MIRKA MORA: PAS DE DEUX—DRAWINGS AND DOLLS · Why do you think Mirka kept so many dolls—her own...

MIRKA MORA: PAS DE DEUX—DRAWINGS AND DOLLS27 OCTOBER 2018 – 24 MARCH 2019© 2018 Heide Museum of Modern Art. This material may be downloaded, copied, used and communicated free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes provided all acknowledgements are retained.

Mirka Mora, Untitled (sketchbook page) 1985 (detail), fibre-tipped pen and gouache on paper, courtesy William Mora Galleries, Melbourne © Estate of Mirka Mora

HEIDE EDUCATION

© Heide Education 2018 1

MIRKA MORA: Pas de Deux—Drawings and Dolls

Mirka Mora c.1973, gelatin silver photograph, 22 x 17 cm, photographer unknown, Herald & Weekly Times Limited portrait collection,

State Library Victoria, Melbourne © Herald & Weekly Times Limited

‘My dolls are my drawings in three dimensions’i

BIOGRAPHY

Madeleine ‘Mirka’ Zelik was born in Paris in 1928 to Jewish parents: a Romanian mother, Tsipa 'Suzanne' Gelbein

and Lithuanian father, Leon Zelik. The family went into hiding during the war and miraculously survived the

Holocaust. In 1946 Mirka met her future husband Georges Mora, then Chef de Bureau of a Jewish organisation

who had saved children during the war, at the orphanage where she worked in Saint Quay Portrieux in Brittany.

Georges assisted Mirka to enrol at the Jean-Louis Barrault theatre school in Paris, where she trained in mime

and drama. She also pursued an interest in painting. Mirka and Georges married in December 1947 and their

first son, Philippe, was born in 1949. Two years later the young family emigrated to Australia.


In mid-1952 the Moras settled at 9 Collins Street in Melbourne, a studio residence where they lived for the next

fourteen years. Second son William was born in 1953, followed by Tiriel in 1958. 9 Collins Street was a hub for

the city’s cultural community and for a time the headquarters of the newly re-formed Contemporary Art Society.

During this period the Moras opened a string of successful restaurants, beginning with Mirka Café in Exhibition

Street in 1954, followed by Balzac Restaurant in East Melbourne in 1956, then Tolarno French Bistro in St Kilda,

which opened in 1966. Georges began working as an art dealer around this time, and he and Mirka separated in

1970.

During the 1950s and 60s Mirka combined working in the restaurants and raising her family with her career as

an artist. She held her first solo exhibition 1956, at the Gallery of Contemporary Art, established by John and

Sunday Reed with Georges Mora’s assistance, as a venue for Contemporary Art Society exhibitions. She also held

solo shows at the Gallery’s successor, the Museum of Modern Art of Australia (1958–66), which John and

Georges ambitiously modelled on MoMA in New York. In 1967 and 1969 Mirka presented two shows at Georges’

commercial gallery, Tolarno, and in 1971 she held her first exhibition of dolls, at Realities Gallery, Toorak,

subsequently teaching numerous doll-making workshops. From 1987 she was represented by William Mora

Galleries and held more than fifty exhibitions in total. She also contributed several large-scale public

commissions around Melbourne, including the mosaic murals at Flinders Street Station and St Kilda Pier.

Mirka Mora: Pas de Deux—Drawings and Dolls is the fourth exhibition of Mirka’s work to be presented at Heide

Museum of Modern Art. A major retrospective, Where Angels Fear to Tread, was held in 1999, and two further

solo exhibitions followed in 2010 and 2014, which celebrated aspects of her rich life and art practice.

In 2002 Mirka was made an Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. She received

the distinction of Heide Fellow in 2008, one of small number of individuals who have been formally

acknowledged for their exceptional contribution to Heide over time.

Mirka Mora died on 27 August 2018. Her life was celebrated with a State Memorial Service—the first artist to

receive this honour in Australia.

NB. As a friend of Heide’s, Mirka Mora is referred to by her first name, rather than surname, throughout the resource.

EXHIBITION INTRODUCTION

Mirka Mora: Pas de Deux—Drawings and Dolls was planned as a celebration of Mirka’s 90th birthday year, and

with her recent passing on 27 August, it now serves as a tribute to a rare and cherished person and an

extraordinary creative life. It brings together some of the artist’s most personal work: drawings and soft-

sculpture dolls from her home and studio where she kept them close for many decades. The exhibition title Pas

de Deux, or a dance for two, was inspired by Mirka’s conviction that for her, the two art forms went hand-in

hand. ‘My dolls are my drawings in three dimensions’, she said.

