The Stony Rises Project

Laurene Vaughan

Laurene Vaughan is an associate professor in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University and research leader within the RMIT Design Research Institute. Since 2005 she has been project leader and researcher within ACID, the Australasian CRC for Interaction Design. Originally coming from an art and design education background with a major in sculpture, Laurene has built a career as practising artist, designer and educator in Australia and internationally. Within her practice she endeavours to explore and comment on the interactive and situated nature of human experience, particularly the ways in which we create and articulate the experience of place. For the past five years she has been investigating the historical and cultural evolution of vernacular artefacts, their making and their meaning. She enjoys identifying the unexpected within our everyday lives and then re-presenting this through images, words and artefacts.

Interview

Why did you choose to be involved in The Stony Rises Project?

I am one of the curators of the project so have been involved since the first breath of the exploration.

What is your connection to the Western District area of Victoria?

I was born in Koroit, a tiny town just out of Warrnambool. As such this is my original home, and the region continues to have a very resounding sense of place and homecoming for me, even though I have not lived there for a very long time. It is my spiritual home.

Did you have any preconceived ideas or plans for your work before embarking on the artists' camp?

I had been fascinated by the dry stonewalls. This was in fact one of the things that drove me to wanting to do the project. I knew that it would be something along these lines and that I wanted the work to be ‘feminine' in some way - I wanted to capture that these walls are more than the marks of men on the land. They are the hallmarks of communities, of women, of immigration, skill and hard manual work. As such, the idea of the book emerged from the camp, all the stories and the family histories (indigenous and colonial) captured in the vernacular crafts of the people who live(d) there.

How would you describe your artistic practice from concept to making?

Mine is really research driven. This means that I get captivated by an idea or am image, and then I seek it out in its many forms. This new knowledge doesn't necessarily change the form (although it often does) but it does add/create depth that is missing until then. I then go through a process of making models or sketches where I explore the materiality of the thing that is being created. This can be quick or slow - an hour or a year - either way, it always happens.

What is it about the Western Districts that inspired you?

The land, the sea, the light, the memories, the mix of peace and drama: I feel the district as much as I see it. My heart always quickens the further west that I go.

What did you hope to capture in your work?

I wanted to find a way to speak about the complexities of settlement and that there are many ways that we learn to live in a new place and that craft is one way that we bring an old home to a new land.

Is this your usual practice or did the project bring about a new direction?

Sculpture is my prime area of creative practice, and I often use cloth so in that way it is in line with what I normally do and it isn't. I haven't made such a literal object for a long time, nor have I worked with these technologies. It has been a challenge and a delight.

The Stony Rises Project

A NETS Victoria Touring Exhibition developed by the RMIT Design Research Institute. Curators: Lisa Byrne, Professor Harriet Edquist and Associate Professor Laurene Vaughan

Presented by: