NameDe Mestre, ToriOccupationArtistBiographyGrowing up on ‘Callemondah’ with mother, May Barrie and her constant work in sculpture was a great inspiration in Tori’s life, not only with art but also with work ethic and the desire to teach, to share skills and have the good fortune of growing up in a beautiful valley.
Artist friends visited the farm frequently from Sydney and filled Tori with the urge to create artworks and an interesting life.
After studying painting at the National Art School in Sydney, Tori went to Melbourne to study for a teaching diploma. Tori held her first exhibition in Melbourne in 1979 and immediately went traveling for the rest of the year.
During the 1980’s Tori began to work in Community Arts; Workshops, special events and projects, summer schools, forums, lectures…. all competing for time with studio and exhibition work. Highlights of this period in Tori’s life were Advocacy work for the Arts and Disability (with Arts Access) and selection in a major international exhibition in Switzerland. Tori received a grant from the Australia Council for the Arts to travel with her work and do a study tour in the UK, USA and Europe.
In 1990 Tori returned home to the family farm in Calderwood to live in the restored dairy where she had spent many childhood hours milking or hosing manure. She established a studio in the old feeding stalls; working for exhibitions, planning community art projects, and running workshops. Work was local, national and international. At this time, Tori went to Wollongong University to gain a Masters Degree in Creative Arts. She worked on murals, mosaics, banners, theatre design, costume design and began teaching at Wollongong West TAFE.
Tori’s return to the area prompted an interest in local history. While working on the Albion Park History Mural, she gathered fascinating images and stories from the Tongarra Museum and from other community participants. These influenced her exhibition work throughout the 1990’s, with work traveling to Japan, the USA and to Poland.
A more recent public art project, Osborne Park Storylines, in Wollongong, has also involved fascinating research into past stories. The project explored the intersection of the mining and aboriginal stories of the site. Art works in bronze, stainless steel and pebbles, were informed by memories, artefacts and local knowledge. As artist and art coordinator, Tori found this a complex and interesting project.
Tori continues to teach, exhibit her work in galleries, plant trees, grow vegetables and pull out weeds. She welcomes visitors to her studio and anyone who wants to help her pull out weeds.
Tori De Mestre, c.2005.