Since interviewing Stephen Ives last year, we’ve been ardently waiting to get yet another chance to see one of his collections – and that time is almost here, as he launched is last show, Jet, this Friday at Backwoods Gallery in Collingwood.

“Stephen Ives work is about contrast and balance and the meaning within the juxtaposition, whether it is the bringing together of disparate ideas or the conjunction of objects, themes, colours or overall placement. On the surface level aesthetic and skill need to be balanced, the integrity of the structure fusing with overall feel creating strength flow and ‘beauty’. The surface then has to be balanced with the content, the underlying conceptual structure supporting the roof of craftsmanship. Belief has to be suspended to enter the worlds Stephen creates, (when the audience no longer see the puppets strings they will then believe the puppet is real), the audience can then be taken on the journey the artist wishes them to experience. Of course if the journey is dull no amount of surface glitz will make it better. A good idea has to have form that is true.

The best way to describe the process by which Stephen Ives thinks and works is to use the French word bricolage (a construction made of whatever materials are at hand; something created from a variety of available things), his work is entirely immersed in this concept. Ideas are distilled from an experiential, mental, historical and cultural grab bag and constructed from a hyper Lego pile of toys, scrap, junk and purpose bought materials that fill his studio. Concepts are edited and refined, materials are collected, cut, morphed, distorted sometimes discarded and eventually brought together in an homogenous whole that is both a mental thought form and a candy apple treat.”

Seriously, if you haven’t seen Stephens work before, you need to get down to Backwoods Gallery to see it all – photos just do not do the level of detail and intricacy that he puts into each piece. His work is often whimsical, yet it speaks volumes of expression – something that, and this is a personal thing, I often find difficult to feel from a lot of sculptural work.

When I first saw Stephens work last year, I actually took a step back and began to appreciate sculpture a lot more, whereas previously I had often dismissed it. Over the past year, I found myself actively seeking out various different sculptural works to see if it could also convey that new found sense – sometimes it has, sometimes it hasn’t, but the point is that via Ives work, my eyes were opened.

That’s what good art does, and that’s the kind of shit that he brings to the table – go see it for yourself.

Who: Stephen Ives
What: Jet solo show
Where: Backwoods Gallery, 25 Easey st, Collingwood, VIC
When: Show opens Friday 3rd August, 6pm til 9pm and runs til 12th August.

Check out Backwoods Gallery as well as Stephen Ives website for more info on the show.