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Join Umbrella from 10am on Saturday 4 May to hear from exhibiting artists Melania Jack and Patty Preece (The Ironing Maidens) and Sarah Treadwell. The Ironing Maidens will reflect on their exhibition Pressing Topics, while Sarah will discuss her work in An Unnatural History. The artists will speak about their inspirations, concepts and processes while walking viewers through their exhibition spaces.
This is a free event, no bookings are required but a capacity limit may apply.
The Ironing Maidens are also facilitating a Performance 7pm Friday 3 May (following the 6pm exhibitions launch) and a Projection Mapping Workshop from 12.30pm Saturday 4 May. See www.umbrella.org.au for more details.
Both exhibitions are on display from 3 May - 16 June 2024.
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Melania Jack is a queer, regional, multimedia artist working within music, digital art, projection art, projection mapping and performance platforms. Melania’s work with award winning act The Ironing Maidens involves irons and ironing boards turned into electronic instruments and installation pieces. It has toured large festivals such as Woodford Folk Festival, international festivals such as Fusion Germany, Berlin Festival of Performance Art and regional laundromats as site specific performance spaces. They won a John Chataway Innovation Award at Adelaide Fringe Festival in 2019 and 2020. In 2023 they won the Pamela Z Innovation award and Best Installation at New interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) in Mexico City. Conceptually, Melania’s projects employ a glitch feminism lens to explore themes of gender socialisation, equality and labour. Imagery drawn from popular culture and social media is sampled and collaged to explore these themes. Projection is used to create windows into the items (tea towels, irons, ironing boards) so that the unseen labour is revealed.
Patty Preece is a musician, electronic music producer, certified Ableton Live trainer and sound artist who works with hacked domestic objects to critically explore aesthetic and relational hierarchies at the intersection of sound, gender and technology. Preece’s practice spans performance, instrument design, production and, most recently, installation. This Cairns based artist creates performance ecosystems using discarded domestic steam irons, ironing boards, DIY sensors and electronics. Their live performances engage with augmented domestic objects, noise and the relationship of performer, instrument, and context. Preece’s creative practice research explores themes of labour, instrument design, sonic cyberfeminisms and sound art.
Sarah Treadwell was originally from the UK, but moved to Australia in her early twenties and now lives on Magnetic Island. She has a background in science, having taught senior biology at high school and TAFE for a number of years. Treadwell is primarily a self-taught artist, although she is currently studying the Diploma of Visual Arts at North Queensland TAFE. She creates work using discarded objects with respect for the earth’s resources and to minimise waste. This approach enables Treadwell to create with purpose, beyond the aesthetic, whilst also imbuing wonder and joy into the work.
Image: Melania Jack and Patty Preece. Photographs: Cristina Bevilacqua.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
408 Flinders Street, Townsville, QLD, Australia, Queensland 4810
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