As part of Melbourne Fringe Festival, local artist Frank Sita is filling two Melbourne restaurants with artwork and music.
He’s known for his teaching at the Sita School of Multi-Arts, but insists that at least six days a week, he’s committing time into his own creative works. His latest exhibition, Voice Art: Songs on Canvas, brings both his musical and artistic sides together.
“I like the idea of the voice because we need to have a voice as artists and also as people. I feel a lot of people get disenfranchised in a society that’s moved on too quickly. So that’s why I’ve called it Voice Art,” Sita explains.
“Songs on Canvas is expressing through paint and through sculpture the original compositions that [have been] written recently and through the years. I’ve based it on the elements of art, the way I see it – line, shape, colour, texture, value.”
However, this connection between music and art isn’t as firm in Sita’s eyes as some might think. Using the connections between music and art as a guideline, Sita creates his eclectic music and distinctive art style.
“I don’t really set a strict way of doing it. That’s one of the things I’ve learnt with creativity, I try not to think too much but, I’ve got an idea of how to go about it. I coincide line with flow, shape with structure, colour with mood, value with volume, and texture I try and express through the instruments I’ve used. That’s the basic structure I’ve written with over the years for Melbourne Fringe and a few things so those songs came from a different spot.”
A rare element of Voice Art is audience participation. Audiences have a real impact on the art and the music displayed at both venues – Soda Rock in South Yarra and Osteria 20
in Hawthorn.
“I want to invite people to write whatever they want on my sculptures, so they become part of the aesthetic. The idea is to use those words and comments to write a song. They’ll be encouraged to write whatever they want. The way I’ve set it up they can be anonymous if they like. I want them to write whatever they want,” Sita says.
“[At Soda Rock] we will be using upstairs, it has a bar, it’s part of the ambience. [At] Ostia 20, the paintings and sculptures at this stage are in the room where people are dining, so it’s a completely different experience. I’ve done quite a few exhibitions now. I need to consider the rooms that we’re in. Soda Rock is where I do some teaching and where I’m exhibiting my paintings and sculptures is generally where I do my workshops.”
This unique exhibition not only uses locations close to Sita’s heart but also has an impressive amount of work dedicated to it. Over 100 songs and 100 pieces of art are to be on display. Despite this enormous workload, Sita stays focused on where’s he’s heading.
“I’ve been a working artist for many years, so I’ve got a lot to draw on. I’ve got a lot of paintings and there’s almost as many sculptures too. They’re all connected. It might seem like a lot but one flows into the other,” he says.
“The last couple of years, I’ve gotten interested in how creativity works and how important it is for everyone’s well-being. I’m a really big believer that everybody can and should do art, they’ve just got to find what they’re good at. I’ve been writing things down over the years and it’s become research. It looks like it’ll become a book or a PhD. It’s art but it’s academia as well.”
Sita owns his own company, which he admits is a fortunate opportunity for him to do what he loves. Half of the company focuses on teaching under the title of the Sita School of Multi-Arts, while Frank Sita Art Productions is all about creating art.
“I’ve been a working artist all my adult life, I still feel I’m lucky to make a living out of it. There’s a lot of artists out there, very good artists too, that just haven’t had the breaks and something like Fringe Festival gives them a platform and support from an organisation that seems to be there to help you.”
