Off the Wall

'I'm being eaten alive'
The last words spoken by Veronica before be aborted a picnic in the bush.
However the mossies weren't the only ones who made marks that day. Upon return to the studio the day's adventure was given an everlasting life as I took to cardboard, a long table and a wheely chair. Cutting up old boxes and setting up an assembly line on the table, I used the pens, ink and scraps laying about to pump out a recollection of the day. Using speed as my only rule, I started on one line only to let my immediate after thought dictate the next move. Through a process of cause and effect I put all trust in my memory and wandering hand to guide the work. Rolling up and down the table on my chair I scribbled here and dabbed there. It was wonderfully fresh and unrestrained so much so that I thought I must be onto something.

I recalled a place that I had been longing to visit and had braved the bush and mossies earlier that day. A unique mid land, between a storybook Forrest and the pastures of farmland on the Bundanon property. Here, the bark of the trees peeled off to reveal a glimmering red beneath. There were seed pods too, banksias, brush and bracken - coarse textures that are hard to love but get you in the end. Eucalyptus hung low and damp in the air - tempting you into the Forrest with its sweetness and uncertainty. Clusters of sap bejewelled the trees and made for a soft contrast to the rocky sand underfoot. It was a peculiar place.

The process of recalling this day happened so impulsively, so instantaneously, so honestly. Once completed it was reminiscent of a film strip, a narrative structure tied the loose ends, the brazen marks, the thickets of pencil. It became neither distinctly abstract or bereft of figuration. The culmination of gestures and images somehow hovered between the two disciplines, playfully alluding to a story or place far off in your imagination.

Not sure what to do with the card board pieces, which were at this stage strips approximately 50cm long by 10cm wide, I started scoring them with a knife. Unable to cut all the way through I unintentionally created folds so that the pieces could stand three dimensionally. Putting them up on the wall they wove their way on and off the wall, inviting one's eye into a space and around. Displayed in the same film strip sequence they invited you on a journey - along, inside, around and beyond the wall and its marks.

This is an exciting piece for it poses new possibilities. Its structure suggests solutions so as to create more dynamic visual environments. The close interaction that it welcomes and sequence of observation encourages me to work within some sort of narrative structure. I am interested in How I can weave my stories with those of others through the shared experience of an artwork.

Off the wall will be coming to a blog post soon !