February 9, 2023 • 31 mins
Steph catches up with sculpture artist Anna Horne ahead of her exhibition Colour Me Soft at Hugo Michell Gallery. A bit of reminiscing about her first outdoor exhibition reveals how Anna found her way to using concrete in her work - which she is now known for using. They chat about the dynamics of being an artist driven by material and process (rather than pre-visualised ideas), and the influence of current issues on Anna’s artmaking.
Show Notes
- Interview Transcript (PDF)
- Adelaide Central School of Art
- Anna Horne, Weigh Down, 2014, rope, concrete, dimensions variable, installed in Rymill Park as part of FELTnatural 2014
- Jimmy Dodd / Double Diamond art fabrication
- Art 21
- ‘A World Of One’s Own’ (podcast) conversations between Tai Snaith and a diverse group of different female-identifying and non-binary artists.
- Phyllida Barlow [wiki]
- Alison Wilding [wiki]
- Neoteric exhibition, 2022, Adelaide Train Station [catalogue]
- Shifting exhibition by Centre for Creative Health at Dentons [catalogue]
- Colour Me Soft at Hugo Michell Gallery
- ‘colour me [something]’ (idiom): An exclamation used to indicate some particular emotion or condition. ‘You did the dishes and cleaned your room? Well, colour me amazed—I never thought the day would come!’
- AnnaHorne.com.au
- @Anna_Horne
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
[music]
Steph (00:21):
Hello and welcome to the SALA podcast. My name is Steph
and today I have the pleasure ofcatching up with sculpture
artist Anna Horne ahead of herexhibition at Hugo Michell
Gallery. We are meeting on thelands of the Kaurna People today
and pay respect to Elders past,present and emerging, and
acknowledge them as thetraditional owners of this land.
(00:43):
Anna, thank you for squeezing usin today, I know you're really
really busy.
Anna (00:48):
Hi Steph, thanks for having me. It's all good.
Steph (00:52):
I know obviously, you've got lots of very exciting stuff
coming up. But I would love tocast your mind back to the
beginnings and ask you how youcame to be an artist.
Anna (01:04):
Um, well, it wasn't a conscious choice. In a way, I
was classic 'went to art schoolstraight after high school'
person. I've always beensurrounded by art. My mom is
many things; she's a farmer,radiographer, but also an
artist.
Steph (01:22):
What a combo
Anna (01:24):
It's crazy. But she actually went to Adelaide
Central School of Art where Istudied. She has a sweet
anecdote of going to classespregnant with me.
Steph (01:34):
Oh, so you've been going for ages
Anna (01:36):
Well yeah. I did art in year 12. And I didn't really
like year 12 much, but I didenjoy art. Yeah. But even then I
wasn't thinking of studying atall. I actually really enjoyed
photography and I have no ideawhy I'm not a photographer now.
(01:56):
I'm only 36, so I feel likemaybe a medium change is coming.
But I was the classic schoolleaver where I enrolled in a
bunch of uni courses, biology,Bachelor of Arts, just sort of
anything, and I was veryundecided, and Mum said to me
"just do one year or six monthsof art school, and see how you
(02:18):
feel about it. And it might giveyou some inspiration" or
whatever. And I don't thinkpeople realize how hard art
school is sometimes it wasreally overwhelming, but in an
exciting way. And it doesintroduce you to a lot of
things, a lot of processes;painting, drawing, all of that.
(02:38):
But even then I don't think atany point, I was thinking 'I'm
going to be an artist'. Yeah, Inearly sort of fell into it.
Yeah. And I did do it full time.And then by the fourth year, I
was still doing it. And I didn'tknow I was going to be a
sculptor 'til I think the endeither.
Steph (02:57):
Oh, that's interesting.
Anna (02:58):
Yeah. Yeah, I just really was kind of going with the flow
really
Steph (03:03):
Flow is good, flow is good.
Anna (03:04):
Yeah, I still feel like I'm going with the flow, just
seeing what happens.
Steph (03:08):
It's a good vibe to continue.
Anna (03:10):
So I and also, we were surrounded by people who are
teaching who are artists. Soyou, you were aware that it
could be a professional career.
Steph (03:20):
It could be done.
Anna (03:21):
It could be done. Yeah, you became aware that it could
be done and that you could beyour own boss and make for a
living. And I do like makingthings, I have an urge to make
things. So yeah.
Steph (03:33):
so it just happened. I love it.
Anna (03:35):
Yeah. But I guess when you... on reflection, when you
think about my upbringing andlittle things, but still, I'm
not even sure.
Steph (03:46):
And Anna how would you describe your practice? I know
that is a really challengingquestion, and that kind of
depends on 'who am I talkingto?'
Anna (03:57):
Well, I'm a sculptor; I would say my medium is
sculpture, which is broad in itsown self. But I always say that
I'm a material and process-basedartists which sounds wordy. But
all that means is that I'minterested in exploring
(04:19):
materials and the process ofmaking art in my studio. So I'm
very much interested in play andexperimentation and building
things. And that leads to theartwork itself, I would say. I
(04:39):
kind of only make art in mystudio, and I use techniques
like kind of usual sculpturetechniques like assemblage and
molding and castingparticularly, I'm interested in
casting concrete. So using thosethings lead to my ideas. Which
(05:00):
I'm interested in contradictorythings in sculpture. And I think
it would make more sense ifpeople could see my work. Yeah.
So to describe my work, I oftenhave these cast elements, which
are made from molds that I sewup out of fabric, and I cast
concrete and heavy kind ofcasting materials in there.
Steph (05:23):
There's already a contradiction in that isn't
there.
Anna (05:25):
Yeah, so I make these soft-looking objects, and then I
will get someone else to help meweld a steel frame or I make a
structure, and I kind of combinedifferent materials with these
cast objects. And that's how Iwould describe my practice. But
it is very much abstractsculpture and with some familiar
(05:48):
elements in it. I'm usuallyreferencing architectural
materials, and I would say I'mreferencing the 'built world',
in a way, but I don't like tosay anything too sort of broad
and big, because I want topeople... I think abstraction is
like that. I think you need toexperience it, there. And it is
(06:09):
about my process and how I gotto that point, that gets me to
the end product.
