We weren’t the only ones to notice, either – last year the piece was featured in Freque Magazine. So to coincide with the launch of Perceptions, we spoke to Surtees about the story behind Last Goodbye and what else the exhibition entails.
Perceptions has been a long time coming; in many ways it’s the culmination of Surtees’ life’s work. Though, it was less than two years ago that she got the itch to make this happen. “In 2014 I decided I’d actually start getting out what’s in my head,” she says. “I think I’d had a bit of fear that was holding me back. I’m quite a perfectionist, so I was having all these great ideas, but I wasn’t actually doing them. My first piece that I did, at the end of 2014, was Last Goodbye, and I decided that I’d be working towards having my first solo exhibition.”
Hear that? A piece that revolves around Beat magazines planted the seed for the entire exhibition. That ought to silence anyone who says we’re not fostering the city’s experimental arts scene. But let’s get down to the nitty gritty. Last Goodbye is made up of thousands of pages from Beat, making it a laborious construction process. What the devil could’ve inspired such persistence?
“That one is letting go of a lover I had for six years,” Surtees says. “I did this artwork many many years ago that was just papier mâché-ing some canvas. And I’d written a letter and I ripped it up in there – and I still have no idea what I wrote. For this one I was like, ‘Oh that’d be great to papier mâché a person,’ and the ideas started spiralling from there – I thought I’d make a paper dress-type thing. So that one I actually wrote a farewell letter and ripped it up, which I put on the model. It was my little ritualistic way of letting go, I guess.”
Perhaps you’re thinking that any paper could’ve done the trick – so why Beat? Well, along with its ready availability, there was a conceptual tie-in.
“I’ve always read Beat magazine when I’ve been at cafes. I like to follow live music,” Surtees says. “So when I was making the dress, it was nice and a little bit symbolic that some of my favourite bands were actually going into this piece as well.”
In this way, the piece serves as a document of Surtees’ context at this point in her creative journey. “Exactly. And my partner was a musician as well, so that played a part in using Beat as well. It’s open to interpretation, but you can totally look deeper into it.”
Aside from Last Goodbye, the exhibition includes 16 photographs depicting Surtees’ original artworks, as well as a few installation pieces. Notably, Last Goodbye is the oldest work featured, with everything else conceived once she knew she wanted to stage an exhibition.
“I work things out in a visual arts diary first. I had a list of different ideas, whether it be just a different concept or a different medium I wanted to explore. So from there, whichever ones jumped out at me first is the one that I would start working on. And they evolved over time. A lot of them, I’m doing a lot of prep work in the studio before I actually shoot it – testing the different mediums I’m wanting to explore and through doing that they evolve and the meaning will grow over time.”
Surtees hasn’t always been Melbourne-based. She grew up in Tamworth, NSW, and then received a scholarship to study art in Brisbane. She was in Brisbane for six years before moving to Melbourne. It’s since coming here that she transitioned into make-up artistry, subsequently working in stage, film, television and on conceptual art projects.
“It always felt like there was something missing when I was in Brisbane, but I think I did a lot of my growing up there. So it was good timing when I came to Melbourne, which opened my eyes up to a whole new world.”
While she’s devoted all of her creative energy to make-up artistry for the last few years, it’s equipped her with a range of skills she’s now implementing in her conceptual art projects.
“I freelance as a make-up and special effects artist, but I’ve taken that to using people as a canvas and using my body art skills and working with different mediums to create different wearable art pieces. I’m seeing how far I can push my ideas.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
