This is The Lost Ones Podcast Series

This is episode #6 of our occasional series of podcasts.

With economic and political pressures upon the traditional news media bringing about sudden changes to the photographic sector, The Lost Ones Contemporary Art Gallery is examining the future state of Australian photography by hosted a seminar with some of Australia’s leading documentary photographers.

This podcast was recorded at the official opening of Tamara Dean's exhibition, Force of Nature. This sophisticated collection of works spanned several years of Tamara's work, bringing together a comprehensive story and looping Tamara's love of nature into her love of the human form.
This interview was hosted by Owen Craven. Owen is an independent art writer, curator and editor, facilitating platforms and opportunities for artists to create and present their works.

The paintings of Nick Dridan, Harley Manifold and Shaun Tan were exhibited at The Lost Ones Gallery, Ballarat, from 18 January to 26 February 2017, and this podcast is a recording of a panel discussion hosted at the Gallery on the 11th February. Each driven by diverse inspirations, their works are bound by the solitary figure in a contemporary landscape, be it urban, suburban or rural. While at first glance these spaces might seem dark and broody, Dridan, Manifold and Tan explore the notion of being alone, but not always lonely. Artist Harley Manifold explained that these moody scenes are the antithesis of feeling lonely in a crowded room.

“They’re singular figures in a moody or bare landscape, but these are the places where we feel at home and comfortable, where our minds take flight and our inner narratives start to whisper,” Harley said. Shaun Tan agreed that his works are of places of comfort, where the characters are able to relish their seclusion and even enjoy being alone with their thoughts and feelings. “For me, these artworks are something of a solitary adventure within a commonplace landscape,” Shaun said. “It’s an exploration of the places that are comforting to us, not only in our surroundings but also of ourselves.”

Albion St Blue (2016) - SHAUN TAN - 20X15cm, oil on board, signed

In our second of occasional podcasts for This is The Lost Ones, we speak with the prolific artist Rosalind Lawson as she describes her inspiration and her muse - Anakie Gorge in the Brisbane Ranges. This fragile piece of wilderness has inspired the creation of her latest exhibition Anakie Gorge - a Living Museum (June 24 - July 10, 2016). Rosalind Lawson has been keenly interested in the natural, cultural and environmental themes of the central and southern regions of Victoria for nearly two decades and has expressed these themes through painting, drawing and as a papermaker and paper artist. In this, her latest solo exhibition, Rosalind focuses her attention on the Brisbane Ranges landmark. Anakie Gorge was formed 500 million years ago when violent eruptions under the sea forced the watery sediment into a new configuration. For thousands of years the Wathaurong people occupied this area, but with European colonisation and the demand for water from the Geelong settlements, three thousand hectares of the Brisbane Ranges were claimed as a catchment area and dammed to support the growing population. Today Anakie Gorge stands as a geographic record of the movement of water, both natural and engineered. Rosalind derives unending inspiration from this weathered landscape. In ‘Anakie Gorge: A Living Museum’ Rosalind has produced a series of works that express the tension between natural forces and human intervention.  Rosalind's exhibition was opened on Saturday 25th June by local poet, Barry Breen. Music was provided by the Ballarat U3A Celtic Band.

The first podcast for This is The Lost Ones, this is a panel discussion between Sophie Munns, exhibiting artist for Seed Art Lab (April 6 - April 24, 2016) together with Belinda Coates, Deputy Mayor Ballarat; Dan Frost from Seeding Victoria and Matt Pywell, owner and operator of Ballarat Wild Plants. This panel was a wide ranging conversation about the work of Sophie and why she is inspired by the work of seed scientists, how climate change is altering the landscape of Ballarat and surrounds and the kinds of work that is being done locally to retain and research seeds and indigenous and endemic plants.