The myriad works on display offer a glimpse into Mirka’s enchanting private universe, where hybrid characters

derived from classical mythology, fairy tales, folk art, surrealism, daily life and the artist’s vivid daydreams

intermingle. Like Mirka herself, her drawings and dolls are an alluring combination of innocence and knowing,

joy and sorrow, fantasies and fears. In many ways her work may been seen as a life-long self-portrait and as

such, although Mirka is no longer with us, through her art she endures.


Mirka Mora, Bird with Brood, 1960, charcoal on paper, 49 x 76 cm, courtesy William Mora Galleries, Melbourne © Estate of Mirka Mora

DRAWINGS

Mirka first began to draw seriously in the mid-1950s with the encouragement of the artist Charles Blackman,

who was convinced of her talent. The painter Arthur Boyd was also supportive, bringing sharpened quills to her

9 Collins Street apartment. Soon she drew on a daily basis, gradually honing her skills and developing a

distinctive graphic style enhanced by her mastery of the rapidograph, a technical pen used for architectural

drafting. Though she worked in many other mediums Mirka regarded drawing as the core and source of all of

her creative activity. ‘Drawing is an exploration,’ she declared, ‘you don’t know where it will take you!’

The sketchbooks on display are selected from dozens, if not hundreds, that Mirka filled throughout her career

and the images in them range from summary notations to carefully considered and intricately detailed

compositions. She often dated and inscribed her studies according to the circumstances in which they were

produced. In this sense the sketchbooks form a rich visual diary that charts not only Mirka’s progression as an

artist, but also her observations and reflections on conversations and events in her life, recorded directly as they

unfolded. For her it was vitally important that her drawings retained the sense of freshness with which they

were conceived, along with their allusions to her innermost self.

The larger-scale finished drawings represent Mirka’s mature practice and the superb confidence she attained in

the medium. She invariably started with the head of a figure and allowed the rest of the image to dictate itself

intuitively: ‘I have to listen to my hand’ she said, ‘the drawing comes before I know it’.


IN HER OWN WORDS

‘Painting to me is easy pleasure, but drawing is very difficult. Painting is the pleasure of the senses, drawing is

the pleasure of the mind.’ii

‘Drawing is a fresh thing, and one cannot repeat it.’iii

‘I have to listen to my hand, really; I have to listen to the way the drawing wants to be.’iv

‘There is a moment, when the drawing comes before I know it.’v

‘Drawings are oracles.’vi

EXPLORE AND RESPOND

List the different media Mirka Mora used in her drawings.

What are the similarities and differences between Mirka’s small sketches and her large-scale charcoal drawings?

Think about subject matter, technique, colour, composition and mood.

What figures and symbols recur throughout her drawings?

How would you describe Mirka’s drawing style?

Mirka said ‘Drawing is a fresh thing’. What evidence of this is there in her works?

Mirka Mora, Coco My Pet, 1960, 1987, fibre-tipped pen on paper, courtesy William Mora Galleries, Melbourne © Estate of Mirka Mora


Mirka Mora, Sweet Response, 1989, casein paint on cotton, 27.8 x 46.4 x 8.5 cm, courtesy William Mora Galleries, Melbourne © Estate of

Mirka Mora

DOLLS

Mirka’s love of dolls and puppets derived in part from her early training in theatre and mime. Later she became

an avid collector of antique dolls, which she arranged around her studio in various groupings that informed the

scenarios she depicted in her drawings. In 1970 she began to make her own soft-sculpture dolls, initially by

cutting out her drawings, transferring them to cloth, then applying painted features and costumes. She observed

that these experimental creations were like substitute children: at the time her sons were living apart from her,

after she separated from her husband, Georges Mora.

Mirka believed that dolls are not inanimate objects, but a means of capturing the experience of childhood—

‘childhood means discovery in the sense that nothing is fixed yet; all roads are still open’, she remarked.

Mirka’s first exhibition of dolls was at Realities Gallery, Toorak, in 1971. John Reed wrote in the catalogue: ‘you

are not entering an “exhibition” but rather a new world, a world of illusion … a country which may be strange

but it is also beautiful and compellingly familiar. This is the artist’s country’.

John’s description inspired this display of more than two hundred dolls from Mirka’s studio—some soft, some

crafted in plaster, a number embellished with embroidery and sequins, and others clothed in vintage garments.

The extraordinary richness of Mirka’s imagination is in evidence at every turn, with whimsical figures interacting

with fantastical creatures, mythological beasts, babies, ducks, dogs, devils, angels and many more amazing

characters.


