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Mo Orkiszewski: 2022

Fairfarren | Mo Orkiszewski | Rod Morgan RIP | Gallery_1 | 05-27 March 2022 | Artsite Contemporary, Sydney, Australia

INGALLERY.1 and ONLINE

05 – 27 February 2022

Fairfarren: Roderick Wyn Morgan (1947-2022)

I first met Roderick in 1976 when I was 21, he was the lead singer of ‘Sourpuss’, an inner-city punk band.
He sang ‘A life of crime’; I wanted to illustrate it way back then, and finally got ‘round to it when we collaborated on a selection of his songs, written between 1973 – 2013, for ‘The illustrated lyrics of Old Man Crow’, limited-edition book and CD set, launched here at Artsite Contemporary in 2016.

Roderick was a rare treasure, his brilliant mind always enjoyed exploring new ideas and listening to other people’s stories. His joyful spirit danced with all the changes, turning even the darkest days into fun adventures.

A noble, gentle, man who was just plain fun to be with…
He was a poet and a musician; his music lives on forever.

‘They were built out of music,
And so not built at all,
And therefore, built forever.’ – Oscar Wilde

The Ever-Mending JacketInstallation comprising:

  • The ‘Talinisitic’, 2004H 93cm x W 15cm. mixed media & magic: eagle claw, vintage beads, shells, silver, bone, she-oak needles, thread, cloth, paper and magic.
    “Ahhh…carving…. I fully appreciate directing ones art towards the talinistic, who says art has no function! if it must look in, let it protect it’s own illusion…(Wayne Snowdon 2004).  Hey!  I figured out where I got “talinistic” from…it was a cross between talisman and talon, with an “istic” thrown on the end…now we know…” 
  • Old Man Crow Medicine Stick 2007-2022: H 151cm x W 5cm. mixed media & magic: bamboo, wood sphere, crow foot shaped twig, eagle & bat claws, crow, emu & rainbow lorikeet feathers, 3D printed platonic solids by Joshua Harker, vintage beads, turquoise, echidna spine, silver, bone, iron key, and thread
  • 7 for a Secret 2016 (along with 7 for a Secret sketch 2019):H 57 cm x 4cm mixed media & magic:7 crow feathers, thread, vintage parchment, lichen.
  • The Stole of Bandaged Hearts, 2011: L 125cm x W 4cm mixed media & magic: 144 hand stitched & bandaged hearts, beads, feathers, felt, waxed linen thread, silk
  • The Ever-Mending Jacket, 2013-2022: Old Man Crow’s denim jacket circa 1983 was slowly turning into lace over 9 years of mending with silk and cotton threads
  • Old Man Crow Hat:feather hat band by Eliene St Romain, crow feather, OMC badge
  • The Moonboat, 2000:mixed media & magic: carved soapstone, pweter, leather
  • “You me and Ariel P with the Blue Cat (Kushka was my first cat) in the Moon-boat…”
  • The Rose dreaming of becoming a Tattoo, 2007ink on paper
  • The Queen of Hearts, 2011: a bandaged heart made for the author,Terri Windling.
  • The Cat’s Whiskers (a wand for finding my way in the dark), 2013: 28cm H x 1.2cm W mixed media & magic: Made with Ariel’s whiskers collected over the years, porcupine quill & clay beads from Africa, quail wishbone, turquoise, vintage Silkworm thread.
  • Memento-Mori for Ariel, 2017: mixed media & magic: driftwood, Roderick’s bandaged heart, Ariel’s whiskers
    “A memento mori for Ariel, a talisman for Old Man Crow to hold onto, just past the witching hour two days after Ariel died I began making this Memento Mori by stitching together a bundle of Ariel’s shed whiskers, tried adding some of his claw sheaths but that didn’t feel right, a white feather didn’t work either, tried binding the shard of a broken pot I found as we smoothed the earth in the hole for his grave but that wasn’t right either… then my favourite piece of sea worn driftwood felt good so I lit a stick of incense holding Grace of Windthread’s one line poem, “we are burning Karma and it smells like incense” in my heart for the making, Old Man Crow woke at that moment, Ariel had just visited him from the bardor.” ~ Mo Orkiszewski 2022