Eleven years on, we reflect on ‘Dreamland: Memory of a Journey’ – Claudio’s first solo exhibition hosted as part of Bleach* Festival. the art community on the Gold Coast was captivated by an eclectic and vibrant exhibition entitled ‘Dreamland’. While Claudio’s more recent exhibitions have focussed on his abstract and character-based works, ‘Dreamland’ was a little different – showcasing a series photographic works collected over a decade of travels. These works were paried with and nine miniature watercolours, titled ‘Little Miracles’, as well as a limited edition run of cushions.
The exhibition was not only a place for Claudio to share his work, it was also embedded with a deep sense of community. All proceeds from Claudio’s sales were donated to charity ‘Phil Tron’, in honuor of Claudio’s long-term friend who, at the time of the exhibition, had recently been diagnosed with a rare and terminal illness.
Fast forward to today, and Claudio’s journey has seen numerous evolutions. ‘Dreamland’ solidified Claudio’s position a contemporary practitioner, able to blend and balance different mediums to create a cohesive and meaningful body of work. Claudio’s work continues to push boundaries, and he is continually exploring, evolving his approach.
Reflecting on ‘Dreamland’ in a post-covid world gives a unique perspective on the exhibition and body of work. It was a celebration of travel, of the global community. On the surface, beautiful landscapes and quirky moments are seemingly trivial and fleeting, but when viewed through today’s lens, they hold more relevance than ever. ‘Dreamland’ service to remind us of the beauty and diversity of our world.
Claudio’s naïve watercolours presented a contrast to the photographs aesthetically, while thematically they holla back to the photographic works – symbolising notions of spontaneity and rawness. These pieces were actually unplanned for the body of work, and emerged organically.
As we flip through the ‘Dreamland’ newspaper – a keepsake designed as a loose-bound newspaper that was thoughtfully designed for the exhibition and could transforms into a series of standalone posters – we reflect on much has changed in 11 years … but also revel in the way some things remain constant. Phil is still with us (recently exhibiting his own body of photographic works with Claudio’s support), travel remains a source of wonder, hope and positivity, and Claudio’s still likes to throw in a little “unplanned” element to his collections.
Here’s to reflecting on ‘Starlight Eyes’ in another decade.
Dreamland - Memory of a Journey
Stories of travel, isolation, home, love, loss, magic and dreams are narrated though the body of work that is Claudio’s first ever solo exhibition. ‘Dreamland’ is a collection of photographic prints and miniature watercolour abstracts that inspire us to look into ourselves, yearn for far away lands and explore the literal universe, while reminding us to remember the everyday wonder that exists right before our eyes.
For over 10 years Gold Coast Artist, Claudio Kirac, has travelled the globe with his camera in hand, documenting people, spaces and places.
He has been fortunate enough to share many amazing journeys with brilliant creative minds, all in pursuit to capture ‘that moment’. Claudio’s travels as a professional photographer have taken him from deserts to islands, cities and beyond. He sees each journey as an adventure, a new opportunity, and remembers that every fleeting moment is valuable and unique.
‘Dreamland’ revolves around two key themes; the thrill of travel and the longing for home. While ‘on the road’ for periods at a time, and mostly without the leisure one would assume with travel or ‘holidays’, Claudio grasps the moments around him; wholly embracing local cultures and traditions, venturing ‘off the beaten path’ and stepping outside the comforts of everyday life. While befriending strangers and capturing those special moments one only encounters on ‘the journey’, work and play blur into one. Soon comes the challenge of missing the familiarity of home, the everyday norm, the common voices of close friends and the touch of a loved one. But it is this that makes us appreciate the everyday and helps restore our balance and soon we are home again where we can reflect on the journey and the places that became home for those moments in time. The works of ‘Dreamland’ express and investigate many of these notions.
Claudio works in a wide variety of mediums and has always found it difficult to pigeon hole himself to one style. Starting out in illustration at a young age and embracing painting, printmaking, music and graphics along the way, Claudio now finds himself in photography, which is now almost a full time pursuit. Although he has struggled to come to terms with being labelled a photographer, and not to mention the opinions of others, Claudio has harnessed the medium with conviction across many platforms and through his unwavering artistic vision, his photography work has attained a signature style.