Steph (06:15):
Yeah, and it's such an important thing to note, because
that does separate your practicefrom something that is, you
know, 'I pictured this, and thenI made it'. Yeah, it's more
significant than it might seem.
Anna (06:27):
Yeah, and also, I don't do projects. So one exhibition
wouldn't be about one subject.It's kind of the accumulation.
My practice is one whole thing Ifeel, and each exhibition kind
of leads... of course, allartists are like this, but
Steph (06:44):
but it's nice to not have like, a clear bookend to one,
and then go, 'oh, this is gonnabe so different'. So there's a
nice flow, again, going throughit.
Anna (06:54):
And it's not representational, but it's
abstract but there are familiarelements to it. Yeah. It is hard
to, it's hard to...
Steph (07:02):
I really threw you a hard one there. Sorry.
Anna (07:05):
No, it's good to be able to articulate this part of
practice, I think,
Steph (07:10):
yeah, it's a good struggle; worthwhile.
Unknown (07:12):
[music]
Steph (07:35):
Just thinking back to my first encounter with your work,
I think was FELTnatural in 2014,in Rymill Park, and you had,
yes, these concrete worksencased in rope and tethered to
trees. And it was, it was agreat, because the whole sort of
premise of that show was sort ofthis site-responsive, you know,
(07:55):
walking through the parkdiscovering artworks, which was
fantastic in itself. But it wasas if your sculptures were like
weighing down the branches in away. And it was this yeah, great
contradiction of materials. Theconcrete had these sort of ruts
as if the rope was cutting intoit. So yeah, and I still see.
(08:17):
Yeah, like you're saying thatflow is still there. I don't
even know what question I'masking. There's, I can still,
you know, an Anna Horne workwhen you see one for sure. What
is the... like, is concrete themain material? Or do you have
quite a few that you just kindof?
Anna (08:33):
I like that you brought up that show because that was
actually the point where Istarted using concrete.
Steph (08:39):
Oh!
Anna (08:39):
I felt like that was, that show, FELTnatural... was also a
great show, because you had thislittle thread to hold on to, the
'site-specific'. So yeah,reacting to the trees, and they
were slumping. And I did havejust that kind of one idea of,
how can I make it look like mysculpture is pulling down the
(09:00):
tree rather than the other wayaround?
Steph (09:01):
Yeah it was great, this tension.
Anna (09:02):
Yeah, the tension. And I was like, well, it was outside.
So I literally had this thoughtof 'what is heavy, but someone
can't take it away'. But becauseI had to be outside for 10 days.
And what looks heavy. So ofcourse, it was concrete. It was
(09:25):
just such a like 'Oh, okay,that's obvious'.
Steph (09:26):
Yeah that makes sense.
Anna (09:27):
And then, I had not done molding and casting for a while
since art school, and it wasthis... I like to approach a
material in this nearlyexperimental way and try to push
it its limits a little bit orkind of take it in a new
direction. So I don't alwayskind of look into how to exactly
(09:53):
do something. I might have aplay with it first. And then
maybe I'll watch YouTube videosand try to figure out things.
But that one was very much like'okay, well I'm I want it to
look light, look heavy'. So Ifound pool floating devices,
like those kinds of beach ballsand the ring, the kind of donut
shape
Steph (10:13):
oh yeah. floaties
Anna (10:14):
floaties Yeah. And I was like, Okay, well, I'm going to
try to put cast concrete inthose. And it was the process of
trying to make that work. Andthen that led to the rope. And
then the back the kind ofmacramae bag that I used to hang
it; it was cast in that and itwas a way of holding up this
flexible thing. So it's kind ofchaos in my studio, to be
(10:38):
honest,
Steph (10:38):
Oh I bet. Yeah.
Anna (10:40):
And even though concrete is quite a simple material to
use, I don't think, yeah, it'ssort of so heavy and I think
people... unlike plaster orsomething, you don't find it at
an art shop. You can't approachit in the same way; you don't
have the same sort of knowledgeof it. And yeah, so I think
(11:00):
everyone has probably made a -Idon't know, a paver, or mixed
some concrete for the garden or-
Steph (11:05):
[sarcastically] Yeah, sure. No, I leave it to you.
Anna (11:09):
Yeah. But it was this nice discovery of that material. And,
Yeah. Thank you so much.
again, it was those little kindof discoveries along the way in
the process, where I realizedthat concrete can really pick up
the surface of anything, I wasvery surprised at how sort of
delicate it was in a way.
Steph (11:28):
That is surprising.
Anna (11:29):
Yeah. So it really picked up that soft surface of the
floaties. And it just createdthese sort of weird, lumpy,
soft-looking shapes in RymillPark, pulling down with rope
around them. So I re-added therope later, yeah, that I used
practically to hang it. But no,that kind of led me to using
(11:50):
concrete a lot, really. And I'minterested in using the same
materials over and over again.And I think you can create a bit
of a visual language, as yousaid, you kind of know what my
work is. And I really think thatis just time and energy and
(12:10):
process that you end up makingyour own visual language in some
way. Because you're kind ofworking incrementally at the
same materials and the samething.
Steph (12:19):
Yeah, and pushing
Anna (12:20):
And pushing it yep. And pushing it into different
directions a little bit everytime. So yeah, that was the
pinpoint of the concrete phase,
Steph (12:28):
I had no idea!
Anna (12:29):
I might go into a different phase, maybe. I
haven't sort of got rid ofconcrete yet.
Steph (12:34):
I think it's working very well for you. Yeah, and what
kind of other materials havecome up in your practice?
Anna (12:42):
I use kind of steel frames as well. And recently, it's been
kind of interesting, becauseI've had other people help me
fabricate things that I can't domyself. I can't weld very well.
Steph (12:57):
You can't do it all.
Anna (12:57):
So artist, Jimmy Dodd of Double Diamond helps fabricate
some things. And also I havethis guy that casts things in
aluminium for me. So I'vestarted to use polystyrene and
foam and sort of sculpt thosethings to get that cast in
aluminium. But it's beeninteresting to take, for someone
(13:20):
to sort of take a bit of thatprocess away. So that's been a
nice step, but maybe an awkwardone. Because I'm very much a
hands-on, need to be in themoment, kind of person.
Steph (13:30):
Yeah that's an interesting what that does to
the dynamic and your process.
