Craft / “Networks Australia: Artists at Work”. At ANCA, until October 1, Reviewed by MEREDITH HINCHLIFFE.

NETWORKS Australia is a group of artists, who live and work in Australia.

For more than 10 years they have explored the concept of networks and networking.

“In Absentia” is a very poignant work exhibited as visitors enter the gallery was conceived and begun by Wendy Dodd and completed after her death earlier this year by Monique van Nieuwland. The technique is inkle weaving and the yarn is hand-dyed silk. Dodd’s hair is scattered over the top. It is understated and simple but makes a strong statement about support and friendship, and reflects Dodd’s quiet, gentle nature.

While the majority of works are textile based, several artists are showing multi-media works some of which include textile techniques.

Playing on the idea of networks – a large system consisting of many similar parts connected together – Nancy Tingey is showing “In Flight”, with globe artichoke seed heads escaping from a glass dome and floating free, but still linked. They form a long thread which drifts in the air flow around it. The fragile “rope” is impossibly delicate and shows Tingey’s dedication to the idea of using plant materials in her art.

Karyn Fearnside co-ordinated a workshop project that focused on climate change. The resulting work, “Climate Grief Hanky Project”, shows several hand-stitched, eucalyptus-died cotton handkerchiefs that rise up the wall. Vulnerable animals and birds are embroidered on to the hankies. Artists understand the devastation that climate change will have – is indeed having – on our environment.

Van Nieuwland pulls no punches in her work “Rubbish Weaving”. She uses a Jacquard loom with a linen warp with recycled fast food paper bags as the weft. There is so much of this rubbish around us, that we need an occasional sharp reminder – such as this work – that our world is deteriorating through the careless and thoughtless actions of others.

“Design for a Mohair Quilt” by Jenny Manning is being shown. The complex design is in coloured pencils and is slowly built up by combining pattern elements. The hand-knitted quilt is displayed near the design. Audiences should enjoy finding the networks in this work!

Rozalie Sherwood has a friend from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sherwood uses thread and painted to reflect her friend’s experiences. Her friend wears a “kitamba” (headwrap) to face the daily challenges of life in her home country, and now, presumably in Australia.

The kitamba, in a riot of colours and patterned fabric, is perhaps symbolic of African clothing. The fine stitching that overlays the head acts as a backdrop that represents unpredictability and fragility. This a complex work, with many interacting parts.

This exhibition is one to be viewed slowly. Audiences might ponder the networks they are in, and the impact of the environment in their lives.