'She had blood on her hands' by Penny Byrne
1965 - Born, Victoria
1987 - BA (Fine Art
Ceramics), RMIT, Melbourne
1997 - Bachelor of Laws (LLB), La Trobe University, Melbourne
1990 - Grad Dip (Ceramics and Glass Conservation and Restoration) West
Dean College, United Kingdom
“THE
porcelain figures have graced many a suburban mantlepiece: elegant
ballerinas, cute curly haired boys, ceramic whales.
But in Penny Byrne's hands, there's a twist to their saccharine tweeness.
A ballerina wields a samurai sword, a boy wears army fatigues, a whale
drips blood.
It's not the shock of the new but the shock of the familiar that prompts
many to laugh when they first encounter Byrne's creations, which is fine
by her.
As a student of ceramics conservation in 1990 she was given a porcelain
statue of a woman with a dog at her feet to restore.
"I made a pink bow and put it round the dog's neck," says Byrne.
"I didn't say anything to the assessors. I just left it to see if
they would pick up on it. And they didn't. That was my first naughty
little act."
Since then she's become naughtier. When her mother, who owned an antique
shop, gave her a couple of Dresden figurines of ballerinas to restore a
couple of years ago, Byrne quickly realised the figures were beyond help.
But not beyond use. She created It's murder on the dance floor in
which a ballerina wielding a samurai sword has beheaded another. It was a
nod to the bloody Kill Bill movies and their samurai swords. It was
also a winner of Melbourne's Linden Postcard Show in 2005. Since then, her
career as an artist has taken off.”
Excerpt
taken from “Beware, these pretty things bite” (Taken from Sydney
Morning Herald by Joyce Morgan, March 6, 2007).
'Byrne takes this genteel art form and flings it into the brutality of current affairs and international politics. A practicing conservator, Penny Byrne restores the ceramics and glass of the nation's top museums, but outside this employment she reworks vintage porcelain figurines and statues with pronouncements on politics and popular culture' (Taken from "Upfront", The Art Oracle by Michael Reid)
2007 - Blood, Sweat and Fears, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2006 - Penny Byrne, Mantelpiece, Linden Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
2007
Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2006
New Social Commentaries 06, Warrnambool Art Gallery
The (Royal)
Melbourne Show
Sullivan+Strumpf
Fine Art, Sydney
Linden Postcard Show, Linden Centre for Contemporary
Art, Melbourne
2005
Sydney Affordable Art Fair
Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
Linden
Postcard Show, Linden Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
2003
Castlemaine State Festival Ceramics Award, Castlemaine, Victoria
2002
Pat Emery Award for Emerging Ceramicists, Victorian Ceramic Group,
Montsalvat, Victoria
2001
Pat Emery Award for Emerging Ceramicists, Victorian Ceramic Group,
Northcote Pottery Kiln Gallery, Victoria
2006
- Warrnambool Art Gallery New Social Commentaries 06 exhibition (finalist)
2005 - Linden Post Card Show, Postcard Winner
2002 - Pat Emery Award for Emerging Ceramicists, Victorian Ceramic Group,
Honourable Mention
2001 - Pat Emery Award for Emerging Ceramicists, Victorian Ceramic Group,
Honourable Mention
1988 - Meat Market Craft Centre Ceramics Studio Residency (12 months)
2007.
Morgan, J. " Beware, these pretty things bite" Sydney Morning
Herald, Tuesday 6 March Sheedy, Chris “Q&A: Love your work”,
Sunday Life magazine,18 June 06, p10
2006. Lobley, Katrina “Events – The Royal Melbourne Show”, Domain,
SMH 13 April, p4
2006. Clement, Tracey “Victoria Bitter”, Metro SMH, April 21-27, p23.
Artbank
Mildura Arts Centre, Victoria
Warrnambool Art Gallery, Victoria