Staff in Focus

One of the chief organisers of last week's Creative Arts Exhibition, Ms Amanda Marsh, talks about her colourful career in art.

SNN: Thanks for joining us, Ms Marsh. If you were to paint a picture of your childhood, how would it look?

AM: Much the same! Always in the art studio, always covered in clay dust and paint! I have an old photo of myself in kindergarten standing at an easel painting.

SNN: Where did you go to school and what did you study at university? 

AM: I went to Macleod High School which is in Melbourne, took a gap year and then went on to study Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), which is now part of Melbourne University. I majored in Painting but also studied Art History, Etching and Photography. For my final year thesis, in addition to a series of paintings,  I made Installation and Video works.

SNN: What sort of artist are you? 

AM: Annoyingly disparate – as evidenced by the above. My last solo show was a culmination of paintings from my international Artist Residency in 2017. Since then I’ve been slowly and methodically working on some sculptures and editing a film I started in 2015.

SNN: Is there a genre or style you create or admire the most? 

AM: Not really. I love a very broad range of techniques. What I most admire is the cleverness of other artists.

SNN: Who is your favourite artist?

AM: As a kid, it was Carravaggio. I used to paint a lot like him as a teenager. These days, I don’t have a favourite. I adore contemporary works, they often have such a ‘wow’ factor, especially if they’re a feature artist in a major show or event.

SNN: What inspires you?

AM: I tend to be a bit of a cerebral artist, so I’m inspired by ideas. When I look back through the years, I tend to return to aspects of Mind repeatedly. That can vary from the Mind-Body question, Intention or more recently finding ways to express ideas around dementia.

SNN: Of which piece of work are you most proud?

AM: Probably the 9m long work I exhibited in 2018. It was so large, it didn’t fit in my studio. I had to construct a ceiling pulley system at both ends of my studio and rotate it through depending on which section I was working on. It looked incredible on the gallery wall, and on the wall of the business that purchased it. It was one of those rare works that just resolved itself so easily – like a classic song written in 20 minutes if that makes sense? Those moments are rare.

SNN:  Tell us more about the artist residency . . .

AM: That was a wonderful year. I wish I could do more of those. I highly recommend applying for residencies to any creative. The feedback and opportunities they bring are so valuable. The one you are referring to was northern Iceland. I went for two months and ended up returning twice, spending most of the year there from Jan 2017- Jan 2018, with side trips to the UK, Europe and Iran. I lived in a remote fishing village in the north, far from the throngs of tourists, learned a bit of Icelandic and became very familiar with their character, culture, towns and landscapes. The original purpose was to change my ‘palette’ as I had a tendency to paint images in Pilbara colours. I wanted to put myself in an extremely unfamiliar environment with a very different palette. It worked. The colours of that little place was beyond anything I could’ve anticipated and extremely changeable. There were artists there from all over the world, all seeking the space and time to focus on their projects. We had Irish poets and pop video makers, a jewellery designer from Slovakia, Brazillian performance artists, dancers from New York, a photographer from the Phillipines. Literally creatives from every corner of the globe, some coming for one month, others for three. It was fabulous.

SNN: Closer to home, St Norbert News imagines your house is full of amazing works . . . 

AM: I tell people I had to buy a house to store my collection. I do collect contemporary works from other artists and I prefer those of people I know personally, as they have more meaning for me, while also trying to be a ‘smart’ collector. I’m hopeful that eventually a couple of those pieces will pay for my retirement!

SNN: What’s the best gallery you’ve ever been to and why?

AM: That’s a tough one. I remember walking into a church just north of Rome after being picked up by friends from the airport and being face to face with a work of Fra Angelico’s and having one those realisations that they are real things, not just in history books and videos. Those sorts of moments happen all the time. I’ve made detours of hundreds of kilometres just to see a particular work. Basel in Switzerland was a revelation, MOMA New York, MONA in Hobart is amazing, as is the Prado in Madrid.

SNN: What are some of the best projects students get to work on in the St Norbert College art room?

AM: I love working with ATAR students because they have the opportunity, time and focus to create a body of work exploring whatever issue they are passionate about. I become more of a ‘facilitator’, suggesting interesting ways to best capture their intentions. Print-making is always a positive. Kids often have no conceptual understanding of how the process works and I love revealing the stages and the final result. It’s virtually impossible not to get a great result of a print technique. Their smiles on completion really make my day. My current Year 10s are learning about portraiture at the moment and the results of their efforts make me so proud. Personally, I really enjoy the variety of projects that can be happening on any given week. It’s incredibly hard work, requiring precision planning, but it’s so worth it.

SNN: What sort of student works were visitors to last week's Creative Arts Exhibition lucky enough to see?

AM: I always try to do new things so the exhibition never gets tired for repeat visitors, so this year it was some Zaouli dance costumes, some very kooky clocks, some stunning charcoal portraits, miniature resin worlds, block-print waterfalls, surrealist cities, an installation inspired by the work of Chiharu Shiota (google her!), pop art posters and sculptures and some cute animal-inspired ceramic urns.

Mrs L Quartermain

(Community Relations and Marketing)