Domestic Revery: The Beauty of Useful Objects
Presented by Laura Veleff & Alex Veleff
DETAILS
Free, no booking required
Convent Building, Salon A
Abbotsford Convent, Saint Heliers Street, Abbotsford VIC, Australia
DATES
Thu 14 May 11am – 6pm
Fri 15 May 11 – 6am
Sat 16 May 11am – 9pm
Opening event
Sun 17 May 11am – 6pm
Exhibition and talk
Mon 18 May 11am – 6pm
Tue 19 May 11am – 6pm
Wed 20 May 11am – 6pm
Thu 21 May 11am – 6pm
Fri 22 May 11am – 6pm
Sat 23 May 11am – 6pm
Sun 24 May 11am – 6pm
Domestic Revery is an exhibition of new work by ceramicist and artist Laura Veleff and her craftsman father, Alex Veleff.
The exhibition explores the impact of living with and using handmade objects and furniture in domestic spaces and how this can affect a person’s connection to materials. It also reflects on the evolving context of furniture and functional objects through the intergenerational experience of making in Melbourne/Naarm, with a focus on environmental impact and the use of reclaimed and waste materials in timber and ceramic furniture.
The exhibition includes timber, ceramic and textile works designed and made by Laura and Alex Veleff.
Participants
Laura Veleff
Laura Veleff is an artist and maker living and working in the Central Victorian Goldfields on Dja Dja Wurrung Country. She has had a dedicated full-time ceramics practice for over ten years.Laura works predominantly on the potter's wheel to create sculptural and functional ceramic work imbued with a deep love for the natural world and respect for its materials. Since moving from Melbourne to Djaara Country, Laura's more recent work engages with the complex narrative and history of her surroundings, contending with the lasting impacts of human actions and in particular the extractive nature of pottery-making. Her work ultimately conveys an interest in how surrounding spaces and environment can influence how and what people make, use and value.Laura is currently undertaking further study at SoCA (School of Clay and Arts) in Brunswick, and has work represented at Craft Victoria, pépite, Stockroom Kyneton and Castlemaine Art Gallery. Laura has had two solo exhibitions and has been included in several group shows.Laura also runs her own retail pottery business, Leaf and Thread Ceramics, supplying her handmade planters to stores across Victoria and New South Wales, giving expression to her interest in domestic spaces, gardening and indoor plants.
Alex Veleff
The son of Swiss and Bulgarian immigrants, Alex Veleff moved to Melbourne from Gippsland where his family first settled in the 1950s, where he ran his own furniture-making business in Lygon Street, East Brunswick from the late 1970s through to the 1990s. While moving away from manufacturing during the 2000s, Alex has continued his furniture-making on a personal level and now focuses on commission-based pieces. Alex's masterful work is influenced by the materials he sources – using reclaimed timbers and looking closely at the figuring of each individual piece of wood. He enjoys the design challenge posed by working with the individual character of wild, naturally flawed timbers.