PixelARTed exhibition launch
(Before) I was (the woman I am today)
On 2 November 2022, the PlusPix Collective launched our first digital art exhibition. We held this at The Front, a cafe gallery in Lyneham, Canberra. It was an enjoyable event, attended by about 60 people. We hosted friends, family, colleagues and the Serbian Ambassador and Mrs Stefanović.
The PlusPix Collective consists of five artists: Judy Hutchinson, Anne McDermott, Jo Anne Pulko, Peter van Rens and myself. The Collective grew out of an interest to prolong our digital art sessions started in 2021.
At the opening, James Manning launched the exhibition with this speech:
‘Thank you for joining us to celebrate the opening of PixelArted, by the PlusPix Collective, comprising 5 talented digital artists: Bobby Graham, Judy Hutchinson, Anne McDermott, Jo Anne Pulko and Peter Van Rens.
‘My name is James Manning and I am a digital designer and fellow local artist. When Bobby approached me and asked if I would say a few words this evening I was both extremely honoured to have the chance to participate in the launch of this show, but also excited to have the opportunity to speak about a subject very close to my heart – that of transformation, especially as it pertains to a divergence from one form of creative expression to another.
‘We have all have recently experienced a tremendous disruption in the form of the COVID pandemic. Some facets of life and certain industries were completely decimated and are only now beginning the process of rebirth and renewal. Hit especially hard were those in the creative fields – musicians, artists, film makers – for whom shows, exhibitions, launches, events like this . . . just ceased to exist for a protracted and unknown period. Simultaneously we saw a surge in digital transformation across the board, with online meeting facilities like Zoom and Teams suddenly becoming the lifeline of the planet as we strived to keep connected. The digital world flourished as we all became more dependent upon our devices to help us to work, socialise and inevitably, create.
‘The Platonic phrase “our need will be the real creator”, which evolved over time to “necessity is the mother of invention”, was never more evident than during this catastrophic global event. Many people I know found themselves in lockdown situations where the inability to get out and about seemed to unlock a creative urge and we started to see wonderful examples of how humanity can turn a dire situation into a period of adaptation, learning and creativity – people were watching YouTube videos, doing online courses, and pulling out old drawing books they hadn’t seen in years. I have never seen so many beautifully baked sourdough loaves! But I also saw people surprising themselves by discovering creative outlets they never knew existed.
‘I personally had just been working on illustrating Monarca, a novel by the Mexican American producer and artist Leopoldo Gout and environmentalist Eva Aridjis – where I created over 200 illustrations in a watercolour style using a combination of Procreate on an iPad and Illustrator and Photoshop on my Mac. As a career graphic designer, I began creating digital art way back in the early ‘90’s when we were severely limited by the technology available – even by 2000 a 5MB file would take hours to render. I was working in New York in a graphic design studio on big deal clients like Disney and the NY Knicks and we would have to set the file rendering and go kill time until being able to jump back in and do the next thing. No matter the size and importance of the client, the limitations of technology was a constant. If someone at the time had shown me a crystal ball view of the powerful tools we have at our fingertips today I would’ve thought it pure science fiction! But with Monarca, I found myself creating multiple large digital artworks at a print ready resolution, uploading them to the cloud and having feedback within minutes, simultaneously from editors in New York and Mexico City. Of course because my paintings were digital files, comments such as “can we adjust the colours of the butterfly wings” or “let’s remove that tree and replace it with a truck full of people” or even, (and this actually happened), “can we add in about 100 more butterflies into that double page spread” didn’t involve me having an almighty tantrum, tearing up my paintings and starting again . . . rather making some tweaks to some layers of the file and saving a new version. Much more manageable! And this ability to constantly tinker, go back, try something fresh, have a go at something really out there without having to think oh no, I’ve wasted a $200 canvas or beautiful piece of cold-press paper, is something each of the PlusPix Collective artists really appreciate, coming from traditional artistic backgrounds.
‘Anyway, after this illustration project, which was spread over a year or two, I felt the urge to actually start transforming in the opposite way to the PlusPix group and pick up actual paints, brushes and charcoals and start getting my hands dirty, for the first time in decades. Earlier this year I had an exhibition of painted works that was terrifying and lovely – and it was the pandemic that was the trigger, a sort of catharsis moment. I think it had a lot to do with having a few hours more in the day, where we could all basically engage in things for which perhaps we had been too busy before.
