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Kim Perrier, received a scholarship and studied at the Vancouver School of Art, Canada 1972 - 1976.
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Family emigrated from Canada to New Zealand Kim moved to Australia 1978.
Represented in the:
- National Gallery Collection, Canberra
- National
Mapping Library, Canberra
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Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth.
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Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
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Private Collections Internationally
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Participated in National and International Touring Exhibitions
- Recipient of an Australian National Craft Acquisition Award
- Numerous publications, Televised Documentaries, etc.
I
live to push boundaries. Crystal is the most challenging material I have
worked with and the most rewarding.
I am driven to create an impression about our world that too many seem to
take for granted.
Magic and beauty surround's us yet is so often veiled by humanities confusion.
Proud of my Canadian heritage!
Realism contained within any Art Form allows us to celebrate the wonders of our physical world or the magic and mystery of our metaphysical selves within this world.
Abstractionism is a product of the human intellect.
A great challenge for me is realising, and merging the primary elements of Realism and Abstract forms together.
The marriage of these two elements and developing an equality so they can coexist is my quest with each work.
Artists are explorers of realms that lie between the known or yet unseen. I ask you to look beyond what you think is there and a deeper understanding may rise.
You to will become an explorer in the process.
To inspire others to look more closely at the unique wonders and fragility of our planet, the small beings all around us and to share some understanding of our earth's rich bio-diversity so that we can together engage in caretaking now and for the future is the greatest bond that we all have in common.
I live in the Southwest corner of Western Australia and considered one of the most isolated places on the planet.
Isolation
has been one of the greatest catalysts for continued personal growth and pushing
boundaries. I have to rely on myself, a handful of friends and books to achieve
new skills and knowledge. When you live so far from what some might call "the
real world" one must become very self sufficient.
This page would not be complete without giving credit to my wife Marie. Thank you for helping me to be myself and explore my greater potential.
One of my mates about 400mm long - a bit, this one just lost the end of his tail trying to escape from something, probably a cat, they drop the end of their tail as an escape mechanism. The King Skink is the largest member of the skink family in Australia. We have about 12 King Skinks living in the gardens around our home, they help to ward off snakes. This one is a constant companion around the casting workshop, he or she is used to me doing my thing and we keep a comfortable distance between us. They are remarkable as they look after their young for the first year to give them a good start.
King Skinks can grow to around 400 mm in length. It's always fun having a newcomer visit the property because when they see a tail flash past they inevitably thinks it's a snake.
About my Heritage - Oh Canada
As the Canadians win gold medal's in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics I thought I had to have a say about being a Canadian living so far from the Motherland.
Living in Australia since 1978 has not been easy, I felt like a displaced person for years, probably like any immigrant away from their homeland.
I didn't feel apart of Australia until we buried a best friend and adopted brother (originally from Vienna, Austria) Gene Polt in the Australian landscape, that did change everything as I realised what it meant to have a part of you in country.
Canadians are so proud of being Canadian that they have a difficult time accepting anyone would live anywhere else other than in Canada. To do so in some peoples eyes is almost considered similar to desertion. I continue to wave the flag on high from a distant land and wipe a tear away every time I think or see anything about our Canada. Yes at times feel desperate to be there, though its all just part of the journey where we find ourselves and how we deal with it and get on with life.
I have included the information below because it is where my or our strength as Canadians (2 brothers Randy and Kevin and a sister Tracey) in Canadian Heritage has deep roots and pride in being Canadians. This does not include the massive number of relatives that unfortunately we can not be closer with to share their lives in Canada.
Our heritage in Canada is rich with some remote ties to King Louis XV court and General Montcalm who fought against the British for the control of Canada. I continue to suggest the first Perrier's were escaping to Canada to keep their heads, true or otherwise yet it seems as if the first relative landed in 1680 Laurant Perrier. So our french Canadian heritage goes back to the beginning of European settlement in the new land.
On my mothers side her Great, Great Grandfather was Gilbert Sproat who was sent out to Vancouver Island by the British Government in the 1860's to write a description of the First Nation Island people for the crown. He later became the first Indian commissioner on Vancouver Island and wrote a book called The Nootka, which I am lucky enough to have a copy of. He unlike other "Civilised Christian Men" wrote what seems to be a fairly unbiased description of the people with humanity and equality unlike others of his time. He went on to be one of the first settlers in what is now known as Richmond BC yet was a very influential man in the settlement of Vancouver Island having named a great number of towns. An interesting anonymous critic of the time stated, "Sproat is more clear headed than Charles Darwin when it comes to seeing 'savage' peoples".
Other interesting ancestors were Albert "Ginger" Goodwin - Ginger led the first strike in Canada for an eight-hour workday in 1918. (I'm trying to promote it as a Canadian holiday, he said). He was shot by a hired private cop outside Cumberland, British Columbia for resisting the draft for army service. His murder sparked B.C's first General Strike which had ripple effects all over Canada. His influence strengthened unions in Canada and effected the emergence of socialist policies in the Canadian Labour parties. His Brother Bruce who I was lucky enough to meet in his 80's was the first person to attempt to drive a car through the Canadian Rockies to the West Coast.
Pa and Grandma Perrier settled on the "Lone Prairie" to farm in Southern Saskatchewan near Scout Lake and were pioneers in the area. It was a tough life during the depression. Grandpa Perrier was French Canadian and Grandma was Norwegian I would imagine that neither could speak English very well and I'm sure Grandma couldn't speak French so they communicated through the language of love creating 12 children 2 who died at birth and 5 boys and 5 girls all loving and wonderful people. It would have been a hard time which kept the family strong, I remember a one liner my Dad (Lyle) used to say - "ten kids and eight pairs of shoes". I know it may seem to the reader as slightly out of context but whenever I watch the film Dancing with Wolves it reminds of that country somehow.
