Remains suspends icons of civilisation and ritual in geological stasis, fragments collide within the earths strata only to be rediscovered and submerged once more. Landscapes, architecture, and objects become conflated within compositions that shift between collected and taxonomized to exploded and precariously stacked atop each other. All these forms slide into a sameness within the earth, rusting and deteriorating, becoming sediment and then rock once more.
Athans works through these processes of compressing and burying, layering paints, rust and stencilled textures to excavate forms and build minimal landscapes from the steel surface. As this surface is eroded and then recovered again and again, collections and deposits form creating a scene that blends between the constructed, organic and abstract.
Ari holds a Diploma of Arts in Jewellery Design from Sydney Institute of TAFE, a Diploma in Gemology from the Gemological Association of Australia, and a Bachelor of Applied Science from University of Technology, Sydney. She has exhibited throughout Australia and internationally, and received Arts Queensland grants in 2000, 2002 and 2007. Her work is held in the Toowoomba Regional Gallery Collection and numerous private collections
The Law of Superposition states that in any sequence of layered rocks, a given layer must be older than any layer on top of it. A basic law of geochronology, it is fundamental to the interpretation of Earth’s history and understanding the order of things. For Ari Athans, who studied Geology and worked in the mining and exploration industry before training in jewellery and object design, it has become the foundation on which she forms her art practice.
Materiality, experimentation and transformative states are constant threads in Ari’s work. Science informs the process, but so too does intuition and emotion. Using mild steel and enamel, she reimagines geological interactions and events as fantastical new landscapes that represent passages of time and moments of being. Her stacked ceramic forms are a natural progression of this highly sculptural painting style, allowing human interaction in physical space and encouraging contemplation on geologic time and how we relate to it.
Ari Athans studied a Bachelor of Applied Science (Geology) at University of Technology Sydney (1988), before completing her Diploma in Gemmology at the Gemmological Association of Australia (1989), and Associate Diploma of Arts (Jewellery Object Design) at the Sydney Institute of Technology (1994). A finalist in the Moreton Bay Art Awards (2017) and Smart State Designer at the Design Institute of Australia (2008), her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows through Australia and internationally such as Sydney Contemporary (2020); Trace 4101 Festival, Brisbane (2019); Expanded discrete states, Artisan Brisbane (2018); 15 Artists, Redcliffe Art Gallery (2017); Silver, Museum of Brisbane (2014); Freestyle, Melbourne Museum, Queensland University of Technology Art Museum, Object Gallery and Milan Museum, Italy (2007); Blurred Boundaries, Kick Arts Cairns (2007); South Project, Santiago Museum, Chile (2006); Self, United Kingdom tour (2004); Schmuck, International Handwerksmesse, Munich (2001); and X-Ray Craft, Queensland Art Gallery (1997).
Congratulations to Ari Athans whose work ‘A ripple and a rock’, made in collaboration with Urban Art Projects is now installed at Wentworth Point in Sydney.
This work is inspired by sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and shale which make up the ripple valley of Sydney Harbour.
Seeking to re-invoke the soft and natural elements of the area, ‘A ripple and a rock’ signals a place and a point of arrival along the urban coastline. The forms appear to have tumbled together and washed ashore, their shape framing the bay and supporting view lines across the water.
The disparate textural layers of Aggregates in Construct blend the myriad forms and patterns of nature marked by the boundaries of human action. Ari Athans’ stacked, sculptural arrangements flow between the handmade, organic and industrial, marking the liminal points where the landscape rests upon and collides with the built world.
Ari Athans is interviewed in the latest issue of Vault Magazine about the breadth of her creative practice - between sculpture, painting, and jewellery.
Ari Athans' work has been selected for Redcliffe Gallery's 15 Artists Exhibition 2017.
This annual award plays a pivotal role in the growth of the Moreton Bay Regional Council Art Collection. The $8000 acquisitive prize exhibits 15 Artists that reflect the collection’s focus of culture, identity, spirit and sense of place.
Artists selected for 2017 are Ari Athans, Glenn Barkley, Sue Beyer, Megan Cope, Hannah Cutts, Jeremy Eden, Martin Edge, Ian Friend, Stephen Hart, Barbara Heath, Abbey McCulloch, Kate McKay, Stephen Nothling, Graeme Peebles and Nan Dingle.
The exhibition runs from 1 September - 28 October 2017.
Ari Athans work 'Felsic Plume' has been selected as a finalist in the 2017 Moreton Bay Art Award. This annual acquisitive award exhibition is supported by the Moreton Bay Regional Council. The Art Award offers two acquisitive prizes of $7,500 and two supplementary $1,000 prizes for a Local Artists and a People’s Choice Award.
The Moreton Bay Region Art Award has featured prominent and emerging artists for the last 24 years, and is now an important feature in the cultural landscape of the region.
Dr Campbell Gray, Director of the University of Queensland Art Museum is the 2017 judge.
