Mae Adams @ Gippsland Art Gallery

Mae Adams, Deep Space Dark Universe, 2018, Sheoak needles, poa grass, dyed cotton cord, artificial sinew, 60.5 x 60.5 cm

We’re very pleased to celebrate the acquisition of an important new fibre work by Gippsland Art Gallery. To contributes to Australia’s Heirlooms for the Future.

The artist Mae Adams provides some background:

Deep Space Dark Universe is one of several stitched and coiled wall mounted works I made in response to space exploration. In this work the natural colours and textures of Australian she oak needles and poa grass are combined with commercially dyed yarn. My work with plant fibres has evolved through my interest in restoring bush land, especially the indigenous grasses and sedges of South Gippsland in Victoria, where I live and work.

Venus Bay grasses and sedges

I am delighted that Deep Space Dark Universe has been acquired by Gippsland Art Gallery in Sale for their permanent collection. The work was acquired through the newly established Gippsland Textile Collection, which has come about through the generosity of a private farming family in Gippsland. The Gippsland Textile Collection is dedicated to Australian textiles in all its forms, with a focus on items created in or about Gippsland. The Collection was established to provide inspiration and enjoyment for visitors, and to become an educational resource to encourage knowledge and appreciation for textiles of all periods.

Mae Adams, Deep Space Dark Universe (detail), 2018, Sheoak needles, poa grass, dyed cotton cord, artificial sinew, 60.5 x 60.5 cm

Australian Heirlooms for the Future

Helge Larsen and Darani Lewers, Brooch ‘The Australian Dream’ Sterling silver, Gold, Acrylic 1974, 52mm National Gallery of Australia collection

When visiting museums and galleries today, we enjoy seeing the best of the works produced in the past. We learn about the styles of those times and what was considered valuable.

Despite the increasingly short-term focus of our digital lifestyle, it is critical that we invest in acquiring representative works from our time so they can be enjoyed by audiences today and into the future. Works crafted by hand give expression to an enduring sense of who we are and where we live.

Australia is blessed with a network of substantial state and national galleries. WoCCA seeks to support their work in acquiring Australian craft by promoting recent purchases. We are calling for information and images about purchases of Australian contemporary craft works from across the continent and its islands, specifically including works purchased since 2017.

These will be profiled on our website and shared through our social media. We hope in this way that we can instil pride in the skills and creativity of Australian craft artists and ensure their legacy is sustained into the future.

Information about acquisitions can be submitted here.

See recent acquisitions below: