INTRODUCING CARMEL LUMLEY

After twenty years practicing as a Doctor in Brisbane, a health condition triggered a career change for Ceramic artist Carmel Lumley. She trained at Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, Oxide Clay Art and is mentored by Fred Luddite. Her work has been shortlisted for Moreton Bay Art Award, Ipswich Art Award and she has had three solo exhibitions at Firelane Gallery and Brisbane Institute of Art’s Metcalfe Gallery. Here, Carmel discusses her practice and forthcoming exhibition Democracy – The Exercise of Personal Voice with Emma Collerton.

E:  In October you will be having an exhibition called Democracy – The exercise of Personal Voice at the Brisbane Institute of Art. What inspired you to explore this complex theme?

C:  With the election of President Trump in the USA, and our own dissatisfaction with politics here in Australia, it seemed that Democracy was worth looking at. Does it work? Does it matter what the individual thinks? Does an individual have any power to shape their own life let alone the country in which they live? This seemed very compatible with my own work which often uses the installation of multiples to form a whole, and where each individual piece matters.

E:  One of the works you have created for the exhibition is titled Mountains.

C:  Often mountains are used as metaphors for problems or goals: How do you move a mountain or climb a mountain? It seemed that the answer to both involved breaking the task down into smaller parts. So as moving a mountain happens one stone at a time, or climbing one is done one step at a time, then tackling say an injustice is done in the same way: one piece of information, one change of opinion, one vote, one submission, one protest, one piece of legislation at a time. And it’s something we’re all familiar with. Raising a child, pursuing a career, making a home, achieving anything worthwhile takes many small steps. The installation will have 3 parts to echo these ideas: one large mountain, a set of tiny mountains like individual steps in the climb, and a small mountain of stones.

E:  Another work created for the exhibition is Responsibility, hand-made glazed abstract shapes inspired by the form of shoulders. How does this artwork link with your notion of Democracy?

C:  The rub with democracy is that we all share responsibility, or the burden for outcomes. Often burdens are carried or thought of as yokes with the weight across our shoulders and we have an instinctual understanding of moving our shoulders to make carrying something more comfortable, or to relieve stress. When making them, I felt I needed to resolve the relationship of 3 forces: from the neck and each shoulder, so that if you placed your hands on them, you could almost feel a real person’s body moving to adjust. They also have small figures carved on them, throwing circles to each other - so the burden is not borne alone.

E:  In the 1980s you studied medicine at The University of Queensland and were a practicing Doctor for 21 years before exploring your artistic creativity. How much does your medical experience inform your current practice?

C:  Much of Medicine is about patterns - of symptoms and signs, of cells and bodies and populations. It’s also about how those patterns resonate at the different orders of magnitude, each order made up of the units of the order below. The “Big fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bight ‘em, and Little fleas have lesser fleas and so ad infinitum” idea. It’s the same with my installation pieces, and then with the collection of works for a show. There’s also the overarching concern for health and growth. There is something affirming and beautiful about a healthy individual or a fully resolved artwork that transcends any transient popular idea of what looks good or the way a person should be.

E:  Tell me about your installation The Electoral Roll.

C:  It began with square patterns piped with glaze onto square commercial tiles. At the time, Iwasn’t well and it was the best I could do. In order to respect both myself and the tiles I had to understand what was going on with the squares made up of smaller squares. This was around the same time as Trump’s election in the USA, and the word democratic came upwhen explaining the tiles to a friend, each square just like a person in a democracy (equal in value but no two the same). I then looked at other squares: Joseph Alber’s Hommage, quilting patterns and Pashtun embroidery. The humble square could sing while still being grounded, and it remained unique and indispensable while making up larger bodies.

The commercial tiles gave me identical “canvases”, and using store-bought glazes allowed me speed and reliability. I chose a simple DNA of 5 colours. It was important to make a large immersive piece made up of humble units.  They hang as a chorus of colour on
the wall in a loose grid array, just like a map on election night. The electoral roll is a list of unique and interesting individuals, and on the wall it’s easy to see that each individual’s character or voice has an influence, and that if an individual is missing it makes a difference.

