Scorch series - studio preview & works in progress

These are my new sculptures, titled Scorch series, for my upcoming solo exhibition opening at galleryeight on Friday night. I've had cast magnolia twigs in bronze using a one-off direct casting method (so they are unique pieces not editions) then bound them with twine and suspended pieces of charcoal.

Kath Fries, Scorch i, 2012, bronze and twine, detail view, 60x30x8cm

Kath Fries, Scorch series, 2012, bronze, twine and charcoal, dimensions variable
Scorch explores the idea of trace, in that each artwork is a remnant of the creative process but the actual moment of action has past. These bronze twigs are balanced precariously, simultaneously fragile and resilient. Like a pause in time between the fiery furnace that formed them and a future moment of unravelling, succumbing to gravity.

Kath Fries, Scorch ii, 2012, bronze and twine, 24x28x5cm
Kath Fries, Scorch series, 2012, bronze, twine and charcoal

The transience of existence and fragility of life are recurring themes throughout my practice. I use natural materials like twigs and charcoal to form a poetic commentary on our human relationships with nature and our personal struggles to accept that which is natural. In Scorch my use of cast bronze branches is a reflection on our human efforts to render permanent that which is impermanent.

Kath Fries, Scorch iii, 2012, bronze, twine and charcoal

Scorch exhibition - part of Art Month Sydney


My solo exhibition Scorch at galleryeight is part of Art Month Sydney

Scorch - solo exhibition @ galleryeight

Kath Fries, Scorch exhibition invitation front
Kath Fries
SCORCH
3 - 22 March 2012

Opening night drinks with the artist - Friday 2 March 6pm

Art Month Sydney Event - Sunday 11 March 3pm
Kath Fries in conversation with Megan Robson (Museum of Contemporary Art) and Peter Cramer (galleryeight), followed by complimentary craft beer tasting courtesy of the Lord Nelson Hotel.

galleryeight 
12 Argyle Place, Millers Point, Sydney NSW 2000

Open Tuesday to Sunday 12-6pm www.galleryeight.com.au

Scorch is an exhibition of sculptural installations reflecting on our human efforts to render permanent that which is impermanent. 

Kath Fries explores materiality, spatiality and archetypical narratives by marking a personal, immediate engagement with time, place and physicality. Her work links one’s present experience to boarder considerations of humanity, history and future continuation. The transience of existence and fragility of life are recurring themes throughout her practice.

For this exhibition Fries has cast magnolia branches in bronze and bound them with twine and charcoal to create intriguing assemblages of texture and form. These sculptural pieces suggest emotive narratives of our fallible human endeavours to hold together and immobilise moments of growth, decay and memory.

Kath Fries, Hold dear, 2011, bronze, nylon and charcoal.
Photograph courtesy of Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney


The largest installation in this exhibition is titled Hold dear, implying a reflection on the human grieving process and the challenge of letting go. Fries has created a bronze magnolia branch that protrudes out of the gallery wall. Black nylon netting is wrapped around the branch, stretching across the space to seemingly drag a mound of burnt wood along the floor. The strength of the branch, tension in the netting and dead weight of the charcoal infers a poetic commentary about our human struggles to resist natural cycles of aging and occurrence of death.

Kath Fries graduated from the University of Sydney with a Master of Visual Arts. She won the 2010 Japan Foundation New Artist Award and is a recipient of a 2011 ArtStart Grant from the Australia Council. 

Kath Fries, Scorch exhibition invitation, back

Kath Fries would like to thank Peter Cramer from galleryeight, Megan Robson from the MCA, NAVA and the NSW Artists Grant initiative, The Lord Nelson Hotel, Art Month Sydney, The Australia Council and the ArtStart Grant program, Crawford's Casting South Strathfield, Parramatta Artist Studios and Sydney College of the Arts for their assistance with with this project.

Kath Fries, Hold dear, 2011, bronze, nylon and charcoal.
Photograph courtesy of Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney

Online artwork portfolio - coming soon

My new artwork portfolio website www.kathfries.com will be launched at the opening of my solo exhibition, Scorch, 2nd March 2012, at galleryeight, 12 Argle Place, Millers Point, NSW 2000.
The design and development of my online artwork portfolio is a core component of my ArtStart Grant project, funded by the Australia Council for the Arts more info
... and I intend to continue with this blog too!