2017
Museums and Galleries
Casula Arts Centre, Sydney, Australia
My work Last Seen, was curated by Lizzy Marshall for the First Turbine Hall Commission at Casula Powerhouse, Casula, Sydney, Australia.
The turbine hall at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre in Sydney, Australia is the first space entered by the visitor. It is large, at first glance it is apparently empty, a space approximately 13.8 metres high by 12.7 metres wide and 26.5 metres deep. The ground floor of the hall is the site of multiple points of transition and multiple points of decision making, some of which relate directly to the architecture and some to the usual patterns or paths of passage in this architectural space resulting in an invisible crisscrossing pattern of use.
Overlaid onto this patterning is the work Blood on Silk: Last Seen. The over arching theoretical concern of the project Blood on Silk is medicalised death in ICU. That is death that is constructed as a medical problem. The points of transition in the process of medicalised death start at the same place - coming through the entry doors either through emergency or as with Casula and many hospitals, the main front door. Layers of points of transition are then built up through the systems, design and architecture of the hospital - the controls of the visitor entry into ICU, the swing doors into the operating theatres and walking the empty shadowy corridors at night.
In this installation, large sheets of silk paper hang from the ceiling forming five rooms or partially curtained bed spaces. The ceiling is not lit so the upper reaches of the silk lie in darkness. On to these curtains of silk at just above head height, fragments of images of individuals passing through points of transition in a hospital are projected. The figures, seen from the back, are partially recognisable and partially anonymous. In the mezzanine gallery the hard lighting of fluorescent tubing starkly refers to the liminal space of the smoking area just outside the hospital buildings. All hospitals in NSW are smoke free work places including all outside areas.
In a recent talk at the Power Institute by the art critic Sebastian Smee, he talked about the book ‘In Praise of Shadows’ by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki. This book has been described as a haphazard exposition of the aesthetics of beauty and where in the dark of the shadow only then is it possible to experience a certain type of seeing. ‘The darkness seemed to fall from the ceiling, lofty, intense, monolithic, the fragile light .. unable to pierce its thickness .. . . the visible darkness. [1] The light of the floor and the darkness of the high ceiling illuminated only by the intermittent light of the projections offset by the liminal space in the mezzanine gallery speak to the clarity of the way of seeing in the shadow, this way of seeing in the liminal space of the carer in hospital .
1. Jun’ichirō Tanizaki [1] In Praise Of Shadows, Leete’s Island Books, 1977. P 34-35
MAPBM in partnership with the National Trust of Australia, Woodford Academy, Woodford, Australia
Painting the Throat, 2017, zinc,found objects, rice and other papers, iodine and ink, dimensions variable was installed in the group exhibition Explorers Narratives of Site in Contemporary Art Practices curated by Beata Geyer and Mahalya Middlemist in the National Trust of Australia property Woodford Academy, Woodford, NSW, Australia..
In the exhibition catalogue Jacqueline Millner, Associate Professor of Visual Arts at La Trobe University writes;
‘Fiona Davies reimagines and revitalises lost histories too, in this case bringing her sensitivity around the medicalisation of vulnerable people to the boy boarders once resident here. Davies has rendered the basins in the boys’ washroom into pathology slides: as we peer down, we catch a glimpse of disease and possible institutional responses to it, gaining a visceral sense of how these young bodies were once patrolled and controlled.’
Other artists selected for the exhibition were Sarah Breen Lovett, Vicky Browne, Vivienne Dadour, Dark Room ( Sean O’Keeffe and Carolyn Eccles) Daniel Kojta, Beata Geyer, Anne Graham, Melissa Grahovac, Mahalya Middlemist, Ian Milliss, Michael Petchkovsky and Emma Rooney, Jacqueline Spedding and Miriam Williamson.
Science Gallery, University of Melbourne, Melbourne Australia
The installation work Blood on Silk: Buy/Sell 2017 was selected for the first exhibition to open Melbourne’s new Science Gallery, Blood Attract and Repel.
This work focuses on the materiality of blood. It considers the daily ritual within ICU of sampling blood for external testing. If the results are unsatisfactory, adjustments are made to the medication or treatment, a little bit of time is allowed to pass and then the blood is resampled for retesting. This process continues. Such a focus on testing also applies to the supply of blood and blood products for transfusion.
Blood: Attract and Repel was the inaugural popup exhibition of the Melbourne Science Gallery. It was installed in the Frank Tate Building in the University of Melbourne Parkville campus. originally built in 1939-1940 the building had many art deco elements both in the design of its exterior and interiors.
The exhibition included historical medical artefacts from the Medical History Museum and the Harry Brookes Allen Museum of Anatomy and Patholgy at the University of Melbourne with contemporary artworks by Ollie Cotsaftis and Sarah McArthur (Aus) Basse Stittgen ( NL/DE), Hotham Street Ladies ( Aus/UK/DE), Bea Haines(UK) John O’Shea (IE) Daniel Elborne (Aus) Tobias Klein, Victor Leung and Jane Prophet (CN/USA/UK) Penny Byrne (Aus) Jipil Jung (KR) Izabela Zolcinska (PL/NO) John McGhee (Aus) Jordan Eagles (USA) Bai Yiluo (CN) Cecilia Jonsson (SE/NO) Art Oriente Objet ( Marion Laval-Jeantet & Benoit Mangin) (FR) Nick Thieberger and Rachel Nordlinger (Aus) Judy Watson (Aus) Raphael Lozano-Hemmer (MX/CA)
National Trust of Australia, Old Government House, Parramatta, Australia
Two works by Fiona Davies, Blood on Silk: Buy/Sell, 2017, and Blood on Silk Import/Export 2017, were selected for the exhibition, Governance by the curator Lizzy Marshall.
In the final sentences of her catalog essay, Marshall reflected on governance that ‘But neither is governance just. Perhaps it is best understood as a strategy for implementing order’ Marshall earlier in the essay had commented that ‘Fiona Davies installations formulate a diptych within the mirrored offices of The Butler’s Pantry and the Governor’s Office. Divided by a stairwell, the traffic flow further unites the flow of power between them. Davies site-responsive installations are a continuation of her seminal Blood on Silk project. Much like Syed’s investigations into the pervasive nature of currency, Davies centres her work on the commerce of blood products and their regulated distribution – a far cry from the Colonial commerce that would have occurred within both offices, but a commerce that would have harnessed much currency were it around in Colonial times.’
The other artists in the exhibition are Marion Abboud, Liam Benson, Linda Brescia, Kath Fries, Nadia Odlum, Naomi Oliver, Abdullah M.I. Syed, Salote Tawale and Hannah Toohey
Sydney College of the Arts Gallery, Sydney Australia
This work Blood on Silk: Last Seen at SCA, was selected for a group exhibition, ephemera at the Sydney College of the Arts Gallery, University of Sydney by the curators Clara Cheong, Pamela Hale, Jeanie Ho, Sharon Hong, Elsa Kwok and Alana Leslie.
The curatorial theme is outlined in the catalogue essay as follows; ‘ Ephemera presents a distinct thematic experience that is inherently sensory, presenting a consideration of the ways in which art can either directly engage with a multitude of sensory engagemetns, or disrupt the potential to do so. Through engagement with the senses, particularly touch and sound, ephemera provokes sensory experiences. This intentionally goes beoynd the expected visually focused works to be found within the context of an art exhibition. While several works take a directed approach to sensation, others take a less literal approach, engaging viewers through more meditative and almost subliminal interactions.
The works and artists that are brought together within ephemera gently provoke musings on the way in which we personally, internally and sensationally experience the world that surrounds us. All of ephemera’s incorporated works are incredibly affective, however they communicate this with subtlety. They do not present an overt depiction of the sentiments they intent to covey, but rather influence the viewer on an emotive or sensational level in a way that may not be instantly perceptible, becoming impactful through a more sustained engagement with the works in situ.’
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The other artists in the exhibition were Clache Raong, Ema George, Jeanie Ho and Harry Seeley.
Stack Gallery, Potts Point, Sydney Australia
In Overlook a two person exhibition with Anita Bacic at Stacks Gallery in Potts Point, Sydney, Australia, two works were shown - Blood on Silk: Blood Fountain and Blood on Silk: Bleeding Out
Both works focus on blood and blood products in transit, or in motion. The movements and transitions of blood and blood products through the human body, from one body to another, from one part of one body to another part, and from within the body to permanently outside the body are located in a range of economic, technological, and social contexts. The movements of body parts from one body to another is always assisted, can occur through both legal and illegal channels, and can involve both live and dead producers.
Riddoch Gallery Mt Gambier, South Australia, Australia.
These five prints Blood on Silk: Commercial Quality No.’s 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10, 2017 photographic print 120 x 80(w)cm, were selected for a group exhibition, Rise of the Bio Society Riddoch Gallery Mt Gambier, S.A. Australia curated by Melentie Pandilovski.
These five works have since been acquired by the collection of the Mount Gambier Art Gallery, S.A. Australia
The other artists in the exhibition were Eduardo Kac, Niki Sperou, Critical Art Ensemble, Helen Pynor, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Paul Thomas, Trish Adams, Guy Ben-Ary & Boryana Rossa, Gary Cass, Andre Brodyk, Svenja Kratz, and Michalis Pichler.
Site Specific Installations
The Kiosk, Katoomba. Australia
Cementa Moments at the Kiosk coincided with Cementa-17 in Kandos NSW. A selection of works from the previous Cementa exhibitions were reshown in different types of locations within the Kiosk that resulted in the works being read in quite different ways. This work Blood on Silk: Price taker/price maker originally part of Cementa-15 held onto its sleazy, dodgy and creepy feel as the sale of blood and body parts moved in a poorly cleaned commercial kitchen. It felt as if the products offered for auction such as bags of human blood and plasma could be confused with quite ordinary kitchen supplies.
Commissions
Cudos Legacy, an ARC Centre of Excellence, University of Sydney, Australia
This site specific work Last Seen; Cudos was commissioned for the legacy celebrations for the ten plus year project Cudos, an ARC Centre of Excellence at the School of Physics, University of Sydney, Australia.
The event was held in the Sydney NanoSciecne Hub at the University of Sydney. The vision for the Cudos project was to be the world leader in research on-chip photonics of all-optical signal processing. It brought together seven Australian universities, The University of Sydney, Macquarie University, the University of Technology Sydney, Australian National University, RMIT University, Monash University and Swinbourne University.