[Title] If you find me in a dream
[Artist]Pip & Pop
[Date] August 2 – October 18, 2012
Pip & Pop (Australian artist Tanya Schultz) explores ideas of paradise and wish-fulfilment through her detailed and hyper-coloured artworks. She is interested in representations and expressions of paradise in folktales, mythologies, childrens literature and cinema over time.
One such mythology is the Land of Cockaigne, a French medieval legend that tells of a promised land made entirely of food, where people can have all that they desire. In this paradise the houses are made of barley sugar and cakes, the streets are paved with pastry, and cheeses fall from the sky.
She draws parallels between the illusory nature of these imagined worlds and the promise and allure of the commercial world, where we are enticed to partake in happy consumption. Her work embraces and celebrates abundance, as if you could imagine just for a moment what it might be like to have everything that you ever wanted and more.
For the window display at Maison Hermes, a multitude of sweet and craft materials are transformed into a rainbow-coloured dreamland. Materials such as coloured sugar, modeling clay, glitter, pompoms, plastic animals, candy and beads have been turned into a detailed miniature landscape that appears almost edible. Objects and materials have been collected from travels around the world as well as local 100 yen stores, craft shops and department stores. Hundreds of tiny detailed objects have been handmade, a process that occurs slowly and takes time and love. The result of this is a slowing down of time for the viewer too, as they become absorbed in noticing the tiny details of the dreamscape.
If you find me in a dream draws on imaginary worlds which come from another time or dimension. They are not usually of this time but rather often found in the past through mythologies and folk tales, or in the future when dreaming of a paradise that you hope to find. Dreams are fleeting, but we can hold onto the memory as a kind of promise or illusion of what is possible.
Artist Profile ~ Pip & Pop
Tanya Schultz was born in Australia in 1972. She works as Pip & Pop and studied at ECU in Western Australia. She has exhibited both in Australia and internationally. Exhibitions include: Aichi Triennale (Japan), Kunstverein Ludwigsburg (Germany), Smiths Row (UK), Gallery of Modern Art (Australia) and Spiral Gallery (Japan). She has been awarded several prizes, grants and residencies including The Qantas Contemporary Art Award. She has traveled to Japan many times, researching folktales and finding more and more quirky materials to add to her growing collection. She will soon be taking part in the Kuandu Biennale in Taiwan. She currently lives and works in Perth, Australia.