Anna (13:34):
Yeah, but I pretty much I guess the majority of my
practice is creating the molds,like sewing up molds and
creating that and yeah, butother materials. Yeah, haven't
branched out too much.
Steph (13:48):
No that's good. You got your language, you're on it. And
yeah, interesting talking aboutthat studio time. Do you have
to, like get in a zone? Becauseif it's so experimental, and you
don't know exactly what you aregoing to end up with and... you
(14:10):
know, do you have any tricks orspecial albums or anything that
you do to get in that zone? Oris it sort of by virtue of being
in the space of a studio, thatyou kind of just get into that
routine?
Anna (14:22):
I think it is, by virtue of being in the space. I do find
if I pass that threshold of thestudio out into the real
world... you know, you go homeand you think about other things
and you get distracted. And, ofcourse I think about work
outside of the studio, butreally, it is about being in
that space. And you know, asadvice to anyone that wants to
(14:43):
have an art practice, you justyou have to be in the space, in
your zone, to kind of thinkabout it. And, it is... yeah,
time. Time spent in the studioand you might have some ideas,
and you see some things, or yousee some connections between
things. But also you need 'busywork' I think. Creating the
molds and sewing up the molds isoften busy work, just you might
(15:06):
be thinking... put a podcast onor one of these podcasts on, I
don't know
Steph (15:10):
Yes definitely this one.
Anna (15:14):
And then you kind of stop and start because you'll be
distracted by something else andyou're using your hands to make
something and then you go, Oh,I'm gonna try this thing. You
have a little moment where youtry something.
Steph (15:28):
So you almost have, is it kind of like having two channels
running in your brain?
Anna (15:32):
Yeah
Steph (15:32):
Like, kind of hands are doing something that they kind
of know what they're doing, butyou can kind of tick over in
your brain at the same time.
Anna (15:37):
Yeah. I think I might be an impatient person, though. I
think. I'm not sure I can sitdown for too long. I've
discovered that I... even thoughI'm sewing a lot on the sewing
machine, I'll get up and like,have a thought and go off and do
something. And I'll go back towhatever kind of time-consuming
thing I've got going on.
Steph (15:56):
Yeah. So you've got to keep busy. Yeah. Sorry. I hope
that aircraft doesn't interrupttoo much.
Anna (16:03):
But yeah, I've thought about this a lot, and how
much... I know other peoplemight journal more or do a lot
more kind of research outside ofthe studio before they even
start a work. But for me, it'sthe little discoveries I make
Steph (16:21):
sort of along the way
Anna (16:22):
along the way. And you kind of -I was talking to
someone the other day, anotherartist. About you have this
moment. And you think it's...like a material moment. And you
[think] 'Oh, my God, that is it.That is it'. But then 24 hours
later, you're like, 'that is notit.' Why did I even think that
was a good idea? Like it's theseups and downs that are just
(16:44):
quite...
Steph (16:44):
Yeah. I like that too
Anna (16:47):
Yeah, and I think again, it's about the visual language
I've created for myself that Ican maybe see when something is
working. -After that, 24 hourperiod.
Steph (16:59):
After you've waited
Anna (17:03):
Yeah, so I think it's important to kind of follow your
gut a little bit, because, butonly because I mean, so it's
time and accumulation of time.Yeah.
Steph (17:12):
And I guess, knowing what your way of working is, you
know, if you say, I'm a bit ofan impatient person, you know,
maybe just knowing that aboutyourself and saying this is how
I work best.
Anna (17:22):
That's only a new discovery I think.
Steph (17:25):
I'm not saying it's true.
Anna (17:28):
No it is true. I can harness it though.
Steph (17:31):
Yeah well that's the thing, make it a good thing.
Yeah. And are there any lessevident places that you do draw
inspiration like from, you know,even pop culture or, you know,
artists from other areas, likemusicians or particular objects,
(17:52):
or movements or anything likethat, or
Anna (17:54):
I feel like I'm, I've thought about this a lot as
well, that there are a lot ofartists that nearly their whole
life is about, you can see it intheir art, so maybe movies they
watch or music or listen to, ortheir job or their background,
family background. But for me, Ido wonder like, what the
connection is. But I do pick uplittle... because I'm
(18:16):
referencing the built world, andvery much, that's, I feel like
that's something that everyonecan kind of connect to; this
environment that we live in. Butfor me, I have two sort of
approaches for inspiration (18:30):
I often watch a lot of videos of
artists talking in theirstudios.
Steph (18:37):
Oh that's interesting.
Anna (18:38):
Yeah. So I find that the most kind of inspiring or
interesting language. So I thinkof Art21 videos, you can find
them on YouTube. There's loadsof stuff online that you can
just watch artists and I don'teven necessarily watch... I do
like to watch artists I love.Especially kind of big artists
(19:01):
like Phyllida Barlow from theUK, and Alison Wilding, and you
can watch them talk about theirpractice and I feel some sort of
connection to their practice-materially or process wise. But
I do even watch videos ofartists who may be, our
practices may be completelyopposite. I don't know. I just
enjoy hearing them talk aboutthe even the small things like
(19:24):
the little thing. Like they'llget distracted by this little
collection of objects they havein their studio, or they don't
really even talk about the bigideas. They talk about the small
things within... it's like theyfeel comfortable within that
space. Yeah, spaces.
Steph (19:39):
Is it kind of the candor that you know, yeah,
Anna (19:42):
I really like that for some reason that I'm attracted
to that. But also things... Ifind myself, I cycle to work
when it's not boiling hot orraining. And I find myself
really noticing bits ofarchitecture. Ah, yes. And
even fence lines and kind ofsort of noticing or being
(20:08):
slightly inspired by little bitsof architecture here and there.
Yeah, that's cool. Is it only onthe bike? Yeah it's weirdly
only [on the bike]. Maybe it'sbecause I...
Steph (20:17):
maybe it's another zone?
Anna (20:18):
Yeah, it's really like meditation on the bike.
Steph (20:21):
Or maybe you're going so fast that things occur to you
that wouldn't otherwise. That'squite cool. And that's nice,
because that's sort of builtinto your life as well.
Anna (20:29):
Yeah.
