LANDMASS

This is a threefold collection (with Reclining Figures & Still Lives) of ‘ready-made’ scenes of ‘garbage’ and ‘discarded’ materials in a natural setting with reference to classical forms.

It started in 2004- after taking up residence in Paddington Sydney- with a search for a subject in the typical manner of Street photography. The dense urban alleyways and winding narrow streets provided a perfect environment for a study in details and difference through routine observations. What developed was a focus on discarded objects as figurative investigations here exemplified in the collection Reclining Figures followed by, Still Lives.

This idea culminated in the series, Landmass which began in 2009 following another resettlement in a regional township. With this series, the subject matter is readdressed to Landscape. These large truckloads of domestic trash complete a kind of homage to the essential trinity of art historical forms: figure/object/place.

The processing center for regional waste was the perfect setting for a concentrated effort (thanks to a 6 month residency program from the Australia Council for the Arts) on an ever-changing, reconstituted landscape.

Together, this collection creates a contemporary metaphor for art as a byproduct of consumption and the ironic nature of beauty extruded from human intervention.