Making baskets or sculptural pieces is my way of giving shape to my world and how I live it. I love the process of gathering materials, preparing the fibres and the contemplation of their transformation to a piece of work.
I have been making baskets for 17 years after initial instruction in the use of plant materials and basketry techniques. I have always appreciated the basket as a useful but underrated object. It so often tells a story of the maker and the traditions of technique and ritual. Self expression and story are in its making. My parents were makers in a humble domestic way, my mother knitting or sewing for the family. My father invented weird devices from old bits and pieces that he salvaged often from rubbish drives. I am driven to create three-dimensional objects that say something about me.
As a member of Basketmakers of Victoria I have been influenced by the basketmakers I have met in this group and their work; particularly visiting basketmakers from interstate and overseas who have run workshops for the group. Contemporary American basketmakers have been influential in my practice through my observation of their use of new materials and techniques. This has encouraged me to experiment and search for personal expression using different materials & techniques.
In recent years I have been working with materials that are readily available from my local environment, in particular the date palms that fall on my nature strip. The silver birch in my yard is also a plentiful supply of materials. Whether dyeing fibres, making paper, drawing or painting these activities influence the work I produce. I have recently completed a Diploma of Visual Arts at the Council for Adult Education majoring in sculpture.
Biographical Notes – Maree Brown
2008 Dip. Of Visual Art at C.A.E. Melbourne – major sculpture
Group exhibitions
1996 ‘Extending the Boundaries’ – Meat Market Craft Centre
1998 ‘Nature Contained’ - Meat Market Craft Centre
2000 ‘Look at Me Now’ – Glen Eira Gallery
2000 ‘Confluence’ – Ryrie Street Gallery, Geelong
2000 ‘Old Traditions, New Ways’ - Geelong Grammar
2001 A.R.T. Gallery Eden - Melbourne
2002 ‘Friends for Craft’ – Steps Gallery, Carlton
2003 ‘My Country’ – Convent Gallery, Daylesford
2005 – 2007 ‘Woven Forms’ – Object Gallery, N.S.W. and touring Australia in 2006/7
2006 ‘Branching Out’ – Chapel Off Chapel Gallery, Melbourne
2007 Dip of Visual Art Majors exhibition – Abbotsford Convent
2008 ‘Living with Baskets’ – Blend Design – Melbourne
2009 'Encore' at Highway Gallery Melbourne
2010 'Basketry of Today' - Katoomba Fine Art Gallery, N.S.W.
2010 'Entwine' - Collingwood Gallery - Melbourne
Publications –
Craft Arts International – ‘Redefining Paradigms in Basketry’ by Virginia Kaiser and Robert Howard (No. 53) 2001
Textile Fibre Forum Magazine – ‘Basketry & Beyond’ (No. 72) 2003
Woven Forms Publication 2005
Textile Fibre Forum Magazine – ‘Branching Out’ (No. 83) 2006
Textile Fibre Forum Magazine – ‘A Perfect Match’ 2007 (No. 88)
Judged as Outstanding in Fibre Design for Australia and New Zealand in 2010 by a panel of four judges brought together by Dragon Design and TAFTA (The Australian Forum for Textile Arts Ltd). The judges were Valerie Kirk, Annie Trevillian and Tony Dyer from Australia and Christine Keller from New Zealand.
I have participated in various Workshops -–
1992 - 1993 Jean Stone Vic - Weaving with Natural Fibres
1996 Jane Sauer U.S.A. - Knotting
1997 Maggie Henton U.K. - Hexagonal Weave
1998 Ruth Hadlow Tasmania - Contemporary Fibre
1999 Nancy Duggan S.A. - Stitched Jacaranda Stalks
2000 Tina Wirahana NZ - Maori Flax Weaving (Fibre Forum Geelong)
2001 Jack Abrams USA - Vessels made from Paper (Fibre Forum Geelong)
2002 Jane Sauer U.S.A. – Advanced Design (Fibre Forum Geelong)
2003 Nola Mills – QLD. - Fibre Montague (Fibre Forum Geelong)
2003 Nalda Searle – W.A. - Stitching with Natural Materials
2004 Graham Hay – W.A. – Paper Sculpture (Fibre Forum Geelong)
2004 – 2008 Dip of Visual Art – Council of Adult Education