‘It was this same catharsis that saw also the genesis of the beautiful works we are surrounded by here tonight. It was during lockdown that these 5 artists, all members of the Artist’s Society of Canberra (ASOC), together (virtually, of course) started their transformative journey towards becoming practising digital artists. Each of tonight’s featured artists has a background in traditional mediums, from photography and printmaking to pastels, pencils, inks and paint – and their “traditional” styles certainly continue to be evident in the work you see tonight. In talking to the group, I found that each of them had found that the platform of Procreate software with an Apple pencil on an iPad, which is what all these pieces have been created with, enabled them to enhance their creative process and bring their glowing, pixelated ideas to life. Each artist has investigated the theme of transformation within their works in different ways – and you can read more about each of their rationales in the exhibition catalogue – but equally as the group explored the idea of transformation as a theme, they themselves found themselves transforming. Adopting new methods and technology, embracing a whole new, previously unexplored medium. From speaking to the artists I have felt a sense of unlocking and freedom, where they feel the only limits are their imaginations.
‘One thing the digital age has certainly done is allowed us to physically be wherever we choose and still collaborate with people all over the world. We can be a Collective and yet each be on different continents if we choose - indeed Anne shares her life between France and Australia! What the digital revolution has effectively done is allow for a diaspora of creative and brilliant people to choose to return to places like Canberra, therefore feeding into the creative veins of the city whilst remaining connected to the great hubs of the world. I feel tremendously excited about the digital art scene in Canberra and what the future holds.
‘The thousands and thousands of virtual brushes, mediums, surfaces and styles that Procreate offers has opened up and enhanced the creative process for millions of artists across the globe. Digital art is in many ways a great leveller. If you have an iPad and an Apple pencil, or even just a finger, no matter who or where you are, or especially how old you are, you have what you need to create wonderful art. I mean, my cousin’s 11-year-old son Luca exhibited at this year’s Vivid Festival in Sydney! I am constantly in awe of the digital artwork I see published on platforms like Instagram, Behance, DeviantArt and Pinterest as well as just all around us, everywhere. But like any software, it can be a daunting proposition to start with – it’s easy to be overwhelmed by choice, to just not know where to begin. In my career in digital art, I have found it to be a more naturally collaborative and supportive space than the often more solo pursuit of traditional illustration or painting – perhaps because the ease of sharing screens and communicating online – my colleagues and I often design as a team on the same Figma file together, whilst using Slack to chat. The PlusPix Collective utilised that collaborative mindset to explore the nuances of the new tech together. Often it really is a happy accident (at least it is for me) that creates a cool new effect or style and to then be able to easily share that with colleagues is a wonderful way to mutually improve in skills.
‘The daunting nature and often bewildering pace of change with digital software means you’ve got to be on your toes and constantly learning. In my day job designing complex digital ecosystems like big websites and government intranets, I am always challenged by the technology and the sometimes totally confusing world of the dreaded “back end”. Many of my colleagues are literally half my age, but the skills learned in more analogue settings are a great platform for creative thinking in the digital space and I find the tech is certainly secondary to the principles of design. Just because Procreate offers the thousands and thousands of virtual brushes, mediums, surfaces and styles I mentioned before, doesn’t mean we should necessarily use all of them, all of the time. I think it was in a “Spiderman” movie that I heard the adage “with great power comes great responsibility”, and this definitely applies to the digital tools we use today. All of the artists here tonight have the deep understanding of the traditional principles of composition, light, form and balance that comes with the study and creation of art, and as you can see, they have certainly harnessed the power of the digital medium for the greater good!
‘To be constantly learning is to be maintaining mental elasticity – it’s not unlike stretching and exercising for the mind. That uncertain feeling of being in over one’s head can be the flashpoint for learning new skills rapidly – I have actually come to enjoy that challenge of having to learn something new almost daily. There’s a misconception (just ask my kids) that as we get older it becomes more likely we might be less proficient with new technology, preferring the “old-fashioned” ways we have used forever and are comfortable with. I say misconception because I firmly believe that technology and creativity go hand in hand and the tools we use to express our creativity are simply conduits for our ideas. Whether a paint brush, a camera, an iPad, or a supercomputer, it’s exactly the same principle.
‘The artists that constitute the PlusPix Collective have come to the digital creative space later in their careers and the evidence is all around us tonight that they have not only transformed how they produce their art, but they have used new technology to flourish.
‘To finish - I think it was Jo Anne who said to me she recently had to show one of her grandchildren how to do something on their iPad – ah, how the tables have turned!
‘Thank you, sorry for banging on, and I hope that you all enjoy the artworks as much as I do.’
