CURRENT PRESENTS:

Opening night:
Thursday 1st October 6pm-9pm
Exhibition continues:
Friday 2nd - Sunday 11th October



Colin Villapa and Jen Datu sift through personal home video footage, treating the archives as an archaeological site. Video projection passes digital artefacts through portals of light and stained glass; in an act of devotion, they pull from the reflections and refractions to remake the glitch in glass and send it back to the digital realm. Drawing from their Filipino heritage, the two friends loop between mediums investigating parallels between spiritual worlds and digital realms, Catholic mythology and the residual effects of colonisation. Cultural authenticity is called in to question as unexpected anomalies begin to materialise, sliding and morphing into something real.

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‘In Its Image’ by Jen Datu & Colin Villapa

ARTIST BIO

Colin Villapa and Jen Datu are an artistic duo and friends who live on Whadjuk Noongar Country (Boorloo/Perth). Working together for 4 years, their collaborative practice draws from memories and idiosyncrasies of their Filipino heritage to examine how personal spirituality and technology can pave gaps in cultural disconnect. With a recent interest in mythologies, worldbuilding and digital existence, their work is a bricolage of sculpture, video and installation as they construct playful bridges of collective healing. Colin and Jen have undertaken joint residencies and mentorships with NOD, Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre, PICA’s Boorda Yeyi program and Next Wave (VIC). They have exhibited together and in group shows at Pig Melon, Lawson Flats and Brunswick Mechanics (VIC). Both artists graduated from Curtin University with a Bachelor of Fine Art.


This exhibition is part of CURRENT’S paid artistic programming to support early career artists.

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RELIC PENDANT WORKSHOP 

SATURDAY 03 OCTOBER 2-4 PM. 

CURRENT Gallery are really excited to invite you to a hand-on workshop together with exhibiting artists Jen Datu and Colin Villapa. In the workshop you will learn about the process of making an object into a pendant relic and make one yourself. The artists kindly request you to bring 1 personal keepsake (small, max palm-size and heat proof), all other materials will be provided.

Participants will be guided through soldering a pendant out of a small object, transforming it into a relic. Participants will learn copperfoiling,
burnishing and soft soldering techniques.

Participants are invited to bring along a personal relic of their own, a beloved “junk” keepsake. Keeping in mind that you will be applying hot solder to your keepsake, it must be heat proof.

While making the pendant, participants will be asked to consider their
relationship to mundane objects or trash, the sentimentality assigned to them, and the stories they hold as a means of personal mythmaking in everyday life.


Workshop Runsheet:

2 minutes Acknowledgement of country and introduction to workshop

30 minutes Copperfoiling and burnishing

30 minutes Fluxing and tinning

15 MINUTES BREAK

30 minutes Soldering, washing flux and polishing

15 minutes If comfortable, participants are invited to share the mythos of their relic

Get your tickets here︎︎︎