the poetry of object

“poetry speaks the unspoken, seeks to make the intangible tangible”

tin shed tea rose, indigo eli 2021

shadow box, indigo eli, 2013

(with(in)side) out chapbook. Writ Poetry and Music Night, Paper Mountain. photo: Amber Bateup

burning silence .. feature image of the charcoal filter on a piece of cream linen . the mask’s wavy red ric rac ties flow across the base of the image from left to right .. slowly blurring as they go ... the filter, sits upright in full focus .. it has a tailor made shape . rectangular . but clipped and curved at the edges . made to fit neatly within the mask .. its main body is formed from non-woven polypropylene fabric reclaimed from a wound dressing .. its sides are crimped and melted shut .. white and cream threads drape from the stitches in its sides ... its body . though white . is darkened by its filling . charcoal . black cinders from a property lost in the black summer bushfires .. the filter's main body is dressed . covered by a thin delicate protective paper sleeve .. its corners each shaped by a run of 5 cream stitches .. this paper joins and is stitched closed front and centre .. one end folds open and is held that way by three red wool symbolic stitches and a draping thread to honour the 33 people directly lost to the fires: x x x...

NEST Residency and Showing, indigo eli photo: Royce Kurmelovs

numbered budgie eggs, handmade nest, indigo eli, 2013

artwork: apology (detail), indigo eli 2016

NEST Residency and Showing, indigo eli photo: Royce Kurmelovs

NEST Residency and Showing, indigo eli photo: indigo eli

stitched words on handkerchief, indigo eli, 2011

luxury artwork detail ... pink satin purses lay on cream-white linen .. in the back right, out of focus, is a textured gold edged frame containing a drape of white thread .. two purses sit next to the frame on the left also blurred by the cameras focus .. towards the front of the shot 3 purses lay open .. their contents spilling out .. fluffy creamy-white woollen tampons with gleaming white strings

artwork: leaving, photo: royce kurmelovs

Postal Project invitation. Can’t make it to Noted but want a piece, a sense, a souvenir? Are you feeling a little isolated – geographically or otherwise? Do you seek connective threads? Do you love snail mail, pine after pigeon post, miss the days when mailboxes were filled with personal surprises? …

letter no 1 Noted Postal Project indigo eli 2016

the inanimate has found its voice, illuminated words, indigo eli, 2011

apology .. a full image of the work .. a thin vase of flowers sits to the right of frame on a black surface in front of a white textured wall ... the wooden vase, a repurposed industrial bobbin, has a short conical base that straightens into a tall thin cylinder with notches up its spine .. a tag, thin and rectangular, with a hole punched in one end, is tied to the vase by twine, on it, some indistinguishable text ... at the top of the vase, long thin wire stems fan out to hold a bunch of paper flowers folded from book pages. From right to left their faces point out toward the viewer . point up . tilt to one side, to the other . face the viewer ... the three on the very left tilt face down on slightly curved stems ... some flowers have round blue fabric buttons at their centre .. some have a hint of red thread instead ... on the wall behind are shadows of the flowers .. organic blobs form a loose arrow shape near the base of the work .. shifting into star-like shapes at the top

artwork: blanket silence, indigo eli, 2015

NEST Residency and Showing, indigo eli photo: Royce Kurmelovs

in.definite, indigo eli, 2014

in.definite, artwork detail

artwork: leaving, photo: indigo eli

artwork: dust jacket, handstitched artwork 2015

letter no. 18, enveloping (the human) connection (in 36.5 letters)

artwork: luxury, cashmere tampons, indigo eli 2016

straw into gold, indigo eli 2021

artwork: leaving, photo: indigo eli

artwork: luxury, gilt framed cashmere tampon, indigo eli 2016

threads of industry artworks, indigo eli

blanket silence .. a black and white image of the artwork displayed outstretched upon a white wall ... a grey woollen face mask has white gauze ties, 2 pulled to each side held by a pair of surgical scissors .. the gauze ties then drape from the scissors grip ... the mask has black text on the front .. [sic] in large letters .. with some smaller indistinguishable letters in between ... pale threads of various lengths drape down from where the ties have been hand-sewn to the side of the mask .. the four fabric ties are each greyed near the mask .. from text perhaps?

