A big thank you to joint curators Perrin Millard and Mark du Potiers for including me in their group show What Matters last month. What Matters was a wonderfully diverse and inclusive show hinging on the concept of live audience attendance in the gallery space and physical audience interaction with the artworks presented. There was sympathetic performance element to the two-week show as well, which included music performances, a guided touch experience and an interactive painted dress performance. Special thanks to Maddy Draheim who was my collaborator for the painted dress performance!
Detail shot, Object memory poem, 2021
This artwork is a smaller version of the same concept I explored in my residency at Sculptors Qld last year, where I used the idea of the glass jar or vintage container as a metaphor for the way I store my own memories. Each object in this installation represents something about me, forming a kind of expanded self-portrait. For example, the doll's shoes and glitter refer to the performative aspects of my gender experience, as well as attitudes towards gender that I learned as a child. The tobacco tin was given to me years ago by my grandmother, with used art pastels in it. She knew I loved art, but neither of us could have foreseen that I would eventually go on to forge a serious career in the visual arts. The tictacs represent the element of playfulness that I sometimes include in my work, and also refers to my childhood dream of one day owning a lolly shop. Perhaps being an artist is the next best thing.
Install view, Object memory poem
Memories - my sister and I had matching green cardboard school ports in the 70s (purchased from Woolworths). My sister and I are 16 months apart and though not twins, we were often given the same things.
Object memory poem, 2021, vintage glass jars, haberdashery, doll's shoes, glitter, tictacs, vintage tobacco tin, conte crayons, school port, table
Install view at KEPK with work by Renee Kire and Perrin Millard
Image credits: Miranda Everingham
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