Terrace Projection: Michael Wolfe 20/70

Join exhibiting artist Michael Wolfe for a conversation with producer Suzanne Donisthorpe, artist Phil Elson and CAM Director, Naomi Cass at Castlemaine Art Museum on Sunday 19 May, 1:30pm.

Through photographic portraits featuring 21 visual artists over age 70 from Mount Alexander Shire, Michael Wolfe's 20/70 explores how an artist’s practice is both dynamic and in constant evolution. It asks just what does creativity, character and commitment count for across a lifetime as an artist?

This conversation will delve into Wolfe's current Terrace Projection, discussing this new series of work, including the process of collaboration with the vast array of artists featured within the series, as well as the broader themes the work explores such as artistic expression, creative freedom and the impact of arts practice.

Speakers

Michael Wolfe
Michael Wolfe has had over 30 solo exhibitions and numerous group shows, such as being included in the 2019 Castlemaine State Festival with the exhibition ‘Shimmer’, the 2020 contemporary landscape survey show (Con)textural Landscapes at Bendigo Art Gallery, 2021 Ballarat International Foto Biennale open program, and collaborated with renowned Australian author Alex Miller in the international collab project and exhibition 'Now&Them' in Shanghai China. Michael has exhibited widely in Australia and internationally and his work is included in public, corporate and private collections. These include Bendigo Art Gallery; La Trobe University; Capital Theatre, Bendigo; Old Fire Station Arts Centre, Bendigo; La Trobe Building Society.

Suzanne Donisthorpe
Suzanne Donisthorpe was a producer/reporter on every incarnation of the Books and Arts program on ABC Radio National for over 20 years. She curated the well received show at Lot 19, Castlemaine, Signs of the Times in 2022. Her novel Getting Up was published by Pan Macmillan in 2013. She currently hosts The Retronauts program on Castlemaine public radio MAINfm.

Phil Elson
Phil Elson's ceramics art practice over the past 35 years has been strongly informed by the ceramics of South East Asia; in particular the art of Japan, China and Korea. Phil has undertaken an Australia Council studio residency in Barcelona, and has travelled to Berlin, the rural areas of India and Nepal and beyond, inviting his arts practice to be challenged by these environments. Their influence has influenced Phil's work in a strong change in the colour palette of glazes that was subsequently used and are still engaged with a changing practice. The significance of place, both culturally and artistically, has become important to the artist, which commenced in Barcelona. The powerful role of place has developed in his work and continues today.

Celebrate the launch of the latest Terrace Projection: Michael Wolfe 20/70 and the exhibition opening of Wildflowers – The First Ladies of Castlemaine Art Museum on Friday 8 March, 6:30pm.

Thank you to major sponsors, local winemaking co-operative Boomtown Wine, and local bar and brewery Love Shack Brewing Company for sponsoring wine and beer, alongside support from StrangeLove with non-alc beverages.

Free event. Please RSVP here.

Wildflowers – The First Ladies of Castlemaine Art Museum

Opening on International Women’s Day, Wildflowers pays homage to the group of women whose vision and entrepreneurial spirit was pivotal to the establishment of Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum (now known as CAM). The origin story of this museum is one of defiance and solidarity, of educated young women using their privilege for the advancement of their community and forging life-long friendships in the process.

This origin story inspired a series of community workshops run in conjunction with the National Trust’s Australian Heritage Festival 2023. Participants were invited to contribute a fabric motif symbolising the stories of these seven women. These were then sewn together into a single artefact, or storycloth. Devised and curated by Sarah Frazer, this storycloth forms the exhibition’s centrepiece and represents the combined effort of 24 artists, mostly from Castlemaine. It speaks to the materiality of the era and the sewing skills that each of CAM’s First Ladies possessed.

Terrace Projection: Michael Wolfe 20/70

In the 1970s they were in their 20s, and now in the 2020s they’re in their 70s and beyond. Unlike some traditional professions, where a defined age often marks the end of a career, artists tend to continue creating as long as they’re able.

In photographic portraits by Castlemaine artist Michael Wolfe, featuring 21 visual artists over age 70 from Mount Alexander Shire, this exhibition projection 20/70 explores how an artist’s practice is both dynamic and in constant evolution. Just what does creativity, character and commitment count for across a lifetime as an artist?