In this special NGV Collection issue of NGV Magazine we celebrate the many ways that art, design and creativity can offer solace and inspiration. Art connects us to each other, gives meaning to our experiences, invites stillness and silence for contemplation, fills us with love, inspires hope, and provides us with a sense of calm in challenging times.
DIGITAL EXCLUSIVES
Author reading: Woolgathering
Melbourne author Alice Bishop offers a reflection on the forgotten art of daydreaming. Perhaps more important than ever, she reminds us ‘to take time to experience, to let ourselves think of the bigger picture and to relish in colours and sensations again’.
Animation: Clara Southern
Take a closer look at the composition of influential Australian fin-de-siècle artist Clara Southern’s An old bee farm, c.1900 and discover some of its hallmarks of the Australian impressionist style, before reading about the work in more detail.
CURATORS INTRODUCE LIFE & TIMES: HER STORY
In part two of Life & Times: Her Story, we hear more about the achievements of women artists in the NGV Collection. Listen to NGV Curators on how these artists inspire them.
Portfolio: Grant Featherston’s Photos
Housed in the NGV’s Shaw Research Library, The Grant and Mary Featherston Archive is a wealth of material covering the iconic Australian design duo’s practice from 1946 to 1995. The archive includes hundreds of photographs and negatives taken by Grant Featherston of Australian landscapes, flora and fauna. Grant Featherston’s focus on pattern, movement and form in nature, such as the gentle arrangement of dandelion seeds attached fleetingly to the bud, is captured in these photographs, as seen in the selection below. For Featherston, nature held the answers to design questions: ‘In my mind’s eye the “simple solution” is as nature would have it: minimum materials, maximum effect, like the elbow.’
Hidden treasures from the NGV Collection
In this issue of NGV Magazine members of the NGV team share works from the NGV Collection that inspire and delight them, and we continue to share some personal favourites, including NGV Magazine Editorial Coordinator Paige Farrell’s pick, Girl reading.