How do you describe your own art practice?
I use found imagery to make sculpture, video and primarily collage. I am not a photographer, but I am deeply interested in the photographic image, specifically photography’s ability to produce images that exist outside of representational reality. I sometimes describe my work as a fascination with the act of looking, a curious scopophilia. I like slipping between mediums and examining the fractures of translation between the body, the written word, and the image.
Which question or theme is central in your work?
The body is the locus through which we experience the world. Most of my work pivots around the body and how our physical form enhances and limits our perception. I studied dance growing up, which introduced me to the possibility of the body being a metaphoric or artistic instrument; a conversation with its environment as well as a narrative tool. Working with collage allowed me to pursue my interest in movement and how the body navigates space, albeit pictorially. I think of the physical and psychological as equivalent landscapes, and the pliability of collage can be a way of illustrating and condensing these subjects on a singular plane.
What was your first experience with art?
My mum is a theatre critic and often took me and my two brothers to see plays from a very young age in absence of a babysitter. The darkness of the theatre felt soft and safe, and I understood then that making and exhibiting art can also be a way of hiding.
What is your greatest source of inspiration?
Literature has underscored my work conceptually for many years, books are the lifeblood of my work. My exhibition ‘Tenebrae’ (National Gallery of Victoria, 2017) was informed by the work of Japanese author Yukio Mishima, ‘Pale Horse Pale Rider’ (Daine Singer, 2021) was influenced by the novel by American author Katherine Anne Porter, ‘Mother Tongue’ (Daine Singer, 2022) was informed by the myth of Philomela as written by Ted Hughes in ‘Tales From Ovid’, to name a few. I’m not interested in illustrating these texts so much as abstractly translating them through my work.
What do you need in order to create your work?
Probably a piece of paper and my hands, but ideally a glue stick and a pair of good scissors too.
What work or artist has most recently surprised you?
I recently saw Nan Goldin’s The Ballad of Sexual Dependency at The Art Gallery of Ballarat and was surprised by how formally beautiful, intimate and diaristic the work is. Despite being quite small prints, they command your attention, you feel deeply that Goldin is sharing her life with you.
