In Spain, the spectacle of the bullfight is known colloquially as la fiesta brava. It doesn’t take a highly skilled linguist to figure out that translates to something like the brave festival.  It’s a far better description of what happens in the arena than simply bullfighting. To focus solely on the fighting disregards the respectful relationship between matador and beast during battle, the recognition of the courage required on both sides to enter the ring, rather than one species’ domination over the other. It’s a term that has been playing over in my mind since the opening of Linde Ivimey’s new show Brave … Continue reading Linde Ivimey’s La Fiesta Brava

Sometimes you get a look at the inner workings of a person’s brain and what you glimpse in there is so unlike the mind of any other you’ve ever seen, that it makes you never want to view the world the usual way again. So it is with my friend, Linde Ivimey. Linde’s brain is extraordinary. If you’ve seen her sculpture you already know she has an ability to cut through the inner noise of life, comprehend labyrinthine notions of spirituality and somehow elucidate even the most hideous of human behaviours – and turn all that into sublime works of art. What you wouldn’t necessarily pick up on is that she is riotously … Continue reading Linde Ivimey, Bone Healer

There is a word in Greek, parea, meaning a group of friends who gather together purely for the enjoyment of each other’s company, to share their stories, their ideas and their philosophies, and to celebrate the essence of being together. It’s one of my favourite words. I think of it every time I sit at a table full of people I love, surrounded by lots of food and wine and laughter…and occasionally tears too, after the ‘lots of wine’ part causes sentimentality among old friends. So many times I’ve stood as the quiet descended on a room only recently emptied of people, … Continue reading The Divine Work of Amelia Fais Harnas

It’s hard to believe you can capture a person’s vulnerability when they’re hidden behind a  horsehead mask, but that is exactly what Melbourne-based photographer Kate Hanley has managed to achieve in her stunning series What Are You Looking At? Realising early on in her career that masks could be an invaluable tool for helping nervous models loosen up in front of the lens, Hanley set about amassing an assortment of disguises that could let her subjects reinvent themselves when the camera was upon them. There’s something very freeing about hiding behind a mask. Even the shyest soul finds themself in possession of a whole new personality when their identity … Continue reading Kate Hanley: What Are You Looking At?

The closest thing to a religious experience for me is to visit an artist’s studio. Like darkened old cathedrals, I find them intimidating places full of the thoughts and processes, the daydreams and demons that inform each artist’s work. They are sacred sites, somewhere I feel honoured to be admitted to. I understand the inherently private nature of a work space – me walking in to an artist’s studio is akin to someone else reading my writing journals. I hate the thought of anyone reading my work before I’m ready to show it, but oh how I love glimpsing new studio … Continue reading A Studio on Bowery