‘Dreamland’ will officially open on Thursday 23rd February at Comb Art Space (Coolangatta) and will run from February 23rd – March 6th 2012, coinciding with the inaugural Bleach* Surfing the Fringe Festival, which is launching on the Gold Coast. The exhibition will feature a series of limited edition photographic prints, original miniature watercolours and a free limited edition newsprint paper. All works will be for sale with all proceeds going to ‘Philtron’ for Phil Ransley, a charity for a close friend of Claudio’s who was diagnosed with a very rare illness in 2008.
‘Dreamland’ will be sure to inspire, ignite the flames of wanderlust and remind us to nurture the relationships we appreciate.
Throwback! Q&A with Local Artist Claudio Kirac on his ‘Dreamland’ Exhibition. This is some vintage stuff!
Cassandra: Hi, everyone. Today we're in the studio of local artist Claudio Kirac. Tell me a bit about yourself and what you do.
Claudio: Uh, I'm Claudia Kirac. I've been on the Gold Coast for the majority of my life and working professionally as an artist for over 15 years. Uh, I work in fields of graphic design, uh, painting photography illustration. Started out doing illustration at a very young age. And then now I'd probably be doing photography professionally about 90% of the time. And then that's slowly shifting back as well to doing graphics and still doing fabrics for fashion and things like this.
Well, for the Bleach Festival, I came on board as a semi-creative director of the look and feel with Louise. So I had a meeting with Louise Bezina, the, uh, festival artistic director, and, um, she approached me to come on board to design a look and a feel with the logo and all of the bits and pieces associated with Bleach that is seen in the media from the Web through to, um, you know what we see on postcards or posters like physically in the street and, uh, as part of that initial meeting, I pitched an idea that I had for a very long time to do a solo exhibition down that end of Coolangatta, uh, in the COMB Space, which has opened just this year, which is a great little space for, um artists, following the footsteps of the sister cities, you know, like the bigger cities having a good little gallery system that works. So I was really excited to come in with my concept and go in there.
Claudio: And, um, the concept that I have is Dreamland and Dreamland is a photographic print exhibition of travel as well as, uh, some naive artistic watercolours as well that will exist. Uh, they coincide together for the show.
Cassandra:: So what will be on display? Will that be images from your travels and yeah?
Claudio: So on display, there'll be a series of 20 prints, and they all are from over 10 years of travel from everywhere from Hawaii, Tahiti, uh, through to Tokyo, Paris, more of Europe, Uh, USA, New York, LA things like this. So all different bits and pieces that I've encountered along the way, some of them gonna be pictures that are, you know, just like, Wow, that's a beautiful picture. And some of them are gonna be pictures like people go, Wow, that's a bit weird. But you know, to me, it means a lot. And to other people who might be there might have been there when that photo was taken. So to them, it might mean something really special. So, you know, there is quite a few, uh, moments in there, and there's also just beautiful pictures, which are, you know, that you can't go past with the 20 plus the two enlargements. There will be, uh, a series of nine miniature watercolors which are just, uh, totally naive, unplanned, um, just onto paper. And whatever comes out of that comes out. So in that series of nine, I'll say, do 20 or so and then I'll pick take it back to the ones that I think aesthetically look pleasing like that and for the whole show.
Claudio: So all the proceeds from the sales from the show will go to, uh, a charity of a friend of mine, Phil Ransley. And it's for Phil Tron. And we've done various Phil events over the past few years, 'cos uh, he was struck down with a very, very rare illness, uh, going on just over two years ago. And, um, you know, he's still got the most amazing spirits in what he achieves. And he's such a creative, wonderful man that, you know, um, for me, this to be able to do my creativity and to share the proceeds with that because to me, it's not about, you know, making the money for the show and things. I would just want to be on display for my peers, my friends and family. And to me, it's a major milestone to have a solo show. So I'm really excited.
Cassandra: Well, I'm very much looking forward to seeing your work on the Splat, Bleach and all your photos. Thank you very much.
Claudio: Thanks for having me, Cassandra. Thank you. Cheers.