Aftermath Exhibition finds positive regrowth after trauma.

A second collaborative exhibition by thought-provoking fibre artists and sculptors Glenese Keavney, Meri Peach and Flora Friedmann, Aftermath, will open at Newcastle’s Timeless Textiles Gallery in March.

Aftermath builds on the themes of the trio’s 2014 exhibition at the Gallery, called Small Mercies, in which they offered a remedy to dark times. These themes of redemption and positivity are revisited in this inspiring new exhibition.

An aftermath arises from a catastrophic or life-changing event, but it also describes the new growth of a field after it has been mown. The three artists have used basketry vessels and other fibre pieces to express the difficult, surprising and positive ways that they have experienced the aftermath of personal trauma, as they turn towards new growth to come.

Flora Friedmann said the aftermath of a trauma can be life changing, for better or for worse.

“My woven pieces in this exhibition aim to show how the pattern of our lives can change as a consequence of a dreadful occurrence and how this can force us to move in new directions. These new directions can lead us down difficult, unexpected or exciting paths. For some, this can mean that opportunities are gained (or lost). I aimed to show that life can fall apart after a tragedy. But we can also pull our lives together again and, in doing so, find an inner strength which otherwise may not have been revealed. I want to send the message that life should be lived to the full because who knows what is around the corner?”

Glenese Keavney said the word Aftermath came to her like a gift.

“I had always thought of the aftermath as the devastation following an extreme event such as a bushfire. But as that word sat in my consciousness, I sought further meaning. I had been mown down by the death of my husband, but then I discovered/uncovered that the word had originally meant the new growth after mowing. I knew that I needed to turn towards the new growth that would come. It was almost a promise. Grass wishes to rebound and I am enormously grateful to have found abundant regrowth.”

Meredith Peach experienced a number of difficult years in the aftermath of her father’s death.

“Themes from my life play out in my artwork. I live with the consequences of my own and others’ actions. These are both internal and external. Creatively, there has been a tumultuous branching inwards, outwards, forwards, backwards, down and up. I am retracing old pathways, and finding them changed, turning in new directions.”

 The moving and uplifting Aftermath exhibition runs from 15 March until 9 April 2017, with an opening at 6-8pm on 16 March.