ARTWORK DETAILS

Raquel Santiago Ramalhete
Anthereal Installation
Hanging artwork comprising of 44 crepe paper forms suspended using fishing line from a foam core base.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Nature. The complexity and intricacy, every detail taken into consideration. The tranquillity in organized togetherness. As our world grows and evolves, so do our buildings, materialism, and population, each growing more unbearable and excessive. Does this worry you? Is ignorance bliss? Humans should learn a thing or two from nature’s design. Like from ants, living in productive togetherness in their intricately designed colonies. I invite you to admire their pods; as mysterious, delicate, and tranquil forms. Notice the finer details. My future hope is that humanity will be inspired by nature’s architecture, to create a more sustainable and productive society.

ARTWORK PROCESS

My pod forms were created from ant-egg-like clay sculptures in three sizes, creating variety in the brightness of each pod. The clay pieces were used to shape silicone moulds, where I layered white crepe paper with a paper mâché technique. After carefully gluing the half-shells together, I poked a hole through them and hanged my pods from a piece of foam core with fishing line. While the hanging process was taking place, I took care in making sure that the larger pods created a cluster at the top, and the rest cascaded down below them, like an ant’s

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Raquel Santiago Ramalhete

As a young artist, my art style is not completely curated, as I enjoy experimenting with various new mediums in my works. Having grown up in Brisbane City, I have developed an interest in the beauty of the industrial environment, the city lights and the ever-growing buildings and bridges, but also an interest for the natural elements, from the seed pods in the botanical gardens, to the Brisbane River. It is because of this interconnectedness, that I have developed a liking for both these elements which I enjoy combining to communicate a broader, more contemporary meaning in my works.