MAPS: Finding Antarctica: Mapping the last Continent

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Finding Antarctica: Mapping the last Continent

This exhibition includes about 100 rare maps spanning centuries of fascination with the great southern land. It draws from the library's collection of 200,000 maps.

On his second voyage in 1772, Captain Cook set out to prove whether Antarctica existed. He didn't find it and decided that if there was land down there it was uninhabitable.

When: Dec 5, 2011 to Feb 19, 2012
Where: State Library of NSW

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Donna McCaffrey

Before being inspired by this project the most I recalled about Capt. Cook's explorations was limited to the childhood rhyme "Captain Cook chased a chook…". It wouldn't have occurred to me to read generally about the travels of Cook and his fellow explorers or look at the ships logs made at the time. During the course of my readings I recalled places I had explored on holiday. This has inspired me to create textile works of the places noted in Cook's log as he travelled but as explored by me.

Sheralie Wood

I love being out in the natural world and always feel inspired to recreate in some form what I have experienced. I find joy in the process of creation, even though it's often difficult and I love the meditative quality in stitching.

I've recently experimented quite a bit with vegetable and rust dyeing of fabrics which is fun because you never know how it's going to turn out. Then I combine these fabrics with felt and stitching to create shallow bowls – little microcosms.

In my current research for the MAPS exhibition, I have been inspired by the Australian aborigines' “mapping” of the land in their paintings and hope to express the feeling of this in my own work.

Christene B

I aspire to be a fibre and textile artist – I love to stitch. I enjoy experimenting with a variety of techniques, fabric and thread and I draw my inspiration from nature. MAPS 11 allows me to enjoy the company of like-minded friends whilst researching a specific topic and producing a body of work for exhibition. I find the research as much fun as the challenge of designing and stitching and I have the opportunity of travelling to places I never imagined I would both to learn about our topic and to improve my skills as an artist.

Diana Thomas

Diana is a librarian who started constructing quilts and wall hangings in the 1980's. She has completed TAFE courses in Commercial Needlecraft Advanced, as well as Design and Colour, and has had pieces hung at Quilt Australia `88 and with the Hunters Hill Quilters, The Quilters' Guild of NSW and at other exhibitions in Australia and Canada. Currently a part time PHD student at Wollongong University, Diana is writing a thesis on the textile arts in Australian fiction. Texture and colour are Diana's main concerns - any fabric is contemplated for use depending on how it feels to the touch or how it reflects light. Velvet, brocade, taffeta and evening dress fabrics are common inclusions. Quilting is usually random embroidery through the 3 layers – with particular emphasis on the use of chain stitch. The hexagon and variations on the hexagon, and how they can be manipulated through the use of positive and negative space, has occupied many hours. Her latest wall pieces are abstract wall hangings inspired by books that she has read.

MAPS

Exhibition Dates

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Finding Antarctica: Mapping the last Continent

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