It’s hard not to be captivated by Rorschach ink pressings. You know, those abstract black ink splatterings that supposedly reveal whether we deep down all want to screw our mothers among other things. They were famously immortalised in graphic novel (and later film) form via the eponymous anti-hero Rorschach from the Watchmen series and they are now the subject of inspiration of Sydney artist Flutter Lyon.
Flutter will be showing a collection of her ink pressings tonight at the opening of the exhibition ‘Interlaced’ at the Tate gallery in Sydney, along with fellow artist Velvet Gallagher. We shot a few questions to the artist ahead of the show and did a little psycho-analysis of our own.
Interlaced
Wednesday 18 July 2012
Opening starts at 6pm.
The Tate @ The Toxteth
345 Glebe Pt Rd,
Glebe, Sydney, 2037
EXHIBITION RUNS UNTIL SUN 22 . JUL . 2012
My name is… Flutter Lyon.
My latest exhibition is called… Interlaced.
And it is about… It’s a double header show alongside Velvet Gallagher. Full of colour, energy and perception play. Velvet taking influences from the psychedelic era of the 1960s and I work in the new artform of Ink-Pressing, derived from the realms of classical psychology and pushed into a sexy and accessible modern context – a strange menagerie of intricate symmetrical images that are interpreted in multiple ways by each and every viewer.
Some things that influenced this series are… I am influenced by the areas of psychology, neuroscience and the perspective and expression of the individual. I like to create work that involves the audience in telling the story. The 50/50 principle – I start the storyline and they bring it to life. Through the Pressing Sessions and workshops that I host, I use the Ink-Pressing language as a way of enabling focus and encouraging people to tell their story through the images, much like a Rorschach ink-blot tests developed in the 1920s, but now translated into a more sophisticated and optimistic contemporary setting.
An album I listened to a stack when making the works was… Idiot Savant’s self titled album. I created most of this collection in an aircraft hanger on a farm near Tamworth, in country NSW, and this album sounded amazing in the (freezing cold) echoing space, early in the morning.
The time of day I’m most likely to make art is… I used to work a lot late night/ post-midnight, 2 – 5am. But now I like living a pretty healthy lifestyle so I rise early and go to bed early. I love working at 6am onwards, as the sun is rising.
The hardest part of putting this show together was… Honestly, I’m so used to producing shows myself that this show, working alongside the Lo-fi Collective guys and Velvet, had been a breeze! I feel so lucky to have just been able to concentrate on the art itself – which is pure pleasure – and not work so much on everything else involved in putting on an exhibition.
First thing I do when I get up in the morning is… Go for a run. I have discovered a real passion for exercise and challenging the body to be fitter, faster and stronger – feeling like Rocky Balboa running in a tracksuit and the theatrical soundtrack playing (kidding…maybe.) Like this.
Some other artists I have been enjoying the work of are… Ai WeiWei, Olafur Eliasson, Terence Koh, Jim Henson, Liberace, Anish Kapoor, Roald Dahl.
What I’m working on at the moment is… A series of imagination products for use in art therapy, workshops and education spaces.
My favourite colour is…Vermilion.
If I wasn’t doing what I’m doing, I’d be… A psychiatrist or Willy Wonka.
The last website I visited was… http://www.4deserts.com/
My favourite youtube vid is… Die Antwoord – Baby’s On Fire. I have a celebrity crush on Yo-Landi, who doesn’t.
Tomorrow I will be… Getting a haircut.