Dyana Gray "Chemistry" 1st April - 28th April

Chemistry was at play indeed on the night of the 1st. With a perfectly orchestrated sunset as a backdrop, Dyana's show opened to a large turnout of adoring fans. Dyana's work is filled with dry humour, a genuine love of the human figure and an instinct with colour that betrays the simplicity of her ink and watercolour images. We have greatly enjoyed having Dyana at the rooftop, the space is flourishing.

Chemistry

These watercolour and ink paintings are simply constructed, yet have a complex intimacy. I like to paint instinctively with no preliminary sketches. The immediacy of painting is what makes it unique as an art form. This series of drawings focuses on minimal process; raw mark making on unprimed paper. I source imagery online, or in magazines, and I often paint from life. I like painting images that excite me or make me laugh. I enjoy painting the male and female figure and I love painting about eroticism, desire and sexuality. The title of this series, Chemistry, reflects that.

Chemistry is a series of impulsive experiments with dynamic conclusions.

Biography

Dyana Gray is a New Zealand artist living in Melbourne, Australia. Primarily a painter, she also works in, cartooning/illustrating, music, and animation. Dyana obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts  in 2005 from Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. Since graduating Dyana has exhibited work in Melbourne and New Zealand, in solo shows and group exhibitions.

See more of Dyana Gray's work at http://dyanagray.wordpress.com

Anna Parry "LOOK AT ME!" 11th October - 7th November

After a small schedule change due to bad weather, we opened Anna Parry's show 

"LOOK AT ME!" on Monday the 15th of October. There was a large turnout at Rooftop Bar with the weather providing the perfect atmosphere to admire the fine artwork. 

Anna's intricately detailed paper-cuts of body-builders laid over varied marine organisms bring great beauty, innovation and humour to our little boxes. For this show Anna coloured large sheets of rigid paper with fluorescent paint, then, using a scalpel painstakingly formed her images all the while keeping the resulting line thickness equal throughout the piece. We are so thrilled to show Anna's work and can't wait to do it again!

"LOOK AT ME!"

Without always planning it, my work tends to revolve around what it is to be human and the relationship between nature and what we think of as culture. This body of work explores similarities between muscle men and marine organisms in regards to how form relates to function; basically it is a study of the urge to reproduce and the glorious excess that that can inspire.

I find that strange and funny things often have a sneakily beautiful quality to them: aesthetically I find inspiration in outsider art, african sign culture, visual instructions, indigenous sculpture and mexican papel picado. My own papercuts are based on small observational line drawings in ink or fineliner that I enlarge using cheap lo-fi materials like overhead projectors and kids paint.

Biography

Born in Sweden, Anna now lives and works in Melbourne.

Anna's papercuts have been exhibited in various galleries around Melbourne and used in collaborations for shadow puppetry and set design for Lior, Sydney Theatre Company, The Spiegeltent and the Sydney Opera House; her work has also featured in numerous short films, video clips and advertisements. 

View more of Anna's work at humblesuperlegend.wordpress.com