laminating and pencil skirting

I arrived at Gaffa much earlier than usual this week to assist Penny in pre-show chores. Printing room sheets, setting up the bar, laminating drink tickets.... I actually enjoy playing secretary, and feel that at the very least I was appropriately dressed for the tasks, pencil skirt and all.

It was the first time I had ever used a laminator, and I think Penny was confused by my excitement.

"But it goes in one way and comes out all professional!"
Such a useful invention, think I'll add that one to my birthday list.

After enough laminating to make a girl blush I headed upstairs to see how everything was coming along.

As always I was delighted.

In gallery 1, Wendy Jones’s sinister oil works instantly had me thinking 1950’s Mad Men, however the women in her paintings are much more interesting than the house wives featured on that television show. Rat Sack, super glue, shot gun???...

me thinks these woman are up to something.

Their expressions where captivating, and each work read like a dark narrative that only the grinning girl could tell.


Eduardo Wolfe-Alegria’s colour explosion in gallery 2 is truly eye opening. So much detail, it is hard to know where to look. It is clear that an amazing amount of work was put into these creations...

"Well, I started not last June, but the June before that." Wolfe- Alegria tells me.

It's easy to imagine.

Each painting appears like a shrine, generously adorned with an array of decorative plants, animals and people.

His line work alone was enough to make me drool...

Reluctantly I continued on. I was, after all, just supposed to be placing run sheets in each room and perhaps there was a secretarial emergency that Penny needed me for downstairs.

It took a second for my eyes to adjust in gallery 3.

Old fairytale books, black text, winter trees and peep hole boxes with carefully placed pillows sparsely occupied the room. Like Wendy's mischievous women, there is definitely something rather sinister and secretive about Elodie Silberstein's work.

Kneeling down in front of one of the peep holes, I felt like Alice in wonderland about to discover a new world. And indeed I did. A black and white video installation along with a tiny diorama gave me a glimpse into a night sky somewhere far outside of Sydney. If there’d been a little bottle with the words “drink me” written on it I’d have been game. I made a quick mental note to return later in the night with wine.

The SPI space around the corner was still in the process of installing. Two trendy art types, Tully Arnot and Charles Dennington seemed awfully relaxed considering their exhibition started in under two hours.

Both were chatting and joking amongst the tools and art objects.

I headed back down the stairs and discovered a typo in Wolfe-Alegria's runsheet. Oh dear. This was just the secretarial mistake I was worried about.

Just a quick reprint and we were back in business. Pencil skirt power!

Thanks again Gaffa!

Miss Zoe in action at Sterling.

Oopps.