Unknown (20:30):
[music]
Steph (20:43):
Now, let's get to the exciting stuff. You have an
exhibition coming up very soonat Hugo Michell Gallery called
Colour Me Soft. Could you pleasetell us about that show?
Anna (20:53):
Yeah, it's an exciting opportunity. I love that
gallery. So this show is newsculpture work. And there's
going to be maybe five to sixsmaller works, and three large
works in the back space of HugoMichell [Gallery].
Steph (21:11):
Lovely.
Anna (21:13):
And yeah, I'm really excited about this show. I think
this show has been kind of aoffshoot of two shows I've had
recently. So I had a few weeksin Neoteric, for the Adelaide
Festival, focusing on mid careerartists and that was a big group
show.
Steph (21:34):
At the [Adelaide] train station wasn't it.
Anna (21:35):
Yeah at the train station. And that was amazing; it was a
really great opportunity. And Ifelt like I was tapping into
more of emotion in sculpture;more I was trying to kind of tap
into this feeling of anxiety ina way. And those works explored
(21:58):
a few different things. So Imight have, again, I don't want
to kind of talk too much aboutthe reference of something I'm
looking at, like research I'mdoing or something I'm reading
because I don't think the workfully shows that. Like it gets
so far from that.
Steph (22:16):
But it was still a thread.
Anna (22:18):
Yeah, a thread at the start. And it was kind of nearly
a negative show, in a way,because I guess it was pandemic
time, and there was coming outof it, and there was a lot of
sort of anxiety in the air. Andthis second show was for the
Center for Creative Health.There was a small group show at
(22:38):
Dentons on Gouger [Street]called 'shifting'. And it was
actually a really nice groupshow. And the curatorial theme
was 'shifting', and each artistcould take what they wanted from
that. And, that was kind ofbroad and vague, but it was kind
(23:02):
of good, it was something Icould kind of hold on to and
think about. And I startedthinking about temporary
shelters, and this feeling ofthings. So I think about the
aesthetics of the built world,the feelings around how we feel
about stability and instability.And you know, it's in this
(23:23):
moment where, you know, we'rethinking about the environment,
and we're thinking abouthousing, and there's all this
stuff in the air aboutinstability, from all different
angles. So I really wanted to,with that show at Dentons, I
really wanted to explore more ofthese materials about this
(23:47):
feeling of building up andtrying to sustain something but
it might crumble, it mighteventually degrade. It's that
feeling that we have where youyou want a home and you want to
maintain it and you want a roofover your head and
Steph (24:04):
and know that it will continue
Anna (24:05):
and know that it will continue but inevitably it's
going to, you know, degrade. Ithink it's just human. I'm
interested in this human desireto kind of keep going keep
building up non stop, and nearlyavoid this idea that things will
change and that struggle withchange.
Steph (24:25):
Yeah it's almost like if you do enough, you can outrun
it.
Anna (24:28):
Yeah, so I guess there was a kind of a negativity to that
feeling, like this anxiety. AndI've been thinking about how
sculpture work -especiallyabstract sculpture work- can
hold an emotion and feelingthrough material. So but I
(24:49):
wanted this show, Colour Mesoft, and it's a play on that
kind of term 'colour mesomething,', you might say
colour me an emotion. And Iwanted it to kind of suggest
something more positive aboutthese materials. So I've kind of
created along the lines of thatneoteric work and the shifting
(25:11):
work, playing on those materialsof architecture and temporary
shelters and lots of things. Sothere'll be like rope and tape
and bubble wrap and spray paint.I'm very much in this, like my
kind of work. But yeah, there'sgonna be incorporated a bit more
(25:33):
color this time, which has beenan interesting choice. Because I
often use inherent colour, Iwill add colour to my concrete
or just use the colour thatcomes with the thing. But this
time, I've made a lot of colourchoices, as well. So contrasting
colours a bit more bold, morehappy colours.
Steph (25:56):
This is such an interesting point then, to be
like, yes, I've had those twoshows build up to [this]. So yes
I'm very excited to see.
Anna (26:03):
Yeah. So I think it's important to mention those two
other shows and maybe look upimages of those work. Yeah.
We'll put them in the shownotes. But colour has been
interesting. I'm interested inopposing colours.
Steph (26:19):
Yeah and that contradiction that's not new [in
your work]
Anna (26:23):
But yeah, feels new for me.
Steph (26:27):
Yeah. Well I'm definitely excited to go and check that out
now. I feel like you've justgiven me a teaser of what to
expect. Do you have -castingback to you know, the history of
your practice- do you have afavorite memory of someone
interacting with your work?
Anna (26:47):
I do. And again, it's from that FELTnatural show that was
outside.
Steph (26:52):
I had no idea that that was such a crucial piece.
Anna (26:55):
I know! When I talk about my practice, I realize that was
a real moment. But um, I have afunny little anecdote about that
show. And some people think it'sa bit negative, but I've put a
positive spin on it, and I seeit in a positive way, so I'll
just say that. So because it wasone of my... actually it might
have been my first time I've hadto install something outside in
(27:17):
public. So there was all thoseconsiderations, which led to
using concrete. But because ofthis visual kind of play between
is it light/is it heavy;basically it was outside for 10
days. And we had to de-installon a Sunday. And a friend of
(27:38):
mine, my housemate at the time-bless him- had to do a bit of
work after this. But we rockedup to pick the work up. I needed
an extra hand because they wereprobably somewhere between 30
and 50 kilos each, to really putpeople off. But when we rocked
(27:59):
up to the park one was missing.So we were like 'how's that
possible?' And then there was
Steph (28:06):
the rope as well? or just the
Anna (28:08):
Well, no, there was evidence, like so the rope was
sort of a few metres away. Butthen there was -I don't know if
it was relevant- but then therewas sort of a vodka bottle
Steph (28:16):
there's a story here.
Anna (28:18):
because it was a Sunday morning and it was near the
city. And I was like, Didsomeone get drunk and take the
work? But then we realized therewas all these little bits of
like rope and that kind ofbottle leading to the Rymill
Park lake.
Steph (28:33):
Oh, yes, the lake.
Anna (28:34):
So we're like
there, and it was literally: someone had picked it -or (28:36):
undefined
people- had picked it up andthrown one of them. It was kind
of this round very much a beachball shape.
