– Huw Davies Gallery 5 - 29 April 2018 Artefact Kim Sinclair –

Image: Tutu, 2018, gum over , 10.5 x 12.5cm – ‘It’s always been my philosophy to try to make art out of the everyday and ordinary…it never occurred to me to leave home to make art.’ – Sally Mann

All around us there are references to the benefits of living ‘slowly’. Whether it is slow food, slow fashion or slow travel, the slow movement has gained pace in recent years, a reaction to our increasingly time-pressured and interconnected world. Slow —which sees artists use manual techniques and processes—is one aspect of this movement. It underpins Kim Sinclair’s exhibition Artefact.

Sinclair draws on early photographic techniques to create a series of toned Cyanotype and Vandyke prints. This is nothing new for her, as Sinclair has been working with handcrafted, nineteenth-century processes since she began formal study of photography in her native Canada more than twenty years ago. In this solo exhibition she seeks to redress what she sees as the ‘de-valuing the as an object’ that has occurred as a consequence of the movement.

Artefact is driven by a deep interest in pre-digital photographic processes. Sinclair worked with a large-format analogue and shot her series on her property in the Canberra region. To create a Cyanotype the paper is coated with a light- sensitive chemical solution, the negative is then sandwiched on the paper under glass and exposed to ultraviolet light, then processed in a water bath revealing a rich blue-toned print the same size as the negative (it is from this process that blue prints can also be made). Gum bichromate is used over the Cyanotype to add colour to the image—as seen in Tutu and Lotus pods I —meaning that no two prints are alike, even if the same negative is used.

Vandyke (also known as Van Dyke) prints are produced in a similar manner, however an iron-silver based solution is applied to the paper, resulting in a chocolate-brown print. The addition of gold toning steps in the process give permanence to each image. Initially trained as a painter, Sinclair is drawn to the tactile, hands-on method and painterly qualities that can be achieved through these time-honoured processes, both of which have names related to the colour of the prints they produce; cyan is derived from the Ancient Greek word for ‘dark blue’ and it has been said that Vandyke refers to a shade of brown favoured by portraitist Anthony van Dyck.

Subject matter and light are also important concerns in Artefact. Sinclair quietly documented objects she and her family have collected over the years, a process that aligns with the philosophy of slow living. For the artist, these are like ‘artefacts’ and ‘found objects’ that ‘can be left for a long time before they may be discovered’ because they entered her household in different ways, each possessing layers of personal and cultural history. The self-described ‘sun chaser’ is ‘drawn to the light’ and explores the relationship between her subject matter and natural light in this series. The one-of-a-kind prints are intimate in size at 4x5 and are in the tradition of still lives, providing a familiar—in this case domestic—reference point. This can be seen in Gerberas I and Gerberas II, captured both in bloom and wilted.

When I look at the works in Artefact, I am drawn to their warmth and intimate scale. They are reminiscent of the early twentieth-century Pictorial photography of American Alfred Stieglitz, an influence on Sinclair’s practice. Her appreciation of Sally Mann’s evocative of home life and interest in traditional photographic process can also be observed in the series, seen in Sinclair’s transformation of ordinary scenes into works of art.

In Artefact Sinclair has taken inspiration from her home environment and traditional techniques to create evocative Cyanotype and Vandyke prints that seem to exist outside of a specific place or time period. By embracing the spirit of slow photography, Sinclair has also engaged with the broader slow movement by thoughtfully creating images of ordinary domestic objects in a manner that treats them like precious artefacts. For me, the unassuming depth that lies behind each work is the real strength of the series.

Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, April 2018 Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll is an emerging art historian and curator

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Kim Sinclair | Artist Statement We live in an age where hyper-real digital imagery is all around us. We see it, we produce it and we manipulate it to the extent of emotional disconnection from the photograph and the subject within it. While technology may have it’s place in the context of today’s digital world, the effortless process by which we create, view and discard images has created a de-natured screen culture and de-valued the photographic image. By photographing still life images with a camera and contact printing the negatives using 19th Century printing techniques, Artefact aims to counter the digital culture movement by producing unique one-of-a-kind prints, urging the viewer to slow down, look closer and appreciate the nuances that is the result of ‘slow photography’. Each image was created using natural light and then contact printed using a time-honoured formulas applied to watercolour paper. The enduring quality of a handmade process itself creates unique artefacts or blemishes in the photograph that leave behind evidence of a human connection. Artefact celebrates the art of ‘slow photography’.

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Kim Sinclair | About the artist Kim Sinclair graduated from Ontario College of Art and Design in 1996. At a time when digital photography was beginning its great revolution in the photo industry, Kim continued her work in traditional silver gelatin print methods and historic photographic processes, primarily Cyanotype & Vandyke. After exhibiting and working for nearly ten years in the commercial photo industry in Toronto, Kim moved to Canberra, Australia in 2001. Since then, she has tutored many classes in traditional and alternative photographic practices. Kim divides her time between family and her commercial and photographic arts practice as she continues to produce, exhibit and contribute her artwork to projects. Influence from an early drawing & painting background is evident in the loose, paint-like application Kim often utilises. Hands-on printing methods are integral to the final intended aesthetic. Telling stories through multiple imagery, layering techniques and sequencing methods are arrangements characteristically recognised throughout much of Kim’s work. –

Image List

1. Kim Sinclair, 3 Pears, 2018, gold toned Vandyke print, 50 x 39cm, edition 1 of 3 + AP $575 framed $275 unframed

2. Kim Sinclair, Teapot & Honeysuckle, 2018, gold toned Vandyke, 50 x 39cm, edition 1 of 3 + AP $575 framed $275 unframed

3. Kim Sinclair, Gerberas II, 2018, Gold toned Vandyke, 50 x 39cm, edition 1 of 3 + AP $575 framed $275 unframed

4. Kim Sinclair, Gerberas I, 2018, Gold toned Vandyke, 50 x 39cm, edition 1 of 3 + AP $575 framed $275 unframed

5. Kim Sinclair, Tutu, 2018, Gum over Cyanotype, 50 x 39cm, edition 1 of 3 + AP $600 framed $300 unframed

6. Kim Sinclair, Kombi, 2018, Cyanotype, 50 x 39cm, edition 1 of 3 + AP $550 framed $250 unframed

7. Kim Sinclair, Aloha Girl, 2018, Cyanotype, 50 x 39cm, edition 1 of 3 + AP $550 framed $250 unframed

8. Kim Sinclair, Kangaroo Skull, 2018, Cyanotype, 50 x 39cm, edition 1 of 3 + AP $550 framed $250 unframed

9. Kim Sinclair, Relecting Zen, 2018, Cyanotype, 50 x 39cm, edition 1 of 3 + AP $550 framed $250 unframed

10. Kim Sinclair, Lotus Pods I, 2018, Gum over Cyanotype, 50 x 39cm, edition 1 of 3 + AP $600 framed $300 unframed

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Image: Kim Sinclair, Gerberas II, 2018, Gold toned Vandyke, 10.5 x 12.5cm

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Public program

Artists in conversation with Michaela Gamble and Kim Sinclair on Sunday 29 April at 2pm in the PhotoAccess Huw Davies Gallery. Free event. All welcome.

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