JOAN ASMUSSEN PAM FREDERICKS SCOTT FREDERICKS
13 March to 8 April 2018 Official Opening: Saturday 17 March, 4–6pm
Kinship and familial ties provide a life foundation for many, and we are doubly fortunate when these connections are strengthened by shared interests and practices. Next of Kin celebrates just that sort of link featuring work from the extended Fredericks – Asmussen family through the triumvirate of Scott Fredericks (son), Pam Fredericks (mum) and Joan Asmussen (auntie).
Next of Kin is a testament to the diversity to be found even amongst families. And while the artists pursue varying disciplines and different styles, their work nonetheless shares common qualities of materiality, design and ‘completeness’.
Joan Asmussen is a member of the Basket Makers of Victoria, drawing inspiration from the shapes, colours and textures of plants and trees in creating her contemporary woven vessels. These grow from a base of dried and coloured gourds, graduating to a rhythmic interweaving of natural materials, and occasional topping of playful fibres that are more Mr. Curly than Shaker. They are 3D weavings, referencing traditional basket forms, but wholly contemporary in their presentation.
Pam Fredericks has shifted practice from painting to mosaic art that is strongly illustrative. The architectural forms of native plants such as banksias and waratahs reflect her love of design; the completed works have a lyrical interplay of colour, pattern and shape. These are like botanical drawings rendered as muscular images of favourite native plants, speaking of the robust nature of our indigenous flora.
Scott Fredericks has observed his surroundings through a camera for over 21 years, and over this time he, too, has embraced a very graphic rendering – in his case, of the built environment. The patterns of light and shade, shape and contour, angles and perspective dominate his palette. These images are simultaneously rigidly composed and ephemeral, generating tension in waiting for the next ‘moment in time’ to alter the view.