the upholstery “off the couch” series
gave us
 “Recovery”

with  ART BY

Deanna Maich
Caroline Mudge
Gabrielle Cooney
&
Romy Seigmann

Friday Night May 26th saw the return of the Upholstery arts group with the first one night underground show in a new series called, Off the Couch.
Friday featured a handful of cairns based artists showcasing their interpretations, of the idea of recovery.  For me and many punters, it was yet another incident of fun and general postponement on the road to recovery.

Still there is always tomorrow and Betty ford!!!

WOW
On entering the SES building surrounded in tarpaulins and sandbags resembling a bunka, I felt mild pangs of apprehension, similar to the feelings Ive had when visiting other sites surrounded by sandbags, or getting on a roller coaster ride (it’s the tummy thang!).
What a surprise after I managed to take a breath and remind myself there was little chance of being shot or hung upside down above people’s heads, I headed to the Greenant bar for a beer.
On entering the exhibition I was taken in by the atmospherically created space and the obvious labours of love that adorned the makeshift recovery zone.
Cyclone Larry was the inspiration behind much of the art at recovery. found objects from the path of the cyclone went into making many of the pieces.
Deanna Maichs art was created around her experience as a volunteer in the Innisfail and surrounding area after the cyclone. Interactive art made from rainforest vines hung supported by old recovered table tops found in the wake of cyclone Larry,  these hung from the ceiling along with whittled walking sticks given to her by a recovering cyclone Larry victim. Walking through these pieces you could feel texture and movement. These sticks had been made from found drift wood near the victim’s home in Innisfail and given to Deanna to create an instillation piece.
Deanna Maich showed not one but three cyclones back to back (Larry, Ingrid and wet Monica) completed in acrylic. Devastation to roofing throughout the area created mythical metal creatures, Deanna showed this in her painting along side the three cyclones painted as faces, with mouths gaping open giving audio, to the furious actions of the cyclonic wind. Other characters from Deanna’s volunteer experience are shown throughout the large canvas.

Data recovery by Gabrielle Cooney grew out of the panic of data recovery in her daily work as a web designer. Crafted from mother boards and other computer components layered and joined. On closer inspection you could see an urban city scape spreading throughout the piece.

Bleeding hearts!, a luscious sensual piece by Gabrielle showed recovery from infidelity and lost love, this was established through three theatrical red satin curtains with a heart shaped glass mirror placed into the satin, three curtains side by side inferring that it often takes three to cause the pain of heartbreak, the mirror in the middle trickled blood depicting the wound often inflicted to one fragile heart.

Caroline Mudge used found objects from the areas affected by cyclone Larry. Banana boxes, shower curtains, discarded metal sheets and a letter R from a blown apart hungry jacks sign.
Stencilling her graphic characters and figurative paintings onto them she created and built stories from experiences told to her by survivors of Larry. One character straight out of Audrey Hepburn’s “My Fair Lady” stands with her finger in the air applied to a cardboard banana box, depicting outrage at banana prices. H on a metal fire hydrant sign stood for all the heroes, the Army, SES, Red Cross and local heroes. These characters have been placed onto found objects like tiles and shower curtains all donated or found in the Innisfail area. Along with these stood Caroline’s recovery staples, like matchboxes and baked bean cans, again with her signature characters stencilled upon them. One story Caroline told was about a lady whom lost everything including her teddy bears. “If that art sells I will give her the money to rebuild her teddy collection”.

Romy Siegmanns photos showed the remarkable ability nature has to recover from devastation. Her sensitive work shows her experience of working in Innisfail. Romy was amazed at the new shoots and growth occurring only weeks after the fields of bananas and natural forests were devastated by Larry. Her photos show this new life in soft and gentle pictorial format. Romy said nature and the human spirit are similar, in the fact that we do eventually recover. Some photos appeared abstract, close proximity shots of new banana leaves unfolding gave a sense of the female form, curves and soft lines, opening and receptive. With support and with the aid of rain and now sunshine the banana plants are recovering and so to are the people of north Queensland.

I think recovery was a complete success, lots of people, great art, fantastic music by dj Fred, images by Synthetic Dimensions, refreshments by Greenant Cantina, money raised for the on going recovery for cyclone affected areas, and yet another stylish and original show by the upholstery arts collective and friends.

By Moni Dangerous.