Laura Jade

I have just completed my first international art residency and exhibition! I was invited to travel from Australia all the way to Hungary to participate in an International Art Residency and Symposium held by the Városi Művészeti Múzeum in Győr.

The city of Gyor, Hungary.

For 3 weeks I have been joined by 12 established and emerging artists from all over Hungary, Slovakia as well as being reunited with my long lost talented artist friend (Monika Viktoria) who has been making an artists life here in Hungary for over a year.

Napoleon House Museum, Gyor.

The studio where myself and the artists have been working for the past three weeks is actually a 17th century baroque palace called the Napoleon Museum (Emperor Napoleon spent a night in the beautiful baroque house in 1809 after a battle, hence the name.). The space is large, 4 rooms with white temple windows and high ceilings. It is one of the main museum buildings and exhibition spaces in Gyor.

Australian-Hungarian young female artist workshop

Zsuzsa Farkas / Kinga Énzsöly / Mónika Viktória Diák / Laura Jade Hindes / Alexandra Georgina Németh

The first week of the residency started with an Australian-Hungarian young female artists workshop. Myself and 4 other talented young women spent time collaborating on an experimental project.

Using each others donated artworks we each created a new series which incorporated fragments of each others past works. It was actually a fabulous way to get to know each other, and I really enjoyed the cross over of interests and styles.

I was inspired to try a few new techniques, making works from the fragmental textual rubbings of the artists images to create large biological 'spheres' on paper.

I also continued my paper sculpture practice, re-using the prints from the rubbings to create 3D geometrical forms that echoed the circular motives on paper.

Waxing the paper sculptures

I have been studying biology and science for the last year in Sydney and I was also inspired to create a little series of botanical studies of plants collected from a nearby forest.

For the final week of the residency artists worked hard away in the Napoleon House and printmaking studio.

The Printmaking/Graphic Studio

I continued making sculptures and painting.... I also began some drawings of women in tradition Hungarian costumes (that I didnt get to finish)...

A European art residency would not be complete without a sampling of the regions best wine and visiting a local Glass Studio and Gallery.

Both events took place in the famous Pannonhalma. A landscape of hills 20km's from Gyor which houses a celebrated 1000 year old abbey, surrounded by a labyrinth and large herbal/botanical gardens.

On the last few days preparations for the exhibition begin whilst the artists are still finishing their final pieces...

Australian Artist Monika Viktoria

The residency exhibition opened at 6pm on 28th July 2012. The artists, families and local art crowd gathered in the Napoleon House to see our creations, followed by speeches, interviews and champagne.