Opening tomorrow are four exciting new shows at Ballina’s Northern Rivers Community Gallery. The Echo caught up with two of the artists involved, Claudie Frock and Leona DeBolt.
The joint exhibition She’s a Hardcore Rainbow literally emerged from the Lismore floods, with the two artists now based in Outpost Studio after their previous working and exhibition spaces were damaged in the 2022 disaster, including some of the art they were exhibiting together at that time.
For Leona DeBolt, the new show has a strong focus on colour and recovery. ‘That was the main inspiration for this body of work, a lot of bright, almost neon, really bold colouring. And each image is created quite intuitively. I think it was a direct reaction to everything that was going on at the time. But using colour as that main focal point.
‘My work is like little snapshots of different people within the community, different things that we see in our day to day and experience. And so it was really representational of that pocket of time that we’ve been going through.’
Claudie Frock says she’s always been obsessed with arches (her former Arch Gallery beneath Lismore Conservatorium took a battering in the flood).
‘Arches, caves – these are gateways to places of transformation in lots of different cultures. Rainbows too. I thought about how can I capture this idea of the rainbow being something that will assist me to move through the gloom of what had happened for us in the flood?
‘Not only had I lost my studio, but my home had been flood-impacted, my work, many places that are studios and homes of my friends and loved ones. And so I started really exploring how colour could buoy my spirits through that time,’ she explained.
Mending as a radical act
At the same time, Ms Frock was investigating botanical pigments, some from the bush near her home at Mountaintop.
‘So I was working with lichen inks, and natural dyeing, and now I’ve been making inks and paints from different botanical pigments, which I’ve used to repair some of the works that were damaged.
‘I also have some paintings that include botanical charcoal I’ve created from different plants. From the rainbow came this idea of mending as a radical act. So not just throwing away the damaged artworks but mending them, and in a way mending myself and supporting others to mend from the disaster.
‘I really thought too, about how climate disaster impacts us and how we can think about utilising natural materials that won’t be damaging to the environment.’
Although Claudie Frock is based in Lismore, and is well known for her work with Lismore Regional Gallery, she has strong connections with Ballina too, having been involved in previous community engagement work at NRCG, as well as a workshop and earlier show.
‘We’re all connected regionally,’ she said.
‘We’re telling the stories of the region. I feel like people have embraced and opened their arms, especially with what’s happened with Lismore Regional Gallery. A lot of the other organisations have been very welcoming of artists from Lismore. I feel like it’s been very generous and open hearted, actually.’
Leona DeBolt agrees. ‘If anything, it’s really connected everybody.’
‘She’s a Hardcore Rainbow’ will run until 3 March at Northern Rivers Community Gallery in Cherry Street, with an official launch event on Thursday 18 January, at 5.30pm.
And there’s more!
A strong contingent of other artists will also be showing new work over this period, including Jenny Gill Schirmer with ‘First Aid’, reflecting on her work as a front-line emergency nurse during pandemic and floods; ‘Flora Insularis’ from field ecologist David Fell and indigenous artist Kay Lee Williams; and Carolyn Delzoppo’s drawings exploring cycles of promise, decay and regeneration in a show called ‘this place… this time…’
In conjunction with ‘She’s a Hardcore Rainbow’, Claudie Frock and Leona DeBolt will be running a workshop on 10 February from 10.30am-1.30pm.
‘It would be really wonderful if anyone is interested came along,’ said Ms Frock. ‘It’s all about utilising color through mixed media.’
There will also be a free exhibition tour from the artists prior to the workshop, with both tour and workshop fully Auslan interpreted.
You can find out more about everything that’s happening at Northern Rivers Community Gallery at their website, or ring (02) 6681 0530.
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