Tweed Regional Gallery exhibition explores local stories

12 March 2019

Exhibition of exquisite drawings opens at Tweed Regional Gallery

During 2018 Maria Kontis spent four weeks working from the Gallery’s Nancy Fairfax Artist in Residence Studio exploring stories of the region as inspiration for her latest exhibition of drawings.

‘During my residency at the Nancy Fairfax Studio I immersed myself in the history, society and culture of Murwillumbah and its surrounding communities,” Kontis said.

Her research took her into private homes, exploring family photo albums, as well as into public spaces, including the re-creation of Margaret Olley’s home studio at the Gallery.

Gallery Director, Susi Muddiman OAM said the ‘title of the exhibition was intriguing – ‘Oh life is mad and frenetic…but do look after yourself’.

‘It comes from a letter Maria found in the Margaret Olley home studio re-creation. Margaret’s home studio is densely packed with objects as well as personal ephemera like postcards, photographs and letters and it’s this less conspicuous content that captured Maria’s attention,” Ms Muddiman said.

The letter, from a friend to Olley, is dated circa 1979 is a wonderful example of how items such as this can be story holders of personal narratives. Kontis drew the letter, using pastel on velvet paper, positioned as though gently resting on a surface - so gently in fact that it seems as if it might float away. Despite the extraordinary detail Kontis captures in her drawings, we can’t read the letter, and so begins the emergence of the real and imagined narratives Kontis cleverly portrays in her practice. Each work is painstakingly detailed and observed, and yet mysterious and intangible.

Kontis also spent time looking through photographs in the Tweed Regional Museum Collection. On Tumbulgum Road 2018 is a drawing of a photograph gifted to the Museum’s Collection by a local family.

“Kontis changes the composition of the photograph by removing elements of the background. This is where we see the artist at work and the viewer is given the opportunity to allow an ambiguous narrative to unfold,” Ms Muddiman said.

The exhibition ‘Oh life is mad and frenetic…but do look after yourself’ continues at the Tweed Regional Gallery until 14 July 2019.

Activities and events

The Artist at Work, Sunday 19 May 2019

11am – 1pm, Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre. Drop-in to see artist Maria Kontis drawing in the Gallery. Maria will have a small display of her materials and will be available to talk about her working methods.

Art in the Pub: In conversation with Maria Kontis, Monday 20 May 2019

Free. No bookings required. 6pm for 6.30pm, The Courthouse Hotel, Burringbar Street, Mullumbimby.

Join Maria Kontis for an illustrated Artist Talk about her practice and new drawing project inspired by her encounters in the Tweed region during her Artist-in-Residence experience. A collaborative event between the Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre, Contemporary Art Space and Education Inc. and Byron School of Art.

For further information visit artgallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au or call (02) 6670 2790.