indigo eli (with(in)side) out – poetic fortunes with artwork ‘records of translation’ by Devon Ward, for Kiss Club, CIA studios 2015

poetry mugs indigo eli

burning silence.. a full image of the work .. a hand stitched face mask and filter insert are displayed on a piece of cream linen ... on the right of the image the white filter sits further back and out of focus .. it has a paper-like cover .. at its centre are 3 red cross stitches and a loose draping thread ... to the front of frame on the left is a brightly coloured face mask resting on an angle ... the body of the mask is formed from reclaimed fabric: blue sky . green palm trees . spots of yellow . white . flying bird silhouettes in the sky .. fabric reclaimed from a Hawaiian shirt ... text has been hand embroidered to its front, vibrant red letters .. [sic] .. with some smaller, indistinguishable letters added in between ... lengths of wavy red ric rac trim are sewn to the mask’s sides to form ties, they drape down from both sides of the mask curving and looping organically as they go

everything is transient, stitched words on paper bag, indigo eli, 2011

letter no 13 Noted Festival Postal Project indigo eli 2016

artwork: Child Protection. Act. (detail)indigo eli 2016

NEST Residency and Showing, indigo eli photo: Royce Kurmelovs

little love poem, indigo eli

everything is connected feathers website image

(with(in)side) out chapbook. artwork: indigo eli (adapted from photo by Amber Bateup taken at Kiss Club, CIA Studios)

Black Jack, playing card poetry, Subtext exhibition, SA Writers Centre, photo: indigo eli

seat, warmer, textile artwork, indigo eli

artwork: leaving, photo: indigo eli

luxury artwork .. a close up shot of indigo holding 5 pieces within the soft stretch of her left hand ... she is wearing a black jumper pulled up at the forearms ... on her index finger is a thin silver ring with a silver bauble .. a wrapped threaded bracelet adorns her left wrist with hues of blue white red and gold .. a tartan scarf . dark blue and grey with red highlights . hangs into the shot from her neck ... her right arm is blurred from movement, reaching toward something out of shot ... the 5 works in her hand are small satin purses in ballet slipper pink, made from woollen blanket edging .. draping from some of the purses are doubled white threads

in.definite artwork detail .. a close up of the text in the work ... rounded black letters are printed on a softened white paper background, some letters are much larger than others .. the words read across regardless of size, but the enlarged letters create contrasting words and meaning .. in this cropped section, the words include determination, detention is enlarged from this, and ‘of his rights and obligations’ the word no or not is enlarged from this section .. the edge of the image and text blur

blanket silence (detail), indigo eli

artwork: leaving, photo: indigo eli

artwork: remembering, photo: royce kurmelovs

artwork: apology (detail), indigo eli 2016

The Poetry of Object 0.1 exhibition

poetry magnets indigo eli 7 designs

NEST Residency and Showing, indigo eli photo: Royce Kurmelovs

artwork: luxury, cashmere tampons, indigo eli 2016

child protection artwork broken headless doll

NEST Residency and Showing, indigo eli photo: Royce Kurmelovs

artwork: apology, indigo eli 2016

Poet Tree, Kings Park Spring Festival

poetic fortunes, indigo eli

sound egg, indigo eli: a process in development, a development in process, 2012, photo: royce kurmelovs

dust jacket artwork detail .. the lower half of the artwork is viewed from the side .. a book covered with grey wool like a dust cover, against a blurred black and white background ... the wooden stand . a tripod made from warm toned wood . with rounded carved feet and two round resting pieces holds the weight of the book .. the edge where it would open has been stitched closed with red crosses ... a red double thread hangs gently from the back

dust jacket artwork .. a full image of the work .. a book sits on a wooden book stand on a black surface in front of a white textured wall ... the wooden stand has a mid-range stain, slightly rounded legs and the book rests upon two wooden circles affixed to its front ... the book has been covered with grey woollen fabric ... on the front of this handstitched dust jacket, the word unpublished is stitched in red thread .. the ‘un’ is underlined .. the ‘published’ is covered by a horizontal red stitched cross

letter no. 29, enveloping (the human) connection (in 36.5 letters)

a square black and white photo of indigo’s poetic tools … an assortment of objects are laid out on a dark polka dot fabric, in a deliberate design, all connected by touch ... flowing from the top left a plastic right angle french curve ruler, a fabric lint brush, a gridded A3 cutting board, a boxed set of small screwdrivers, a pair of pliers, a vintage auto toolkit tin filled with threads and snips and vintage velvet metal pin cushion and other assorted bits and bobs, a silver scalpel ... and at the bottom of the cutting mat, an indigo eli calling card. an artefact label added to the bottom of the image, black text on white reads: Poet's tool kit, circa July 2023.

artwork: leaving, photo: indigo eli

‘it’s the small things’, poetic street art installation, indigo eli, 2011

letter no. 29, enveloping (the human) connection (in 36.5 letters)

The Poetry of Object exhibitions:

you can explore the blog to find individual artworks
… and if you like your snail mail, follow this trail to postal projects

indigo eli

poetry … performance … art

the poetry of object

“poetry speaks the unspoken, seeks to make the intangible tangible”

The Poetry of Object exhibitions:

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