2018 In Review: Drawn To The City
For each month of 2018 Adelaide based illustrator Leo Greenfield put pen to paper to capture a different South Australian personality.
From gallery directors to beekeepers, graduate nurses to Adelaide Zoo volunteers, Leo’s columns offer a personal survey of the city in 2018. Think of it as a very unofficial, but very colourful portrait-based census.
Anna Bartel, the engineer
“It’s hard to convey that you can get so excited about rocks, but people in my industry have a real passion for these materials.”
Jake Holmes, the print-maker
“All of the posters still have the artist’s hand, but it’s democratic and lots of people can have copies.”
Sue Scarfe, The Volunteer
“The art of being a guide is reading people, reading their faces and body language.”
Triton Tunis-Mitchell, the physio
“Language is how you understand the world”, he says. “If you change the language, can you change the pain?”
Simone Tippett, the multitasker
“I love the expression on someone’s face when they pull their first print from the press and suddenly discover they can make an artwork.”
Sandra Ullrich, the beekeeper
“Opening the hive is like a storybook, [the bees] are telling you something. When looking at the details, like the wax, you can learn about the life cycle of the hive, from the eggs to the queen. Reading the hive determines what I am going to do.”
Yasiru Migara Ranasinghe, the graduate nurse
“I miss Sri Lankan food a lot; I miss my bird walks and I miss thunderstorms. But here in Adelaide there is still so much to explore, so much to learn.”
Benjamin Madden, the scholar
“The first term was pretty rough, but that said it was also a delight. My four years at York made me reflect on the whole process of teaching, and made me consider what I can do, year by year to improve.”
Laura Flynn, the teacher
“I was very fortunate to be taught by some exemplary teachers, who were both passionate and knowledgeable about their subjects. The teachers who inspired me to become a teacher were the ones who I got to know on a personal level.”
Chris Kontos, the creative director
“I worked at the coolest menswear store to ever exist, Axel Beers,” he says. “I was 15, and used to start my shift by cleaning the toilets, no joke!”
Dr Patty Chehade, the gallery director
“Commercial galleries are focused on market sales, but often for the artist focusing on sales can stifle their creativity. What I want to offer artists is an opportunity to explore their ideas and create without the demand of market influence.”
Adriana Del Fabro, the visual merchandiser
“I don’t think I will be putting a tree up in my house this year. My Christmas tree will be all the trees that I have helped decorate across Adelaide.”
Leo Greenfield is a freelance illustrator
leogreenfield.com