Linden Extra › Autumn 2021 › Louise Rippert

Linden EXTRA with

Louise Rippert

Louise Rippert was recently included in the 30^th Birthday Celebration exhibition, a group show of new work by artists who had been awarded prizes in the Linden Postcard Show. Influenced by the language of ritual and devotional art, her work explores themes concerning the phenomena of mind and consciousness, with her time-consuming construction techniques becoming an active meditation in themselves.

We recently caught up with Louise in her studio to find out more about her practice and the work she has been making recently.

Since completing my Masters at Monash University in 2002, I’ve continued my art practice from a shared studio in Windsor. While I’m perhaps best known for creating detailed works on paper, my practice has also explored sculpture, both permanent and ephemeral, as well as light-based public installation works. During my career I’ve exhibited largely within curated or group exhibitions as well as a small number of solo shows held within the public and commercial gallery sphere. I’ve also been fortunate to undertake collaborative international artist residency projects and exhibit the final works in my second home, India.

There are two strong memories that linger from childhood which have influenced my creative journey; first is my love of paper instilled by the demands of the school project and second, the experience of visiting my mother’s place of work where, from out of darkened rooms, the mysterious light of x-rays would glow. In both these experiences there lay exquisite potential and a mysterious truth yet to be revealed!

It was later, when studying printmaking, that I rediscovered a love for paper in all its many forms. Combined with a developing interest in eastern philosophy and yoga, discoveries in neuroscience and an enduring passion for travelling to India, my professional practice has continued to chase those nostalgic feelings of wonder and surprise.

Paper remains one of my favourite materials, especially those which have the ability to filter and capture light. I’m particularly drawn to delicate, transparent papers such as waxed lunchwrap, fine glassine and delicate tissue papers as well as clear and reflective materials such as acetate and silver gilt which speak to me of capture, memory, time and the ephemeral nature of being.

Over the years I’ve created paper works on a scale from the miniature to the monumental. Many of these take the circular form of the mandala, others stretch out like large blankets. The physical methods for creating works are very process driven; often employing painstaking and time consuming construction techniques of hand stitching, embossing and stamping, minute numbering and precise arranging. In this way, the creation of each work presents itself as a kind of puzzle or meditation… challenging me to be mindful, patient and awake to the creative potential of each moment. In essence I’d say that my creative process becomes a meditative act in itself…drawing me into the moment of self-forgetting and finding myself in the moment again of the works completion!

I’ve always been deeply curious about the idea of what constitutes the essence of Self – beyond our individual self-identity.

I’ve always been deeply curious about the idea of what constitutes the essence of Self – beyond our individual self-identity as created through the experience of thought/time and conversely, what lies beyond this construction of self, or beyond the known.

I think these are age old questions which touch on the very human realisation of our own impermanence. These notions have led me along the paths of philosophy and religion, with a particular focus on crossovers between Eastern thought and neuroscience with its specific search for the nature of consciousness.

Along the way I’ve found soul mates and inspiration in artists such as Kandinsky and Mondrian, Pollock, Rothko and Newman as well as by the work of Anish Kapoor and his 17^th century Indian mystic counterparts - as each reaches to touch the sublime. I often find inspiration in the patterns and forms of nature, or in the serendipitous discovery of found objects. And of course there’s the influx of influence from each trip I make to India - from mystical beliefs to its exquisite array of hand crafted traditions.

I work in a shared studio space in the back streets of Windsor with six other artists whose practices range across painting, ceramics and jewellery to sculpture, installation and collage. Commonly referred to as The House of Windsor, I founded the space 26 years ago after leaving art school with my fellow alumni’s. William Eicholtz and I are the last remaining original members, but it has been home to at least 30 other creatives over the years. Once an old garment machining factory, the arrangement of open plan spaces has always worked positively to promote a fun and respectful communal vibe in which friendships as well as creative ideas have grown. Over the years it has continued to be a vibrant working space with only one rule - lunch time is 12 o’clock!