Steph (28:46):
That's really ironic isn't it.
Anna (28:48):
and had thrown into the lake. And some people were kind
of horrified for me. But I waslike, no, this is kind of
hilarious, because they saw itas a challenge. They could say,
they might have just beendamaging artwork. I don't know.
But I see it as they were like,'no, I can pick that up'. That
does look like a soft ball. I'mgoing to try to pick that up and
(29:11):
do something with it. So andthen my poor housemate, who was
a bit stronger than me, had toget in the water at like,
Steph (29:19):
they had to wade in!
Anna (29:19):
had to wade in and ended up with this photo of him wading
into the water, which I couldprobably send you
Steph (29:24):
it can be our hero shot.
[music]
Steph (00:21):
Hello and welcome to the SALA podcast. My name is Steph
and today I have the pleasure ofcatching up with sculpture
artist Anna Horne ahead of herexhibition at Hugo Michell
Gallery. We are meeting on thelands of the Kaurna People today
and pay respect to Elders past,present and emerging, and
acknowledge them as thetraditional owners of this land.
(00:43):
Anna, thank you for squeezing usin today, I know you're really
really busy.
Anna (00:48):
Hi Steph, thanks for having me. It's all good.
Steph (00:52):
I know obviously, you've got lots of very exciting stuff
coming up. But I would love tocast your mind back to the
beginnings and ask you how youcame to be an artist.
Anna (01:04):
Um, well, it wasn't a conscious choice. In a way, I
was classic 'went to art schoolstraight after high school'
person. I've always beensurrounded by art. My mom is
many things; she's a farmer,radiographer, but also an
artist.
Steph (01:22):
What a combo
Anna (01:24):
It's crazy. But she actually went to Adelaide
Central School of Art where Istudied. She has a sweet
anecdote of going to classespregnant with me.
Steph (01:34):
Oh, so you've been going for ages
Anna (01:36):
Well yeah. I did art in year 12. And I didn't really
like year 12 much, but I didenjoy art. Yeah. But even then I
wasn't thinking of studying atall. I actually really enjoyed
photography and I have no ideawhy I'm not a photographer now.
(01:56):
I'm only 36, so I feel likemaybe a medium change is coming.
But I was the classic schoolleaver where I enrolled in a
bunch of uni courses, biology,Bachelor of Arts, just sort of
anything, and I was veryundecided, and Mum said to me
"just do one year or six monthsof art school, and see how you
(02:18):
feel about it. And it might giveyou some inspiration" or
whatever. And I don't thinkpeople realize how hard art
school is sometimes it wasreally overwhelming, but in an
exciting way. And it doesintroduce you to a lot of
things, a lot of processes;painting, drawing, all of that.
(02:38):
But even then I don't think atany point, I was thinking 'I'm
going to be an artist'. Yeah, Inearly sort of fell into it.
Yeah. And I did do it full time.And then by the fourth year, I
was still doing it. And I didn'tknow I was going to be a
sculptor 'til I think the endeither.
Steph (02:57):
Oh, that's interesting.
Anna (02:58):
Yeah. Yeah, I just really was kind of going with the flow
really
Steph (03:03):
Flow is good, flow is good.
Anna (03:04):
Yeah, I still feel like I'm going with the flow, just
seeing what happens.
Steph (03:08):
It's a good vibe to continue.
Anna (03:10):
So I and also, we were surrounded by people who are
teaching who are artists. Soyou, you were aware that it
could be a professional career.
Steph (03:20):
It could be done.
Anna (03:21):
It could be done. Yeah, you became aware that it could
be done and that you could beyour own boss and make for a
living. And I do like makingthings, I have an urge to make
things. So yeah.
Steph (03:33):
so it just happened. I love it.
Anna (03:35):
Yeah. But I guess when you... on reflection, when you
think about my upbringing andlittle things, but still, I'm
not even sure.
Steph (03:46):
And Anna how would you describe your practice? I know
that is a really challengingquestion, and that kind of
depends on 'who am I talkingto?'
Anna (03:57):
Well, I'm a sculptor; I would say my medium is
sculpture, which is broad in itsown self. But I always say that
I'm a material and process-basedartists which sounds wordy. But
all that means is that I'minterested in exploring
(04:19):
materials and the process ofmaking art in my studio. So I'm
very much interested in play andexperimentation and building
things. And that leads to theartwork itself, I would say. I
(04:39):
kind of only make art in mystudio, and I use techniques
like kind of usual sculpturetechniques like assemblage and
molding and castingparticularly, I'm interested in
casting concrete. So using thosethings lead to my ideas. Which
(05:00):
I'm interested in contradictorythings in sculpture. And I think
it would make more sense ifpeople could see my work. Yeah.
So to describe my work, I oftenhave these cast elements, which
are made from molds that I sewup out of fabric, and I cast
concrete and heavy kind ofcasting materials in there.
Steph (05:23):
There's already a contradiction in that isn't
there.
Anna (05:25):
Yeah, so I make these soft-looking objects, and then I
will get someone else to help meweld a steel frame or I make a
structure, and I kind of combinedifferent materials with these
cast objects. And that's how Iwould describe my practice. But
it is very much abstractsculpture and with some familiar
(05:48):
elements in it. I'm usuallyreferencing architectural
materials, and I would say I'mreferencing the 'built world',
in a way, but I don't like tosay anything too sort of broad
and big, because I want topeople... I think abstraction is
like that. I think you need toexperience it, there. And it is
(06:09):
about my process and how I gotto that point, that gets me to
the end product.
Steph (06:15):
Yeah, and it's such an important thing to note, because
that does separate your practicefrom something that is, you
know, 'I pictured this, and thenI made it'. Yeah, it's more
significant than it might seem.
Anna (06:27):
Yeah, and also, I don't do projects. So one exhibition
wouldn't be about one subject.It's kind of the accumulation.
My practice is one whole thing Ifeel, and each exhibition kind
of leads... of course, allartists are like this, but
Steph (06:44):
but it's nice to not have like, a clear bookend to one,
and then go, 'oh, this is gonnabe so different'. So there's a
nice flow, again, going throughit.
Anna (06:54):
And it's not representational, but it's
abstract but there are familiarelements to it. Yeah. It is hard
to, it's hard to...
