Recent Artists

Mixed Media & Ceramic works by Ute Dittrich

detail from EIDOS II

Maps with a network of paths criss-crossing the land, carry with them memories of places and occasions. Trails & journeys that meander through nature and life. Scars and rhythmic grooves resolve into sculptural paintings and ceramics.

“ My Paths of ever widening circles lead me to headlands, mountains, swamps and desert plains.”

Inspiration comes from amongst the images, impressions and details places hold.

“Features that mark time, like a trace of a scar, a line or the patterns on the surface of a rock are of particular interest to me.”

Physical and emotional wear and tear texture the surfaces, forming patterns.

“After exploration and intimate study, I create a true-life impression of part of the scene.”

Born and educated in
Germany, Ute now resides
on the Sunshine Coast &
is exhibited regularly in
galleries around the region.

Heart of Gold International Photography Awards

Heidi Fazio (USA) theme creativity

Photography as an art form is in a state of flux. As photomedia evolves in to a new distinct form of it's own, splintering away from it's orthodox parents.

The availability and accessibility of digital cameras has closed the gap between amateurs and professionals, and engenders a strong sense "I could of done that" in the average spectator.

It's true to some extent we are capable of producing high quality images of our friends and loved ones that move us to tears, that serve as potent reminders of people close to us , or of a time in our lives.

But I ask you consider how moving are those images to others outside your frame of reference? Are your friends just being polite as they nod and smile through your latest slide show?

Take your super wizzo digitial snapper out in the the world, focus your attention on something other than yourself, pick something anything, where do you start?

That's the first and greatest challenge, filled with the same trepidation as the first stroke on a canvas , or the first word on the page.

The great skill of the photographers on display is their ability to capture our imaginations and evoke powerful responses in us without a direct connection to the subject.

The 30 finalists on display were chosen from 900 entries from over 17 countries.

They articulate the themes of
love, hope, family, connection, creativity and fun.

These photos allow you to take a little bit of that feel good feeling you’ll experience watching the Heart of Gold films that you can take home with you and share with your loved ones.

PRINTS AVAILABLE BY ORDER
Priced from $20-$45 profits go to SSC Children's Therapy Centre

Attack of the Future Renegade Beings

I Want Your Soul

We first discovered AMOS in 2008, through a body of work entitled Portraits of Humanity, an exploration of the humanistic traits shown by birds. Or was it the bird like traits in humans?
We were immediately struck by his unique vision and originality. Bold almost totemic works that hinted at native American sharmanic practices, despite their contemporary cool. This series of raw and deeply psychological paintings questioned our fundamental tendency to assume as humans we are of a higher status than other animals.

Attack of the Renegade Future Beings fast forwards us into a disturbing futuristic psychological landscape where anthropomorphism makes it’s biggest come back since Greek Mythology, and mood enhancement and cosmetic surgery are only limited by your warped imagination.

AMOS is a product of his environment and of the times.
The environment? Right here on the Sunshine Coast. Yep a real live local! So, if you find the work disturbing and confronting( as a number of you have suggested you do), you must bear some of the responsibility sunny QLD! We can blame society for the rest.
A popular culture sponge like much of his generation, Amos has a tremendous capacity to absorb snippets of information as audio and visual bytes. The information collects forming a residue that builds until it has now where to go but out.
A wayward spirit in the wilderness this young man prays at the temple of trance, focusing his mind and exorcising his demons, through music. It’s the beat! It drives the work, enhancing its rhythm, vibrancy and attack.

Already a regular feature in the groovy galleries most of you aren't cool enough to know about in Brisbane, and recently returned with much acclaim (and sales) at the Art Fair in Melbourne, Amos is destined to leave us all behind in a cloud of sand as he makes his way with a singular vision
and a tremendous capacity for hard
work to the light at the end of the
tunnel, New York…

Check out the cool stop animation he made of himself in action, as posted on You Tube

Damian Brewer

Hooker Kelly ( 2mx2m oil and aerosol on canvas)

Sydney born, Melbourne raised. Brewer started early, training in street art and hooliganism at an early age before specialising in photography. VCA tried to teach him a thing or two, but Brewer couldn’t wait for the punch line (degree) and went straight for the heady world of fashion photography. Starting out as a studio assistant, Brewer escalated quickly, running his own darkrooms and shooting covers with young starlets, and major campaigns for labels such as PERVERT. We suspect he dabbled in model management for a minute there too.

