The Riddoch Art Gallery will host a JamFactory national touring exhibition by visual artist Angela Valamanesh. Opening on Friday 18 December at 6:00pm, the exhibition celebrates the achievements of one of South Australia’s most influential artists working in craft-based media.
Primarily known for her ceramic sculptures reminiscent of nature and living organisms, this exhibition also celebrates the artist’s evocative drawings, watercolours and mixed media works.
Angela is unique in that her practice spans so many different media, from works on paper to ceramics to video, which just serves to demonstrate her innate curiosity about the natural world around us.
– City of Mount Gambier Arts and Culture Development Officer Serena Wong.
JamFactory ICON Angela Valamanesh: About being here is the artist’s exploration into the interconnectedness of life on earth – between human, animal, and plant beings. This life view is reinforced through her ongoing research at leading libraries and scientific institutions both in Australia and abroad.
“She mixes her research, with a sensitive and poetic handling of each subject, in a seemingly effortlessly way, leaving the viewer with curiosity, amusement but also a sense of familiarity of these unmistakably organic shapes,” Ms Wong said.
The opening will include an artist talk with Angela that will comprise her four decades of arts practice, spanning her national and international success.
“I believe that art, like science, can help teach us about who we are, what we are made of an in doing so show us the importance of recognising that we are part of a whole,” the artist said.