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Victoria Cattoni - Cultural Ambassador

In October this year a very special exhibition took place at Seniwati Gallery in Ubud. Ubud, being a major centre for the development of Indonesian art, as well as a major tourist centre of Bali, plays an important role also in the exchange of ideas and cultural interaction between all world cultures including exchange between Australia and Indonesia. Over the years Australian artists such as Donald Friend have received the blessings of living life in Bali and had a real effect and interchange with the Indonesian art scene.

There are two Australian women currently living in Ubud who are making an immense contribution to Australia-Indonesian cultural exchange right now - Victoria Cattoni and Kerensa Johnson. Victoria Cattoni is an Australian woman artist who has lived in Ubud since 1998. She recently launched her first solo exhibition in Indonesia at Seniwati Gallery - Art by Women, having participated in several art events during the last year. Its true to say that Victoria and Kerensa are Australian cultural ambassadors to Indonesia - without government support, funding or acknowledgement people like Kerensa, Victoria and the many dedicated artists, dancers and musicians who have chosen to spend significant time living and working in Indonesia have had a greater effect on Australia-Indonesia cultural relations than any government program.

Kerensa Johnson is a dedicated, talented, inspiring Australian woman dancer, who is also living in the Ubud area. Kerensa has been studying Indonesian dance and music forms for many years, having performed with many groups inluding Gamelan Giri Jaya from Toowoomba and Sekaa Gong Tirta Sinar, Sydney. She is currently teaching Indian dance and conducting a dance exchange workshop every week at Yayasan Polosseni in Peliatan.

Through membership of AIAA Victoria and Kerensa came to work together. Kerensa created a dance performance with local dancers and musicians which was performed as the closing event for Victoria's exhibtion.

Below are program notes from Victoria's exhibiton in Indonesian and English giving details of the installation which she created for her exhibition.

VICTORIA CATTONI
Interlace instalasi

October 3 - 28
Seniwati Showspace
Jalan Raya Ubud

Dengan senang hati The Seniwati Gallery of Art by Women memperkenalkan pamerannya yang akan datang oleh Victoria Cattoni.

Victoria Cattoni, seorang Artist dari Australia, yang baru saja menghabiskan satu tahun di Bali, melukis serta mengadakan penelitian untuk pamerannya yang akan datang, sebuah pameran instalasi bertajuk " Interlace ".

Victoria sudah seringkali berpameran di luar Australia dan yang ini adalah yang keenam kalinya.

" Bunga, beras, brokat _ Upacara keagamaan sehari-hari

Selama setahun keberadaan saya di Bali, dan dengan pasti segala sesuatu yang terjadi terlewati di sini menantang dan memberi inspirasi baik secara pribadi maupun dari segi kreativitas".

Victoria telah belajar sebagai seorang artist selama 15 tahun, walaupun dia telah melukis selama dia bisa mengingat. Selama beberapa tahun ini dia telah memfokuskan jiwa seninya pada instalasi dan kebanyakan dari karya-karyanya merupakan kerjasama dengan artis lain .Berbagi ide dengan bersama-sama menciptakan karya seni baginya adalah sebuah proses yang alami, dan cocok sekali dengan kebudayaan Bali.

Metode kerjanya adalah menjawab secara intuisi terhadap lingkungan, dengan menggunakan bahan-bahan lokal dan menggambarkan kembali hal tersebut sedemikian rupa agar dapat menampilkan perhatiannya secara detail dan materi tentang kehidupan sehari-hari. Dia telah menciptakan karya seni untuk dipamerkan baik didalam maupun diluar ruangan serta memilih bekerja dengan bahan-bahan yang tidak tahan lama seperti air, rumput, bunga dan beras.

Karya Victoria yang akan dipamerkan di Seniwati adalah jawaban kreatif dari pengalamannya di Bali. Selama beberapa minggu ini, dia akan membuat sebuah instalasi yang didesain khusus untuk Seniwati Gallery. Victoria akan menggunakan bahan-bahan yang mempunyai arti khusus di Bali - brokat, beras dan daun-daun bunga.

Karya Victoria difokuskan dengan membaca tentang kewanitaan baik kebudayaan Barat maupun kebudayaan Bali. Instalasinya penuh dengan kecantikan, warna dan sensualitas, dan disertai dengan penelitian untuk menegaskan kembali peran karya-karya yang dibuat oleh wanita-wanita dengan penuh hati dan cinta demi kehidupan sehari-hari kita.

Untuk informasi lebih lanjut hubungi Seniwati Gallery of Art by Women
Tel:62 361 975485, Fax:975453, e-mail: idseniwat-@dps.mega.net.id
Homepage: http://www.seniwatigallery.com

VICTORIA CATTONI
Interlace - an installation

October 3 - 28
Seniwati Showspace
Ubud Main Street

Victoria Cattoni is an Australian painter and installation artist, who has recently spent a year living in Bali, painting and doing research for her current exhibition, an installation titled " Interlace ". Victoria has exhibited extensively throughout Australia and this is her sixth solo exhibition.

"Flowers, rice, lace - daily ritual and ceremony

During the past year I have stepped in and out of Bali, and without fail, the moments spent here have challenged and inspired me both personally and creatively."

Victoria has been practising as an artist for 15 years, although she has painted for as long as she can remember. During more recent years she has focused her art practice in the area of Installation, and most of this work has been in collaboration with other artists. Sharing ideas by creating art together is for her a natural process, and one that sits comfortably within Balinese cultural production.

Her method of working is to respond intuitively to the immediate environment, to use local materials, and to reconfigure them in ways that draw attention to the detail and materiality of our daily lives. She has produced work for indoor and outdoor exhibitions, and chooses to work with ephemeral materials such as water, grass, flowers and rice.

The work Victoria will produce for the exhibition at Seniwati is a creative response to her experiences here in Bali. Over the coming weeks she will produce an installation designed for the gallery. She will use materials which are in different ways culturally specific - lace, rice and petals.

Victoria's work is concerned with readings of the feminine in both western cultures and Balinese culture. Her installations resonate with beauty, colour and sensuality, and are the traces of a search to reassert the contribution of women's labours of love to our daily existence.

For further information please contact Seniwati Gallery of Art by Women
Tel: 62 361 975485, Fax: 975453, e-mail: seniwati@dps.mega.net.id
Homepage: http://www.seniwatigallery.com