Dr Olwen Beazley opens Ursula Frederick’s show Easy Listening at Megalo.

and here’s what they look like up close…

And here’s where they come from:

This body of work is the result of an opportunity I had to visit the Benaki Museum in Athens during October 2009 while on fieldwork to see a significant textile and object art collection from Asia Minor dating back to the Byzantine era. Textile exhibits were accompanied by intricate filigree work of gold and silver objects such as arm cuffs, buttons, headdresses and bodices know as “Trifouri”.  Traditional costumes and filigree objects were made by hand in small segments and then combined to create a completed object. A key consideration in the development of this work has been how to translate traditional techniques of embroidery, inlay and filigree through the mediums of paint, paper, embossing and press-studs.

Elefteria Vlavianos

Nicola Dickson

Detail from Nouvelle femme, 2009,
Acrylic and oil on board, 200 x 120 cm

Suzanne Moss

#16 (n+1 measures of tenderness), 2008
Pencil and acrylic on canvas, 150 x 150 cm
Photography: Rob Little

And here’s what Dr. Kylie Message, Associate Dean, Research Training, College of Arts and Social Sciences had to say at the opening:

Talk by Kylie Message for 2010 PostGrad Exhibition Opening of Nicola Dickson’s and Suzanne Moss’s PhD exhibitions:

I was really pleased to be asked to talk about how these exhibitions and the School of Art’s PhD programs fit into the broader College and University research context.

The College of Arts and Social Sciences is very large: it is the biggest College in the University, I believe. The research that we do here – as academics, as well as higher degree, postgraduate, and undergraduate students – is affiliated with a diverse range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary areas associated with the humanities, creative and performing arts, as well as the social sciences. This diversity means that research in the College ranges from fundamental to strategic and applied, from theory to practice, and that it often aims to create a strong interface between our scholarly peers, the University community, and the general public.

Our research programs include scholarship and creative activity, so that while many students are enrolled in purely theoretical or text-based programs of study, others are undertaking practice-based programs (for example, in the School of Art and School of Music). Other students may, alternately undertake part-project based PhDs, or ones that are closely aligned with the aims of their workplace (as is sometimes the case with students who also work at cultural or collecting institutions based in Canberra or around the country). The diversity of our programs means that what is considered as constituting ‘evidence’, ‘research’, and a significant innovation or contribution to the field of study differs greatly different across the College. The uniqueness of our contribution means that the College has a very important – and valuable – profile in the University.

As is evident in Nicola and Suzanne’s PhDs – which have, in addition to this exhibition, included an exegesis, a theoretical dissertation, and an oral examination – demonstrating how our PhD programs are rigorous and internationally esteemed. In every case, the College strives to attract and support students who will produce internationally outstanding research and generate work which has a significant impact on political, cultural and social debate in Australian society and beyond. I think that Nicola and Suzanne’s work exemplifies the breadth and depth of what we are trying to do across the College. Their work demonstrates creative practice and innovative thinking as a real strength.

In addition to this, their work is also really stunning, so I want to finish by congratulating the artists on their fabulous achievement. Well done.