Hooked on more than cups and saucers

BLUE Willow tableware is the inspiration behind a new exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.

Titled Stephen Davidson, Greatest Fishing Story Never Told, the show is a display years in the making, with inspiration first striking him as he sat at the dinner table in his American home in the 1960s.

He said he saw the plates and cups as a new world he could dive into and explore.

“I’d be sitting there making up fantasies in my head and here 55 years later this idea came back,” Davidson said.

The exhibition was initially scheduled for 2020 but had to be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID caused a lot of us to have to shut down and remain in solitary confinement,” he said. “And I worked, I just worked and worked.

“It allowed me to just every day do my routine of exercise and get into the studio and delve into my own headspace.”

Davidson said he decided to turn his idea into a reality seven years ago.

“Out of the blue things hit you and you think what if I juxtaposed to that to this, what’s going to happen,” he said.

“And that’s where the digital prints started to come up.”

Greatest Fishing Story Never Told includes digital works printed on aluminium plate and Davidson said he hopes his works can inspire storytelling.

“It’s a real shame they didn’t get computers to arts people first instead of maths people, as we could have taught people how to see and interpret and see what’s real,” he said.

“I hope people stop and look instead of just wandering in and walking around, I hope they have some time to contemplate.

“Whether you’re a fisherman or not, everyone has a fishing experience and everyone has a story to tell.

“I hope that’s what people come in here and see.

Greatest Fishing Story Ever Told is open at the Ballarat Art Gallery until Sunday, 6 August.