My father Lyle and his work mates were the first pipeline welders in Western Canada, they fought to work within this fledgling industry in Canada as the Americans dominated Canadian pipelining in the early 1950's. He and people like my God Father George Insul were considered legend's in that industry in latter years for loosening the stranglehold by the Yanks and later for creating better pay and conditions for people in the industry. Why I bring this up is because of his work we moved all over Western Canada following jobs like gypsies. In my teens I started working on pipelines at the age of 15, this gave me the advantage of earning great money as a kid and all the privileges that brought. The connection with pipeling allowed us to live in and be apart of the most spectacular places mainly in British Columbia. I have been is some wonderfully remote regions through this affiliation and had some extreme experiences in the process.
I
must also give a mention to our Canadian brothers the first nation people.
It brings tears to my eyes to think about how they were brutalised and
condemned to become third class citizens in their land. My mother always
made us aware of how special they were and at every chance to celebrate
them, beyond and away from the tag "no-good drunken Indian's"
which as I grew older found myself also fighting for.
I know that something within my art has been strongly influenced by the west
coast and inland people. I am proud of this rich cultural heritage and now
recognise that my knowledge of our great grandfather Sproat, has contributed
to this legacy, playing a part in my life. Without this awareness of spirit
and place I would not feel as whole as I do nor as Canadian as I do..
Our mother, Maxine passed away on Mothers Day 2008. She was raised as an agnostic, though we were allowed to believe what we wanted, Christianity was treated with a respect given to all religions equally yet never practiced in our house.
Immigrating to New Zealand led to a profound realisation of spirit for our mom, "Maxine" who became fluent in Maori Tongue and it was not until the end of her time talking to her great friend Bill Hoari that I discovered how the old Aunties had been taking her off to hospitals teaching her the healing ways. She was bestowed the honor of tribal aunty and given her Maori name Mahina. Mahina was given a ceremonial send off and her ashes scattered in a sacred area on Mt. Taranaki reserved for chief's and people of high standing. I would imagine that she is probably the only Canadian woman to ever have had this honor bestowed upon her by the Maori people. Canadians can be proud of one of your own.
Mom is resting in peace.
Now deeply entrenched in Australia with the birth of 3 daughters and half of my life spent here, I almost feel like a stranger from a far regarding Canada, or that is until I land on Canadian soil and feel immediately back at home. Connections to place is powerful.
Now back to my Australian Connections.
It was not until we placed my friend and adopted brother Gene Polt into the Australian ground that I felt a connection to this country. I raise this point about Gene to illustrate how we become connected to other countries and how Australia has become a part of me. Gene and I established the first Craft Arts Gallery in country West Australia in 1980. Called the Hunters Moon it helped to bring many artists and craftsman out of their isolation and give them a space to show their art. Gene was an incredibly creative person, and my greatest lesson from him was that I never heard him say "I can't do that".
I am fortunate to have started film making in the last 5 years, more like a hobby in the beginning we are now starting to place our films into International Film Festivals. I have been fortunate to become connected with the First Nation People of the Southwest documenting aspects of Noongar Cultural Heritage and Community. The Noongar people are spread over a vast area that takes up the entire Southwest of Western Australia. I feel as if my Canadian heritage is in part responsible for being able to have some connection to indigenous people in this way and humbly thank some greater power for this opportunity to be welcome here and trusted by these people. They have an amazing story which is not getting out there so I do feel compelled to help in some small way.
A brief note on the Arts or me being an Artist.
Yes I have been through my Duchamp days, my Dali dreams, minimalist's, cubist's, egotist's etc. etc. Building large scale beach installations out of huge structural timber's washed up on the BC coastlines in 1971 and documenting there demise as the tide had its way. Drawing nudes at the Vancouver School of Art for 20 plus hours a week and skipping other classes to do so. Becoming a Photographer, becoming an illustrator, becoming a Jeweler, becoming a Sculptor and quite naively becoming nothing other than myself in the process, an Artist. I was lucky it only took till I was about 24 for me to be able to openly say that I was an Artist, it still felt strange on a passport application to fill this in as my occupation. I was simply fortunate to have fantastic teachers like Ron Macpherson, Jack Hardman and Geoff Rees and very lucky to receive a scholarship to the Vancouver School of Art which probably saved me from being a pipeliner.
I truly think that there have been quite a few people over the years that have been disappointed in me, non more so than my father who on his death bed uttered his very last words to me "you will never make any money as an artist" and unfortunately passed away about 8 hrs. later. (I do know that he was proud of my achievements as an artist yet he was still a child of the depression years and that was his way of saying he cared.)
What I mean by "those who were disappointed" was that I have never really towed the line as an artist. Most artists go out into the world to actively find their style. Once they have found this style they then produce copious amounts of work for years and years and basically market this style to gain recognition and in time a following. This seems to be the general rule of thumb to become a recognised or collectable artist, one may vary the progression of the style but to dismiss it and reinvent oneself is a risky business. This is where I have let a lot of people down, I was always more interested in discovery than staying in one place for to long. The boredom factor has always driven me away from sticking with anything for to long and some may believe that this has been to my demise concerning the development of a strong client base who know that they can always find the same thing and collect it. To all of those people who have said in the past "Why didn't you keep doing this or that style" it was their way of saying they also cared about my future similar to my father.
Well it is with great fan fare and much excitement that I present my most recent incarnation of the Perrier Style. To anyone silly enough to have read this far, its only taken 36 years from those more innocent younger years as an artist to find. Thankfully I never followed anyone's fear for my future and continued to find out about new ways of working!
Kim
