'Kitsune' porcelain figure & divination bowl

'Kitsune' is the Japanese word for 'fox'. Japanese folklore associates kitsune with the ability to shape-shift into human form; assuming the roles of tricksters, guardians, elders, lovers, and wives. This work also references San iconography and shape-shifting cosmology in the form of a leaping jackal design on the front of the dress of the figure; a nod to the prevalence of jackal-headed figures (thought to be spirit-walking shaman in trance) in San rock art - An intriguing overlap with the mythic fox shape-shifters of Japanese folklore.

Ann-Marie Tully, Kitsune. Porcelain, cobalt. 280mm (H) x 125mm (W) x 125mm (D)

Ann-Marie Tully, Kitsune. Porcelain, cobalt. 280mm (H) x 125mm (W) x 125mm (D)

Ann-Marie Tully, Kitsune. Porcelain, cobalt. 280mm (H) x 125mm (W) x 125mm (D)

Ann-Marie Tully, Kitsune. Porcelain, cobalt. 280mm (H) x 125mm (W) x 125mm (D)

Ann-Marie Tully, Kitsune. Porcelain, cobalt. 280mm (H) x 125mm (W) x 125mm (D)

The magical dimensions of the Kitsune work, led to a further interest in divination bowls and sortilege - the casting and interpretation of lots, or sortes (sticks, stones, bones, etc.) in search of answers to life’s conundrums; and augury - the qualitative assessment of shapes and proximities, for example the examination of dismembered animal remains in search of supernatural portents. The Kitsune divination bowl below picks up on this ancient practice to imagine the process of becoming.

Ann-Marie Tully, Kitsune divination bowl. Porcelain, cobalt, faux fur. 105mm (diameter) 

x 85mm (D)

Ann-Marie Tully, Kitsune divination bowl. Porcelain, cobalt, faux fur. 105mm (diameter) 

x 85mm (D)

Ann-Marie Tully, Kitsune divination bowl. Porcelain, cobalt, faux fur. 105mm (diameter) 

x 85mm (D)

'Diluvian delft', cobalt paintings on porcelain

This series of work carries the name of the larger body of work, Diluvian Delft exhibited at Knysna Fine Art in March 2017. This title draws on mythological and broad cultural and historical instances. The term 'diluvian' refers to the biblical flood (a narrative supported in archaeological and geological trace; as well as occurring in numerous global origin myths). In particular I am interested in the transformational power of the flood. On a literal level, the apocalyptic proportions of the biblical flood resembles our anthropocene condition, where climate change threatens to radically alter the face of the earth, and thereby human culture. On a metaphysical level, the flood, signifies the transient flux of life, time, and experience. My interest in blue ware ceramic (porcelain) decorative practices is longstanding, and takes centre stage in in this body of work, which draws on the rich and diverse decorative traditions and potentials of the medium. The dialectical characteristics of porcelain: volcanic, strong, and eternal; while simultaneously fragile, serves as a fitting metaphor for the populist, mythological and contemplative subject matter of the work. The colour blue is a significant element in this body of work, both aesthetically and metaphorically; being the colour of the sea (flood), planet earth, and a colour associated with both decorative and spiritual human traditions.

Ann-Marie Tully, Diluvian delft: Pompeii II. Porcelain, cobalt, glaze. 230mm diameter.

Ann-Marie Tully, Diluvian delft: Pompeii I. Porcelain, cobalt, glaze. 230mm diameter.

Ann-Marie Tully, Diluvian delft: Pompeii III. Porcelain, cobalt, glaze. 230mm diameter.

Ann-Marie Tully, Diluvian delft: Frida and Watteau's donkey. 

Porcelain, cobalt, glaze. 230mm x 170mm.

These delft-style porcelain discs and plaques break with the ceramic blue-ware tradition of ‘easy' decorative subject matter, employing more challenging cultural subject matter: in this instance that of the art remains of a natural cataclysm at the classical cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum; and the surreal image of a Frida Kahlo style figure dragging a donkey-like form or skin through water.

