Looking for Goya’s dog: a residency at The Art Vault, Mildura
I always welcome an opportunity to travel to areas in Australia that are a long way from our rim of water, sand and surf – this time I am off to Mildura for a three week residency and exhibition at The Art Vault. The success of this regional art complex, housed in an old bank building, is due to the skillful direction of Julie Chambers, and don’t feel sorry for me – the Vault is next door to Stephano’s famous restaurant.
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| Mock up for, Looking for Goya’s dog, the book to be made at the residency in Mildura. |
A lot has changed since I made the initial proposal some two years ago and in the meantime I have made most of the works that were then under consideration. So without being predictive about outcomes and with a lot of trepidation I am setting off on the two day road trip to get there this Friday (Oct 4, 2013). The car is serviced, the maps packed and an awful lot of etching gear has been stowed.
Most of the pre planning has amounted to the thinking about a possible project and I have settled on developing a range of work that will result in one of my freely constructed, 3D, wall based artist’s books. This work is to be based on a small observation that I made last time I was out in the desert country – Goya would lose his dog out here. I have always been haunted by the image in the Prado of that rather hapless little dog peeping over a large black form and back grounded by a radiating, yellow luminescent light that, for me, is redolent of that yellowish glare of the desert.
So it is with enthusiasm that I am looking forward to visiting Lake Mungo, driving across the Hay Plain, working on a relevant text, drawing and developing new images. So much will be new but I am mindful that one also travels with one’s own self and, as I like to work with metaphors, I am looking upon this endeavor as an opportunity to go "looking for Goya’s dog".
Patricia Wilson- Adams
September 2013
