Gallery
Welcome to my gallery.
We are still developing this website, please feel free to browse a small selection of work displayed below.
Please contact me at marie.mitchell.art@gmail.com for further information or pricing.
Deforestation Collection
In our constant search for food, wealth, power, bigger, better and more, we are destroying the very forests, which provide us with so many hidden and forgotten gifts. The environmental damage caused by deforestation is immense. Already half of the world’s rainforests have been cleared, driving climate change, destroying wildlife habitats and threatening extinction of increasing numbers of flora and fauna.
The Deforestation Collection is a provocative portfolio of works intended to convey a strong message from the innocent victims of humanity’s headlong rush to carve the world into dimensions that suit short-term lifestyle priorities, urging us to slow down and acknowledge their whispered pleas.
Echoes of Whispers 3
2017
Paper, sheer dress fabrics, bridal illusion & polyester embroidery thread
Dimensions: 52 x 52 cm (framed size)
Part of the Deforestation Collection designed for ‘Eco Echo’ exhibition at Midland Junction Arts Centre
Private Collection
Artist Statement
In the ‘Echoes of Whispers’ series stitched leaves amplify the voice of nature by echoing the ghostly leaf prints.
Echoes of Whispers 4
2017
Handmade cotton rag paper from recycled clothing, sheer dress fabrics, organza, bridal illusion & polyester embroidery thread
Dimensions: 52 x 52 cm (framed size)
Currently available at Paper Bird Gallery, Fremantle, Australia
Part of the Deforestation Collection designed for ‘Eco Echo’ exhibition at Midland Junction Arts Centre
Artist Statement
In the ‘Echoes of Whispers’ series stitched leaves amplify the voice of nature by echoing the ghostly leaf prints.
Echoes of Whispers 5
2017
Handmade paper from recycled office paper, sheer dress fabrics, tulle, bridal illusion, lace & polyester embroidery thread
Dimensions: 52 x 52 cm (framed size)
Part of the Deforestation Series designed for ‘Eco Echo’ exhibition at Midland Junction Arts Centre
Private Collection
Artist Statement
In the ‘Echoes of Whispers’ series stitched leaves amplify the voice of nature by echoing the ghostly leaf prints.
Hidden Gifts 6
2017
Habotai silk, bridal illusion, polyester embroidery thread
Dimensions: 52 x 52 cm (framed size)
Currently available directly from the artist
Part of the Deforestation Series designed for ‘Eco Echo’ exhibition at Midland Junction Arts Centre
Artist Statement
The ‘Hidden Gifts’ series explores through stitched text the many hidden and forgotten gifts that nature and forest provide urban areas. ‘Hidden Gifts 6’ uncovers the many unacknowledged economic and financial benefits resulting from natural spaces in the urban environment.
Hidden Gifts 7
2017
Habotai silk, polyester embroidery thread
Dimensions: 52 x 52 cm (framed size)
Currently available directly from the artist.
Part of the Deforestation Series designed for ‘Eco Echo’ exhibition at Midland Junction Arts Centre
Artist Statement
The ‘Hidden Gifts’ series explores through stitched text the many hidden and forgotten gifts that nature and forest provide urban areas.‘Hidden Gifts 7’ highlights the many intangible benefits to the community resulting from natural spaces in the urban environment.
Consequences Unheeded 3
2017
Recycled tea bags, rust dyed paper, printing ink, organza, bridal illusion, sheer dress fabrics & polyester embroidery thread
Dimensions: 52 x 52 cm (framed)
Currently available directly from the artist.
Part of the Deforestation Series designed for ‘Eco Echo’ exhibition at Midland Junction Arts Centre
Artist Statement
The ‘Consequences Unheeded’ series explores the consequences of the deforestation of the Australian landscape which fragments native wildlife ranges and reduces the fertility of our ancient and fragile soils. ‘Consequences Unheaded 3’ focuses on the issue increasing soil salinity.
Consequences Unheeded 4
2017
Recycled tea bags, rust dyed paper, printing ink, organza, sheer dress fabrics & polyester embroidery thread
Dimensions: 52 x 52 cm (framed)
Private collection
Part of the Deforestation Series designed for ‘Eco Echo’ exhibition at Midland Junction Arts Centre
Artist Statement
The ‘Consequences Unheeded’ series explores the consequences of the deforestation of the Australian landscape which fragments native wildlife ranges and reduces the fertility of our ancient and fragile soils. ‘Consequences Unheaded 3’ focuses on resulting prolonged droughts that plague the continent.
Walking the Refugee Road Series
Forced to Flee
2017
Hessian, hand dyed cotton, tulle, sheer curtain fabric, scrim, oil sticks, inktense pencils, marker, printing ink, and polyester thread
Photo by Sebastian Rich used and modified with permission
Dimensions 77cm x 59cm x 10 cm (two sided)
Currently part of the SAQA Global Touring Exhibition ‘Forced to Flee’ opening 25 May 2019 at Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, Melbourne, FL
Designed for ‘Stitched and Bound’ exhibition at ZigZag Gallery, Kalamunda, WA
Artist Statement
Our country, our home, our freedom, our lives….most of us wouldn’t give these up willingly. Persecution, war and violence force refugees to make life or death choices. Packing their belongings in bags and sacks, they flee. The grafitti on the wall behind records their emotional experiences.
Shattered Hope
2018
Hand dyed cotton, digital print of hand drawing, organza, tulle, bridal illusion, inktense pencils, commercial trim, metallic & polyester thread
Dimensions 40 cm x 40 cm
Currently part of the Ozquilt Network ‘Australia Wide Six’ touring exhibition
Artist Statement
‘Hope springs eternal’… these words epitomize the courageous spirit of refugees fleeing their homeland to escape conflict and persecution. Hope sustains them through arduous overland treks, years living in limbo in tent cities and perilous seas journeys in search of safety, only to have hope shattered when abandoned in offshore detention.
Endangered Species
Bridge to Extinction
2018
Cotton and silk commercial and hand dyed fabrics digitally and transfer printed, tulle, bridal illusion, sheers, organza and gauze, acrylic paint, tea bags, fabric pens & cotton wrapped polyester thread
Dimensions 89 cm x 89 cm
Deforestation cartoon reference env.080 by Chris Madden and Australian Koala Foundation koala habitat map used and modified with permission.
Winner of Judges Choice Award, AQC, Melbourne
Currently touring Australia and New Zealand with the AQC Challenge Exhibition ‘Bridges and Borders’
Artist Statement
‘Bridge to Extinction’ highlights the conflict between humans and nature. Koalas create borders within their eucalypt habitat. Logging in Southeast Queensland forests, shrinks these borders and threatens their survival. Using dyes, printed text, paint and stitch on fabric, I wanted to turn dry words from the newspaper into imagery that couldn’t be ignored. As human ‘progress’ destroys its habitat, the koala escapes on a log bridge to wasteland. I reflect on the irony of providing koala bridge crossings whilst fragmenting the bushland that serves as their only food source and home.