HELEN PHILIPP
Artist in Residence at Shakespeare Grove Artist Studios, St Kilda.
MY WORK
helen philipp
‘Stitch by stitch, circle by circle, weaving is like the creation of life, all things are connected”. Auntie Ellen Trevorrow, 2003
Although predominantly using Ngarrindjeri weaving style taught to her by Elder and mentor Ellen Trevorrow, Helen has departed from the use of native grasses in favour of dyed Madagascan raffia, paper twine, wire and found plastics. Her works draw inspiration from the vibrant colours and circular forms of sea- creatures, using enlarged photographs of plankton as a reference for creating sculptural forms. Underpinning this is Helen’s exploration of the relationship between form, materiality, and colour in the discipline of her weaving.
SOLO EXHIBITION
"14 PIECES"
Carlisle Street Art Space
May 12-June 9 2021
For some years I had been weaving sculptural works based on the circular forms of sea creatures, particularly photographic enlargements of Plankton such as Jellyfish, Squid and Tintinnids. The challenge became, to respond through my work to the disturbing CSIRO findings about the damage waste plastic does to marine life.
I began to collect plastic on the St Kilda foreshore, where I walk my dog: straws, soya sauce containers and bottle tops, which were all in abundance, thrown away by those who visit the beach or washed into our bay through storm water.
The materiality of the plastics began to fascinate me as did the challenge of incorporating them into my woven forms. I tried to use their shapes and colours in ways that enhanced and furthered the aesthetic, whilst employing different ways to incorporate the plastics which would provoke thought about the way they permeate and damage marine
Entangled 2021
Entangled (a smack of Jellyfish)
Copper wire, Viennese paper twine, Madagascan raffia, varnish, fishing line.
Plastic refuse is polluting our seas and their eco system. All the plastic entangled in the Jellyfish tentacles was collected from St Kilda beach.
INSITU 'LEFTOVER- LOVE' AUSTRALIAN TAPESTRY WORKSHOP 2022
'Entangled' (Jellyfish) by Helen Philipp, Sculptural steel works by Carolyn Menzies,
PLASTIC FILLED CEPHALOPOD 2020
I find new ways of using the plastic; here the plastic filled squid symbolises the mass ingestion of plastic by marine life.
Cephalopods include squid, octopus, nautilus and cuttlefish. Cephalopods are famous for their eyes, which are large, and in some species, as complex as the human eye. This fact is celebrated visually by the addition of vintage buttons.
If you look closely, you will observe that these creatures have literally become engorged with plastic.
'ENGORGED'
2021
In this piece the plastic is woven into the top of the Jellyfish.
ANEMONE BOWL
2021
RAY BOWL 2021
ANEMONE BOWL 3 2021
NEW WORKS
2022
CV
May 13-19 2019
SOLO SHOW - ‘BENEATH THE SURFACE’,
YARRA SCULPTURE GALLERY.
February 2020
GROUP SHOW ‘DOING IT DIFFERENTLY’ GEELONG ART SPACE.
May 12-June 9, 2021
SOLO SHOW “14 PIECES” CARLISLE STREET ART SPACE, PORT PHILLIP COUNCIL, ST KILDA TOWN HALL.
December 17,2021- March 11, 2022
GROUP SHOW – ‘LEFT OVER LOVE’. AUSTRALIAN TAPESTRY WORKSHOP
Feb10- March10 2022
FINALIST YAVA ‘INTERIORS’ SMALL SCULPTURE EXHIBITION
Feb 27-April 2022
FINALIST YERING STATION SCULPTURE EXHIBITION AND AWARDS
August 19-September 18 2022
‘RE/ORDER’ -GROUP SHOW DIVISIONS GALLERY MELBOURNE.
September7-24 2022-
‘SEA THINGS’, SOLO EXHIBITION WEST END ART SPACE.
September 16 -October 21 2022-
FINALIST DEAKIN SMALL SCULPTURE PRIZE- DEAKIN UNIVERSITY GALLERY
March 24-June 18 2023
GROUP SHOW OF 8 ARTISTS TO OPEN TOWNSVILLE REGIONAL PINNACLES GALLERY
