TODD STUART
Born
in 1970 in Perth, Western Australia, Tod was greatly influenced by his
father (a secondary school teacher in manual arts) and spent a lot of
time in his workshop, experimenting & creating in many different
mediums, which he has continued to do so.
He has been recognised & awarded prizes for his work since the age of 11 for craftsmanship
to several awards from the Furniture Industry Association Australia at
17, for best design innovation crafted for leather upholstery. He completed
his study of Industrial Design at Curtin University Perth Western
Australia in 1992. Initially employed as creative designer at “ARTIFEX
AUSTRALIA” he introduced new innovative ranges of upholstered commercial
furniture. In 1994 Todd commenced his own business “FURNITURHAUS” which
focused on creating & implementing bespoke furniture designs for
some of the highest profile Interior designers, Architects &
projects Australia wide. In 2005 Todd gained a substantial project in
the Middle East that saw him set up a new business in Dubai. His success
he determines is due to his being part of the sculpture process from
conception to finalisation, worthy of his final signature. A
new business initiative has arisen in which Todd has been selected to
join “MAINARTERY STUDIO” - created to collectively support & assist
the promotion of high calibre sculpture artworks.
"Dreamtime"
- a contemporary representation of Aboriginal spirituality, in images
of family, bush tucker, bush medicines, water holes and campsites.
This
beautiful work entered in the 2015 MIFGS Exhibition exemplifies the
very exciting collaboration between Todd Stuart and renowned Aboriginal
painter,
COLIN WALANGARI KARNTAWARRA McCormack - in partnership with Todd Stuart, to create Aboriginal Sculpture.
Born in 1961, Walangari is an Australian Aboriginal elder from Alice Springs who now lives and works in Sydney. He is also a talented musician and dancer, teacher and public speaker; has Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees and an Associate Diploma of Aboriginal Education.
Walangari has held many executive positions and been the director of various Aboriginal councils: chaired CAAMA (first
Aboriginal owned radio station); was a director of the first Aboriginal
television station, Imparja; is committed to improving the lot of his
people and helping to ensure the
voice of Aboriginal Australia is heard. He is an international award
winning 'Central Western Desert' painter and his colourful and
spellbinding works tell the traditional Dreamtime Stories of the world’s
oldest living culture, he regards his art as a means of cross-cultural
communication ... It
was the legacy of his famous 'great-grandfather’, Albert Namatjira and
the inspiration of his 'grandfather’ Clifford Possum that encouraged him
to paint.
In
1995 he painted the first prize for the inaugural Indigenous Surfing
Competition sponsored by Billabong and Coca Cola; his life and paintings
have been featured in many TV programmes & publications, including
the “International Artist” magazine.
The Australian Museum featured Walangari in the CD ROM that they produced as part of their Living Colour exhibition
in March 2000 and in 2003 he was commissioned to paint a work for the
Rugby World Cup Paris Exhibition. In the same year his work featured in
the annual selling exhibition Art Paris in the Carrousel du Louvre. The National Gallery of Australia has acquired one of his early works.
With
Todd's sculptural expertise, he is finally realising his Dreamtime
stories: "Art for Aboriginal people is like our heartbeat and we must
continue to be artistic or we will die spiritually and lose our souls".
Todd
emphasises that the creative process itself is in-depth & consumes a
considerable amount of resources, skill and time, nonetheless in his
deep appreciation of the nature of Walangari's Aboriginal stories, he
has been able to emulate them through the timeless nature of the quality
materials used in both works ...
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