Steph (07:02):
I really threw you a hard one there. Sorry.
Anna (07:05):
No, it's good to be able to articulate this part of
practice, I think,
Steph (07:10):
yeah, it's a good struggle; worthwhile.
Unknown (07:12):
[music]
Steph (07:35):
Just thinking back to my first encounter with your work,
I think was FELTnatural in 2014,in Rymill Park, and you had,
yes, these concrete worksencased in rope and tethered to
trees. And it was, it was agreat, because the whole sort of
premise of that show was sort ofthis site-responsive, you know,
(07:55):
walking through the parkdiscovering artworks, which was
fantastic in itself. But it wasas if your sculptures were like
weighing down the branches in away. And it was this yeah, great
contradiction of materials. Theconcrete had these sort of ruts
as if the rope was cutting intoit. So yeah, and I still see.
(08:17):
Yeah, like you're saying thatflow is still there. I don't
even know what question I'masking. There's, I can still,
you know, an Anna Horne workwhen you see one for sure. What
is the... like, is concrete themain material? Or do you have
quite a few that you just kindof?
Anna (08:33):
I like that you brought up that show because that was
actually the point where Istarted using concrete.
Steph (08:39):
Oh!
Anna (08:39):
I felt like that was, that show, FELTnatural... was also a
great show, because you had thislittle thread to hold on to, the
'site-specific'. So yeah,reacting to the trees, and they
were slumping. And I did havejust that kind of one idea of,
how can I make it look like mysculpture is pulling down the
(09:00):
tree rather than the other wayaround?
Steph (09:01):
Yeah it was great, this tension.
Anna (09:02):
Yeah, the tension. And I was like, well, it was outside.
So I literally had this thoughtof 'what is heavy, but someone
can't take it away'. But becauseI had to be outside for 10 days.
And what looks heavy. So ofcourse, it was concrete. It was
(09:25):
just such a like 'Oh, okay,that's obvious'.
Steph (09:26):
Yeah that makes sense.
Anna (09:27):
And then, I had not done molding and casting for a while
since art school, and it wasthis... I like to approach a
material in this nearlyexperimental way and try to push
it its limits a little bit orkind of take it in a new
direction. So I don't alwayskind of look into how to exactly
(09:53):
do something. I might have aplay with it first. And then
maybe I'll watch YouTube videosand try to figure out things.
But that one was very much like'okay, well I'm I want it to
look light, look heavy'. So Ifound pool floating devices,
like those kinds of beach ballsand the ring, the kind of donut
shape
Steph (10:13):
oh yeah. floaties
Anna (10:14):
floaties Yeah. And I was like, Okay, well, I'm going to
try to put cast concrete inthose. And it was the process of
trying to make that work. Andthen that led to the rope. And
then the back the kind ofmacramae bag that I used to hang
it; it was cast in that and itwas a way of holding up this
flexible thing. So it's kind ofchaos in my studio, to be
(10:38):
honest,
Steph (10:38):
Oh I bet. Yeah.
Anna (10:40):
And even though concrete is quite a simple material to
use, I don't think, yeah, it'ssort of so heavy and I think
people... unlike plaster orsomething, you don't find it at
an art shop. You can't approachit in the same way; you don't
have the same sort of knowledgeof it. And yeah, so I think
(11:00):
everyone has probably made a -Idon't know, a paver, or mixed
some concrete for the garden or-
Steph (11:05):
[sarcastically] Yeah, sure. No, I leave it to you.
Anna (11:09):
Yeah. But it was this nice discovery of that material. And,
Yeah. Thank you so much.
again, it was those little kindof discoveries along the way in
the process, where I realizedthat concrete can really pick up
the surface of anything, I wasvery surprised at how sort of
delicate it was in a way.
Steph (11:28):
That is surprising.
Anna (11:29):
Yeah. So it really picked up that soft surface of the
floaties. And it just createdthese sort of weird, lumpy,
soft-looking shapes in RymillPark, pulling down with rope
around them. So I re-added therope later, yeah, that I used
practically to hang it. But no,that kind of led me to using
(11:50):
concrete a lot, really. And I'minterested in using the same
materials over and over again.And I think you can create a bit
of a visual language, as yousaid, you kind of know what my
work is. And I really think thatis just time and energy and
(12:10):
process that you end up makingyour own visual language in some
way. Because you're kind ofworking incrementally at the
same materials and the samething.
Steph (12:19):
Yeah, and pushing
Anna (12:20):
And pushing it yep. And pushing it into different
directions a little bit everytime. So yeah, that was the
pinpoint of the concrete phase,
Steph (12:28):
I had no idea!
Anna (12:29):
I might go into a different phase, maybe. I
haven't sort of got rid ofconcrete yet.
Steph (12:34):
I think it's working very well for you. Yeah, and what
kind of other materials havecome up in your practice?
Anna (12:42):
I use kind of steel frames as well. And recently, it's been
kind of interesting, becauseI've had other people help me
fabricate things that I can't domyself. I can't weld very well.
Steph (12:57):
You can't do it all.
Anna (12:57):
So artist, Jimmy Dodd of Double Diamond helps fabricate
some things. And also I havethis guy that casts things in
aluminium for me. So I'vestarted to use polystyrene and
foam and sort of sculpt thosethings to get that cast in
aluminium. But it's beeninteresting to take, for someone
(13:20):
to sort of take a bit of thatprocess away. So that's been a
nice step, but maybe an awkwardone. Because I'm very much a
hands-on, need to be in themoment, kind of person.
Steph (13:30):
Yeah that's an interesting what that does to
the dynamic and your process.
Anna (13:34):
Yeah, but I pretty much I guess the majority of my
practice is creating the molds,like sewing up molds and
creating that and yeah, butother materials. Yeah, haven't
branched out too much.
Steph (13:48):
No that's good. You got your language, you're on it. And
yeah, interesting talking aboutthat studio time. Do you have
to, like get in a zone? Becauseif it's so experimental, and you
don't know exactly what you aregoing to end up with and... you
(14:10):
know, do you have any tricks orspecial albums or anything that
you do to get in that zone? Oris it sort of by virtue of being
in the space of a studio, thatyou kind of just get into that
routine?
