Anita Larkin Sculptor Feltmaker

Since I was a small child I have collected and assembled found objects. Some of my fondest memories of being a child are the regular trips we would make to the refuse tip. Those were the days when the public was allowed to scrounge around for stuff upon the mountains of rubbish. A great time was had hunting for treasures – and they were free! Dad was forever finding useful bits and pieces that would ‘ one day come in handy’. Watching him build things from recycled materials, I developed an eye for seeing the potential of objects and the ability of materials to be transformed into something else.

In 1993 I completed a Bachelor of Visual Art at Sydney College of the Arts, Australia. In that same year I began making my own felt for sculptures and quickly developed a passion for the potential of this ancient craft. Feltmaking still informs part of my art practice, and I regularly teach classes in all aspects of feltmaking. In 2001 I travelled to Turkey and 2004 to The World Meeting of Felt Artists in Hungary to learn more skills in this craft. The felt I make by hand using the hair of various sheep in much the same way as nomadic cultures have done for thousands of years. It is an intriguing material that is both primitive yet industrial, and intensely tactile and evocative.

1997 saw my first solo show at Project Contemporary Art Space in Wollongong, with a series of life-size figurative works in paper and felt cast directly from the body. Subsequent solo shows developed my interest in working with collected objects and felt. I began making hypothetical inventions for contemporary man from yesterday’s refuse, and incorporated felt components into these works. In 2007 I had a one-year residency and solo show at Wollongong City Gallery. Object Incognito featured poignantly fictitious inventions that underlined states of human isolation and communication. The works I create are often humorous but have an element of the tragic or post-apocalyptic about them.

The 2009 solo show at Defiance Gallery in Sydney consolidated for me my particular way of working with collected objects, and also introduced cast bronze components into the works. Bronze casting of sculptures has developed into a strong part of my current art practice. Collected objects are used as symbols and metaphors within a sculpture. I consider the objects past function, and possible re-interpretation, as equally as the aesthetic contribution it might make to my works. The role of function and dysfunction within sculpture continues to intrigue me, with many of my sculptures appearing as if they have a practical function. I intentionally blur the boundaries between sculpture, artifact and toy.

Making by hand an object, allows me to pay attention to detail and craftsmanship. Each of my works reveal the marks of having been made by hand, which makes them appear as if they have already lived a life, as if they already existed. The felt works have developed into complex wearable sculptural forms that are usually felted in one piece. Although most of my works are on a small human scale I have also made large Public Art sculptures for Wollongong City Council.

I have exhibited extensively in group shows throughout Australia and internationally, Some of these include; Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney (2002, 2003); The University of Western Sydney Sculpture Prize (2004, 2006, 2010); The Wynne Prize, The Art Gallery of New South Wales (2006, 2008); The Asia-Australia Arts Centre (2006); The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize (2009) The Hungarian National Gallery (2004); Museo del Tessuto, Prato, Italy (2010); Jap.Palais Dresden, Germany (2010).

My work is represented in both private and public collections, such as the Lady Ethel Nock Sculpture Collection, Wollongong City Council, Westmead Hospital, Wollongong City Gallery, and Macquarie University Sculpture Park.

Represented in Sydney by Defiance Gallery since 2002, I continue to show with them regularly particularly enjoying to make works for their Annual 6”Miniature Sculpture Show. Defiance Gallery would welcome your enquiries as to purchasing or viewing my work. You can also see some of my work at No.10 Arts Precinct Jamberoo in NSW.

‘I transform the collected object into sculptures evoking a human narrative, revealing a strange beauty within the forgotten and discarded. The works display a wry sense of wit and humour, and play with the suggestion of physical movement or a practical function for the hitherto inanimate object.’ Anita Larkin

Anita Larkin