He has been heavily influenced in more ways than one, by the likes of Whitely, Warhol and Basquiat, but it was a visit to Florence that really messed with his head. He witnessed the perfect blend of fine art and street, watching masterful painters doing their thing live in cobbled piazzas. There was travelling, there was inspiration, there was Monte Marte, there was reality…

Melbourne again. Horribly inspired but dirt poor, Brewer channelled his creative juices into women, wine song, and chef-ing. Fine establishments like the Stokehouse (Melb) gave him a new sense of discipline, but once again came the call of the wild. Something blurry happened and suddenly he’s pulling taffy with a funky, arty, hardrock, candy crew. Then on to his next incarnation - another hapless sea-changer, Coolum’s first and only Candy Man.

We first encountered him there five years ago, up till all hours of the day and night inventing crazy flavours and patterns in exquisite sugary treats, for an impressive list of corporate clients including Virgin Blue and the Sheraton. Eventually it was the brides that did him in. One too many weddings…

We lost him again for a bit. Then painting brought him back (physically and metaphorically speaking). Inspired by the resurgence of street art in Melbourne and driven by debt, an avalanche of creativity spewed out of him as he struggled to make a living by the skin of his creative teeth. A gun for hire, a great technician, producing unsigned palette knife landscapes by the metre, for frighteningly large corporations (BHP), artful installations in Brisbane alleys for high fashion (Subfusco), and last but soul destroy-ingly least, various markets up and down the coast banging out stencils for peanuts to pay the rent.

What does it all mean? 1200 works sold in 2 years and nothing to show for it. He’s everything you’re looking for as an astute collector. He’s talented, he’s prolific, he’s desperate. He walks the line. He walks the walk as an artist. Who will be the Wendy to his Whitely following his untimely death, when suddenly the works are really worth something?

Edward Dregg - Anthropornologist

Small Man with Big Cock

Portrait of the Artist as Young Pervert

From Papal censorship of classical statues, to the recent outcry that followed Bill Henson’s latest exhibition; public attitudes towards morality have always been volatile.

Edward Dregg the phenomenon, the legend, the activist and wicked alter ego of a prominent local artist who’s identity remains shrouded in confusion; despite a relationship with the Sunshine Coast that spans more than 20 years. On the down-hill run of a charmed life and lengthy career as a successful artist, Dregg’s works have never previously been exhibited on the Sunshine Coast. We weren’t ready, we may still not be…

The artist in question has permeated polite and impolite society at many levels. As a university lecturer and published author, accomplished in commercial art and film, fine art, public art and pornography, his work has infiltrated private and national collections. Pin up boy of the EROS foundation he has also been featured in MAD and PENTHOUSE, back in the day when the articles covered a diverse range of topics including, art, politics, finance & sport.

An artist with an unique perspective, that has lived life to the fullest, and managed to diffuse criticism with the skilful use of humour. It’s this humour and sense of play that informs his entire body of work. Edward Dregg was born as a product of his early fascination with sex and technology. Exploring man’s long relationship with the synthetic woman. In the early 90’s Dregg created a “Virtual Reality Loverbot”. A challenging
concept that unsettles us just as
much now, as it did then.

SEXPOTS

Pit fired femme

LOCAL POTTER GETS SEXY IN SECRET

Highly sought after by discerning collectors, weirdos and fetishists all over the country, SEXPOTS ceramic explorations of the female form, combine bold shape, intense colour and refined texture to form the distinctive body of work sometimes referred to as “neurotica”.

This SEXPOT is no flash in the pants. Well established, and well loved for his sensitivity, intensity and high standard of technical ability, his preference is to create to order. The majority of pieces on show are examples of his practice designed to inspire you. Sexpots creates works that are tailored to the individual. The more individual the better!

