AFTER fifteen years of collaboration, backyard beehives have inspired artists Margaret Delahunty Spencer and Mary van den Broek\u2019s latest exhibition.<\/p>\n
Now showing at the newly configured Backspace Gallery, Our place and… <\/em>is a painter and a sculptor\u2019s ongoing \u201cinvestigation\u201d into the ordinary movements of life, and their roles as mothers.<\/p>\n When pitching this work to the gallery\u2019s curator, Delahunty Spencer said coincidentally both she and van den Broek had buzzing ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just so happened that I had these hives in my garden, I\u2019d already started making some pieces and Mary had sculptures she was working on with bees,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking at the work of the ordinary. Just the business, the patterns and the routines that bees do without great fanfare. They just go about their life\u2019s patterns and play a vital part in our food source.\u201d<\/p>\n Delahunty Spencer and van den Broek noticed parallels between the things that swarm in the yard and themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cWe looked at our role as mothers and nurturers, and how you go through the same patterning and routines, all to provide an environment for our children, friends and all to grow,\u201d Delahunty Spencer said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of references to domestic life in the show, like my favourite bowls, the business around the kitchen, and the way I move. The routines that we follow give us comfort.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of my pieces are to do with being tethered or untethered, because now my children have all gone, where\u2019s my role? Now, it\u2019s the earth, nature and art that keep me tethered.\u201d<\/p>\n Having worked together for so long, the pair aren\u2019t precious. Delahunty Spencer and van den Broek value each other\u2019s opinion, they experiment and play together.<\/p>\n \u201cWe meet once a fortnight, we talk about art, look at what we\u2019re doing and support each other.<\/p>\n