These are the primary sketches I did before making the art work

This project is going to be installed in Melbourne’s GPO during the Motorola Melbourne Spring Fashion Week. The installation will be made up of mock lampshades that reference design, but in a completely functionless way, as they don’t house lights and ironically are lit by the skylight above.

The ‘Mockshades’ are solid, so no light can pass through the shade, and the pattern work is on the inside of the lampshade, not the outside.

Viewers at first glance might only notice the pattern work, but, as you look closer, you will see that the pattern work is made up of figures from fashion shows, bottles of Champagne, jewellery, hallmarks, shoes and other objects of desire – the closer you look the more you will find.

Whilst the artwork is up, I will be going to fashion shows, the races and other events and environments that inform my artwork. I will be taking photos that will be then turned into drawings, which will be made into patterns and added to the installation over the 8 weeks of the installation.

Once the installation is finished there will be a conclusion event amounts the installation.

Photos taken in workshop of the mockshades and the jigs made to create them. Jig is a machine that holds the object to be worked on.

See time laps videos of the process:

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Photos taken of the mockshades being painted, kind of looks like a science fiction set.

See time laps videos of the process:

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These photos where taken at the opening of Mockshades installation at Melbourne’s GPO during the Motorola Melbourne Spring Fashion Week. Thousands of people came through in the first few hours. Over the next eight weeks I will be adding to the artwork until I reach the grand total of 50 Mockshades.

Exquisite Boundaries is an evolving interactive exhibition exploring the interaction between contemporary art and fashion.

The centre piece of this exhibition is an artwork titled “Catwalk of Reflected Desires” and was original conceived for Melbourne’s GPO for there postal hall space, during the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival, the concept and look behind the artwork was upon walking into GPO’s grand postal hall the viewers will initially be presented with that seductive clicking sound of high heels echoing throughout the hall. As they follow the sound upwards the audience is confronted by a giant levitating catwalk - six meters above the floor. With the underside of the catwalk exposed revealing the framework and rough timber finish it’s as if it had just taken off on its own accord.

The click, click, clicking of heels will pan through multiple speaker channels from one end of the hall to the other - creating the impression that there is a fashion show taking place right above the audience. You will notice a golden glow all over the upper half of the postal hall, as the viewer is tantalized upstairs to investigate. But only to discover there are no models, instead they are presented with a luscious gold mirrored catwalk that reflects the stunning rich sumptuous architecture environment of the building as well as the people standing on the opposite side to them, placing the viewer into artwork.

The plush gold mirror catwalk surface stands in sharp juxtaposition to the rough exposed timber of the underneath, giving the viewers two very different perspectives of the artwork, actively engaging the viewers to explore the building. 

The 21meters catwalk laid out in the workshop ready to go, these photos show the hidden steel frame and internal supports, as well as the massive scale of the project.

After the original location did not go through, I started looking for another location to exhibit the artwork, I had already worked so many hours on getting it to that stage that I felt it had to be shown. Trying to find a suitable location that had the right architecture environment. Eventually I found an even better location for the “Catwalk of Reflected Desires” 271 Collins St, which was previously the old National Bank of Australia head office.

The current owners of the building G E Hubay where very supportive.

Below is the site and installation of the artwork. installed in a very different way to how it was going to be, the artwork had taken on a more narrative tale of how the project came crashing down around me and even thought the project had been destroyed there was still a beautiful element that grew from it. 

Finally the clear protective covering over the gold was removed and the entire catwalk was cleaned with anti static cleaner, leaving the most amazing reflections and golden glow visible from the other side of Collins Street stopping people on both sides of the road.

The spectacular gold mirror catwalk is the centerpiece to the exhibition, accompanying the catwalk running along the sidewall of the space is the Exquisite Boundaries timeline, this artwork is an evolving interactive artwork that is exploring the interaction between contemporary art and fashion.

As people visit the exhibition I will be taking their photo in front of a gold mirror screen that’s angled giving me 360-degree photo of what they are wearing.

From these photos I will draw over them to create new imagery that will be made into unique pattern work, this will be added to a series of gold mirror panels that run parallel to the catwalk.

The panels will start off blank and slowly be covered with pattern work as the exhibition is open. This process will take place in the front part of the space setting up studio in the front window of Collins Street where I can watch and be watched by people and allowing people to watch the growth of the artwork.