Landcombing
This body of work encourages the viewer to reassess their experience of nature through the depiction of objects found within the Northern Territory landscape. Small fragile objects that perhaps would be overlooked amid the distraction of everyday life are ‘landcombed’ from beaches, footpaths, riversides, parks and the gardens of friends and neighbours. Displaced to the studio and placed amid folds of patterned fabric, the work explores multiple contrasts: between natural and man-made, subtle and intense, tone and colour, smooth against rough, plain against pattern.
Building on the childhood delight of taking home shells found on the beach the work exposes the fragility and uniqueness of each found ‘treasure’. The unique qualities of each individual form are visually explored to create a grown-up appreciation of structural and textural complexities within nature.
Many of the works utilise contemporary textile techniques to imprint line drawings on canvas, sealed beneath clear gesso and selectively over-painted with traditional oil painting techniques. The work explores the relationship between the artist and their subject matter by leaving parts of the early layers of working exposed, resulting in subtle areas of line and tone that tell the story of the works’ creation.
This body of work encourages the viewer to reassess their experience of nature through the depiction of objects found within the Northern Territory landscape. Small fragile objects that perhaps would be overlooked amid the distraction of everyday life are ‘landcombed’ from beaches, footpaths, riversides, parks and the gardens of friends and neighbours. Displaced to the studio and placed amid folds of patterned fabric, the work explores multiple contrasts: between natural and man-made, subtle and intense, tone and colour, smooth against rough, plain against pattern.
Building on the childhood delight of taking home shells found on the beach the work exposes the fragility and uniqueness of each found ‘treasure’. The unique qualities of each individual form are visually explored to create a grown-up appreciation of structural and textural complexities within nature.
Many of the works utilise contemporary textile techniques to imprint line drawings on canvas, sealed beneath clear gesso and selectively over-painted with traditional oil painting techniques. The work explores the relationship between the artist and their subject matter by leaving parts of the early layers of working exposed, resulting in subtle areas of line and tone that tell the story of the works’ creation.
