Photo: Andrew Eden, image supplied
March 23 - July 29, 2020
Andrew Eden, Blake Canham-Bennett, Annabel Hume and Mark Mason
*** Please note that due to the unfolding COVID-19 situation, The Mill’s galleries and studios are closed to the public. If you have any questions, please email our Visual Arts Curator Adele Sliuzas***
The Mill Showcase is a gallery space dedicated to artists who work in our studio spaces at our Angas Street location, exhibiting some of the artworks and products that have been produced under our roof. The Mill Showcase profiles our artists, so that you can put a face to the name and get to know some of our dedicated makers.
This sophomore edition of The Mill Showcase features work by Andrew Eden, Blake Canham-Bennett, Annabel Hume and Mark Mason.
About the artists:
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AG is an Adelaide based design studio led by Andrew Eden. Specialising in furniture, lighting & interiors, the studio's focus is to partner with other local manufacturers, trades and artisans to produce high quality pieces & outcomes that are competitively priced. Andrew Eden is an industrial designer, graduating with honours and a minor stream in furniture design. He undertook the associate program in the furniture studio at JamFactory in 2013-14.
He has worked extensively throughout the design industry with over 15 years commercial experience. A highlight was working on Indigo Slam in Chippendale, Sydney and a private commission with Khai Liew including over 200 bespoke furniture and lighting pieces.
‘AG is a design studio with a philosophy of cadence, functionality & artistry. My designs are approachable, utilitarian products with a knowing handmade reticence. I believe elaboration does not aggrandise beauty–simplicity does.’
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Mark Mason works primarily as a tattooer, using handpoke techniques to create new and relevant work. Having a history in fine art, Mark has exhibited in many group exhibitions both home and abroad. Having enjoyed tattooing full-time for over a decade, he has recently been working part-time which has allowed time for the rekindling of his artist practice and new inspirations have come to life.
‘This work is part of an ongoing process concerning both interpretive symbolism and blended techniques. Each work stands alone, while also acting as a stepping stone to the next, where shared aesthetic cues and conceptual links explore themes of masculinity.
Design and pattern have been a strong component of my tattooing practice and serve as the point of departure. The focus shifts between technique, imagery and concepts to produce pieces that that intrigue the viewer, with a nod to the primal nature of tattooing. It is my intention that the viewer can ascribe their own experience to the abstract images and create their own meaningful dialogue.’
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Blake “Blakesby” Canham-Bennett is a multi-award winning hatter (he is not a milliner), and one of very few in Australia reviving the traditional artform of men’s hats. His hats have crossed the world, worn in the United States, England, New Zealand, Switzerland, Siberia, Egypt, and many more.
‘I focus largely on traditional and heritage hat design, drawing inspiration from styles upwards of 100 years ago. These are shaped by hand through steam using a range of mostly antique and a few locally made wood hat blocks, in addition to other unique hand tools.
The pieces featured use a range of materials, with the felt bases ranging from the standard rabbit, to the premium beaver and nutria fur felts. These hats are trimmed with a variety of materials, including varied naturally dyed Japanese textiles, and featuring the traditional sashiko technique of decorative reinforcement stitch.’
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Annabel Hume is a visual arts graduate from the University of South Australia with a major in sculpture and printmaking. In the last 10 years she has completed further study in metal casting, intaglio printmaking and ceramics at ACArts . For the last three years Annabel has focused on ceramics. She has participated in several group shows in Adelaide and had her first solo exhibition in Melbourne in 2019. She also teaches workshops in textiles, printmaking and sculpture .
‘After travelling to America three years ago I began to really appreciate how delicate, unique, fragile and ancient Australia is and I celebrate our endangered and diminishing fauna in my work . Each piece is unique. I hand build then surface paint using sgraffito before glaze firing.’
