Melbourne’s acclaimed artist, De Gruchy, produces local projection exhibition in Dandenong.

Central Dandenong is the last place in Melbourne you’d expect to see a glimpse of regional Victoria, in this case Selby, located east of the city and nestled in the region’s Dandenong Ranges.

But last week 60 year old Chisholm Institute student and Selby resident, Annie Watkins literally painted the town red with her home-grown inspiration.
Two of her digital art pieces, Waratah and Peacockery, will feature in Winter Art Projections, a collaborative outdoor projection exhibition between Chisholm Institute Interactive digital media students, The City of Greater Dandenong, Vic Urban and local established artists.

The exhibition has been produced by one of Melbourne’s most acclaimed and well known projection artists, Ian De Gruchy who will feature their digital slides eight stories tall against one of Dandenong’s most prominent buildings.
Winter Art Projection is only one of De Gruchy’s current exhibitions, spearheading the 150th birthday celebrations of Queensland in September with a million dollar projection using Brisbane City’s William Jolly Bridge. De Gruchy also recently presented part of his life’s work to audiences attending a symposia at UTS, Engaging the City – Public Performance, space and lights, during the current Smart Light Sydney festival which features a world-first journey through 26 interactive light sculptures spanning The Rocks, Circular Quay, Bennelong Point and the Sydney Opera House.

Watkins said as a student it was a rare and privileged opportunity to be chosen as part of Winter Art Projection and to be working with De Gruchy.
“He was able to give us a personal insight into some of his work during an inspirational workshop,” she said. “Ian really mentored us but gave us the freedom to inject our own ideas. “So I thought it would be interesting to attempt to transform the shape of the building with some of my work.  “I’ve played with circular works and my piece Waratah is a large close up of a Waratah flower.
“A very sensual and soft shot which I’ve slightly altered by layering a lace effect over it using digital techniques – it’s quite stunning.”

City of Greater Dandenong’s Jenny Pemberton Webb said Winter Art Projections was now in its fourth year and more successful than ever.
“The project is really about experimenting with temporary public art and about improving the animation of the city – we couldn’t put such a project together without the assistance and expertise of Ian, so the partnership has been incredibly successful,” she said.

EXTENDED PROFILE: Annie Watkins
Watkins said her transformation to artist and exhibitor in Winter Art Projections is a far cry from her days as a young teaching graduate during the ‘50s.

“Life for a young woman was a lot different then. All I ever wanted was to be an artist, but the idea of doing this was not really considered a suitable.”
Watkins said despite this she had always pursued this passion for art, theatre and music and had decided to complete a Certificate IV in Interactive Digital Media at Chisholm Institute to cement some of these life experiences.
“Initially after I finished teaching I moved into theatre – we had a theatre company called Triple Muse.

“We worked a lot with the local Melbourne festivals in the ‘90s where we were able to find our own really obscure theatre spaces – for example the old meat markets and put on stage performances there – It was a very interesting time,” she said.

“But I had always maintained my painting and drawing too and along the way had experimented with things like oriental calligraphy, mosaic art, ceramic work and lots of other areas.

“I like to experiment and combine media and when I saw this course it just spoke to me and I thought I’ll get myself a qualification while having a marvellous time doing it.”

As a regular participant in the Open Studio scheme run by the Burrinja Gallery at Upwey, where the public access artists in their studios as well as a yearly exhibition, Watkins doesn’t look like retiring from her passion any time soon.
“I also knew that by doing this course it would help me to make contact with the art world and allow me to nurture my passion – help me learn how to develop my art in a commercial sense.

“The Winter Art Projections is a direct example of how this has happened. I would never have had this opportunity otherwise,” she said.

Winter Art Projection
June 11 - July 5
Level 7, Thomas Street multi level car park, Dandenong