“I believe that workmanship has been treated with disdain, as though it was an attribute which anyone could easily obtain for themselves. Quality of workmanship is critical in my personal application. I also believe that a good piece of artwork has the capacity to survive outside the context and able to succeed within its own medium, rather than relying on rhetoric or written material intended to make its interpretation easier.

For me, an authentic piece of art requires that I am always inventing. One should not have fixed ideas about art….
Art is always the beginning !

Erin Sulman - Handmade Old Skool

Hammered Thumb Ring ($95)

An NMIT trained silver-smith Erin Sulman has been frolicking around the coast making music for the last 8 years. A connoisseur of all this old fashioned, Erin has recently returned to smithing in all it’s forms, much to the delight of us gals here at Culture. We’ve been hard pressed sourcing elegant and original handmade wares for men.

Drawing on his Celtic heritage for inspiration and practical insight he has produced a range of rings exclusively for Culture. Erin is also influenced by Norse mythology and Rune study, with signs symbols and magical scripts appearing as a subtle accent on the work. Available for bespoke commissions, he’s also the man to see if your in need of a customised ceremonial knife, (but only if he likes you).

Ancient processes and rituals unlock the raw potential of the materials. His playful spirit is brought to bear in an attempt to capture the impermanence of nature in metal. He aims to illicit one of two responses from his work. It should make you want to eat it or play with it!
An artist intent on keeping ancient techniques alive and relevant in a modern age.

“Flames borrowed and kept alive from a much greater spark”

Meaghan Shelton

“ My intention is to capture, through the exploration of opposites that which can only be glimpsed fleetingly in a kind of peripheral vision. The occularcentrism of vision in twentieth century thought has held sight as being the dominant sense. My intention is to instead, convey a sense of wanting to touch, wanting to feel. I have found the process of my art practice has become more about not looking than actually seeing.”

Shelton’s works are at once frivolous and epic, natural and artificial. By their very playfulness the viewer is invited into what may seem at first a fantasyland from a childhood storybook.

The work reveals a fascination with surface, particularly in reference to inanimate objects in the home. Questioning notions of home and investigating tensions which arise from confinement and the desire for freedom. The home has become a metaphor for the self. From the point where the backyard ends and the wilderness begins, the ambivalence associated with the home and all its trappings provides a constant tension between the natural and the artificial. The morphing of the animal and the domestic through the process of the work reveals in essence a kind of becoming, becoming animal. “

Sterling Silver Made by Gemima

Silver papillion pendant

Gemima - Wearable Art by Nicole Cagarkis

“ I was born and raised on the bay, in the inner city suburbs of Melbourne, in a Greek-Egyptian family who all love to cook eat talk create and be by the ocean.”

A self-taught silver smith with a keen sense of adventure, her travels have taken her to Italy, Darwin (and fortunately for us) 5 years ago, the Sunshine Coast, where she has developed a strong following. Her clientele are surprisingly diverse and watch each new collection with keen interest.

The earthy textured and toned forms explore her unique perspective on femininity. Secret messages, whimsical shapes and animal friends feature in this collection. Each subtle amulet is individually crafted in silver and entirely original. Bursting with ideas Gemima has no need to repeat herself.

“Follow your heart, giggle like a child or simply fly like a bird. Each piece tells its own story.”

DAVID HOUGHTON (CPHO)

Robert Smith 91cm x 61cm spray can on canvas

David began experimenting with graffiti in 1993, before moving on to study graphic art. 2000 marked his return to his true love. Armed with new skills David was able to merge his passion and skill, returning to the graffiti scene as a council endorsed artist, producing murals, signs and commissions.

A strong advocate for legal graffiti walls, David is invloved in numerous graffiti based youth initiatives around the Sunshine Coast area.

“ I am currently focusing on gallery works, canvases and major commissions. I recently
painted a large underwater / graffiti themed mural at the Beerwah swimming pool. It was great to hear positive feedback from the local community on covering a grey wall!”

