comfortable clothes and a mat/rug to sit/lie on.

COST $50.00 per person.

Numbers are limited. Booking and payment requested by Tuesday 5 November

To book and pay click ‘Book Online’ at http://www.gabrieleengstrom.com then select COSMIC SOUND AND CREATIVE WORKSHOP to pay via PAYPAL.

 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

 

3 D @ COSMIC ADDRESS

Landscape of Everything and Super Earths Discovered

 

COSMIC ADDRESS continues until this Sunday 27 October 6 pm.

29 Merthyr Rd, New Farm, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Earth, Milky Way, The Universe

Open daily 10 am - 6 pm

 

COSMIC ADDRESS WEBPAGE

 

Visitors to the exhibition have had fun with the 3D glasses I keep at the gallery. Why do I keep 3D glasses on hand? Well... a few exhibitions ago it was pointed out to me that my paintings would 'go' 3D with 3D glasses. The fellow who suggested this, Michael, brought a pair of glasses to show me. And, WOW, I was very surprised and somewhat pleased considering I think a lot about other dimensions, new perspectives and more.

 

Since Michael alerted me to the 3 dimensionality of my work, I keep 3D Glasses at exhibitions.

 

I hasten to add though, I do not deliberately paint to create the 3D effect. It simply does not enter my mind. With the paintings in COSMIC ADDRESS I only looked at them with the glasses once the exhibition was hung...and what fun!!!!

 

One of the paintings with a big 3D WOW factor is Landscape of Everything [above left] The viewer actually feels like the red toned balls are about to hit them and that the blue toned balls are following, at speed, behind them. It's as if you are at the Big Bang! And, that's when EVERYTHING began, hence the title of the painting.

 

 

Cosmic Address and Storm

 

The two paintings above also 'go' 3D when viewed through 3D glasses. Storm is 'out there' with the red lines and shapes pouncing out of the painting and the white lightning receding back into the horizon. When the viewer moves the red lines move too! Cosmic Address seems to separate into different worlds!

 

So, if you want to have a 3D show come along to COSMIC ADDRESS...there are no computer simulations, just paint and Belgian linen...!

 

COSMIC ADDRESS WEBPAGE

 

 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

 

 

COSMIC ADDRESS OPEN

Other Worlds Ahoy! and Landscape of Everything

 

 

My solo exhibition COSMIC ADDRESS is up and the doors opened yesterday 15 October.

 

Please click HERE for the COSMIC ADDRESS webpage.

 

I am really happy with how all the paintings 'speak' to each other!

 

I've had a busy couple of days already, with a steady stream of visitors. Lots of talking too!

 

 

 L to R: Cosmic Address, Other Worlds Ahoy! and Landscape of Everything

 L to R: Hope, Stormy Weather, Where? and Cosmic Ouroboros

 Towards The Past And Future and Eternity's Breath

 

 

 L to R: When It Rained On Mars, through the gap is Birth of Wisdom and Faith, Shadow's Secret and Other Worlds Ahoy!

 

 

 Landscape of Everything and Towards the Past and Future

 Are We There Yet? and Cosmic Address

 

 

L to R: Eternity's Breath, Hope, Stormy Weather, Where? and Cosmic Ouroboros

 

 

 

My post where I discuss Cosmic Ouroboros is the most visited post on my BLOG. You can read it by clicking HERE

 

Another popular post is my short story Stirring The Star Dust: A short story about digging. You can read it HERE

 

And, then there's my post stimulated by something motoring guru Jeremy Clarkson wrote. Intrigued? you can read Looking In The Rear Vision Mirror, Cosmically Speaking HERE

 

And then there's my recent post There's Something About Space where I launch into the new movie GRAVITY. You can check it out HERE

 

 

 

 

COSMIC ADDRESS

Earth Maybe Our Home, But The Universe Is Our Environment

 

15-27 October

 

Graydon Gallery

29 Merthyr Rd,

New Farm,

Brisbane,

Queensland,

Australia,

Earth,

Milky Way,

The Universe!

 

OPEN DAILY 10 am - 6 pm

 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

SOMETHING ABOUT SPACE:

Where?  Oil on linen 50 x 50 cm 2013

Yesterday I saw the new movie GRAVITY starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. I LOVED it. I was on the edge of my seat, totally gripped, for the entire film.

So why did I love it? Apart from the beauty of Earth seen from space, and the excitement of a catastrophic disaster in space, with people attempting to overcome unimaginable obstacles [one after the other], GRAVITY, at one level, is a story based on a real concern. And, it is a story that needs to be told in the 21st century because of this concern. Essentially the film is about manmade space debris causing mayhem as it hurtles, in this case, at great speed in repeated orbit around the Earth.