Anna (14:22):
I think it is, by virtue of being in the space. I do find
if I pass that threshold of thestudio out into the real
world... you know, you go homeand you think about other things
and you get distracted. And, ofcourse I think about work
outside of the studio, butreally, it is about being in
that space. And you know, asadvice to anyone that wants to
(14:43):
have an art practice, you justyou have to be in the space, in
your zone, to kind of thinkabout it. And, it is... yeah,
time. Time spent in the studioand you might have some ideas,
and you see some things, or yousee some connections between
things. But also you need 'busywork' I think. Creating the
molds and sewing up the molds isoften busy work, just you might
(15:06):
be thinking... put a podcast onor one of these podcasts on, I
don't know
Steph (15:10):
Yes definitely this one.
Anna (15:14):
And then you kind of stop and start because you'll be
distracted by something else andyou're using your hands to make
something and then you go, Oh,I'm gonna try this thing. You
have a little moment where youtry something.
Steph (15:28):
So you almost have, is it kind of like having two channels
running in your brain?
Anna (15:32):
Yeah
Steph (15:32):
Like, kind of hands are doing something that they kind
of know what they're doing, butyou can kind of tick over in
your brain at the same time.
Anna (15:37):
Yeah. I think I might be an impatient person, though. I
think. I'm not sure I can sitdown for too long. I've
discovered that I... even thoughI'm sewing a lot on the sewing
machine, I'll get up and like,have a thought and go off and do
something. And I'll go back towhatever kind of time-consuming
thing I've got going on.
Steph (15:56):
Yeah. So you've got to keep busy. Yeah. Sorry. I hope
that aircraft doesn't interrupttoo much.
Anna (16:03):
But yeah, I've thought about this a lot, and how
much... I know other peoplemight journal more or do a lot
more kind of research outside ofthe studio before they even
start a work. But for me, it'sthe little discoveries I make
Steph (16:21):
sort of along the way
Anna (16:22):
along the way. And you kind of -I was talking to
someone the other day, anotherartist. About you have this
moment. And you think it's...like a material moment. And you
[think] 'Oh, my God, that is it.That is it'. But then 24 hours
later, you're like, 'that is notit.' Why did I even think that
was a good idea? Like it's theseups and downs that are just
(16:44):
quite...
Steph (16:44):
Yeah. I like that too
Anna (16:47):
Yeah, and I think again, it's about the visual language
I've created for myself that Ican maybe see when something is
working. -After that, 24 hourperiod.
Steph (16:59):
After you've waited
Anna (17:03):
Yeah, so I think it's important to kind of follow your
gut a little bit, because, butonly because I mean, so it's
time and accumulation of time.Yeah.
Steph (17:12):
And I guess, knowing what your way of working is, you
know, if you say, I'm a bit ofan impatient person, you know,
maybe just knowing that aboutyourself and saying this is how
I work best.
Anna (17:22):
That's only a new discovery I think.
Steph (17:25):
I'm not saying it's true.
Anna (17:28):
No it is true. I can harness it though.
Steph (17:31):
Yeah well that's the thing, make it a good thing.
Yeah. And are there any lessevident places that you do draw
inspiration like from, you know,even pop culture or, you know,
artists from other areas, likemusicians or particular objects,
(17:52):
or movements or anything likethat, or
Anna (17:54):
I feel like I'm, I've thought about this a lot as
well, that there are a lot ofartists that nearly their whole
life is about, you can see it intheir art, so maybe movies they
watch or music or listen to, ortheir job or their background,
family background. But for me, Ido wonder like, what the
connection is. But I do pick uplittle... because I'm
(18:16):
referencing the built world, andvery much, that's, I feel like
that's something that everyonecan kind of connect to; this
environment that we live in. Butfor me, I have two sort of
approaches for inspiration (18:30):
I often watch a lot of videos of
artists talking in theirstudios.
Steph (18:37):
Oh that's interesting.
Anna (18:38):
Yeah. So I find that the most kind of inspiring or
interesting language. So I thinkof Art21 videos, you can find
them on YouTube. There's loadsof stuff online that you can
just watch artists and I don'teven necessarily watch... I do
like to watch artists I love.Especially kind of big artists
(19:01):
like Phyllida Barlow from theUK, and Alison Wilding, and you
can watch them talk about theirpractice and I feel some sort of
connection to their practice-materially or process wise. But
I do even watch videos ofartists who may be, our
practices may be completelyopposite. I don't know. I just
enjoy hearing them talk aboutthe even the small things like
(19:24):
the little thing. Like they'llget distracted by this little
collection of objects they havein their studio, or they don't
really even talk about the bigideas. They talk about the small
things within... it's like theyfeel comfortable within that
space. Yeah, spaces.
Steph (19:39):
Is it kind of the candor that you know, yeah,
Anna (19:42):
I really like that for some reason that I'm attracted
to that. But also things... Ifind myself, I cycle to work
when it's not boiling hot orraining. And I find myself
really noticing bits ofarchitecture. Ah, yes. And
even fence lines and kind ofsort of noticing or being
(20:08):
slightly inspired by little bitsof architecture here and there.
Yeah, that's cool. Is it only onthe bike? Yeah it's weirdly
only [on the bike]. Maybe it'sbecause I...
Steph (20:17):
maybe it's another zone?
Anna (20:18):
Yeah, it's really like meditation on the bike.
Steph (20:21):
Or maybe you're going so fast that things occur to you
that wouldn't otherwise. That'squite cool. And that's nice,
because that's sort of builtinto your life as well.
Anna (20:29):
Yeah.
Unknown (20:30):
[music]
Steph (20:43):
Now, let's get to the exciting stuff. You have an
exhibition coming up very soonat Hugo Michell Gallery called
Colour Me Soft. Could you pleasetell us about that show?
Anna (20:53):
Yeah, it's an exciting opportunity. I love that
gallery. So this show is newsculpture work. And there's
going to be maybe five to sixsmaller works, and three large
works in the back space of HugoMichell [Gallery].
Steph (21:11):
Lovely.
Anna (21:13):
And yeah, I'm really excited about this show. I think
this show has been kind of aoffshoot of two shows I've had
recently. So I had a few weeksin Neoteric, for the Adelaide
Festival, focusing on mid careerartists and that was a big group
show.
