“Biochromes – Medicinal Plant Cycles” by Renata Buziak

May 19, 2017 7:41 pm Published by

From 2 September through 7 October, 2017, Gallery WM is delighted to present:

BIOCHROMES

Medicinal Plant Cycles

by

Renata Buziak

Opening: Saturday, September 2nd 2017, 17:00-19:00 hrs. The artist will be present!

“Renata Buziak makes art by arranging plants on photographic materials and allowing them to decompose. Photographic papers contain gelatine, so Renata can create breeding grounds for microbes and other elements of decay. These create their own pigments, which work with light to create stunning and unusual pictures.”

The current exhibition “Biochromes – Medicinal Plant Cycles “by the Australian-Polish artist Renata Buziak is not simply a photographic document. It is also the result of ethnobotanical and anthropological consultations with the indigenous Quandamooka community of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) an island off the east coast of Australia.

The images of medicinal plants presented here are based on the fusion of organic and photographic materials in a process of decomposition that Buziak calls the biochrome.

“Biochromes are generated by arranging plant samples on photographic emulsions, and allowing them to transform through the bacterial micro-organic activities that are part of cyclic decay and regeneration. This process of developing images through decomposition led me to work with time-lapse photography, which allows recording the blossoming and movement of fungi and microbes.”

The title of this exhibition refers to plant cycles, cycles of decay and renewal, the cycle of passing on knowledge, the cycle of time, seasons, and the constant flux of natural processes.

The exhibition is augmented with audio recordings, accompanying a video, that are excerpts from recorded dialogues with several members of the Quandamooka People, whose willingness to participate was essential to the realisation of this project.

Through this exhibition, Buziak hopes to reveal a beauty in decomposition, and raise notions of transformative cycles. This focus on Minjerribah’s medicinal plants aims to promote the recognition, appreciation, and value of local medicinal plants in the context of Aboriginal knowledge and natural science.

Renata Buziak will be present during the opening from 17-19hrs on Saturday 2nd of September, 2017 at Gallery WM.

*Renata Buziak is supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, state and territory governments.

BIOCHROMES

Medicinal Plant Cycles

van

Renata Buziak

De huidige tentoonstelling “Biochromes – Medicinal Plant Cycles” door de Pools-Australische kunstenaar Renata Buziak is niet simpelweg een fotografisch document. Het is ook het gevolg van etnobotanische- en antropologische discussies met de inheemse Quandamooka gemeenschap van Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island), een eiland aan de oostkust van Australië.

De afbeeldingen van geneeskrachtige planten die hier worden gepresenteerd, zijn gebaseerd op de fusie van organische en fotografische materialen in een ontbindingsproces die Buziak de ‘biochroom’ noemt.

“Biochromen worden gegenereerd door het schikken van plantenmonsters op fotografische emulsies, waardoor ze kunnen transformeren door de bacteriële micro-organische activiteiten die onderdeel zijn van het proces van cyclisch verval en regeneratie. Dit proces van het ontwikkelen van beelden door ontbinding heeft mij ertoe geleid om te werken met time-lapse fotografie, waardoor de bloei en beweging van schimmels en microben vast te leggen is.”

De titel van deze tentoonstelling heeft betrekking op plantencycli, cycli van verval en vernieuwing, de cyclus van kennisoverdracht, de cyclus van tijd, seizoenen en de constante stroom van natuurlijke processen.

De tentoonstelling wordt aangevuld met geluidsopnamen, die een video begeleiden, die bestaan uit fragmenten van opgenomen dialogen met meerdere leden van de Quandamooka bevolking, wiens bereidwilligheid en deelname essentieel was voor het realiseren van dit project.

Middels deze tentoonstelling hoopt Buziak de schoonheid van ontbinding te openbaren en de notie van transformatieve cycli uit te lichten. Door de focus op de medicinale planten van Minjerribah te leggen, tracht Buziak de de erkenning en de waardering voor lokale geneeskrachtige planten te bevorderen in de context van zowel inheemse (Aboriginal) kennis als de natuurwetenschappen.

Renata Buziak zal aanwezig zijn tijdens de opening van 17-19 uur op zaterdag 2 september 2017 in Gallery WM.

