Ami Summers

2009

After the Bushfire I *
 
MIX 20x25cm
After the Bushfire II *
 
MIX 20x25cm
After the Bushfire III *
 
MIX 20x25cm
Misty Morning
 
MIX 60x102cm
Bushfire Chaos - Pending Water
 
MIX 75x140cm
Safety in Numbers
 
MIX 60x60cm
click on artwork to see a larger version

About Ami Summers

After studying under scholarship for Excellence in Art at Carey Grammar School, Ami continued her education at Monash University, completing a Bachelor of Fine Art (majoring in Painting) in 2005. She thoroughly enjoyed her drawing mentorship with Dobell Prize winner and landscape artist Mary Tonkin between 2002 and 2004. During her education at Monash, Ami regularly visited the Northern Territory and volunteered her time to an Aboriginal art community, whilst exploring her own work. Currently completing a Masters in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (majoring in Creative Thinking) where she is exploring the psychological techniques used by artists, and how these can be applied to other areas or industries, at age 26, Ami and her partner Dave purchased a 75 acre farm in Gippsland, where her love for the land and its creatures inspired her latest body of work. ‘I started observing the cows when we bought our farm in Gippsland a few years ago. They were such curious creatures and I found that they were a beautiful, tangible link to how I felt around the farm. It made me feel so grateful for our move to the country when I was in their presence, to be given an opportunity to be trusted by these great gentle beasts enough to join their pack.

They were like a very best friend; each morning I would look forward to seeing my buddies, who made me feel calm and interesting. I would sit in the middle of their calm crowd, and they would gather around me inquisitively, until I was sure they would trample me. But they would just stand around, like a crowd at a gallery, watching me paint, sniffing the canvas, critiquing silently. It was then I noticed parallels with human crowds - some of them would act like the boisterously drunken art goer - knocking my canvas over when I turned my back, impolitely rubbing themselves on my paint tins, or standing in the back of the crowd, displaying the most tranquil but nervous stare, like they wanted to ask me questions but their painful shyness overtook... I was invited into their wonderful world of vulnerability. Their masses no longer intimidated me, their flighty movements no longer made me anxious. Every day I found myself wondering what they would think of my next paintings. They became my muse, my favourite critics. I enjoyed their company, as a group, more than any human crowd I have ever experienced. Even though they seemed somewhat sad sometimes, the air around them always appeared light, wispy, sure - they are by far the most captivating things I have ever observed.’ -Ami Summers, 2007.

Born in Melbourne, December 1980.

Education 2007 - Masters of Entrepreneurship Innovation – Creative Thinking Swinburne University of Technology 2000 - Bachelor of Fine Art – Painting Monash University

Training 2001 - Mary Tonkin, Dobell Drawing Prize winner 2000 1999 - Leonard Long, acclaimed landscape artist Sponsorship 2006 - Stumpy Gully Vineyard – ‘The Canopy Drawings’ project

Exhibitions 2009 – Art2Muse, Double Bay NSW – ‘Ami Summers’ 2009 – Art2Muse, Mossvale NSW – ‘Tudor House Show’ 2009 – Art Melbourne 09, Carlton, Vic – Represented by Brunswick Street Gallery 2008 - Art2Muse, Tom Dunne Gallery, Darlinghurst, Sydney 2007 - Art Sydney 07, Moore Park, NSW - Represented by Brunswick Street Gallery 2007 - Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy, Vic - ‘Small Works Show’ 2006 - MIR Gallery, CBD Vic - ‘Works on paper – Conversations with Sophie Calle’ 2006 - McCulloch Gallery, CBD Vic - ‘The Canopy Drawings’ 2006 - Contemporary Art Society - ‘The Collectors Exhibition’ 2004 - The Artists Gallery, Fitzroy Vic - ‘Good Wood’ 2004 - Monash Project Space, Caulfield Vic - ‘Bent Straight’ 2003 - Motorworks Gallery, St Kilda Vic - ‘The Ryder-Cheshire Foundation’ 2003 - Gardner Contemporary Art, Hawthorn Vic - ‘Art and Pain’ 2003 - Eckersley’s Open Space, CBD Vic - ‘Enter the Disposable Hierarchy of Now’ Publications and Appearances 2006 - Contemporary Art Society of Victoria – ‘Collectors Exhibition Publication’ 2004 - Appearance on Sunday program, Channel 9 - Linden Postcard Show 2004 2003 - Look Magazine, Issue 2 (2003) ‘Look now – Ami Summers’

For more on Ami Summers see
http://www.art2muse.com.ay/gallery/ami_summers

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