Page 74 - Art-Addiction

NoeLa HJortH

1940 born in Melbourne, Australia
lives and works in clarendon, Australia

The old rectory lies shielded from view behind a copse of trees on a steep hillside overlooking Clarendon,
a town south of Adelaide where, along the main street, charming, tenderly crafted mid-nineteenth century
buildings proudly claim their due respect. The mellow rectory house shares the property with old stables
converted to a cottage/studio and a print-making studio, built more recently from matching stone. The 1 850s
house, owned by noela Hjorth, is set high on a hill and overlooks inspiring views of folded, golden hills patched
with windbreak trees of pine and eucalyptus, and an inviting swimming pool, guarded by sculptures and set in
a ragged garden. A painter, print-maker and sculptor, noela is busy exploring the spiritual belief which guide
her life and direct the application of her talent. Her fine work embraces a deep thread of philosophy cente-
red in early times and focused on introducing balance to a culture she considers out of step. While no more
aligned with Christianity than with Hinduism, Buddhism and the pagan rites of nature, noela considers south
Australia’s churches the most appropriate venues for displaying her work. Her seeds of Wisdom series - part of
a seven - year creative cycle - began as a collection of small terracotta ‘seed pods’, arranged in old letterpress
printing trays to demonstrate the burgeoning cycle of new life. The ripeness and fertility implied in their shapes
raised a few eyebrows when they were exhibited in st Peter’s Cathedral, north Adelaide, but noela says female
patterns are found throughout all of nature and she believes they have been ignored for too long. The second
stage of the series represented a maturation of the seed’s cycle, with ‘shoots’ made from antique foundry pat-
terns, which noela displayed at st. John’s Church in Adelaide.
sOpHIa’s sEEds I a, 2000 Mixed MediA 101 x 76 x 51 cM. / 4 x 3 x 2 Feet 
sOpHIa’s sEEds I a, 2000 Mixed MediA 101 x 76 x 51 cM. / 4 x 3 x 2 Feet 
 saCrIFICIal sHIrT, 1985 collAge And Mixed MediA on cAnvAs 123 x 122 cM. / 48½ x 50 in.

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