Name
Sabine Cotte
Title of research project
Art in the making: Mirka Mora’s techniques and materials
Affiliations
University of Melbourne (Australia)
Supervisors
Dr Nicole Tse; A/P Alison Inglis
Estimated date of completion
June 2016
Previous education and work experience:
1986 Bachelor Fine Arts (Lithography) Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris
1986 Honours Bachelor History of Art Paris 1
1990 Honours Bachelor Paintings Conservation INP (Paris)
1994 ICCROM Mural Paintings Conservation Certificate
2011 Masters of Arts University of Melbourne
25 years as a practicing paintings conservator in France, Himalayas and Australia.
Abstract
This thesis investigates the creative processes of French-Australian artist Mirka Mora (born Paris 1928), a major figure in Melbourne’s social and artistic history. The research project is undertaken in close collaboration with the artist, with access to private sources such as diaries and works in progress; it explores the meaning of Mora’s choices of artistic materials and idiosyncratic modes of making, using a conservator’s eye to bring a different perspective on her oeuvre. Participatory methods of research (feedback) combined with technical art history methods (reconstructions of artworks) generated highly informative documentation about Mora’s yet unstudied soft sculptures production as well as better-known realisations (paintings, murals). Using methods of qualitative analysis borrowed from social sciences (oral history, ethnography, nature conservation), the thesis links Mora’s use of different techniques to her personal socio- economic experience, to the broader historical context ranging from feminism to public art policies and the craft movement and to the conscious construction of a public image that has proved extremely efficient in terms of reputation-building. Arguing that an interpretation of the meanings of materials is essential for conservation, the thesis integrates findings with models of decision-making reflecting contemporary international best practice. The last part of the thesis offers three cases studies of practical conservation of the artist’s soft sculptures outlining conservation approaches of Mora’s oeuvre as potential options for the future.