2020
2019
Work in Progress - An assemblage in Home Grown: The Tenacious Realm exhibition, Incinerator Art Space, Willoughby
Responding to the curatorial theme of The Tenacious Realm - considering how community can be resilient to future shocks and chronic stresses - Work in Progress explores social marginalisation, isolation and fragmentation in contrast to acceptance and belonging.
For example, the ‘tumour’ of objects can be seen to mimic the vicious thought cycles that often accompany mental health challenges and perpetuate social isolation and loneliness. The repurposing of found readymades gives these previously futile and discarded objects, a second chance at life, rather than simply rejecting them. This is a symbolic gesture of how we shun fellow humans whom we deem to be no longer functional within a mainstream ableist society.
Conversely, the entanglement of mix-matched materials can illustrate the notion of finding one’s tribe and the strength drawn from belonging. This metaphor can be extended further to show the social responsibility of community to be more accepting of diversity. The electric cables unravelling into the space of the viewer, paired with the continuous dropping of masking tape from the wall-mounted section (accruing throughout the exhibition’s duration) speaks of the unravelling of stigma associated with mental illness.
Those living with chronic mental health issues know it is an ongoing challenge, however the role of society to not only tolerate but also embrace diversity can aid in social integration - as the title suggests, it is a work in progress.
For example, the ‘tumour’ of objects can be seen to mimic the vicious thought cycles that often accompany mental health challenges and perpetuate social isolation and loneliness. The repurposing of found readymades gives these previously futile and discarded objects, a second chance at life, rather than simply rejecting them. This is a symbolic gesture of how we shun fellow humans whom we deem to be no longer functional within a mainstream ableist society.
Conversely, the entanglement of mix-matched materials can illustrate the notion of finding one’s tribe and the strength drawn from belonging. This metaphor can be extended further to show the social responsibility of community to be more accepting of diversity. The electric cables unravelling into the space of the viewer, paired with the continuous dropping of masking tape from the wall-mounted section (accruing throughout the exhibition’s duration) speaks of the unravelling of stigma associated with mental illness.
Those living with chronic mental health issues know it is an ongoing challenge, however the role of society to not only tolerate but also embrace diversity can aid in social integration - as the title suggests, it is a work in progress.
Outside Looking In - An installation in Future Abstract exhibition, Art Space, Chatswood, part of Vivid Ideas
Outside Looking In is a site-specific installation that surveyed 33°47′44″S 151°11′00″E - The Concourse at the heart of Chatswood, where it was assembled and exhibited for Future Abstract. Using Google Earth technology, digital imagery of the surveyed location was employed as a rectified readymade, allowing for a rudimentary beginning to a process of abstraction.
Outside Looking In subverts the conventional pictorial plane, utilising the wall, floor and functional gallery glass door as the artwork's ground, expanding beyond the confinement of the gallery. The work maps space via intervention of the physical location it dissects, pulling the viewer through ‘open walls’, across the floor and around corners. The artwork coexists within the architectural confines and functional signage of a transitory public space, the lobby.
Outside Looking In subverts the conventional pictorial plane, utilising the wall, floor and functional gallery glass door as the artwork's ground, expanding beyond the confinement of the gallery. The work maps space via intervention of the physical location it dissects, pulling the viewer through ‘open walls’, across the floor and around corners. The artwork coexists within the architectural confines and functional signage of a transitory public space, the lobby.
In Situ - A collaborative installation at Articulate, Leichhardt, with Jo Morrow + Belinda Wincote, created and exhibited within the confines of the gallery space and three week time frame Photographs: Ella Ottaviano