The Grunts!

The Grunts I - IV, 2015. Oil on board. 160mm x 160mm.   
Shown in 2015 @ the Art Source SA stand at the Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg South Africa.

'The turn of instrumental reason' (series) 2014

     Ann-Marie Tully, The turn of instrumental reason: A song for 

     /Han≠lass’o, 2014. Antique Singer sewing machine, mannequin hand, 

     & oil paint. (H) 400mm x (W) 380mm x (D) 200mm

 

      Ann-Marie Tully, The turn of instrumental reason: A song for /Han≠lass’o, 2014. 

      North West University Botanical Garden Gallery, Wolf in sheep's clothing installation 

      view. Antique Singer sewing machine, mannequin hand, & oil paint. 

      (H) 400mm x (W) 380mm x (D) 200mm

     Ann-Marie Tully, The turn of instrumental reason: A song for /Han≠lass’o, 2014. 

     North West University Botanical Garden Gallery, Wolf in sheep's clothing installation 

     view. Antique Singer sewing machine, mannequin hand, & oil paint. 

     (H) 400mm x (W) 380mm x (D) 200mm

Ann-Marie Tully, The turn of instrumental reason: Harried work (Lucy 

Lloyd), 2014. Antique Swift sewing machine, mannequin hand, & 

oil paint. (H) 400mm x (W) 380mm x (D) 200mm.

     Ann-Marie Tully, The turn of instrumental reason: Harried work (Lucy Lloyd), 2014. 

     Antique Swift sewing machine, mannequin hand, & oil paint. North West University 

     Botanical Garden Gallery, Wolf in sheep's clothing installation view.

     (H) 400mm x (W) 380mm x (D) 200mm.

Ann-Marie Tully, The turn of instrumental reason: Harried work (Lucy 
Lloyd), 2014. Antique Swift sewing machine, mannequin hand, & oil 
paint. North West University Botanical Garden Gallery, Wolf in sheep's 
clothing installation view. (H) 400mm x (W) 380mm x (D) 200mm.

Ann-Marie Tully, The turn of instrumental reason: Stanley, Kalulu, & Leopold (keeping up 
with the Jonses), 2014. Antique Jones sewing machine, mannequin hand, & oil paint. 

(H) 250mm x (W) 500mm x (D) 350mm.

The turn of instrumental reason (series)

 Ann-Marie Tully

The Turn of instrumental reason (2014) series of altered sewing machines relates to the marginalisation and animalisation of !Xam speakers. These mechanical and kinetic assemblages feature paintings on the palms of the ‘grafted-on’ hands of human, animal and therianthropic forms drawn from San rock paintings, and images of individuals from the colonial African stage; in particular referencing the Bleek family, who hosted a group of !Xam speakers incarcerated at the Breakwater prison. The Bleek family conducted research into the !Xam and Korana language compiling detailed records of San folklore and cosmological beliefs. 

Further to this narrative element the spliced ‘machine arm’ and hand evokes the violent stitch of the sewing machine (with monstrous surgical inference); industrialisation (the product of enlightenment thinking); histories of western dominance and exploitation; the punitive violence perpetrated in the name of industry and colonial expansion.

Also significant is the coupling of the feminine hands with the feminine ergonomics of the sewing machines. This is suggestive of the female hands, that these well-worn objects (haunted by the mark of past users) were designed to respond to and enspan. The presence of animal forms on the palms of the hands alludes to the rationalised binary opposition of nature and culture/industry; and the prejudicial association of women with the ‘lesser’ form of nature. The ancient and organic animal signifiers painted on this incongruous and monstrous mechanical device (industrial cyborg) alludes to the destruction and brutal exploitation of nature by the ‘wheels of industry’. The viewers complicity in this cycle is underscored by their ‘turn of the wheel’.

These works employ Ball and Claw tables as plinths to emphasise the domestic sphere of the sewing machine; where the discourses that fuel human repression of, and disentanglement from the non-human world are forged.