Ripples in the Open – a moving collage exhibition at Realm’s ArtSpace

Council is proud to present Ripples in the Open, a mesmerising large-scale exhibition created specifically for ArtSpace at Realm.

Ripples in the Open is the work of long-time collaborators Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison, who have taken Realm’s ArtSpace wall and transformed it into an immersive floor-to-ceiling printed landscape featuring portholes of moving collage.

Luminous moving images sit alongside paintings and collages to create a layered and multi-dimensional experience for the viewer, and invites them to explore things that are hidden in plain sight.

Each of the animals you see, winking and shifting as you walk through the space, have been animated into movement using the application of lenticular photography, a technique for simulating movement and depth.

At times the animal inhabitant will be hard to spot, a chameleon camouflaged in the floral arbour; other times it will dominate the landscape. Observers are left to ponder and perhaps find that things are not always as they first appear.

Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison are visual storytellers from Melbourne who use paper as their primary medium for making collages, artists’ books, prints, zines and drawings. As artist Gracia Haby commented, “The invitation to develop this exhibition at Realm has been a really wonderful opportunity for us to pursue a new direction in our artistic practice  and to work on such an expanded scale”.

Earlier this year, Council commissioned the artists’ public artwork A Weight of Albatross, which is now installed above the stairwell void at Realm. The work combines kinetic sculpture with sustainability, and extends their expertise with intricately cut paper to a grand scale using laser-cut Perspex and steel.

Alongside this exhibition, there will be the opportunity to join artist-run workshops at Realm during December and January:

Zine Making Workshop  17 January 2019 with artists Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison for Ages 12+

Magical Miniature Painting 8 December 2018 with artist Nusra Latif Qureshi for Adults

Crafty Basket Making  19 January 2019 with maker Vicki Fowler for Ages 12+

While you are at Realm, pop up to Library level 1 to see a selection of five of Haby and Jennison’s artist books now on display in the showcases located in the Realm library on Level one.

When: from now until Sunday 27 January 2019 Where: ArtSpace at Realm, Ringwood Town Square, 179 Maroondah Highway, Ringwood. Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm, weekends 10am to 5pm. Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.