Eucalyptus resinifera (red mahogany) …antiviral 2012, archival print on paper, 126x97cm, 1/3, €1050 (exhibition price) © Renata Buziak

 

Arbus precatorius 2013, archival print on paper, 43x100cm, 1/5, €550 (exhibition price) © Renata Buziak

 

exhibition opening September 2nd, 2017 , photo © Willem Overtoom

 

Renata Buziak “Biochrome – Medicinal Plant Cycle” 2017, photo © Pete Purnell

 

Reviews:

 

 

 

RENATA BUZIAK CURRICULUM VITAE

Email: renata@renata-buziak.com

Mob: +61401 664400

Website: www.renata-buziak.com

RELEVANT EDUCATION

2016 Doctor of Philosophy, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, QLD

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2017 Medicinal Plant Cycles, WM Gallery Amsterdam Netherlands (2 Sept -6 Oct 2017)

Medicinal Plant Cycles, Gaffa Gallery, Sydney NSW (March 2017)

2016 The Healing Ribbon, Quandamooka Festival, Photography Gallery, Point Lookout North Stradbroke Island

Medicinal Plant Cycles, Redland Art Gallery, Cleveland QLD

Unfolding Rhythm II, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery, QLD

2015 Medicinal Plant Cycles, POP Gallery, Woolloongabba QLD

2014 Unfolding Rhythms, The Hold Art Space, West End QLD

2013 Biochromes: North Stradbroke Island Flora, NSI Historical Museum, Lines in the Sand Festival, Dunwich QLD

Afterimage, ANCA Gallery, Dickson ACT

2011 Afterimage, Red Gallery, Fitzroy, VIC

Absence, Queensland Centre for Photography, Brisbane, QLD

2010 Marine Cove, Pine Rivers Art Gallery, Strathpine, QLD

2009 Afterimage, Queensland Centre for Photography, Brisbane, QLD

2008 Biochromes: Collaboration with Nature, A QPAC Art Spaces Exhibition, South Bank, QLD

2007 Biochromes, Blender Gallery, Paddington, NSW

2006 Botanica 2006 – Australian Native Plants Artist-in-Residence, Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha, QLD

DUO EXHIBITIONS

2015 Habitat: Artworks & Stories of Pine Rivers Gardens, Pine Rivers Art Gallery, QLD

2013 Doves With Me: Sharka Bosakova & Renata Buziak, Artisan, Fortitude Valley, QLD

2011 UNDER_SCORED, Juggler’s Art Space, Fortitude Valley, QLD

2010 Untamed Gardens, The Wandering Room, Qld Festival for Photography, South Bank, QLD

2007 Walter Stahl + Renata Buziak, Joel Fine Art, Paddington, QLD

PUBLIC ART PROJECTS

2010 Shadows of Your Garden, Marcedes-Benz Fashion Festival Exhibition, The Arbour Parklands, South Bank, QLD

2006 The Current Crop: Revealing the Region, Brisbane Square Outdoor Public Exhibition

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS

2017 Planetary Gardening, PhotoAccess, Manuka Arts Centre Canberra ACT (March 2017)

Scenes of our city: Gadens Brisbane Collection, Museum Of Brisbane, QLD

The Print Exposed, Gold Street Studios, VIC

Nature Morte – Contemporary artists reinvigorate the Still-Life, National Museum in Wrocław, Poland

The Refuge of Rhythm @ BrisAsia Festival, Brisbane City Hall performance, QLD

2016 Plenty, Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm QLD

Land Dialogues, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Wagga Wagga NSW

2015 Nature studied: Trees, plants, gardens, Geraldton Regional Art Gallery, Geraldton WA

Float, Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm QLD

Cast By The Sun, The Hold Artspace, West End QLD & Temple University, Philadelphia USA

2014 Hot Island Lines in the Sand / Arts Festival, North Stradbroke Island QLD

Ars Polonia International Biennale, Opole, Poland

2013 TREASURES: The Art of Collecting, QCP, South Bank QLD

The Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition – internationally traveling artists’ books exhibition

2012 TreeLine: People, Art, Science, Nature, Residency & Exhibition, Caloundra Regional Gallery, QLD

2011 Voicing Concerns, Queensland Centre for Photography, Brisbane, QLD

2010 Synchronicity – Contemporary Queensland Photography, Redcliff City Art Gallery, Redcliff, QLD

Photo LA, International Photographic Art Exposition, Los Angeles, USA

2009 Synchronicity – Contemporary Queensland Photography, Toowoomba Regional Gallery, QLD

Sharing… Wespół…, QCA Traveling exhibition throughout Poland

Art on Record Vol 2, APW Gallery, Long Island, NYC, USA

2008 Memoirs: Selected Photographs from the Daryl Hewson Collection, The State Library of Queensland

2007 Look Small Think Big, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise, QLD

SELECTED PRIZES AND AWARDS

2015 Blue Flask. Pictorial Value of Photography 1914/2014, Photography Competition Finalist, The National Museum in Wrocław Poland

2014 Moreton Bay Art Awards 2014, Finalist, Pine Rivers Art Gallery QLD

2012 ACTS Sustainability Photo Competition, 3rd place, 12th International ACTS Conference, South Brisbane

Sunshine Coast Art Prize 2012, Finalist, Caloundra Regional Gallery, QLD

2009 Wilson HTM National Art Prize, Finalist, Jan Murphy Gallery, Fortitude Valley, QLD

Moreton Bay Art Awards 2009, Finalist, Pine Rivers Art Gallery, QLD

2008 Launch, Clayton Utz Travelling Scholarship, Finalist, Metro Arts, QLD

New Scientist Eureka Prize for Science Photography, Australian Museum, NSW; a nationally touring exhibition

