Tai Snaith has been painting, planting, musing and collaborating over the warmer months. Now she's bringing it all together for a really special exhibition inspired by memories, objects, friends and nostalgia.
As part of our month of studio visits, Tai takes us for spin around her cozy, mini-museum of a studio.
Where is your studio and what makes it special?
I have been in the infamous Nicholas Building in the city for the past 6 years in a shared space until recently moving out this year, which has been a big change for me. My studio is now in my house in Northcote, overlooking my garden, which I have become slightly obsessed with of late. I love it, I can watch my plants grow, listen to whatever I like, watch the birds and make lunch.
What unusual things happen in your studio?
Lots of dancing
What are the three most important things to consider when setting up a creative work space?
Practicality (how it works for your work), location (whether it suits your life and is easy to get to), and inspiration (either having people or stuff around you that makes you generate good ideas).
Check out Tai's photo gallery from her studio for the photos that relate to this discussion.
0 - What are you working on at the moment?
I'm working on my new solo show called 'The best things in life aren't things' which will be at Helen Gory Galerie in June. It is a collaboration with 8 of my favourite writers, where I have asked them to write me a piece of writing about the one 'thing' in their life that is at the centre of their universe, that makes them who they are. You know the thing, if there was a flood or a fire it would be the thing you run into the house and save first. Or perhaps something they inherited from a loved one or something that they just can't live without. Anyway, then I have drawn the things purely from the descriptions and stories. To scale. The stories are really personal and beautiful and the things are quite weird and wonderful. It's been a real challenge, but I'm really enjoying the process.
1 - What is this axe inspired by?
Ha ha, yeah that one is for Alicia Sometimes who is an amazing poet and feminist and mother of two. She wrote about her fender bass guitar and describes it as an axe ('This axe is a motor') amongst other things.
2 - And this crossword?
The crossword is for a group show I'm in curated by Kirsty Hulm coming up called 'Flux me and You' at No Vacancy in May. I have made a series of part collage, part watercolour works that are about being a woman, or a number of women really.
3 - And who does this cake tin relate to?
This is in response to Leanne Hall's piece of writing. She tells the story of her grandparent's wedding ring box, which she inherited (without the ring in it) because her mother didn't think she could be trusted with the actual ring. So she kept the box for almost 30 years in a cake tin full of jewellery and every time she holds it she thinks about her Chinese Australian grandparents and their story.
4 - Are you the kind of artist who takes a sketchbook everywhere?
I used to. Now I tend to scribble on bits and pieces like serviettes and envelopes and take photos with my phone.
5 - How evolved are the works in your sketchbooks? How different are they from your finished works?
These days my sketchbook drawings are more like bones or little twinklings of souls and my finished works are more fleshy and laboured and lived. The works in my sketchbooks often start with a note taken from something I have been reading or listening to or even overheard, like a quote or a lyric. I often re-visit these quotes and draw something that pops into my head. My sketchbooks can often go for pages and pages without a drawing at all. They often consist of lists of titles and ideas.
6 - How are animals a constant source of reference and inspiration to you?
I have always been obsessed with animals. I am like that dog girl that was raised by wolves... just kidding. Nah, I grew up on a farm and had heaps of different pets and always seemed to learn far more valuable lessons from them than from people. I painstakingly built tiny environments for crickets, snails, skinks, frogs in giant fish tanks I collected. As an adult I am now interested in the way that we can either treat animals like people or the way that people can often revert to animalistic wild, behavior in times of chaos or crisis.
7 - Yayoi Kusama! What do you love about her?
She's completely nuts and awesome!
8 - What are your favourite watercolours?
You mean the brand? oooh, I use Windsor and Newton watercolours and gouache, but I actually just recently inherited a whole lot of ancient watercolours from my boyfriend's great Aunt who was almost 100 and passed away and they are beautiful and a whole new world of fun.
9 - How do most objects find their way to you?
Some kind of weird hoarders osmosis! It's in my bloodlines- I come from a long line of sentimental hoarders.
10 - What are you reading at the moment?
I tend to read two books at once; I'm reading a series of essays on Animism put together by two museums in Germany and also a book called 'The Divided Heart' which is a collection of interviews with creative women who have had children and still continued to create work.
11 - What is the soundtrack to your new show?
I'm loving the new Bill Callahan album, but also been listening a lot to Peter and the Wolf (narrated by David Bowie), The Middle East and a series of different minimal instrumental Japanese artists (like Awa Muse's album Shio-no-michi), who I discovered when I was there on my residency.
12 - Do you think that creativity springs from chaos?
Sometimes, yes. For me collage is like that and I love it. And also collaborating on big projects with others springs from a certain type of social chemistry or chaos. But a certain type of more measured and focused creativity comes from having guidelines, rules and foresight too. They are both valid and equally important to me.
13 - What is your hands-down favourite plant of all time?
Wow, that's a really tough one! I love all succulents because of the way they grow, but I would have to say avocado trees. I have grown several from pips and they are just such simple and graceful plants, with supremely delicious fruit!
14 - What is the story of this musical box?
I was given this when I was a very small girl, it plays the tune to 'raindrops keep falling on my head' and I distinctively remember my mum singing it to me over and over. On the bottom it says in several different coloured pencils with curls on the ends of each letter 'Tai Snaith, grade 1, Miss Kinmont.' I think it's hilarious that I felt I needed to put my teacher's name on my jewellery box.
15 - Do scarecrows really work?
Well, this is the first one I have ever made and even though you may say she's just too cute to scare anyone away, it must have worked, because that was the sweetest, juiciest damn corn I ever did eat!
16 - Where did you find this mouse? And what is its purpose?
It's a rat-lock! It's ancient and heavy and basically you put this primitive key in the head and the bottom bit comes down and the rat lets go of its tail from it's ratty little grasp, which is forming the padlock. I found it in Japan at a flea market in the grounds of a temple and I couldn't afford it, but I must have raved about it so much that my boyfriend snuck back and bought it as a surprise for my birthday, funny thing was, the old Japanese guy wouldn't give him the same price he offered me!!
17 - Who is Super Horse?!
It's me as a horse.
18 - Who is your friend here?
My son, Leo. He's such a cutie.
How are you preparing for winter?
I have planted beetroot and broccoli and cauliflower and I have a new pair of really awesome slippers.
What events around Melbourne have currently got you excited?
My very dear friend Vexta has just found out that she has to move out of her house that she has lived in for YEARS with two other fantasic ladies (we call it Castle Babeskull) and they are planning the party to end all parties as a farewell. I'm super excited about this party.
What post-exhibition things do you have on the cards?
A kids book! Yay!
www.taisnaith.com
The best things in life aren't things
June 29 till end of July 2011
Helen Gory Galerie
St Edmonds Rd (off Greville St)
Prahran
Melbourne
http://www.helengory.com