Danielle Walpole

Danielle Walpole is a South Australian photo-based artist and a graduate of the Adelaide College of the Arts. Her vibrant colour photographs capture excerpts from narratives of experience, reflection and choice.
 
She was a finalist in The Churchie National Emerging Art Award in 2009 and nominated for the Visual Arts Emerging Artist Award by the Adelaide Critics Circle in 2008 and the Adelaide Fringe Visual Arts Award in 2007.

2002 - present
Co-founder and core member of the Shoot Artists Collective
2003
Bachelor of Visual Arts and Applied Design, Adelaide College of the Arts, Adelaide, SA
2003-4    
Helpmann Academy Foundation Front sub-committee member
2008   
Graduate Certificate in Management, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA

"As a quintet of soapy spheres float skyward, the cover of wildflowers and grasses below appear to reach up and lift toward the sun.  The pairs of glistening light on the glycerine surface of the bubbles mirror the blast of colour found throughout the blooming foreground flowers.  It is a mesmerising scene, perfectly balanced by the cluster of barren trees that stand in silhouette behind.
Backed by intensely blue sky, a ghost of bright white organza attempts to make its way back to the heavens, snagged, however, in a web of branches that obstructs its path.  Its tactile translucency falters as the breeze allows it to fold upon itself and obscure vision; its synthetic qualities polarising the natural setting.
A wooden box beckons us forward to the roots of an ancient tree standing its ground in the midst of autumnal changes.  Our crude sense of curiosity embraces our attention; we are desperate to know what the small chest holds inside, eager to know who it belongs to.  Bordered by a semi-circle backdrop of trees and overgrown creeping shrubs, the seclusion of the setting is entirely enticing.  Glorious sunshine holds shadows and lurking threats at bay.

Danielle Walpole’s photographic series Reverie is underpinned by an attempt to tenderly lure viewers back to an ingenuous time of imagination and wonder, when hopes and dreams were easily envisaged and impossibility posed no constraint.  She achieves this by creating stunning compositions that pay tribute to those ‘little things’ that inspire awe and admiration in children such as bubbles, flowers and gardens, the power of the wind and the secrets of a fastened box.  Making a slight departure from the understated narratives typically employed in her work, Walpole instead plays out dreaminess and whimsy, characterised by the three scenes that insert props into natural settings, and ultimately, magic into reality.
The artist is proficient in anticipating responses from viewers and draws on her understanding of collective experience to recognise these.  Using a variety of visual techniques including exposure, arrangement and cropping, along with specific content, Walpole’s three prop and nature scenes are thoughtful and deliberate, designed to gently provoke particular readings, which in this instance extract and simulate recollections and buried feelings of childhood fantasy.
Extending the idea of recollection and imagination are the four skyscapes within Reverie.  From muted greys to puffy whites to the rich highlights that come just before daybreak, clouds and the vast open skies in which they dwell alternate throughout the series of seven photographs.  These four cloud shots play a vital role in establishing an overall ambience and sensation for viewers that is at once meditative.  In addition to the automatic responses engendered by imagery of the cosmos such as spirituality, freedom, distance and flight, Walpole’s range of atmospheric scenes become markers of infinite opportunity, the sublime and incorporeity.
Together, as the suite of images combine scenes pertaining to a time of childhood marvel, with illustrations of vast open skies, we are pressed to wonder whether the only thing our dreams and imagination are limited by, is ourselves."

