Material Language features the work of three artists whose research-based practices have a strong focus on material experimentation. In this exhibition their common interest in place, memory and material transformation coalesce to produce work that speaks to each artist’s individual approach to subject and process. In several of these works personal memories or relationships to place are evoked through the materials used, while in others physical changes such as fading over time or layered traces exhibit a sense of vulnerability and impermanence.
The iterative nature of Penny Coss’s installation is derived from archived and remnant textiles and other materials from her studio - interpretative works made in response to her encounters from her daily walks that, over time, begin a conversation.
Sue Pedley’s Rope Work drawings and sculpture encompass material experiments with carpentry and textiles - wooden objects from local streets and waterways and ropes sourced from travels in India and regional Australia.
A physical engagement with earthly elements is pivotal in Sylvia Griffin’s pigment paintings and fabric works. While these works carry the physical traces of specific locations they also manifest the artist’s interest in the properties of the materials she uses.