by Renee Wood
The Covid pandemic has been a difficult time for many, but there has been some small glimmers of hope and comfort that were born from the despair of ‘life at home’.
Slowing down, enjoying lounge attire, stepping into the garden for fresh air and escaping the rat race all brought some sense of comfort during such a difficult time.
At the beginning of the Pandemic, Yarra Valley Arts brought artists together for a virtual cup of tea and from this, 12 artists began regularly meeting to form a group dubbed S.C.O.N.E.S. (Social Creative Outlet Not Only Eating Scones).
“Very soon on we got this sense of joy and friendliness that comes having moved from the isolation of our studios to working together, so that was a very lovely part of the process,” show coordinator Mary Newham said.
During the meetings, the creatives shared skills and techniques while creating works of art depicting treasured items that were brought in for still lifes.
Ms Newham said the items had a sense of nurturing and comfort, which were beautiful to focus on in a difficult time.
“We had this notion that we’re really grounding, centering and calming ourselves by working on these beautiful things within inside our homes and out in the gardens.”
From this grew the desire to showcase the works in a gallery setting, and Ms Newham approached YAVA with the idea for the new exhibit ‘Inside Out’.
Now open, ‘Inside Out’ tales the view through settings, flowing through a garden, then into the kitchen and the lounge area is beyond.
Curators Mary Newham, Amanda Ruck and Ian George placed the items throughout the space, matching the works with their desired locations.
The kitchen area puts a rumble in your belly, with beautiful preserves painted in perfect still life form.
Cups of tea also formed out of texture through delicate circular embroidery by Ms Ruck.
“Some of the mediums that are used here tonight are often overlooked to my complete annoyance, and I adore the fact that we’ve celebrated every single thing that we can possibly do throughout this,”
Bev Hardidge’s pottery is also displayed on a dining table, as through you were walking into a friends for a pot of tea.
“I only started pottery last year, so it’s pretty new to me, although my mum was a potter for a long time,” Ms Hardidge said.
The clusters of work on the wall replicate how pictures are hung at home, refuting familiar gallery lines of structured singlularly displayed art works – bringing a sense of calm and familiarity from the home into the exhibition.
“We had this idea of a salon type hanging so rather than a more formal, stereotype gallery setting, the idea of clusters of which is more like probably most of us have got on the walls at home,” Ms Newham said.
The comfiest of all the fire place surrounded by works, all symbolic of cosiness and relaxation and time slipping away with violins and vases of flowers.
Take a peek inside the ‘Cupboards of Curiosities’ by Mim Kocher if you want to spy on the miniature lives of lockdown locals.
“I was reading a fantastic book during lockdowns and I learned about cabinets of curiosity and it started around the 16th century and I just got really interested during research and I had a little cabinet so I thought if I could come up with a little surprise in each drawer that perhaps some of you could have a look inside and hopefully get a get a surprise,” Ms Kocher said.
All different mediums can be seen from Ian George’s woodwork to felt and fibre art from Kate Taylor.
The true embrace of the ‘good’ found in lockdowns is also refreshing for the artists and gallery visitors.
“This is the only show that I’ve seen that looks on lockdowns and COVID in a totally different way then what I’ve seen,” Mr George said.
“This is a really different view of Covid and the way in which it has been approached, rather than hanging onto the angst and the dark of it, we’ve looked at the positives that have come with it.”
Inside out is now open until Christmas Eve, with many items also available for those looking for Christmas gifts.
