Mara Braun
Artist
Mara Braun would like to acknowledge that the land on which she practices are the traditional lands for the Wurundjeri people, and that she respects their spiritual relationship with their country. She would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Boon Wurrung language groups as the custodians of the region and recognise that their culture and heritage is still important then, now and forever. She would like to pay her respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
The Materials Rebel
To challenge the traditional expectation of sculpture and painting. I have done this by using textiles and tissue paper in order to create abstract, three-dimensional compositions that are studies of form and implied tone. The form of these compositions is emphasized by the use of plain and unadorned materials. The pieces are three-dimensional and therefore could be considered sculptures. However, the works are on canvas and hung as though they were traditional paintings. It is within this grey area in which I have chosen to place my research.
I am working with textiles and tissue paper in order to explore the similarities in their materiality. I am attempting to make them seem as though they blend on the canvas. In this way, I am using painting thought-processes with sculptural mediums. By blending the tissue and textile I make them seem as though the work is one seamless piece. In this way the will not conform to the traditional parameters of either discipline.
My work uses traditional techniques and methods of thinking in unconventional ways. In the same way, my work mimics sculptures and is presented as a painting and yet it is neither. The body of work explores the bridging of these two disciplines, conceptually and through practices.