Steph (21:34):
At the [Adelaide] train station wasn't it.
Anna (21:35):
Yeah at the train station. And that was amazing; it was a
really great opportunity. And Ifelt like I was tapping into
more of emotion in sculpture;more I was trying to kind of tap
into this feeling of anxiety ina way. And those works explored
(21:58):
a few different things. So Imight have, again, I don't want
to kind of talk too much aboutthe reference of something I'm
looking at, like research I'mdoing or something I'm reading
because I don't think the workfully shows that. Like it gets
so far from that.
Steph (22:16):
But it was still a thread.
Anna (22:18):
Yeah, a thread at the start. And it was kind of nearly
a negative show, in a way,because I guess it was pandemic
time, and there was coming outof it, and there was a lot of
sort of anxiety in the air. Andthis second show was for the
Center for Creative Health.There was a small group show at
(22:38):
Dentons on Gouger [Street]called 'shifting'. And it was
actually a really nice groupshow. And the curatorial theme
was 'shifting', and each artistcould take what they wanted from
that. And, that was kind ofbroad and vague, but it was kind
(23:02):
of good, it was something Icould kind of hold on to and
think about. And I startedthinking about temporary
shelters, and this feeling ofthings. So I think about the
aesthetics of the built world,the feelings around how we feel
about stability and instability.And you know, it's in this
(23:23):
moment where, you know, we'rethinking about the environment,
and we're thinking abouthousing, and there's all this
stuff in the air aboutinstability, from all different
angles. So I really wanted to,with that show at Dentons, I
really wanted to explore more ofthese materials about this
(23:47):
feeling of building up andtrying to sustain something but
it might crumble, it mighteventually degrade. It's that
feeling that we have where youyou want a home and you want to
maintain it and you want a roofover your head and
Steph (24:04):
and know that it will continue
Anna (24:05):
and know that it will continue but inevitably it's
going to, you know, degrade. Ithink it's just human. I'm
interested in this human desireto kind of keep going keep
building up non stop, and nearlyavoid this idea that things will
change and that struggle withchange.
Steph (24:25):
Yeah it's almost like if you do enough, you can outrun
it.
Anna (24:28):
Yeah, so I guess there was a kind of a negativity to that
feeling, like this anxiety. AndI've been thinking about how
sculpture work -especiallyabstract sculpture work- can
hold an emotion and feelingthrough material. So but I
(24:49):
wanted this show, Colour Mesoft, and it's a play on that
kind of term 'colour mesomething,', you might say
colour me an emotion. And Iwanted it to kind of suggest
something more positive aboutthese materials. So I've kind of
created along the lines of thatneoteric work and the shifting
(25:11):
work, playing on those materialsof architecture and temporary
shelters and lots of things. Sothere'll be like rope and tape
and bubble wrap and spray paint.I'm very much in this, like my
kind of work. But yeah, there'sgonna be incorporated a bit more
(25:33):
color this time, which has beenan interesting choice. Because I
often use inherent colour, Iwill add colour to my concrete
or just use the colour thatcomes with the thing. But this
time, I've made a lot of colourchoices, as well. So contrasting
colours a bit more bold, morehappy colours.
Steph (25:56):
This is such an interesting point then, to be
like, yes, I've had those twoshows build up to [this]. So yes
I'm very excited to see.
Anna (26:03):
Yeah. So I think it's important to mention those two
other shows and maybe look upimages of those work. Yeah.
We'll put them in the shownotes. But colour has been
interesting. I'm interested inopposing colours.
Steph (26:19):
Yeah and that contradiction that's not new [in
your work]
Anna (26:23):
But yeah, feels new for me.
Steph (26:27):
Yeah. Well I'm definitely excited to go and check that out
now. I feel like you've justgiven me a teaser of what to
expect. Do you have -castingback to you know, the history of
your practice- do you have afavorite memory of someone
interacting with your work?
Anna (26:47):
I do. And again, it's from that FELTnatural show that was
outside.
Steph (26:52):
I had no idea that that was such a crucial piece.
Anna (26:55):
I know! When I talk about my practice, I realize that was
a real moment. But um, I have afunny little anecdote about that
show. And some people think it'sa bit negative, but I've put a
positive spin on it, and I seeit in a positive way, so I'll
just say that. So because it wasone of my... actually it might
have been my first time I've hadto install something outside in
(27:17):
public. So there was all thoseconsiderations, which led to
using concrete. But because ofthis visual kind of play between
is it light/is it heavy;basically it was outside for 10
days. And we had to de-installon a Sunday. And a friend of
(27:38):
mine, my housemate at the time-bless him- had to do a bit of
work after this. But we rockedup to pick the work up. I needed
an extra hand because they wereprobably somewhere between 30
and 50 kilos each, to really putpeople off. But when we rocked
(27:59):
up to the park one was missing.So we were like 'how's that
possible?' And then there was
Steph (28:06):
the rope as well? or just the
Anna (28:08):
Well, no, there was evidence, like so the rope was
sort of a few metres away. Butthen there was -I don't know if
it was relevant- but then therewas sort of a vodka bottle
Steph (28:16):
there's a story here.
Anna (28:18):
because it was a Sunday morning and it was near the
city. And I was like, Didsomeone get drunk and take the
work? But then we realized therewas all these little bits of
like rope and that kind ofbottle leading to the Rymill
Park lake.
Steph (28:33):
Oh, yes, the lake.
Anna (28:34):
So we're like
there, and it was literally: someone had picked it -or (28:36):
undefined
people- had picked it up andthrown one of them. It was kind
of this round very much a beachball shape.
Steph (28:46):
That's really ironic isn't it.
Anna (28:48):
and had thrown into the lake. And some people were kind
of horrified for me. But I waslike, no, this is kind of
hilarious, because they saw itas a challenge. They could say,
they might have just beendamaging artwork. I don't know.
But I see it as they were like,'no, I can pick that up'. That
does look like a soft ball. I'mgoing to try to pick that up and
(29:11):
do something with it. So andthen my poor housemate, who was
a bit stronger than me, had toget in the water at like,
Steph (29:19):
they had to wade in!
Anna (29:19):
had to wade in and ended up with this photo of him wading
into the water, which I couldprobably send you
Steph (29:24):
it can be our hero shot.
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