airport, flughafen, aeropuerto, lentokentta ...

Last year, I saw many airports inside and out, under many different lights and weather conditions, and tried to document these experiences with my small phone camera. I find the muted, controlled colours of vast flat surfaces dotted with bright detail very beautiful. I love the angles and forms of machines and structures framing the large fields of space and sky. Really love.

I made this quick piece on the last morning of the fantastic Swiss jeweller David Bielander's workshop, following some intense study of those collected phone photos. I welded galvanised steel and mild steel together, then treated the piece in a kiln, and added some areas of enamel paint.

For a long time, I couldn't quite see (or rather, feel) what this object was about, even though there was a direct connection to my images and experiences. The intuitive and rapid fabrication probably contributed to the initial "numbness", too, plus at the time I was recovering from a worst cold ever -- caught in a plane back to Australia just days before! : )

However as I'm studying it again now, through camera, in preparation for further work on the theme, I feel that perhaps there is some type of life in it after all. It makes me interested to try and see how better communicate dense, strong structures and open spaces in one piece.

Just wanted to post it for myself to archive, and to ponder it a bit more on-screen. Next, I'll be making a small series, continuing from this object, under the idea of air/ports for the upcoming exhibition Heat Exchange in Arizona. The show will focus on contemporary enamelling, and bring together artists from several continents. Exciting!! You can check out and learn more about the participants and their processes and thoughts here. I'll be continuing the exploration of airports and objects over there, too.

I'm also hoping to develop some larger scale object work around similar materials and forms as shown here. We'll see ... Next, unpacking the samples from Doris Betz's intensive master class last month. The working year has really begun. Yay!