“My artworks are assemblages derived from both man-made objects and organic material that I use to express my feelings affected by environmental degradation, social justice and the condition of humanity. I hope through exhibiting my artwork it will bring attention to wrongdoing and evoke feelings from the viewers that will enact change for the better.”
Sculpture constructed from Tea Tree, found objects & mixed media Dimensions variable
Canoe
While walking along the shoreline, I often come across the cold, sullen remains of fireplaces scaring the sand. Scattered in and around there confines are the obligatory crushed, half baked cans or shards of broken beer bottles. Around the fireplace, the sand is disquieted by indentations in the semblance of some chaotic dance. These fireplaces are made by fishermen. I know this because of the discarded plastic bait bags, remains of gutted fish, forgotten knives and hopelessly tangled tackle. Fuel for their fire is broken or chopped away from the nearby bush which perches on shifting sand dunes and from the collapsed, skeletal remnants of entangled Tea tree and Coastal Banksias partially buried in the sand.
Found along the shoreline are some of the surviving burnt ended pieces of wood which are inevitably swept away from the fire places by tidal rhythms. These pieces I gathered up and wove with fencing and old barbed wire to form the canoe.
Dimensions: 800mm x 2500mm
Materials: Stained Eucalyptus wood, burnt tea tree wood, fencing & barbed wire, linseed oil and sheeted tin.
Neva
The formation of this work was initially sparked by my study of the construction techniques of ancient Japanese armour. It then developed by being influenced by my reading about the ill-fated passengers aboard the convict ship Neva1 to which the wire stitched hearts, nest, distressed wood and torn canvas relate to. Concurrently I was thinking about the absurd transformation that a Eucalyptus tree had taken in being reduced to the nailed boards and gang nailed bearers of a discarded transportation pallet2 from which the stitched wooden cross components are derived from.
1 The Neva sailed from Cork, Ireland on January 8, 1835 with 150 women convicts and their 35 children, 9 free women with 22 children and a crew of 26. On May 13 at around 5:00am Neva hit and broke up upon a reef North of King Island, Australia. 12 women and 10 crew, including the captain reached King Island, where a crew member and 6 of the women subsequently died.
2 Australia standard pallets are square hardwood pallets that are standard in Australia and non-standard anywhere else in the world. They are 1,165 by 1,165 millimetres (45.9 by 45.9 in) in size and fit perfectly in the RACE (container) of the Australian railways. They are ill-suited for the standard 20 feet (6.1 m) and 40 feet (12 m) ISO shipping containers used around the globe.
Dimensions: 1400mm x 2000mm
Materials: Stained, bleached & dyed Eucalyptus wood, Tiger Myrtle wood, stained & dyed Huon Pine wood, linseed oil, oil paint, fishing line, copper & brass wire, linen, cotton, cow hide, dyed Merino wool, Jute and glass beads.
Red Tale
This work is an eclectic ensemble of gathered thoughts and feelings. There was no conscious desire to express a singular overriding statement with this work but rather to juxtapose the works’ symmetrical form with mingled depictions of seemingly diverse and unrelated occurrences; such as the colours and shadows of a night market in Marrakesh, the fleeting return and departures of birds around their nests and the dust of a Willy Willy roaming over land where the Red-Tailed Black-Cookatoo1 once lived.
1 Further reading: http://www.redtail.com.au, Red-Tailed Black-Cockatoo Recovery Project.
Dimensions: 1400mm x 2000mm
Materials: Eucalyptus wood, Huon Pine wood, linseed oil, oil paint, copper & brass wire, linen, cotton, cow hide, Kangaroo hide, dyed Merino wool, Jute and glass beads.