The Sunshine Coast is home to a well organized collective of grafitti artists. David edits and publishes the glossy mag Clouded Thoughts showcasing the latest exploits of these inky avengers. YES WE STOCK IT.

Damian McGrath Photography

Fire Dancers -Arnhem land

My major passion and love of photography stems simply from the ability to observe light and then manipulate it”

A commercial photographer for more than twenty years, McGrath is accomplished in many facets of the industry, including fashion, food, travel and portraiture. His client list boasts such publications as Harpers Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Australian Vogue, Bambini, Black & White, and Playboy (back in the day when the articles really were interesting). Most recently his work adorned the front and rear cover of a new publication entitled The Brett Whiteley Studio Handbook.

A contemporary and associate of David Gulpilil and Brett Whiteley, McGrath views each subject/scenario with an uncompromising eye, rigorous intellect and dry wit. Documenting the special relationship between the land and the people that honour it.

The recent national apology has only added to the importance and significance of this work, which documents parts of the Marndiella ceremony. One of four age grading ceremonies for young men in the township of Ramingining, Arnhem Land.

Jose Eduardo Martin Yanes Printmaking & Photography

El Desnudo del Alma

Martin Yanes is a Cuban artist living in Havana Vieja. With over a decade of experience in printmaking, painting and photograhpy, he explores contemporary existensial issues, and the violence of everyday life with his provocative explorations of the female form.

With a wide expressive capacity and flair for mixing techniques, he captures the suffering, frustration and pain which shaped his past and lingers in the present as a citizen of Cuba.

Following a sucessful residencey at the QLD College of Art in 2007, we are very pleased to have obtained a small number of his works and hope he is able to accept our invitation to visit Australia again later this year.

Jivan Leela

“To breathe is art…to experience is art…to Be.. is art…and from this space of nothingness, I find all things are possible….what I love about creating is the space between thoughts where a piece will birth itself onto a canvas….. The sense of anticipation as I open to the experience of a blank canvas, seeking what lies beneath the surface, watching, breathing, waiting for the moment to be called into manifestation, brought forth from the void with pen, canvas or chisel…”
Jivan’s journey as a creative soul began with a strong attraction to performance arts at an early age. The theatre enabled her to engage with multiple mediums, allowing her to try her hand at costume, puppet, mask and prop design, before moving into community based training, events and recreational therapies. A deeply spiritual individual, Jivan draws on her shamanic and esoteric roots, often incorporating
natural elements, of stone, shell, feather, and hieroglyphic script in her pieces.

“Life is Art, a moment to moment creative expression of the passion that lives in me. Art is how I inhabit life”

SHAUN PASCOE

LIPS 30cm x 45cm digital on canvas

Born in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to Australian parents. Shaun has always been fascinated with photography, pursuing a technical path with his own camera repair store for 13 years before returning to study to hone his creative skills.

His training in photo-imaging has strongly influenced his style and passion for fine art and human form. Drawing inspiration from Patrick Demarchelier, Shaun captures often unusual subjects with great warmth and power; building a loyal client base of heavily tattooed subjects who are drawn to his distinctive style and creative use of light and colour.

“My passion for photography grew from my father. We never went anywhere without taking photos. I enjoy many styles. I’m particularly passionate about Human Form images but also enjoy Glamour & Fashion. My intention is to inspire people with the unconventional.”

Nici Wright

Her Room Ink on Belgian Canvas 140cmx80cm

“My abilities with anything creative started early (thanks to a Steiner education) & most particularly in clay.
Many sculptures large & small littered the house & garden. The love to create & make from whatever lies in front of me, & with whomever has always been there.
I never stopped creating things, large outdoor mixed media installations, sculptures, murals, jewellery, tattoo designs & clothing.
My methods and process at this time involve the repetitive motion of construction. The feeling of this process generates stillness & space for more ideas.”

