March 11, 2016
Tingoora artist Robyn Dower is getting ready to hit the road.
On Wednesday, Robyn was slowly packing her “Sense Of Wonder” exhibition – or parts of it, anyway – into the back of a very large trailer.
Later this month she’ll be taking it to the Banana Shire Art Gallery in Biloela.
It will be the first step in a two year odyssey that will see the exhibition tour not only Biloela, but Bundaberg, Gympie, Chinchilla and Tambo as well.
“Sense Of Wonder” is a quirky installation that recreates a fictional house to tell the heart-warming and sometimes tragic story of the relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter, and the changes that occur in their relationship over time.
Robyn first got the idea for the exhibition back in 2012 when her sister Kay was recovering from breast cancer and needed a project to take her mind off her troubles.
The pair dreamed up the idea between them, then Robyn set to work creating the hundreds of pieces that make it up while her sister worked on the story line that ties the whole work together.
“Sense Of Wonder” finally came into public view when it was shown at the Wondai Regional Art Gallery in late 2014.
The exhibition took over the Gallery’s interior, and during its two-month run drew rave reviews and clocked up many sales.
Robyn initially thought that was the end of the project.
But this year she secured an RADF grant from the South Burnett Regional Council to take the exhibition on tour, and has been busy making new pieces for it ever since.
Robyn explained that because “Sense Of Wonder” is an installation piece and each art gallery has a different layout, she needed to build new components so it could be mounted in all the different galleries where it will be shown.
At the Wondai Regional Art Gallery – which was on the brink of a refurbishment at the time her exhibition debuted – she and Kay were able to nail some parts into the walls.
They will not have the same luxury at other galleries, so they’ve been creating panels that can be rearranged to fit and won’t require nails to mount.
“I’m very excited to be taking a South Burnett exhibition on the road, and I’m very grateful for RADF’s support,” Robyn said.
“But boy! What have I got myself into?”
- Sense Of Wonder will be appearing at the Banana Shire Art Gallery in Biloela from April 6-May 27; the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery from July 19-September 18; the Gympie Regional Art Gallery from November 23-January 11; the Lapunyah Gallery in Chinchilla from March 25-May 3rd; and the Grasslands Gallery in Tambo from September to October 2017.
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