Trina Collins, who works under the pseudonym Poncho Army, has had a monumental year. She has spent 2015 painting murals around Australia, exhibiting and presenting alongside some of the top creatives in the world and has also been running her successful workshop and urban art store Anchors Aweigh Art Studio. The years not over yet though and this artist plans to top it off with a solo exhibition at Beach Burrito Wollongong on 4 December.
The exhibition titled “Offbeat” is a 12 piece series combining spray paint, stencil art and screen printing. The works came about while Trina was clocking up thousands of kilometres in her van, traveling around Australia painting public art murals and teaching street art workshops in places like Maryborough, Albury, Chester Hill and Dubbo.
“While on the road I took a lot of photos, there was no time for sketches so I took pictures of things I found interesting to reference later. It’s these photos that have become the building blocks for this exhibition”.
Don’t expect to see any photography in the show though. Each of the 12 pieces has undergone the Poncho Army treatment. Starting with the reference photo and creating an illustration, cutting stencils for each colour block and a final screen print layer on top, each piece is handled over 10 times until it’s complete. “Each of the 12 works in the series is an edition of around 17, so in total there are over 200 handmade prints. It’s time consuming but I would never get the results with digital printing.”
All pieces are also sealed with a matt clear coating and on the back they are stamped, signed and numbered. Trina also has something a bit extra special for when you turn the lights out “Each piece has glow in the dark splatter paint stars”
Locations depicted in the series include the sugarcane fields in Yamba, the lighthouse at Seal Rocks and the dilapidated Maryborough shipyard. “I love exploring off the beaten track, finding something special in places many don’t voyage to.” She tells about one of her favourite finds
“I pulled off the highway in Yamba to take some photos of the sugarcane. I ended up down this dirt road and thought I would keep going. I drove for kms through the sugarcane. I eventually ended up at a site with loads of old boats decaying in the paddocks. For me that’s pretty much like finding heaven.”
Offbeat by Poncho Army opens at Beach Burrito Wollongong on 4 December from 6pm and will be on exhibition for the month of December. All welcome to attend this free, all ages event.
A3 works are $35 each, any 3 for $100 or full set of 12 for $360.