Nici is a multi-platform artist, working across diverse mediums and scale. Her contribution to the arts scene on the Sunshine Coast over many years has been invaluable, freely sharing her skills and her passions across many sectors of the community. A strong advocate for the arts, you’ll often find her behind the scenes when something cool is going on, from Film Festivals, Street Festivals Dance parties, and Exhibitions all over the coast.

She’s a living a treasure, more than worthy of your admiration and support.

For your convenience Nici is offering digital reproductions on Belgian canvas of the inks on canvas on display.
They can be ordered stretched,
un-stretched or framed.

Andrei Ivanof

Astral Matador

“Look, we’ve already taught you the formulae, just follow our instructions, complete your portfolio and you should pass ok, but if you want be a maverick the examiners may burn you.”
This is what the head tutor of the Art department told me during my last year of High School Senior Art.

I paint, design & create art out of necessity more than anything else. There are times when I just have to do a piece or work on a painting, well aware how inaccessible and virtually unmerchantable it may be.
I’m not overly interested in the designer whims of what is fashionably “Hip” or not in contemporary art today.
My creative response is a reaction to the thoughts and ideas that arise from my levels of consciousness, some profoundly eminent, others intangible, obscure and or metaphysical. I liken the creative process to a form of catharsis, a purging of self expression, a way of making sense of oneself from a deeper capacity.
I don’t like to put classifications on my work, needless to say I’m primarily an abstract artist going through a cheeky if you will “neo dadist having a laugh period” at the moment. I particularly like pop art, Abstract expression (50’s American, 80’s German) minimal and conceptual art. But all art can inspire and has its place, perhaps even homage’s to the
overexploited frangipani “T N C”

Amy Clarke

Tinbeerwah Forrest (1 of 9)

Our understanding of ourselves is reflected in our interpretation of the landscape we inhabit. We once used a definitive line to concisely position the horizon in our imagery, thereby positioning the viewer at a distance from the landscape - and this same device was also utilised to present a singular view. A gradual flattening of the picture plane over time has meant we no longer perceive ourselves as separate and disconnected from the terrain. We are synonymous with the land, as The Dreaming has known all along.

The miniature works exhibited here investigate Amy Clarke’s connection to her surrounds, in particular her response to a workshop taken with artist, Kim Mahood, during the Noosa Long Weekend, in which she aims to express a sense of place. These paintings are a direct response to working in the Tinbeerwah forest, west of Noosa. As with all of Amy’s paintings, these represent a journey into an observation of the natural world and herself as a part of it. “Painting is a language for me. It is a way to express thoughts and feelings that are otherwise inaccessible – often it is the process of painting that actually reveals them. So in that way, the landscape provides a metaphor,” says Clarke.

Joanna Thompson

Jeweled Scarflet ( wool & sterling silver)

Joanna comes from a long line of artists and artisans of German origin. Inspired by natural forms and textures from a young age (and she’s still quite young) she focused her attention on wire and its many bendy possibilities, her brother chose wood.

Her enduring fascination with the sea and in particular it’s most mysterious treasure the pearl shaped her practice as an artist, and eventually led her to gold and silver-smithing. The bendy wires of her childhood replaced with precious metals, the forms still natural, the end result increasingly elegant and original.

Each handcrafted piece is unique. Joanna is also adept at translating your urges and desires into wearable works of art for your enjoyment through bespoke commissions.

AMOS DUGGAN

In "Portraits of Humanity" Amos explores a specific perception of the human race, stepping away from common political perceptions of humanity, and instead examining the raw emotional and psychological depths of the individuals' personality.

Integrated into this study is the curious connection drawn between human and bird behaviours.

The humanistic traits shown by birds in disagreements & aggressive displays of instinctive selfishness, as well as their blatant enjoyment of sharing company – chatting, feeding and singing feed this collection of character studies.

Despite the evolution of social behaviours and codes, it is still considered entirely appropriate for birds to act upon instinct. A luxury no longer afforded their human counterparts, as we continually distance ourselves from our more primitive urges.

Amos expresses our core similarities, and questions our fundamental tendency to assume as humans we are of a "higher status” than other animals. As we discard the simple instinctive knowledge of how to create our own happiness and comfort.