St Sebastian’s Spring Art Exhibition, Emerging Art Prize, Winner, Yeronga, QLD

2007 Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award, Finalist, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, QLD

The Churchie National Emerging Art Exhibition, Finalist, East Brisbane, QLD

COLLECTIONS

Redland Art Gallery Qld, Queensland Centre for Photography (QCP), Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital, Mater Hospital Qld, Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital Qld, Southbank Corporation QLd, Sunsuper Qld, Gadens Lawyers Qld, Thiess Pty Ltd Qld, Daryl Hewson Collection, Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha, University of Queensland, North Stradbroke Island Historical Museum, Dunwich Qld, Brisbane Grammar School, Griffith University Gold Coast, UMCS University in Lublin Poland, Academy of Fine Art in Warsaw Poland, The National Museum in Wrocław Poland, The Americas Biennial Exhibition Archive, private collections.

PUBLICATIONS

2016 Buziak, Renata. 2016. “Art, healing and local medicinal plants of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island)”. In Brisbane Diseased: Contagions, Cures and Controversies. Edited by Alana Piper. Salisbury, Qld. Boolarong Press, pp. 193-213.

2014 Studio Research Journal, Buziak, Renata. 2014. “Biochromes and Healing Plants: Transdisciplinary Studio Research”, Studio Research Journal, Issue #2, July 2014, pp. 44-55.

2010 Renata Buziak Afterimage, V. Garnons-Williams (essay), L. Rexer (foreword), R. Buziak, Queensland Centre for Photography, South Brisbane

ARTIST RESIDENCIES

2016-17 Flickering Overtones, Harrigans Lane Projects, Wilson Downfalls, NSW

2016 Bilpin international ground for Creative initiatives (BigCi) Blue Mountains NSW

2014 Hot Island, Lines in the Sand Arts Festival, Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island QLD

100 Futures: Now! Kelvin Grove State College, QLD

2013 Nature First, Lines in the Sand Arts Festival, Artist in Residence, North Stradbroke Island QLD

2012 TreeLine: People, Art, Science, Nature, Residency School Programs & Exhibition, Sunshine Coast QLD

2006 Botanica: Australian Native Plants, Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha, Brisbane QLD

GRANTS & SCHOLARSHIPS

2013 Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF), Moreton Bay Regional Council

2011 Australian Postgraduate Award

2010 Arts Queensland Career Development Grant (Afterimage Publication)

2008 NAVA Janet Holmes a Court Artists’ Grant (Exhibition)

2006 Arts Queensland Career Development Grant (International Festival of Photography in Slovakia)

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2016 ABC TV Gardening Australia: My Garden Path: Renata Buziak http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s4501916.htm

2015 Artilink Renata Buziak Unfolding Rhythms II, Carol Schwarzman, exhibition review, August 2016.

Knowing and Knowledge: The Interdisciplinary Research of Visual Artist Renata Buziak, Dr Victoria Cooper, Medicinal Plants Cycles, October 2015

The Absolute Authority of Authenticity, Simon Marsh, Panoptic Press, Jan 2015.

Renata Buziak Biochromes, Artist Talk /Vanessa Tomlinson/Time-lapse Videos, Panoptic Press, YouTube.

2014 Unfolding Rhythms, R. Woodrow, Aesthetic Essence of the Biochrome, Solo Exhibition Catalogue

Ogród, Louise Martin-Chew, Hayward Fine Art exhibition catalogue, 31 October 2014

Aesthetic Essence of the Biochromes, Prof Ross Woodrow, Unfolding Rhythms, April 2014.

2013 Art Monthly, Renata Buziak Afterimage Book Review, Dr Anne Kirker, June 2013, p. 52.

Artalmanac, Renata Buziak – Afterimage: how memories decompose, Ass Prof Marian Drew, 30 April 2013.

Renata Buziak Afterimage, Unless you will (UYW), Issue 24, January 2013, pp. 116-137

2012 Positive Feedback Loop Exhibition catalogue, QCA Griffith University, South Bank, QLD

2011 AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY AND GALLERY COMPENDIUM 2011, Daylight Productions, pp. 88-89.

  • 2010 Look: Contemporary Australian Photography since 1980, A. Marsh, Macmillan Publishers pp. 195, 379

    1. Photo Review Australia, Me and the Microbes, S. Packer, Issue 46, Dec-Feb 2010/11, pp. 24-30

Silvershotz, Queensland Centre for Photography Featured Artists, Vol 6, Ed 3, 2010, p. 34-39

LUCIDA, ‘Afterimge’ Review, R. Smith, [on-line] lucidamagazine.com

Biochrome (c) Renata Buziak

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