DEBORAH HALPERN Hug a Tree, Kiss a Dog

DEBORAH HALPERN Hug a Tree, Kiss a Dog

DEBORAH HALPERN Hug a Tree, Kiss a Dog 15 June 8 July 2017 Opening reception Thursday 15 June, 6pm Over her incredible forty-year career, Deborah Halpern has produced an extraordinary body of work traversing the mediums of sculpture, painting, pottery, glass blowing and printmaking. Through her numerous public sculptures, the artist has become a much-respected figure within the art world. Featuring a colourful herd of whimsical creatures, Halpern s new collection represents a return to her formative love of ceramics. Incarnating the artist s characteristic spirit of experimentation and imagination, the sculptures conjure a dreamscape of animated childhood fantasies and fairy tales. Yet despite this playful hue, they nonetheless represent a deep artistry and masterful manipulation of medium. Large, totemic figures adorned with hand-mixed glazes watch over wandering creatures and anthropomorphic busts with unblinking omniscient eyes. These surreal ceramic beings, excavated from Halpern s eccentric mind, embody the irrationality of our contemporary world wherein conventional frontiers of logic and expectation are being breached by unimaginable human advancements and radical new ways of thinking. Reflecting on her enduring affiliation with Lewis Carroll s Alice in Wonderland, the artist says I find the state of the world as mad as the Mad Hatter s tea party with the dormouse in the teapot, the hookah smoking caterpillar on the toadstool that Alice nibbles and the sea of tears that Alice swims in. Conflating humanity and animality, culture and nature, Halpern s hybridity of forms ultimately celebrates our contemporary world of infinite possibilities. Halpern has exhibited extensively around Australia and internationally, and she has been the recipient of a number of awards abd grants including the Professional Development Grant, Crafts Board, Australia Council; Crafts Board, Australia Council Grant to work and research in France and the Special Projects Grant, Visual Arts/Craft Board, Australia Council. She has completed various major public commissions including Power of Community, Beauty Park, City of Frankston (2002), The Spirit of Nilumbik, Eltham Town Square, Shire of Nilumik (2001), The Spirit of Enquiry, Australian National University, Canberra (2001), Face Maze, Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne (1997), as well as a number of private commissions. Halpern s work is held in numerous important collections in Australia and overseas, such as Artbank, Sydney; Australian National University, Canberra; Australian National Gallery, Canberra; Ballarat Fine Art Gallery; Geelong Art Gallery; Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne; Melbourne University Collection; the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Osaka Sculpture Park, Japan; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane; Shepparton Art Gallery and the University of New South Wales, Sydney.

Cat with Hibiscus 49 x 23 x 16 cm $2,200 Curly tail 50 x 24 x 41 cm $4,500 Cat and person 69 x 18 x 20 cm $2,200 Cat and fish 62 x 16 x 15 cm $2,200

Small person (orange hair and blue) 30 x 14 x 18 cm $550 Small person (red hair and green) 30 x 14 x 18 cm $550 Person on three legs with flowers 25 x 17 x 12 cm $550 Creature with long neck (three legs) 51 x 26 x 31 cm $4,600

Jug with roses and three legs 58 x 21 x 38 cm $5,500 Amphora with two handles (front and back) 50 x 42 x 20 cm $5,500 Little piglet 23 x 18 x 27 cm $1,600 Birdjug 35 x 31 x 28 cm $3,600

Family 62 x 21 x 46 cm $6,500 Chess vessel 40 x 34 x 48 cm $2,900 Vessel with sleeping dog 35 x 19 x 57 cm $2,800 Mad cat 21 x 14 x 12 cm $950

Golden hair 48 x 20 x 30 cm $3,500 Winged creature 66 x 38 x 22 cm $6,500 Person holding flower 50.5 x 15 x 20 cm $3,200 Jug with three handles 58 x 36 x 20 cm $5,500

Tower of fish 114 x 25 x 11 cm $7,000 Tower of people 140 x 25 x 15 cm $7,000 Pale person with purple arm 115 x 13 x 14 cm $6,000 Kitty 138 x 23 x 20 cm $12,000

Queen of flowers 80 x 60 x 22 cm $15,000 Reaching for the sky 180 x 60 x 22 cm $15,000 Two dogs 130 x 28 x 28 cm $8,000 Flower child 89 x 14 x 14 cm $5,000

Green face 42.5 x 11 x 11 cm $750 Jug with blue handles (front and back) 44 x 36 x 23 cm $5,500 Leaf creature 45 x 26 x 41 cm $4,600 Person with hand on face 57.5 x 24 x 30 cm $3,800

Person on three legs with flower 29 x 10 x 10 cm $550 Pillow head 46 x 28 x 18 cm $3,500 Small person with yellow hair and purple 29 x 14 x 13 cm $550 Cloud, spirit, earth 100 x 70 cm $1,290 (framed)

Person with vase of flowers 100 x 65 cm $1,290 (framed) Flying spirits, sleeping person 56 x 75.5 cm Person in garden 56.5 x 75.5 cm Dances with dogs 56 x 75.5 cm

Dog flying over harbour 56.5 x 75.5 cm The dog jumped over the bridge 56 x 76 cm Flying girl in chequered dress 56 x 76 cm Flying dog 57 x 75.5 cm

Flying horse 56.5 x 75.5 cm Person and plant 75.5 x 56.5 cm Pink creature flying over bridge and Luna Park 57 x 77 cm Fat yellow dog flying 57 x 77 cm

Girl with fish hat 77 x 57 cm Girl with vase of flowers 77 x 57 cm Flying fish 77 x 57 cm Flowers and girl 77 x 57 cm

Leaping dog 57 x 77 cm Pink cloud, blue dog, green tree 57 x 77 cm Friends (cat and fish) 57 x 77 cm Tiger dog over landscape 57 x 77 cm

Curly cat cruising 57 x 77 cm Plump bird goes on an adventure 57 x 77 cm Girl and dog (friends) 57 x 77 cm Spirit and tree 60 x 42 cm $850 (framed)

Flying over trees 42.5 x 60 cm $850 (framed) Flying through trees 42 x 60 cm $850 (framed) Explorer 59.5 x 42 cm $850 (framed) Magnetic waves 42.5 x 60 cm $850 (framed)

Spirit over water 58.5 x 40 cm $850 (framed) Bird, boat, fish 57 x 38.5 cm $800 (framed) Cheeky cat 38.5 x 57 cm $800 (framed) Puddle spirit Indian ink and goache on paper 38.5 x 57 cm $800 (framed)

Spirit, cloud, landscape 57 x 38.5 cm $800 (framed) Girl with dog flying free 57 x 38.5 cm $800 (framed) Yellow boat 38.5 x 57 cm $800 (framed) Girl and single flower 38.5 x 57 cm $800 (framed)

Fully stretched dog over bridge 38.5 x 57 cm $800 (framed) Offering fragrance 38.5 x 57 cm $800 (framed) Leaves, chair, boat, fish 38.5 x 57 cm $800 (framed) Chair in landscape 31 x 44 cm $750 (framed)

Wind, boat, fish 30.5 x 43.5 cm $750 (framed) Travellers 31.5 x 43.5 cm $750 (framed) Straight gaze 43.5 x 31 cm $750 (framed) Girl with rainbow hair 31 x 43.5 cm $750 (framed)

Wistful girl 43.5 x 30.5 cm $750 (framed) Looking in both directions 43.5 x 31 cm $750 (framed) Girl with hand in landscape 44 x 31.5 cm $750 (framed) Dreaming girl 28.5 x 38.5 cm $700 (framed)

Two clouds and boat 28.5 x 38.5 cm $700 (framed) Two clouds and fish 28.5 x 38.5 cm $700 (framed) Sleeping girl 28.5 x 38.5 cm $700 (framed) Cloud over Opera House 28.5 x 38.5 cm $700 (framed)

Bridge and boat 28.5 x 38.5 cm $700 (framed)