projects
my ongoing textile sculptures project
A variety of works that utilise a range of textile techniques, expanding their language across different forms, scales, materials and concepts.
shadowforms are a series of works which relate to ongoing investigations into the process of mapping and attempting to connect disparate data to create multi-layered site-specific artworks that provoke a new reading and experience.
The project began in 2003 and the works have been created in steel, which has been powder coated and hand-bound in thread along the arcs of the circles. I was commissioned by architectural firm Bates Smart to create 18 unique works, which are installed in Studio suites in the Promenade Hotel in Melbourne.
In 2019 I was commissioned to create an installation for Saint Francis Place in Fitzroy, Melbourne and have created new shadowforms which can be seen from January 2020. These works have been installed on mirror, and interact with the architecture of the space and the urban environment of the neighbourhood from the street. This installation will evolve over 6 weeks, with 3 different iterations and can be experienced 24/ 7.
https://danaharris.com.au/works/shadowforms
Part of my ongoing project my neighbourhood, this work: open space relates to mapping the landscape of Brunswick Park, Gilpin Park, Clifton Park and Raeburn Reserve which are located in Brunswick.
Residents in the area, initiated campaigns for open space in the early years of the twentieth century, and Brunswick Park and Oval- the first park in Brunswick, was opened in October 1907 as part of Brunswick’s Jubilee celebrations.
This work celebrates the success of the residents, and serves as a reminder that one hundred and ten years later, the need for open space and green space still persists as the population in Moreland continues to grow.
https://danaharris.com.au/works/open-space
wide world of sport is part of my neighbourhood, a project that seeks to study the particular area of Brunswick where I have lived and worked for the past 25 years. I have developed a unique, detailed, contemporary mixed media work that continues my preoccupation with investigating and revealing connections between the natural and urban landscape by mapping the sports grounds between my studio and the Ian Potter Museum of Art.
In this relatively small area, which includes Royal and Princes Parks and the University of Melbourne, people can participate in golf, cricket, football, athletics, hockey, tennis, netball, swimming, soccer, lawnbowls, squash and lacrosse. During the year, the landscape is modified to accommodate the seasons and specific sports. I am interested in mapping the area to reveal these relationships and connections within the physical landscape.
wide world of sport offers a new reading and understanding of the importance and impact of sport in my neighbourhood by revealing our use of recreational space in the landscape.
wide world of sport
3m x 3m in 5 parts
cotton, powder-coated steel, mdf shelves
2015 - 16
Exhibited in the Basil Sellers Art Prize 5, at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne
https://danaharris.com.au/works/wide-world-of-sport
These small sculptural works are an investigation into colour and production of new forms by using a minimum of elements combined with the act of binding. I wanted to examine the changes of the original spool as it is transformed by its relationship to the bound colour and the shape it creates as it curves across the surface.
I have made these over a number of years, investigating colours and form relating to landscape and architecture. Some have responded to specific sites and conditions.
spoolworks 2010 - 12
yarn spools bound with cotton thread
various dimensions
https://danaharris.com.au/works/spoolworks
This work is a maquette, investigating the potential of subtle form in an urban environment.
The work would be sited adjacent to a building- attached and tenderly utilizing the building as a plinth. I wanted to create a tension between the elements of the work and the space it inhabits, pulling out from the building, the shadows would alter throughout the day, mapping the site. The work could be sited so that the buildings shadow itself folds on top of the work.
canopy maquette
thread, cedar, steel, plywood
30 x 30 cm
2011
https://danaharris.com.au/works/canopy
The wirework project is a series of works that explore the use of the grid in weaving, revealing the simple architecture of the form- to create a hybrid between weaving and sculpture. Particular works are installed on small wood plinths, others on the wall or freestanding.
Reflecting on some of the principles I learnt from studying ikebana, I’m interested in how much I can achieve within the restrictions. They are an experiment in relationships- the rigidity of the steel grid, the organic cotton, the weaving and the cast shadows.
There is space within this work, for it to hold a void and a volume. The works interact with the environment, shifting transparency and shadows becoming more important elements, always changing throughout the day.
I’ve realised in my work, there is always simplicity and contradiction.
Works are 3d woven grid maquettes using a metal grid, cotton and and some have rosewood bases created in 1999.
https://danaharris.com.au/works/wirework