VITORIA CATTONI AND WENDY HOWARD
SHOW DATES: 26 JULY – 12 AUG
OPENING RECEPTION: 29 JULY, 2-4 PM
Cattoni and Howard: The Convergence Project #2
This exhibition is the second in an ongoing exploration of the points of intersection, of convergence, in Victoria Cattoni and Wendy Howard’s respective practices. The first, “Points of Convergence”, was presented at Rosalie Gallery in 2022, Toowoomba Region Art Galleries.
Cattoni and Howard’s collaboration has emerged from a long friendship and art dialogue across various places, including Coimbra (Portugal), Castellina in Chianti (Italy) Sydney, Melbourne, Warrnambool and Toowoomba. At first glance, what is apparent is the two artists’ diversely different approaches to form and medium. Yet it is their shared concern with the primacy of colour, and the use of plane, surface and gesture as a language within a non-referential and non-representational form that is the common creative ground within which the works sit.
A third creative process begins when the two bodies of work meet in the gallery. The artists then respond to dialogues between the works and activate the means by which the viewer receives the interaction. The result is a single body of work.
Wendy Howard studied sculpture at SCA in Sydney and, as a recipient of the NSW Travelling Arts Scholarship, completed her MA in sculpture at Chelsea College of Art London. She has exhibited mainly in Sydney and also in London after a residency in Canterbury. Her primary interest is in using patternmaking techniques with sheet materials to create non-representational forms. Regular travels in Japan have strongly influenced her work. Previously working in steel, bronze and copper, over the last 5 years she has been working in silk and linen covered board, which has introduced the concern with colour. This has been sparked by the collaboration with Cattoni.
Victoria Cattoni’s practice includes painting, video art, performance and installation. Prior to returning to Australia in 2017, Cattoni had lived in South East Asia for 18 years, where she had exhibited widely, holding a number of solo shows and participating in several major art events including the 2009 Jakarta Biennale, 2005 Bali Biennale and 2003 Jakarta Video Art Festival. She has collaborated with contemporary artists and local arts communities in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and was the recipient of a number of arts grants supporting her creative work during this period, much of which explored ideas around ‘feminine’ identity. This included being awarded a scholarship to conduct research in Indonesia for her MVA from Charles Darwin University. After working in other media for many years, Cattoni returned to canvas painting, marking this with her exhibition in 2015 with ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore. Her approach to painting is an organic one. There is no plan. She sets up the conditions for a process that will allow her to remain acutely receptive to that which presents itself in terms of colour, mark-making, space and form. The result of the creative conversation with Howard has resulted in an expansion of Cattoni’s palette.