IN HER OWN WORDS

‘As I am a compulsive worker and self-taught artist, it was a natural turn of events to cut out my drawings until I

clarified my mind, my sorrows, and got myself in hand.’vii

‘It was extremely agreeable to have my drawings transformed into soft sculptures and also to paint them, and

hold them in my hands.’viii

‘As I must have been very lonely, the dolls were a kind of solid dream; I was very enthralled by them.’ix

‘A doll to me is not an inanimate object; a doll captures childhood. To me, a doll means that I have still got a foot

in the childhood world.’x

‘Childhood means discovery … in the sense that nothing is fixed yet; all roads are still open.’xi

‘Having a lot of dolls is just like having lots of tubes of paint; it’s just like having materials.’xii

EXPLORE AND RESPOND

Mirka Mora said: ‘My dolls are my drawings in three dimensions’. Explain what you think she meant by this.

What materials and techniques did Mirka use to make her dolls?

List ten characters Mirka made into dolls.

What are the similarities and differences between Mirka’s drawings and her dolls?

Why do you think Mirka kept so many dolls—her own sculptures and those she collected—and arranged them in

groupings in her home studio?

Mirka Mora, Untitled (Big Bad Wolf), c.1975, casein paint on cotton, 46 x 80 x 14.5 cm, courtesy William Mora Galleries, Melbourne ©

Estate of Mirka Mora


Mirka Mora, Untitled (sketchbook page), 1983, fibre-tipped pen and gouache on paper, courtesy William Mora Galleries, Melbourne ©


MIRKA MORA’S ARTISTIC PROCESS

Mirka Mora was a self-taught artist who worked in her home studio for many hours every day. She was

surrounded by her own work and a vast collection of objects, including vintage dolls, antique furniture, books,

costumes, tapestries, toys, ceramics and paintings.

For Mirka, most days included reading, drawing, painting and conscious daydreaming.

Describe how Mirka’s environment and working process is evident in the artworks in Pas de Deux. Look closely

at the detail in her sketches and dolls.

IN HER OWN WORDS

‘I don’t like to start on a picture and finish it—because I don’t know enough about it. When I work on several

drawings and paintings and dolls simultaneously, I think I am learning something from one to the other.’xiii

‘When you are a painter you are terribly isolated and I wasn’t taught—I was self-taught—and you don’t know

where you are and you search and search. I didn’t know what I was doing really when I started painting.’xiv

‘It’s nice to have lots of materials, because you don’t know when you might need something.’xv

‘Interpretation of my works is important to me, because I find things. I can never really find the secret, but I

come close to it.’xvi


‘You have to paint your life, because your life is someone else’s life. One’s life is typical.’xvii

‘Being self-taught, my reading is very much like a girouette (a weathercock) and sometimes like a compass’xviii

‘Letters and writings from painters are great sources of knowledge and comfort.’xix

‘When I prepare my palette, and I like a very limited amount of colours, I will hear music. High notes for brighter

tones or pure colour, and low notes for darker tones or colours—red, brown, black.’xx

‘All the disciplines are a family to produce the making of art.’xxi

‘On very good days, I will find myself at my easel not remembering having left my bed.’xxii

‘It is most important to see good work.’xxiii

‘Toys also are a part of my work as they trigger childhood memories that are very imbedded in time, and in my

mind. Toys allow me to make better drawings and paintings to capture more signs and symbols that will

precipitate other images.’xxiv

RECURRING MOTIFS

EXPLORE AND RESPOND

What motifs did Mirka Mora use throughout her oeuvre? What figures and symbols recur in her sketches, large

drawings, and dolls?

Mirka’s imagery is derived from childhood memories, classical mythology, folklore, fairytales, literature and her

own subconscious. What evidence is there that she was influenced by myths and folklore? How is childhood

symbolised?

Why do you think Mirka used the motifs of conjoined figures and hybrid characters?

Why do you think Mirka gave many of her figures wings?

What is the importance of the garden that forms the backdrop to many of Mirka’s drawings?

IN HER OWN WORDS

‘I feel comfortable with my snakes and birds and fauns, because they are basic symbols that everybody

recognises.’xxv

‘Sometimes the serpent is the serpent of the garden of Eden, which really to me is knowledge.’xxvi

‘The bird is your friend, really, even when he is a trouble maker. Dogs are witnesses. The bird is active; he means

it. The dogs just happen to be there. They mean tranquillity also … when all is well.’xxvii

‘The mermaid is escape. The mermaid does not escape to disappear, but to come back.’xxviii

‘The sun really means that all is well. The sun is always positive.’xxix

‘The moon has to do with wildness, with unleashed forces …’xxx


DISCUSS AND DEBATE

Mirka Mora’s son Philippe said that ‘despite or because of having lived through the Holocaust, her life and art

speak of peace and love for all humanity.’xxxi Do you agree? What aspects of Mirka’s drawings express peace and

love?

