ARTIST STATEMENT
With the increased climate variability, the recent flood crisis left the land and its victims drowning in pools of suffering and loss. My piece “Bleeding Wreckage” incorporates plant matter and sinking structures as figurative elements: a visual representation of the degradation that acts as a microcosm of this contemporary catastrophe. Encased within a white husk, the human and natural debris flowing amongst the blood red resin, establishes a juxtaposition between nature’s purity and wrath. Sunken in blood, the thirteen lives lost in Queensland, flows through the scene – leaving devastated communities in mourning and viewers immersed in the Anthropocene’s future.
ARTWORK PROCESS
The casting process began with a rubber sealant and layers of white gesso to allow the plaster adherence to the surface of the husk. The structures, made from cardboard and balsa wood, were submerged into the plaster as it was setting at different angles and depths to create a sense of movement and fluidity. This was overlaid with coloured resin and further debris was added to the surface. Extra splashes of red enamel paint and gravel were infused into the resin to provide extra visual drama and contrast against the stark white husk.
