We arrived at Gunyah excited for the opportunity to slow down and take a break from the constant demands of juggling family, art, work and social commitments. The residency fell at an opportune time, just as we needed to really focus on our practice and resolve some crucial technical and practical issues for a project to be exhibited later in the year.
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
Our first day was romantically rainy, and our children (2 and 4 years) immediately went to work gleefully familiarising themselves with the house and its contents: they were thrilled by the walls made of exposed tree trunks; the loft bedroom with its climbing ladder; and the bay window looking out over the trees and water below.
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
Our days started early (as is often the case with young children), with a walk down to the jetty to watch the sunrise over the water and to jump across the rocks, stopping briefly to watch for tiny fish and periwinkles moving in the rockpools. A dead jellyfish was the source of much interest and curiosity.
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
We were struck by the soft light and peaceful stillness that surrounded Gunyah, and the space that it created for us to pay attention to our ideas and questions. It took us some time to settle into the unhurried pace, but as we did so, our thoughts clarified and we made significant progress in mapping out and determining the solutions that we needed to progress with the work.
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
We began testing, making and building the smaller detailed components for the first part of the work, which involves a model of a kitchen at 1: 0.12 scale. Serendipitously, various objects and fixtures at Gunyah, including a ubiquitous coffee mug served as inspiration. The children embraced the polymer clay we were using and worked happily alongside us, our eldest making her own replicas of our scaled down replicas (meta!).
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
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| Photo by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey: Gunyah artists-in-residence May 2017 |
As the residency came to a close, we were grateful to be able to move forward with a renewed focus and energy, both for our current project and our art practice as a whole. It was a joy too, to see how beneficial the unstructured time was for our children’s relationship and their creative energy. Gunyah is a magic place. Thank you to Kath and the Gunyah owners for your generosity in sharing it with us.
Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey
Gunyah residency report May 2017
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