Glen Skien
It is clear at first glance that Glen Skien, trained as a printmaker, brings the sensibilities of the collograph and the etching process to his assemblages—gestures of a wiped plate, incised marks, and emphasis on black and white with only accidental colour. Materials as diverse as piano keys, spines of old books and indeed whole altered books rest easily beside old photos, postcards, needles, knotted thread. There is a rich visual vocabulary in these works that engages the sense of touch above all others.
Glen Skien confesses to being an op-shop regular and a passionate collector and hoarder. Working with the detritus of studio and minute items that cannot be resisted, he celebrates that subliminal activity of dreaming, engaging both visual/sensory and narrative/conceptual content at the same time. If this could lead to chaos in the final product nothing could be further from the actual outcome. His work is superbly organised; minimal in places, rich in others, combined with a whimsical sense of humour and fine craftsmanship.
There is evidence of a philosophical stance here, fitting the browser/ collector of small things, because the sort of eye that chooses one thing over another is more engaged with their shape, colour and form, than what they are. In a sense this is a phenomenological approach to objects which clears the way to pure aesthetic manipulation, combination and invention.
There are a number of suites of works included in this show: some are variations on a theme, such as Miscellaneous figures, where torsos sit atop leaf shapes cut from etching plates, and Handheld which combines wads of postcards into cut-away spheres.
Recurring images of birds, figures and boats are investigated with an