The space debris in GRAVITY is the result of two satellites colliding, causing large and small pieces of super engineered craft to become a repeating debris hailstorm. Catastrophically, some of these pieces of debris smash into other satellites and spacecraft, including the one our protagonists are working on. And, when I say working on... they are literally outside, attempting to make repairs.

Other Worlds Ahoy! Oil on linen 80 x 90 cm 2013

IT'S A STORY!
Now, at this point we need to remember that GRAVITY is a story, a fiction. Indeed, there have been a number of scientists who have clearly detailed how many of the actions, situations, pieces of equipment etc are not factually correct or possible [you can Google them].

And, as the film's director Alphonso Cuaron has said, It is not a documentary. It is a piece of fiction. 

But, many stories/fictions are sparked by reality where a fear, a desire, a suggestion, a possibility, especially proposed by science, stimulates creative juices.

REALITY!
So let's talk reality! In 2009 there was an actual collision between two satellites. The US Motorola owned Iridium communications satellite and an old deactivated Russian Cosmos 2251 satellite collided on February 10th 2009. This collision added to an already existing list of human-made debris in space.

Space debris has become a concern and NASA tracks every identified piece. Why? Because, debris, even one piece, may hit something important! And, the more debris there is, the likelihood of impacts is increased.  Orbital debris is considered the biggest threat to each shuttle mission, and every orbiter comes back with a number of small dings. [ABC News: An Unprecedented Space Collision, Feb 2009]

Here's some examples of space debris, as described on NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office: Derelict spacecraft and upper stages of launch vehicles, carriers for multiple payloads, debris intentionally released during spacecraft separation from its launch vehicle or during mission operations, debris created as a result of spacecraft or upper stage explosions or collisions, solid rocket motor effluents, and tiny flecks of paint released by thermal stress or small particle impacts.

Please read more at NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office...fascinating reading. Yes, they will shift the International Space Station [ISS] to avoid space debris! This happens!

LITTERING...FOR HOW LONG?
How long has it taken humankind to set up a situation where human-made space debris is a concern, so- much-so that it provides a stimulus for artistic license to incredibly extrapolate fears and dangers in a film like GRAVITY? Well, that would be since 1957 when the Russians launched the first satellite, Sputnik 1. It has taken us only around 55 years to litter space...or a part of space that's really important to us. The part where satellites, that keep us communicating, navigating, orientating, entertained, observing and more, orbit. Space debris is a 21st century problem.

GRAVITY is a reminder that our environment extends beyond our planet and its atmosphere!

 

BACK ON EARTH
So, this brings me to something I wondered about when I watched GRAVITY. In the film the hailstorm of debris wipes out numerous satellites, including the International Space Station [ISS]. I wondered if back-on-Earth, as a result of satellite reliant systems failure, airplanes fell out of the sky, the internet collapsed, ships went off course, financial systems went array...and more. The film gives few clues to what happened on Earth while feats of super-human endurance were enacted in space by Sandra Bullock's character, Dr. Stone...oh that's right it's just a story!

VISUAL METAPHORS
There are some visual metaphors that create subliminal connectors throughout the film. These relate to foetal positions, pods, first steps, umbilical cords, birth and birth canals, letting go, rebirth... Mother. I could write more on this, but maybe another time! Sandra Bullock, aka Dr. Stone's, emergence from the water where she crash lands, is a metaphor of birth or rebirth. This could be interpreted not just a new life for her, but also humanity.

EARTH MAYBE OUR HOME BUT THE UNIVERSE IS OUR ENVIRONMENT
GRAVITY, whilst it deals with only a miniscule section of space, clearly sends a message that 'environment' is something more than our planet Earth.


Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program
In January2013 I attended the Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program White Paper: Common Horizons delivery at the University of South Australia. The program is a five week intensive interdisciplinary program from the International Space University, hosted by the University of South Australia. My daughter attended the program...and did not want it to end because because it was so wonderful, stimulating and challenging. The White Paper focuses upon the management of space resources whilst providing recommendations on space sustainability through policy, awareness and technology. 

The White Paper discusses, among other issues, the topic of space debris, addressing it as a threat to space sustainability.

My daughter and I would highly recommend anyone with an interest in space and the various issues that are confronting us and will confront us as we move through the 21st century, to undertake the Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program. 

In 2013 about 40 people completed the course. Some were undergrads, some graduates, some PhD students, and some who were already working in the industry or associated. Most were from a science or engineering background, but there was one from a law/humanities area...my daughter. Yes, the program is definitely cross and inter disciplinary! Apart from the science and engineering aspects, the program deals with legal and policy issues, cultural impacts, environmental horizons, international collaboration and more.

