Gallery 1

COLLAGE : JUXTAPOSE

22 April - 3 May 2026

Opening night

24 April | 6 - 8 pm

Gallery Hours:
Wednesday – Sunday: 10 am – 5 pm (please note last day of exhibition ends at 3pm)

ARTIST  STATEMENT 

Savaad’s arts practice has primarily been devoted to figurative sculpture predominantly in repurposed timbers.  He has a number of sculptures in the public domain and private collections in the Yarra Valley. Just prior to and during the long COVID lockdowns in Victoria a strong fascination and experimentation with abstract collage unfolded. This new passage rejuvenated and broadened an already long arts practice and employed an array of modern, vintage and second hand fashion magazines.

Initially many of these new collage artworks were overcrowded and in a sense became sacrificial musings until a looser vertical and broader abstract style evolved. Interesting shapes emerged as slicing, matching and juxtaposing images and colours occurred. More recently various tissue papers, coloured cellophane and inks have been utilized to create an ethereal transparency.

The completed collage works are professionally photographed and giclée printed onto museum archival paper and skilfully framed. In a sense the assemblage and constructive process employed in Savaad’s sculptural practice transferred to collage. Savaad is mindful of keeping the works original and purposely shies away from limited prints.

Often pertinent quotes from Savaad’s extensive reading appear in the artworks.

The other underlying aspect relating to this body of work is the examination of gender conditioning and non-conformity with the social conditioning that ensues from birth, to direct who we are. It is often unquestioned and accepted as status quo, of how things are. The LGBTQIA community questions the structure of binary gender norms. I recognize myself as encompassing aspects of both genders and feel whole and enriched for it.

“When l think of my gender, l imagine a never-ending swirl of these two energy forces within me. Some days, yin dominates, other days, yang does, and sometimes, the two stand in equal measure. Though it’s not something l can control, it is something that l’m learning to articulate”. Mintzu Chen: New York based multidisciplinary artist.

ARTIST  BIO

Savaad Felich’s arts practice spans almost forty years predominantly in sculpture, employing a process of lamination, construction and assemblage while utilising an array of recycled and found objects, particularly furniture parts retrieved during hard rubbish collection.

Savaad was former curator for The Yering Stations arts program in the Yarra Valley which included the annual Yering Station Sculpture Exhibition & Awards established in 2001 and the Cellar Door gallery from 2008 – 2015. Recently during the COVID pandemic and associated lockdowns Savaad developed an interest in Abstract Collage and began a period of play and experimentation around fashion and gender conditioning.