Nerina Dunt

Solo Exhibitions
2010
Reverie, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide
Reminisence, Light Square Gallery, Adelaide
2009
Allegories – Selected Works, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide
2008    
Allegories, Gallery 139, Adelaide
Details, Queensland Centre for Photography, QLD
Details and Reflections, Wirra Wirra Vineyards, McLaren Vale, SA
2007    
Details, Miss Gladys Sym Choon Gallery, Adelaide

Group Exhibitions
2010
Undercurrent 2010, MOP projects, NSW
Helpman Academy Maestros & Apprentices, Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide
2009   
The Churchie National Emerging Art Award, QLD  
2008   
Undercurrent 2008: Underlying Landscapes, Kerry Packer Civic Gallery, Adelaide
Unannouned, Gallery 139, Adelaide
Objectives Impending, Gallery 139, Adelaide
Urban Differences: contemporary photo media, Vitamin Gallery online exhibition
2007   
Undercurrent, Queensland Centre for Photography, QLD
The Iris Award, Perth Centre for Photography, WA
Helpmann Academy Maestros and Apprentices, Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide
Meet and Greet, Downtown Art Space, Adelaide
Undercurrent, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide
Sounds from Level Four (Shoot Collective), Australasian Computer Music Conference, Elder Conservatorium of Music, SA
Sounds from Level Four (Shoot Collective), South Australian Museum, Adelaide
Elevate (Shoot Collective), various locations around Adelaide CBD, Adelaide City Council public projection art commission, SA
The Ability To Lie, Horsham Regional Art Gallery, VIC
Emerging Curator Project, Arts SA, Adelaide
Metrospective (Shoot Collective),King William St and Rundle St, Adelaide, Adelaide City Council public projection art commission, SA
Projector (Shoot Collective), South Australian Museum, Adelaide
2003   
Being Bobby, Helpmann Academy event, Enigma Bar, Adelaide
SHOOT presents Synaesthesia (Shoot Collective), The Croft Institute, VIC
Synaesthesia (Shoot Collective), Mojo West, Adelaide
 HeadShot (Shoot Collective), Colour Cosmetica, Adelaide
Perspective, Pepper Street Arts Centre, Adelaide
Helpmann Academy Valentines Day Event, Minke Bar, Adelaide
2002    
Room Service (Shoot Collective), Graduate Exhibition, Worldsend Hotel, Adelaide
Shoot (Shoot Collective), Worldsend Hotel, Adelaide
Rocket @ The Fringe Hub, Adelaide University Hub, Adelaide
Photo/Digital Interactions, Adelaide University Hub Adelaide
Artery Party, Carclew Youth Arts Centre, Adelaide

Awards
2009   
Finalist, The Churchie National Emerging Art Award, QLD
2008   
Nominee, Visual Arts Emerging Artist, Adelaide Critics Circle Awards, Adelaide, SA
2007   
Finalist, The Iris Award, Perth Centre for Photography, WA
Finalist, The Advertiser Contemporary Art Award, Adelaide, SA
Nominee, Adelaide Fringe Visual Arts Award, Adelaide, SA

Bibliography
Clifton, Catherine, “Night Shift”, Adelaide Matters, Issue 83, April 2007
Clifton, Catherine, “Mixed Emotion”, Adelaide Matters, Issue 103, Oct/Nov 2008
Cook, Ray, “Details”, catalogue essay, June 2008
Craig, Gordon, “Collections and Reflections”, Undercurrent catalogue essay, 2007
Craig, Gordon, “Constructing new relationships to landscape”, Undercurrent: Underlying Landscapes catalogue essay, 2008
Dunt, Nerina, “Danielle Walpole, Allegories”, dB magazine, Issue #454, 26 November 2008
Dutkiewicz, Adam, “Exploring the archaeology of modern life”, The Independent Weekly, 14-20 April 2007
Epstein, Emma, “Allegories”, catalogue essay, October 2008
Etheridge, Michelle, “Imagination the key detail in photographic journey”, Hills & Valley Messenger, 11 April 2007
Mitchell, Samara, “Details”, catalogue essay, April 2007
Mitchell, Samara, “Shoot Collective”, Photofile, Issue 81, Spring 2007
Nelligan, Katelin, “Artistic nature shines through”, The City Messenger, October 2008
Southcott, Beverley, “Urban Differences” catalogue essay, February 2008
Sutter, Lauren, “Danielle Walpole - Details”, dB magazine, 18 April 2007
Walker, Wendy, “Fringe’s essence in vibrant nutshells”, The Australian, 2 April 2007