Skulls come back to life
Abespoke collection of glass skulls will spring to life next week when artists from Perth and beyond band together for charity.
IHART challenged creatives to develop original artworks using Crystal Head Vodka bottles as their canvas.
Forty artists took up the call this year, with luminaries including WA’s fashion designer to the stars Jaime Lee Major, jeweller Alister Yiap and painter Andy Quilty all donating work to the exhibition, which will raise funds for the Dogs’ Refuge Home in Shenton Park.
Event organisers Michael Prendiville and Dwight O’Neil have been amazed at the response to their unusual fundraising concept.
“I’ve been pretty blown away,” O’Neil toldAAA . “You expect a certain thing from some artists based on what they’ve done with their previous artworks and then they come back with something completely different. It’s going to be pretty interesting.”
Incorporating designs by street artists, graphic designers, painters, sculptors and furniture makers, IHART, which will take place at The Odd Fellow Bar in Fremantle for one night only on May 1, has a strong local flavour.
“We chose artists from our networks that we liked and admired,” O’Neil said of the curatorial process.
“We wanted to create an exhibition with broad appeal, so we didn’t constrain it to traditional styles of art that you would normally see in exhibitions.”
While some of those involved in the project relished the opportunity to work with unconventional materials, Quilty, who is renowned for his engaging multimedia portraits, found it to be a struggle.
“It’s been a nightmare, I’ve hated it,” he said with a laugh when asked of his experience working in such a unique medium. “I never work in 3-D so it’s a real challenge.”
Known for his avant-garde runway pieces and fine jewellery collections, 27-year-old Yiap enjoyed working outside of his comfort zone.
Unlike many of his contemporaries who opted to transform their skulls with paint, the jeweller sandblasted a geometric print on to his bottle, finishing it off with a crown set with quartz crystal.
“It’s pushed my creative boundaries because the canvas is so different,” he said.
