Who I am and what I do:

I’m Esther Stewart, a Melbourne- based artist currently working on Foldout - a project for the 2012 Next Wave Festival., 

Foldout consists of a series of seats that fold out from the wall of an un-used space in QV .Thesite is near the entrance located a on the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale Street.The seats will be mounted on top of a painted geometric mural that acts as a camouflage, adding an element of surprise and allowing the viewer to be directly involved and seated within the work. Each seat will be camouflaged into the mural, altering the perspective of the site and challenging the reality of where the seats are located on the wall. The viewer will actively change the way the mural looks by revealing contrasting patterns on the under side of the seats and disrupting the flatness of the mural – changing its perspective and creating new shapes within it. This project has been developed over the past year and is my most ambitious project to date.

This project will be my first public art installation. It is exciting and has changed the course of my artistic practice. Mypractice is based on an exploration of the constructed environments in which we live. This project has developed from a body of work, Portable Compactable, which occupies a space between the functional and the purely aesthetic object. I am interested in object/furniture that can foldaway and allow the space to have multiple functions. This project has directly evolved from this concern.

Where you come into it:

I need your help to paint Foldout in full, brilliant colour. Over the past year I have designed safe, durable seating for this work - and now it needs to be activated by some generous splashes of colour.

Colour me in!

What I need is paint and lots of it. This project is ambitious and long term – it will be installed in QV for the next 3-5 years. This paint (Du Pont automotive paint)

is durable and expensive and without it the project will be dull. Refer to image 2 colour me in. The paints cost over $1300. On top of this are transport, installation and painting costs. So please donate and help me colour this project in! Regardless of amount, your contribution is invaluable. Donate knowing that you have helped me realise my biggest project to date be in full, glorious colour.

Goodies

Your donation means an enormous amount to me so thank you..

Please look at the panel on the right to see all the goodies I can offer you in return. There are a number of great treats, including two original works.

Foldout opens as part of the 2012 Next Wave Festival on the 19^th of May so keep this date free and come and seat yourself in a full colour Foldout