November-December 2004
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Patrick Faulkner - Monumental Landscapes 1991-2004
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Artist's Statement:
This exhibition presents a part of my work of the past thirteen years that is concerned with landscape and monumentality. Although the subject matter and presentation may vary over the years, there are a number of recurrent ideas and themes that connect the works.
Ancient peoples believed that rocks, earth and water were living beings, watching over us. I incorporated this concept in these artworks, but take it a step further, so that power stations, roads, aircraft, buildings etc. take on this sentient, brooding quality. Rocks and clouds appear to be logically constructed – almost architectural; while man-made objects often appear to grow from the soil, rooted in the earth. Despite my depiction of bushfire and storms, I see nature as neither malevolent nor benevolent, but neutral in it’s lack of concern for humanity. It moves to its own logic.
By capturing the images using a hard-edged realism, the objects seem to be caught in mid-action, as if we are watching things that are, in turn, watching us. This further blurs the distinction between living and non-living things. The paint technique hearkens back to artists such as Di Chirico, Rene Magritte, Charles Sheeler, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keefe and Jeffrey Smart.
In the diptychs I strive to create a balance by playing off opposites: dark and light; interiors and exteriors; warm colours and cold colours; as - paradoxically -opposites can create a kind of harmony. The use of multiple images also reflects my beginnings as a collage artist and my fascination with cinema, television, and the Internet.
Patrick Faulkner, November 2004
Email: pfaul@unimelb.edu.au
Download the exhibition catalogue (Word document)
See also: Patrick Faulkner entry at the Jackman Gallery:
http://www.jackmangallery.com.au/artists_patrick_faulkner.html
Kathryn Weedon - Exhibition: SPIKE
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Artist's Statement:
This body of work explores the space between the common place and what we constitute as art. I am interested in the blunt, the here and now, and the everyday. In attempting transformations of readily available materials I have a passion for possibilities that the eye ignores - the pet food cans in the recycle bin or the bag of concrete mix in the hardware shop. For some years I worked in the building industry, so construction and a nice neat finish interest me. Currently I am working in the mental health industry as a consumer advocate so issues of madness intersect, for me, with influences from outsider art. Perhaps I do trash art, or maybe it’s just trash! As always, the viewer must decide.
Kathryn Weedon - October 2004