_______________________________________________________________

OSCAR AWARDS UPDATE 3-3-14
Gravity has won 7 Oscars, including best Director. 
Knew it was a great movie!

 

Cheers,
Kathryn
www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

TOOL KIT

In the sand dunes outside Abu Dhabi 2005 

My solo exhibition was held at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation in December 2005

 

 

What do I mean by TOOL KIT? If you're a regular reader you will know I don't necessarily mean it as a literal tool kit, like the one a builder might have. My 'tool kit' still 'builds' though.

 

A SPEECH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

I was reminded of my thoughts about a metaphoric 'tool kit' when I listened to the recording of the speech I made, as guest speaker, at the University Of Queensland's 2008 graduation ceremony for the Faculties of Arts, and Social and Behavioural Sciences. I chose the topic of 'Perspective' and alluded to the idea that an academic education is one tool, an important one, in the 'tool kit' for life.

 

I very firmly 'wore' my 'artist's hat' for the speech, suggesting that many of the attributes artists employ to create their work are important for everyone. I used various aspects of perspective as a way of illustrating this. Towards the end of the speech I suggest that an education is like a brush stroke on a canvas...that as time goes by a picture of a life emerges. But, like an artist we can move back and forth from the 'canvas' of life to gain new perspectives...and the possibility of new directions.

 

You can listen to my speech at this link:

http://omc.uq.edu.au/audio/graduation08/KBrimblecombeFox_160708.mp3

 

I recently wrote a post about PUTTING ON A SHOW It's an insight into the plethora of things an artist needs to think about when 'putting on a show' ie: an exhibition. It explains some of the more practical 'tools' in my 'kit'!

 

 

SELECTED PAST PERSPECTIVE POSTS:

 

ART, PERSPECTIVE AND POLITICS

A NOT SO IMPOSSIBLE DREAM: A SHORT STORY ABOUT EARTH AND THE UNIVERSE

AN ALTERNATIVE TO PERSPECTIVE

PERSPECTIVE DISTANCE

 

 

 

That's Life Oil on linen 55 x 80 cm 2006

 

UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND SENATE ELECTIONS

 

So, while I am on the topic of the University of Queensland...I have been nominated for one of the three graduate positions on the University of Queensland Senate.

 

The election period is Tuesday 8 October - 9 am Monday 21 October.

 

Voting will be via an online ballot only.
 

Click HERE to view all nominations, plus access links to the ballot page. If you are a graduate of UQ you are eligible to vote for graduate representation. However, you will need your student number...I know...not something you keep in the forefront of your memory. But, all is not lost, you can ring or email the Elections Officer and she will retrieve your student number. [Ms Tina Ferguson, Elections Officer on  61 (07) 3365 3360 or at uqelections@uq.edu.au] If you email her please provide your name [graduating name], birth date and preferred email address.

 

Needless to say, I'd be delighted if you would vote for me please. I am keen to be part of the University's ongoing quest for rigour and excellence, especially in the fast paced life of the 21st century. I'd definitely employ the powers of 'perspective' I've gained over many years... and learn new ones too.

 

BRIEF UQ HISTORY

1980 B.A. [Double major Art History]

2001 Successfully completed a bridging course to enable entry, by invitation, into a PhD [Art History]. I decided not undertake the PhD because I wanted to concentrate on my visual art practice.

A full CV can be viewed HERE

 

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 



 

COSMIC ADDRESS: Earth Maybe Our Home, But The Universe Is Our Environment

 

Tuesday 15 - Sunday 27 October

 

Cosmic Address Oil on linen 90 x 180 cm 2013

 

My next solo exhibition is just around the corner.

 

The gallery's 'cosmic address' is:

Graydon Gallery,

29 Merthyr Rd,

New Farm,

Brisbane,

Queensland,

Australia,

Earth,

Milky Way,

The Universe/Multiverse/21st Century.

 

EXHIBITION DATES: Tuesday 15 - Sunday 27 October.

Open daily 10 am - 6 pm or by appointment

 

All the details, artist's statement, events and images can be viewed on my

COSMIC ADDRESS PAGE

 

All the paintings, prices etc can be viewed HERE

 

 

My last BLOG post COUNT DOWN was a playful ramble about the 'count down' to COSMIC ADDRESS...

-Playing with ideas stimulated by the recent discovery by physicists of the amplituhedron.

-Plus Prof Nick Bostrom's theories on post-humans manipulating us via computer simulations.

-Plus a short reflection on Jean Baudrillard.

All this 'play' posing questions about whether a count down and a cosmic address are possible or not!

 

 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com