Native Deities
3 - 28 May 2023
Bruce Slorach, Native Deities
Marking 40 years since graduating from the VCA, and commencing a creative career revolving over decades, Sydney artist Bruce Slorach presents 'Native Deities', a brilliant and bold love letter to our leafy city, and an homage to Australia’s unique natural landscape.
Whilst Australia’s flora and fauna have long been a source of inspiration for artists, multi-media artist and designer Slorach has garnered acclaim for drawing attention to its beauty in new ways, captured in his unique brightly coloured contemporary textiles, created with partner Sophie Tatlow under the banner of Utopia Goods Textiles.
Informed by a myriad of textile and decorative arts traditions born from global trade from 1500 onwards, Slorach’s practice speaks of influences far and wide–east to west, and back again. From Indian Kalamkari (chintz), William Morris and the wider Arts and Crafts movement, Lucien Henry, Josef Frank, Stan Kelly, Ellis Rowan and Margaret Preston.
His career has been shaped by research and inspiration and is strengthened through dedicated practise and a continued immersion and appreciation for the natural world. Slorach’s use of fibre, stitch, print and mixed media techniques breathes new life, and diverse possibilities for honouring and celebrating Australian nature in texture, light, colour, and form.
In Native Deities, Slorach presents his latest series of drawings and paintings, alongside a newly developed series of petite tapestries, and three of his acclaimed hand knotted silk and wool wall hangings, each five months in the making. These one-off pieces are handcrafted by Indian artisans, their inimitable expertise informed by centuries old traditions and the country’s rich deep history of textiles and colour; and are made in the manner of Slorach’s renowned luxury carpets, two of which grace the floors of Sydney’s Government House. Key to the exhibition is the exploration of artistic process and the relationships that Slorach and Tatlow have built with international artisans and craftspeople. The unique story behind each of the major works in the show will be explored, from sketch to final process.