E:  For several years you studied at Brisbane North Institute of TAFE under the tutorage of ceramic artist Joe Ottaway and installation artist Fred Luddite. Can you please elaborate on what drew you to sculpture and how skills learnt has informed your practice.

C:  I was enormously lucky to have Joe and Fred as teachers. They wanted you to make YOUR work WELL, and gave you the tools and support to do so. They also fostered a non-competitive respectful atmosphere, showing us artists who made great work and who came from diverse backgrounds, so we could all find someone who had succeeded with whom we could identify.

Making many small units allowed me to improve technically. As with most ceramicists, I loved getting something as close to right as I could, then giving it up to be fired, and getting back something that was the same, but so different. Ceramics is all about the give and take you have with the materials, and then having faith while it changes in the kiln. When it comes out, you then need the humility to accept the outcome.

E:  Each of your artworks in Democracy – The Exercise of Personal Voice is carefully conceived - both conceptually and the physical artwork. Can you discuss your working process, approach to technique and importance of presentation.

C:  Usually, the seeds of the next show are sown while finishing the last one. There will be an idea that expands into something which looks like it will have depth, interest and balance. I’ll then start playing with the “knowns” ie. get information on definitions, words associated with the theme, and contexts, and work in a visual journal to enlarge the subject matter into something I can call my own. A review of my “toolbox” of techniques usually suggests how I’ll interpret it in ceramics. Sometimes there’ll be a technique I wish to learn, and that has to find it’s partner conceptually. After that it’s all collaboration, me as I am at any particular time and with a certain set of skills, listening to and engaging with the materials and the ideas.

I also get regular feedback and inspiration from Fred and other artists. That connection to an artistic community is as important as any other aspect; it especially helps maintain a high quality and endurance. The final “work” is the installation of the show. I approach it as if it’s another artwork, so it has to have its own sense of resolution, like a good story does. I want the exhibition space to be one where the viewer can come and find their mind opening and cares retreating. That means making it immersive so I use both the walls and plinths, but it also has to feel safe and fertile.

E:  Who are your mentors?

C:  I’m very grateful that Fred Luddite continues to mentor me in his kind, unassuming, deeply knowledgeable style. I also draw on information about the life and works of artists such as Rosalie Gascoigne, Betty Woodman and the Omie bark artists of Papua New Guinea. For this body of work in particular, I began research with the internet. As well as descriptive passages on Democracy from government and NGO sites, I’m also interested in quotes, as often a few words encapsulate a perspective eloquently. Here I’m thinking especially ofJames Bovard’s quote “Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.” My antennae are always up and podcasts on sociology and psychology often give clues to follow. Once I narrow down sub-themes, poetry and music can help me understand what I’m after. Examples would be Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of Myself” and Sean Rowe’s song “To Leave Something Behind”. And of course, once I start making, a generative dialogue is set up between the work and concept. What I’m looking for is a strong visceral grasp of the concept I can then express.

E:  What do you hope visitors will take away upon viewing your exhibition?

C:  The belief that they do matter, paired with a light heart.

EXHIBITION INFORMATION:

CARMEL LUMLEY: Democracy - The Exercise of Personal Voice

26 October - 6 November 2018
Metcalfe Gallery, Brisbane Institute of Art 41 Grafton Street, Windsor, Brisbane 10am-4pm daily

INTERVIEWER:

Emma Collerton has worked in Gallery sector curating exhibitions including Signs of the Times, Modern Australia and Sight and Sound at Gold Coast City Gallery, Orange Regional Gallery’s touring The Three Os: Orban, Ogburn and Olsen exhibition and Focus Room: Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo at Art Gallery of New South Wales. She studied Art History and Museum Studies at The University of Sydney and Fine Art at Queensland College of Art. Currently she is Curator at Bathurst Regional Art Gallery in New South Wales.

For further information on “Democracy”, please use the following links: