Robin Gibson Gallery / Hui Selwood

Hui Selwood
3 - 28 March, 2007

Totems & Architecture

In 2003 I acquired the Embleton and Weir Cordial Factory at Hill End, with the intention of setting up a studio. In the last few years I have been designing studios and renovating the Cordial Factory. Hill End is a historic gold mining town, located in the central tablelands of New South Wales, near Bathurst. In the 1940's, artists such as Russell Drysdale, Donald Friend, Jean Bellette, Paul Haefliger and Magaret Olley lived and worked there. The decades proceeding enticed other artists such as John Olsen, Brett Whiteley, John Firth-Smith and many more to spend time there working and this is the case to the present day.

'Totems and Architecture' is the first body of work that I have produced from Hill End. Abstract compositions in the materials of metal and wood, predominate my work. The sculptural compositions acknowledge an architectural quality, which stems from my interest in design, architecture and construction. These works continue to investigate architectural ideas and design with the emphasis on the vertical, referencing totems and figures. The totem is a subject, which has occupied me for years. Intrigued by the totems from various cultures and civilisations, such as Aboriginal, African, Central and South American and Oceanic tribes, Ancient European and Eastern civilisations. My interest in the totem extends to the totem pole, where not only a connection has been established with my interest in architectural references but also with the figure, the quasi-representation of our selves. Questioning the need for humans to erect tall vertical structures from the times of Stonehenge to the modern high rise. A curious parallel, the evolutionary steps of man from the horizontal to the vertical. These works are responses to totems of the past, to contemporary architecture and to the sculptures of Brancusi, Giacometti, Meadmore and David Smith's Cubi series.

Living and working at Hill End presented the opportunity of working in another medium. Becoming acquainted with Lino Alvarez of La Paloma Pottery, who has worked with artists of the calibre of John Olsen, Garry Shead and Rodney Pople, allowed me to experiment with the medium of clay. His generosity of knowledge and vast experience in ceramics enabled me to realise my sculptural concepts. Whilst working in this medium the past and present has been put into context through the history of clay and the modernity of metal.

Hui Selwood
February 2007

Hui Selwood

born Sydney, Australia 1973

EDUCATION

2000 1997 1995 1994
Bachelor of Fine Arts (majoring in sculpture) - National Art School, Sydney
Advanced Diploma in Fine Arts (sculpture) - National Art School, Sydney
Certificate in Welding (GMAW)- Sydney Institute of Technology, Ultimo
Certificate in Ceramics - National Art School, Sydney

EXHIBITIONS

2007 2006 . . 2005 . . . 2004 . . . 2003 . . 2002 . 2001 . . . . 2000 . . . 1999 . . . . . . 1998 . . 1997 . . 1996

Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney Sculpture 18, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney Shelf Life, Delmar Gallery, Sydney Postcards from Hill End, La Paloma Gallery- Old Catholic Church, Hill End Sculpture 17, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney Contemporary Artists' of Hill End- Inaugural exhibition, Hill End Art Gallery, Hill End Infusion Cellblock, National Art School, Sydney Exchange Square, FONAS, Sydney Sculpture 16, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney Contemporary Landscapes, Michael Carr Art Dealer, Sydney Spectrum, Parliament House, Sydney Young Collectors, Michael Carr Art Dealer, Sydney Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney Infusion, Cellblock, National Art School, Sydney Sculpture IX, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi Sydney 'Outback & Beyond', Cellblock, National Art School, Sydney 2001 Tutors Show, Waverley Woollahra Art Centre, Sydney Hui Selwood & Brad Munro- New Works, Defiance Gallery, Sydney Sculpture 2001, Defiance Gallery, Sydney Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney 'Alumination', Cellblock, National Art School Alumni, Sydney Fishers Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown, Sydney 'The Importance of Being Small', The Annual6x6x6 Inch Miniature Sculpture Show, Defiance Gallery & King Street Gallery, Sydney 'Various Views', Defiance Gallery, Sydney 'New Nine', Sir Hermann Black Gallery, Sydney 'Five Easy Pieces', Defiance Gallery, Sydney 'Still Life', Defiance Gallery, Sydney 'Paint &Steel', Defiance Gallery, Sydney Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney 'New Ten in Transit', Project Centre for Contemporary Art, Wollongong Waverley Woollahra Art Prize, Bondi, Sydney- Highly Commended (sculpture section) 'Figure in the Landscape', Defiance Gallery, Sydney 'Suspire-Expire', La Pommerie, France Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney 'The Biggest Little Sculpture Show in Town', Defiance Gallery, Sydney Graduation Show, National Art School, Sydney 'First at First', First Gallery, Surry Hills, Sydney Waverley Woollahra Art Prize, Bondi, Sydney- highly commended (sculpture section)

AWARDS

2005 1997 & 1999

Australian Bronze Prize - Infusion Sculpture Prize Highly Commended - Waverley Woollahra Sculpture Prize

COMMISSIONS

Beacon Hill Bowral N.S.W Private Australian & International Collections

SELECTED BIOGRAPHY

2001 . 1999 . 1998 . 1997

Harris, Peter., "Sydney Exhibition Reviews"-World Sculpture News, Vol.7, No.3, Summer 2001, p.65 Smee, Sebastian., "Welded Bliss", The Galleries- The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 February, p.13 "Des Australiens Planchent Sur Le Theme De L' Arbre A - La Pommerie- Stage Artistique- La Montagne, Samedi 25 Julliet, Trois Smee, Sebastian.,"Itsy Bitsy Teeny" Metro-Monitor, The Sydney Morning Herald, 24-30 October, p.4 Richardson, Julia.,"The Big Shrink", Feature- The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 October

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