Mirka’s many images of children, often in rows and groupings, have been interpreted as representing the ghosts

of children murdered in the Holocaust.xxxii Do you think this is a valid interpretation? Refer to aspects of the

drawings to support your answer.

Do you consider Mirka Mora’s dolls to be soft sculptures or toys? Explain your answer.

COMPARE

The child was an important subject in the art of many of Mirka Mora’s contemporaries. Compare Mirka’s

drawings of children with those by Charles Blackman, John Perceval and Joy Hester, focusing on style, medium,

technique, art elements, cultural context and meanings.

CREATE AND MAKE

Draw a fantastical landscape populated with forms, symbols and figures inspired by those seen in Pas de Deux.

Use pen and gouache so that the work is both detailed and bright.

Create a large charcoal self-portrait. Make preliminary sketches with pencil by looking at yourself in a mirror.

Enlarge the portrait onto A3 or A2 paper using big, gestural strokes of charcoal.

Make a soft sculpture doll. Paint two sides of a hybrid figure on calico, cut it out, stuff it with soft filling, and

stitch or glue it together.

GLOSSARY

Casein paint: a fast-drying, water-soluble painting medium derived from milk protein.

Charcoal: a black chalky drawing material made of burnt wood/carbon.

Composition: the way that objects and/or visual elements are arranged within an artwork.

Figurative: art that has a likeness to the real world, particularly to the human figure.

Folklore: traditional stories, beliefs or customs belonging to a particular culture.

Gouache: opaque watercolour paint.

Holocaust: the mass murder of European civilians—especially Jewish people—by the Nazi regime during

World War II.

Hybrid: a thing made by combining two different elements.


Imagery: visual images/pictures.

Landscape: an artwork depicting a view of the natural environment.

Motif: dominant feature or symbol that represents a personal idea for an artist.

Mythology: traditional stories, often about early history and involving supernatural beings.

Recur: to happen again.

Soft sculpture: sculptures made of soft materials, such as cloth, rubber or latex.

Style: the distinctive way an artist uses art materials, techniques and elements.

Subconscious: the part of the mind that is just below one’s level of awareness, but influences actions and

feelings.

Subject matter: the objects, forms or events represented in a work of art.

Surrealism: an art movement that originated in Europe in the 1920s. Artists were inspired by dreams and the

unconscious mind, creating dream-like images where unexpected combinations of objects were depicted,

often realistically.

Symbol: sign, colour, shape or form that represents an idea or feeling.

Technique: the way an artist uses or applies art materials.

Oeuvre: an artist’s entire body of work.

REFERENCES

i Mirka Mora, Wicked but Virtuous: My Life, Penguin, Camberwell, 2000, p. 107. ii Mirka Mora in Ulli Beier, MIRKA, MacMillan Australia, South Melbourne, 1980, p. 22. iii Beier, p. 22. iv Beier, p. 23. v Beier, p. 23. vi Beier, p. 23. vii Mora, p. 108. viii Mora, p. 108. ix Mora, p. 108. x Beier, p. 58. xi Beier, p. 58. xii Beier, p. 64. xiii Beier, p. 21. xiv Mirka Mora in Kendrah Morgan, MIRKA, exh. cat., Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2010, p. 46. xv Beier, p. 22. xvi Beier, p. 24. xvii Beier, p. 25. xviii Mora, p. 110. xix Mora, p. 110. xx Mora, p. 111.


xxi Mora, p. 112. xxii Mora, p. 112. xxiii Mora, p. 113. xxiv Mora, p. 115. xxv Beier, p. 32 xxvi Beier, p. 28 xxvii Beier, p. 28. xxviii Beier, p. 29. xxix Beier, p. 29 xxx Beier, p. 29. xxxi Phillipe Mora in Max Delany, Mirka Mora, Where Angels Fear to Tread: 50 years of Art 1948—1998, exh. cat., Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 1999, p. 21. xxxii Mora in Delany, p. 21

Mirka Mora, Untitled (Mermaid), 1979, casein paint on cotton, 33.2 x 18.7 x 4.8 cm, courtesy William Mora Galleries, Melbourne ©


MIRKA MORA: PAS DE DEUX—DRAWINGS AND DOLLS · Why do you think Mirka kept so many dolls—her own...

Documents

Transcript of MIRKA MORA: PAS DE DEUX—DRAWINGS AND DOLLS · Why do you think Mirka kept so many dolls—her own...