Araluen Cultural Precinct Creative in Residence recipient presents culmination of work in Intersections and Boundaries

The Department of Tourism, Sport and Culture’s Araluen Arts Centre proudly presents Intersections and Boundaries, the culmination of ceramic artist Mel Robson’s research and experimentation as the latest Araluen Cultural Precinct Creative in Residence recipient.

“We are thrilled to present our Creative in Residence artist, Mel Robson, in this stunning exhibition,” Senior Director of the Department of Tourism, Sport and Culture’s Araluen Cultural Precinct, Dr Mark Crees said.

“The Creative in Residence program is an Arts NT initiative and provides an opportunity for NT artists to gain intimate access to various important art and historical collections, such as the Araluen Art Collection, and develop a body of work in response.”

Robson drew upon both two and three-dimensional works from the Araluen Art Collection and engaged with the local community to create a new body of ceramic works exploring the idea of Place, through the lens of mapping and cartography.

Intersections and Boundaries explores ideas that maps are not neutral but present selective information, communicating particular viewpoints, expressing, supporting and shaping our view of the world and our place in it.

Investigating those ideas, Robson held map drawing workshops with diverse members of the community, creating collaborative works utilising locally dug clay throughout her residency.

Workshop participants were asked to make quick hand drawn maps – memory maps of where people grew up, where they live now and places special to them.

The resulting maps have been transferred onto clay tiles, creating literal “mud maps”!

In response to works from the Araluen Art Collection, Robson in particular explored the idea of the line - a universal mapping device through which space is defined, boundaries delineated, relationships laid out, journeys documented and ownership claimed.

Robson has chosen a number of works from the Araluen Collection that particularly evoke a sense of place through the use of line and cartographic reference. Those works, some of which are included in the exhibition, were significant starting points of influence in Robson’s own work and responses. 

A number of works in the exhibition have been made using local clay, gathered and processed by hand, in consultation with Traditional Owners.  The clay was gathered from an area known as a women’s place.

Women from the community, all of whom have diverse and unique connections with the local area, were invited by Robson to create a map on the local clay.

The story of place is continually being re-made. Intersections and Boundaries suggests that mapping is one way in which we can continue to examine the construction of place and our relationship to it, and to navigate the complex histories of the places we live.

“Ms Robson’s Residency and the resulting exhibition creates a space and a context within which people can share stories about place, which coheres with the primary curatorial rationale of Araluen as a cultural institution that facilitates and collects works of art that respond to Central Australia,” Dr Crees said.

Mel Robson is a ceramic artist based in Alice Springs, Central Australia. For over 20 years she has been creating functional objects, sculptural works, installation pieces and public art. Robson’s work is held in national and international collections and is regularly featured in art and design publications.

Intersections and Boundaries will be officially opened on Friday 21 June at 6pm by qualified architect, educator and map maker, Yash Srivastava.

Join Mel Robson for an artist floor talk at Araluen Arts Centre on Saturday 22 June, from 10:30am.

Intersections and Boundaries will show in the Araluen Galleries until 18 August.

Image: (Top) Mel Robson, A sense of Place (detail) 2018, hand built earthenware and slipcast porcelain with decals and underglaze. (Bottom) Mel Robson, Pastoral (detail) 2019, wheel thrown porcelain