Thursday, October 27, 2011

The Curious Thing






















Ever come across an image or photograph that documents a seemingly intangible perspective of the real world? An event, natural occurrence, a chance moment...an image captured from real life can say so much. But at the same time this visual evidence can say nothing at all or baffle further. Where it might be cliched to call something of this nature 'surreal', I prefer the idea of fictional and non-fictional elements mashing together before the eyes of the witness (or camera) creating a strange transient visual story. The above collage The Curious Thing demonstrates this combination. The boy with glasses was extracted and drawn from a classroom photograph I found in National Geographic. In the original image, the boy is reaching out to touch a snake being handled by his Teacher. My appropriation transfers the boy's tactile curiosity to an aerial aspect as he extends his arm to touch an enormous sea water spout. In a uncanny way, the water spout shares the long sinuous form of the snake's body. The image of the water spout was also from National Geographic.

Journal sketches and research



Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Have a break have a kit ka..I mean collage









































Over the last 2 months I have been channeling a lot of my studio time into writing a new project proposal. Having bulked up my artist C.V to a sturdy degree and after winding down from the Assembling Worlds exhibition, I felt it was probably time to pop the grant application cherry. Sorry maybe that euphemism isn't quite appropriate. I am therefore preparing to submit an application for a mentor program overseen by the Australia Council and YAQ. Regardless of whether my baby makes it through, the whole experience will be (and has been already) a huge learning curve. If JUMP does not happen I will be setting my sights on the career development grant (Queensland Government initiative). This one...listen up all emerging artists...is open for application all year round and decisions are advised all year round. Aright innit? Anyway, the writing process has forced me to dedicate many hours revising my own ideas and the countless ways in which they could be realised and expressed. It's been going fine, but over the weekend I had a break from it with a little two-dimensional assemblage interlude.

I am still sifting through the many National Geographic magazines that my mum unearthed from under a pile of silver fish shit at my Grandparents' farm house. Over the weekend I cut up articles on Algeria and Parisian lifestyle in 1960. The advertisements for Cameras, Motor Vehicles, Coca-Cola, Airlines, Telephones and domestic appliances seem to be the most common I've come across in the editions pre-dating 1980. In a visual sense, when cut-up and re-contextualized with other contrasting materials - the dramatic documentary photography melds naturally and colourfully with the advertisement imagery. Strange, dreamlike and alien scenes can also come of this process as other outside and more subtle visual concepts come into play. Two of the pieces I made on the weekend:

Exotic Fruit

and

Poolside Voyeurs