In the Japanese art of Kintsukuroi, broken ceramic vessels are mindfully repaired with molten gold. The practice speaks to the idea that beauty and strength can result from the adaptation that follows destruction. In Storm Song, Verses 1-5, I have referenced this tradition using neon tubes (in place of gold) over painted panels. The panels depict a turbulent sea indicative of the storms (king tides, bushfires, floods) that have lashed Australia in 2020. These panels and their illuminated scars draw our attention to the ways we adapt to the climate emergency and provide hope for a new understanding of human kinship with the land. The work is a meditation on the process of healing in these broken times. Making something meaningful out of loss, we make a song of the storm.
Adaptation, Canberra Glassworks
in collaboration with Suki & Hugh Gallery
25 November to 20 December 2020
We acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri Peoples, the traditional custodians of the land on which Canberra Glassworks stands and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future.
Canberra Glassworks is supported by arts ACT and the Australia Council