On Belonging(s) 2019, Devonport Regional Gallery, Devonport
Southern Reach 2019, oil on canvas, 112 x 154cm
Black and White 2019, oil on linen, (diptych) 45 x 90cm
As Above, so Below 2019, oil on linen, 212 x 160cm (framed), double sided bifold diptych, internal panels; left, external panels; right Installation.0x600_1.jpg)
On Belonging(s) 2019, Devonport Regional Gallery, installation view
On Belonging(s)
Curated by Erin Wilson
On Belonging(s) brings together Tasmanian artists Alex Davern, Liam James, Amber Koroluk-Stephenson and Jessie Pangas to explore how we attach value to objects, and the role they play in the stories we tell about ourselves, both individually and communally. On Belonging(s) is a reflection on how we construct our identity, connect ourselves to place and engage with our possessions, both nostalgically and idealistically, as extensions of the self.
Incongruous scenes blend images of landscape with modern and historical objects to explore tensions in the Australian landscape and ideas about place. The idyllic scenes merge European and Tasmanian objects and environments that do not really belong together in time or place.
Black and white swans allude to the swan’s Antipodean identity, but also to its status as a species that inhabits both northern and hemispheres in black and white forms. This crossing of hemispheres is aimed to capture possibilities of assimilation, adaption, identity and mythology, and to consider the Australian landscape as a shifting, shared environment.
These works invite reflection on how different meanings and histories can co-exist in the one place, but also on the illusory nature of painting itself and how it conceals certain meanings whilst revealing others.