As the final days of the season approach for A Forest of Hooks and Nails we caught up with exhibiting artists Phoebe Clarke, Zev Weinstein and Maxxi Minaxi May to learn more about the works they created, and what aspects of Fremantle Arts Centre and exhibition install sparked their curiosity.
Phoebe Clarke
Phoebe Clarke is a Perth-based visual artist. Her practice is multidisciplinary, but Phoebe’s passion lies with making installation sculpture, driven by materiality. Having worked on FAC’s install crew for three years, Phoebe was torn how to approach the brief for A Forest of Hooks and Nails – there were so many possibilities!
In the end, she grasped the opportunity to work on a large scale, creating two new works – an installation which involved cladding one of the fireplaces in the Main Gallery entirely in felt, and a group of hanging textile works.
Both works reflect on FAC’s building and the many lives it has lived since being built in the 1890s. It was an asylum, a women’s home and a naval base before eventually being re-purposed as an arts centre. Her works elegantly position those uses as different skins, or different lenses through which to view the space.
Phoebe Clarke, Prior to, 2021, organza and embroidery thread, dimensions variable. Photography by Rebecca Mansell
Zev Weinstein
When asked how to describe his practice Zev Weinstein responded that, “I take weird photos and spend lots of time splashing around in the ocean.” It’s a modest response considering he studied photography and contemporary art at ECU and is widely considered a skilled photographer.
For A Forest of Hooks and Nails, Zev drew from his family history and personal memories, while responding to the recent Fremantle Arts Centre exhibition Orange: Sannyas in Fremantle (2017). Zev’s parents were connected with the Rajneesh movement in Oregon and Puna.
To create his audio-visual installation Zev photographed family objects including his father’s mala, combining his photographs with found imagery and personal archival material. The mesmerising results fulfil Zev’s wish to create an aesthetic and explore a feeling, rather than make a political judgement.
Zev Weinstein, (photographs L-R), Breathe, 2016, 35mm photograph on Hahnemuhle satin rag, 96 x 67cm, edition 1/10. Osho, 2020, found image on Hahnemuhle satin rag, 96 x 59cm, edition 1/10. Mala, 2018, 35mm photograph on Hahnemuhle satin rag, 96 x 67cm, edition 1/10. Zev Weinstein, Ecstatic television, 2021, CRT TV and single channel video, 11 mins 8 secs. Song credit: I can only bliss out (F’days), Laraaji. Photography by Rebecca Mansell
Zev Weinstein, Breathe, 2018, 35mm photograph on Hahemuhle satin rag, 96 x 67cm, ed. 1 of 10. Photography by Rebecca Mansell
Maxxi Minaxi May
Process is very important to Maxxi Minaxi May’s work. The multi-disciplinary artist works with sculpture, mixed-media, printmaking and installation, playing with the relationships between the industrial and the everyday.
Maxxi’s series of small sculptures in A Forest of Hooks and Nails display her trademark playfulness and use of colour.
After brainstorming works that related to install, tools and FAC itself, Maxxi finally settled on the use of rulers. Available in so many shapes and forms, the rulers in these works no longer function as measuring devices but have become tools of form and structure. Colour and pattern were brought to life when lighting was introduced, another vital element of install. The refracting light is almost like a drawing projected onto the walls of the galleries.
Maxxi Minaxi May, The light crystals, 2021, FSC wood and plastic rulers, glue, 33 x 11 x 198cm. Photography by Rebecca Mansell
Maxxi Minaxi May, The light crystals (detail), 2021, FSC wood and plastic rulers, glue, 33 x 11 x 198cm. Photography by Rebecca Mansell
Follow the Artists for more!
Follow @phoebe.flynn.clark @zev.weinstein and @maxxi_minaxi_may_artist to see what other projects are coming up for these three!
A Forest of Hooks and Nails closes 5pm Sunday 14 March. Free entry
Top image: Phoebe Clarke, A breath felt, 2021, felt, fire bellow, video with sound, dimensions variable. Photography by Rebecca Mansell
