Refoulement and Last Resort continue a body of work begun about asylum seekers with Someone died trying to have a life like mine, taking up the issue on our shores.
The body of work that composes these exhibitions was shown across four galleries in 2014-15: Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney; McClelland Regional Gallery & Sculpture Park; Linden Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne; and Rockhampton Regional Art Gallery.
Each of these exhibitions asked us to consider the attempts of people to reach Australia at great personal risk, and the safety and privilege in which we live our day-to-day lives. The works do not offer simple readings of the complex and problematic issue of asylum seekers. Rather inflatable life boats and palm trees embody the double standard at the heart of the issue; they are both rock solid and full of hot air. Upright life jackets stand for the individuals risking their lives at sea to reach our shores, each with their own story.
A Paddle 2014
Wood and Bianco marble
100 x 18 x 4cm
Life Vest M (Emergency) 2014
Bianco marble
54 x 40 x 30 cm
Durable Solutions 1 2014
Wombeyan Marble, spigots, halyard and steel
140 x 95 x 12 cm
Refoulement
Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney
16 September - 11 October 2014
Last Resort 2014
Wombeyan marble, steel, theatre lights
Two pieces: 180 x 110 x 110 cm and 135 x 80 x 80 cm
Last Resort
McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park
16 November 2014 - 18 February 2015
Last Resort
Linden Centre for Contemporary Art
6 January - 22 February 2015
Odyssey 2014
5.1 surround sound stereo, laptop mixer, single light bulb
Infinite soundscape
The immersive sound installation Odyssey is a perpetually evolving computerised soundscape recreating the harrowing sounds of being caught in a heavy storm at sea. The work premiered at Linden Centre for Contemporary Art as part of Last Resort. A single globe hanging in the centre of the room provided the only visual focus for the audience to gather together and listen to the tumult.