Since having my daughter 15 years ago my working hours have been largely dictated by the school bell. On this issue I’m definitely not alone as there are 3 other artists in the studio with school aged children. Our shared experiences in the parenting area has definitely provided support and encouragement…in fact, a creative family away from home! Over the years, as the age demographic has changed, there’s been a notable shift in music taste from RRR and techno beats towards Radio National and even Golden Days radio! More and more I find myself with earplugs in engrossed in crazy U.S.A politics or music on Spotify.

While creating what are essentially devotional pieces which celebrate both the wonder of life as well as the recognition our temporal existence, I hope that the finished works offer the viewer a moment of respite from the known in which a sense of stillness and oneness occurs.

I’m currently preparing for an exhibition which will pair my work with New Zealand artist, Steve Carr, to be held this December at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery.

Photographs: Theresa Harrison Photography
+ More info about Louise Rippert +Visit the Postcard Show 30th Birthday

creating certainty

Dr Marion Piper's essay Creating Certainty explores her response to seeing art in real life in January, when she visited the Linden Postcard Show 2020-21.
+ Read more

30^th birthday artists in their studio

Stunning studio photographs by Theresa Harrison accompanied by a series of reflections from the artists, providing new insights into their practice.

Hedy Ritterman

I see death and the passage of time as a natural part of life and want to engage in ideas about the power of loss ..
+ Read more

Kenny Pittock

Often my work draws upon nostalgia to playfully engage with the mundane every day .+ Read more

LOUISE RIPPERT

My creative process becomes a meditative act in itself…drawing me into the moment of self-forgetting ...
+ Read more

Prudence Flint

I paint mainly women in interiors. I want to create a recognisable intensity and intimacy ...
+ Read more

William Eicholtz

I hope viewers experience Joy in the sensuality of the elaborate and boldly theatrical, and surprise at the allure of this artifice ...
+ Read more

the Behind the scenes
of our current shows

Ash Keating

In 2020 I decided to use the strange year and lockdowns as an opportunity to experiment with textures and mark making which I had long been hoping to find time to explore ...
+ Read more

Troy Emery

I very briefly studied fashion and considered it as a career, which certainly shaped my approach to making work ...
+ Read more

Nicholas Folland

My work responds to both the domestic and to natural environments, often looking for a point where these two areas collide or come into conflict ...
+ Read more

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What's coming
next at Linden

22 May 2021 > 22 August 2021

Ruth Höflich

To Feed your Oracle

Ruth Höflich is an artist and filmmaker, born in Munich, Germany, and currently based in Melbourne. In an installation of video, photography and site intervention, To Feed Your Oracle will explore how we might understand, or predict, things that we can’t see and how our expectations might affect how we experience the unknown.
+ Read more

Vipoo Srivalasa

Wellness Deity

Vipoo Srivilasa is a Thai-born Melbourne-based artist, curator and arts activist. This exhibition will present the Wellness Deity Project, which Srivilasa undertook in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This collaborative, community-driven project invited people to submit a drawing of their Wellness Deity, a being that has a special empowering or protective power.
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Natasha Bieniek

Natasha Bieniek is best-known for her miniature oil paintings. Bieniek’s paintings are meticulous in their execution and demand close inspection. They link the ancient tradition of 16th century miniature painting with present-day image culture.

This exhibition brings together a suit of recent works that have not been seen together before, including Bieniek’s stand out painting, Biophilia, which was the winner of the Wynne Prize in 2015.
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IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Things to explore in our Local Neighbourhood to enhance your next visit to St Kilda and the gallery.
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Linden Contemporaries

A recap of recent Linden Contemporaries adventures exploring some of the best private art collections in Melbourne.
+ Read more

Thank you!

We look forward to welcoming you at the gallery soon to see our latest series of solo exhibitions by leading mid-career artists.
> Troy Emery's Sonder
> Nicholas Folland's Burn Down the House
> Ash Keating's Duality.

If you would like to find out more about these exceptional artists, book into a Meet the Artist session to hear from them what drives their practice and what inspires their creativity.

I would like to offer my thanks to Creative Victoria for the additional funding to support this new initiative and to the fabulous team at Linden who have worked behind the scenes to create Linden Extra.

Melinda Martin
Director
March 2021

Q&A by Juliette Hanson | Editing: Juliette Hanson & Chloé Hazelwood | Design: Mathieu Vendeville