Rachel Hines most recent work was inspired by nature, more specifically native fungus. Images of vividly coloured wild mushrooms partnered with girls in sweet dresses surface in her beautiful
tapestries.
The colours and forms made by fungus are beautifully graphic, and at times, blatantly rude in shape. Using this as a cue, I use the mushroom shape to represent the male presence in my pictures.
The technique of tapestry is the result of a woven process rather than stitching onto material. It is the creation of an image using the structure of the warp, and building a colourful image with the weft.
This new work is an extension of my interest in the action of looking and observing. The miniature size of the tapestries requires the viewer to engage quite closely with the work in order to discover the nature of the medium, this intimacy is something that Rachel encourages.
I am curious about the way things get classified. Fungi is interesting because it is neither plant nor animal. It will often have its own chapter within biology books.This uniqueness relates well to the position of tapestry weaving within mainstream contemporary art practice.
Rachel Hine completed her masters of Fine Art at Monash University in 2003. |
