Todd Israel New Fibre Sculpture

Todd Israel

New Fibre Sculpture

Tap Gallery 2010

The making of a sculptural form where plant fibre is the medium is an ancient practice dating back well beyond the Egyptians, the Sumerians even and probably to the earliest efforts at connecting to a source with a hope for a season of plenty.

Todd Israel has used plant fibre to shape forms related to the human body.

An athlete himself he has taken portions of the classical Olympian and attempted to explain the tension involved with physical effort.

His exhibition is a juxtaposition of self-portraiture; right down to the tiny goggles he needs to wear as a swimmer.

Todd developed simultaneously as an athlete and an artist right from childhood.

Skilful in the art of making by his early teenage years, he had also set his sights on track and field events as a sports career.

Earning a Visual Arts degree at Edith Cowan University (WA) he, at the same time was running triathlons at a national level.

The large fibre figure ‘With-in’ belies this energetic competitive combination. With-in is delicate, reflects a love of plants, a refined hand, a call to nature and presents the viewer with something, which could have been inscribed in ancient Egyptian architecture.

In a classical stance the figure is proportionately the artists, whilst within it he has stitched leaves of both the northern and southern hemispheres. The indigenous plant forms of Australia, the artist’s country of birth, surround the heart whilst leaves from colder climes, the lands of his father’s birth, are fitted into the limbs.

With-in is a compelling work, the physicality of the stitching it required, in fact all the stitching across the exhibition is a marathon of sorts and shows a phenomenal dedication to achieving the minds eye dreams.

The use of plant fibre as a sculptural medium has developed as a contemporary practice in this country in recent times. Todd Israel is part of that movement. He has a considerable following in WA, his home state, A full scale grass unicycle he made in 1995, already showing his ability to mix the pursuits of his passions, attracted serious attention.

Now, this exhibition Todd Israel New Fibre Sculpture, his first solo, coming after ten years of dedicated teaching of indigenous children, is an exciting collection. It deserves close viewing and one can be amazed at what the artist has done with the humble blade of grass.

Nalda Searles

Sydney 2010-05-25