Art and Body Image

Mirrors Art Exhibition

"Expressing, transforming and clarifying the shades of limelight that frame our body image."

Mori Gallery

168 Day St Darling Harbour

14th-26th October 2009

Opening night 14^th October 6-8pm

Mirrors, are an integral part of life we use them to create an image of who we are, who we think we should or could be and who we want to be, you find them in our bathrooms, bedrooms, purses and in other people’s eyes, words and thoughts. As an art exhibition Mirrors become a tool in expressing how others see themselves, reflecting how we see ourselves and the common thoughts and images that surround this, but furthermore Mirrors is a means to show how art can transform, reveal, confirm and change our associations between the beauty within both life and ourselves.

The exhibition Mirrors has evolved from the Art Exposing Eating Disorders Exhibition that began as a charity event last year, with a far larger goal than simply raising money for its beneficiary the Butterfly Foundation. The exhibition was the initiative of Rhiannon Bulley a young girl in recovery from Anorexia Nervosa, a serious and debilitating mental disease. She will again curate the exhibition along with the team at the Mori Gallery and fellow past sufferer Sarah O’Rourke.

How we see ourselves not only effects the way we live but dictates it, this is art reaching out and touching the insides of people veins and compelling them to re-evaluate their own beauty and the beauty of life.

Artists confirmed to be involved this year include Laura Jones, Aujun Rattley, Karin Taylor Cynthia Lund Torrol and Bec Winnel as well as many other emerging artists and art therapy works.

German artist, Remus Grecu has generously supplied Mirrors with copies of his paintings, which were shown at the Stadel Museum in Frankfurt as part of anti anorexia campaign titled The Contemporary Beauty Ideal.

Installation artist Elodie Silberstien will also participate in the exhibition for the second year running. This year her tableau vivant style artwork will take on the form of the diary of an anorexic girl, which she formed by interviewing people in recovery from anorexia. Elodie also worked closely with curator Rhiannon Bulley to develop a performance aspect to the piece, which will be performed on the opening night.

Acclaimed Sunshine Coast artist Cindy Wider will also provide an installation complete with her online and published art course Paint in Your Pj’s that aims to provide women with self-understanding and a clear path to their individual goals in life through drawing and art.

This year, under the name Mirrors, Art Exposing Eating Disorders will provide every person who steps into the venue, The Mori Gallery in Darling Harbour, with the opportunity to be a part of the expression through blank canvases complete with paint and work stations that encourage creative writing. The space will be a creative hub that not only provides the opportunity to hear other people’s voices but inspires individuals to listen to their own. Funds from the sale of art works will once again be donated to the Melbourne based, non- profit organisation, The Butterfly Foundation.

In terms of functioning this exhibition is as integral to those it supports as the daily mirror check that is normal for each of us in our daily routine. The reflection of a mirror sadly is not always one of clarity it is often blurred and altered by outside motives, in this way Mirrors through art aims to provide clarity where beauty is not an image but a feeling.

You can follow the exhibition from start to finish on http://mirrorsartexhibition.wordpress.com/

Artistic Expression and Eating Disorders