ARTWORK DETAILS

Ashjayeen Sharif Queensland Academy for Science Mathematics and Technology
Re: Forest Sculpture
12 sections of partially burnt logs. Each is threaded on a dowel rod. Logs are arranged on drawn charcoal shadows.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Re:Forest looks at the aftermath of the 2020 summer Australian bush-fires. Re: Forest as a name signifies both ‘regarding: forest’ and ‘reforestation’. With a minimalist construction, I arranged twelve small pieces of burnt native wood onto wooden dowels. Appearing like a gravity defying, dead forest, I paid close attention to the angle of each log to resemble a destroyed picket fence — one that has been burnt and kicked out. Re: Forest is grounding reality. The material significance of the burnt native wood and charcoal collected from bush-fires, embodies my connection to the stolen land on which I create art.

ARTWORK PROCESS

Burnt timber collected from Bundjalung, the Aboriginal land where the timber and charcoal were found. The drawn charcoal shadows emphasise the angles of the sculptural form. Each shadow uses a different mark to echo the far-reaching impact of the bush-fires. A hole was drilled in each timber piece and then threaded on a dowel rod. The dowel works to both support the structure and link the elements of the work.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Ashjayeen Sharif

My body of work revolves around decay, which is a multifaceted concept that finds itself across all aspects of the human experience. Each work addresses one or more elements of decay: physical, ecological, ideological and societal. To understand and be intimate with my work, I set one clear premise: I am an activist. My involvement in environmental activism is the strongest influence on my art-making and identity. Over the course of producing my artworks, they have become more influenced by ideas of identity, place and the inherent politicisation of our existence.

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