Ondine Seabrook, mostly known as Onnie or to a few of us as Cron, has been a life long and dear friend of ours at SAUCE.
When we created our first collection and the desire for a FRUIT bikini was too great to simmer, we knew that Onnie was the artist for the job, our ultimate accomplice. The final product- our FRUIT bikini, is now SAUCE’s most coveted print.
We knew that our work with Onnie would not end there and we again joined forces to create our old school- HAWAII BABY print. With no doubt that we'll collaborate again (after all Onnie is a SAUCE girl now), we're absolutely looking forward to what's to come in the future.
Ondine dabbles between a loose, expressive representation and abstraction style, focusing mostly on the Australian landscape. Her skills transcend into a few categories of still life, and in the past- self portrait.
Onnie is represented by China Heights Gallery in Surry Hills and has her second solo show coming up in August. Get excited to check out Onnie's famed paintings, to revel in good company and get amongst a little free sauce.
2014
We threw a few questions at Onnie about art, life and SAUCE-
What keeps you motivated to continue making art? And do you have any advice for young artists who are trying to make it?
The satisfaction of making and finishing a good work, it’s a great feeling and you get a bit better every time.
Deadlines always help because it is such a solo endeavour and takes so much self discipline. Having a good studio space with other people around to talk to works for me, it's a great help so that you don't end up going around in circles in your own mind. There are so many things one could say but something someone said to me recently which I actually found really helpful was "just keep walking and breathing".
When you’re trying to get in the mood to work what gets you started?
Learning how to get ‘in the mood’ is actually really important to my practice because my work is so quick and spontaneous yet also carefully thought out. I like to start with a coffee, I always make myself wait until I get to the studio. The mornings are the best time for me. If I start doing something else before the studio I’m screwed for the day.
Just doing things that make you feel good in general so that when you arrive to the studio you’re in a good mood. It's also just as important to learn when you need to leave (otherwise you can end up waisting materials) and do something out of your routine to stimulate yourself. For me and a lot of other artists that I’ve spoken with, figuring out & learning all of these little things are actually a really important part of being an artist.
What’s next on the agenda for you?
My next Solo Show at China Heights on the 9th of August is what I am currently working towards. It’s a fantastic big space and really nice to be able to develop such a large body of work all at the same time.
Are you stoked that brands are rapidly moving towards sustainable practices?
Absolutely, who wouldn’t be. It’s great to see such a rapid change recently, it's incredibly important… And I just love how when you’re wearing SAUCE you could be wearing a bit of old fishing rope thats been floating around the mediterranean for years and years, so dreamy and romantic.
Is it different/ more challenging creating a print for textiles/ materials as opposed to your usual medium?
Well the prints I have done for SAUCE are quite different to my usual style which actually made it really fun in a way. It was refreshing working with Alice and adapting my style to do something purely for the brand. In the end, the Hawaii print ended up filtering into my painting anyway. It definitely would have been more challenging to merge my usual work onto such a small piece of fabric and probably would have looked like a Monet printed on a scarf sold at an art museum.
Why did you want to collaborate with SAUCE? Do you have a favourite style of our swimwear?
Because I love SAUCE. It’s cheeky and fun but sustainable and carefully made in Australia, just like Alice and myself’s friendship. I love the gold hoop pieces they sum up my favourite bit about SAUCE.
See our collaborations with Onnie here:
2016
2016
2016
2018
2018
2018