Exhibition Statement: Nov 2024
And no one saw (The Carny) go…
Responding to Bec: song choice The Carny by Nick Cave, for Life Sounds Like at Tanks Arts Centre with Regular Rick
I grew up in Violet Town, NE Victoria, and I went to senior high school in Wangaratta, Nick Cave’s hometown. Like Bec, I am a huge fan of Nick Cave, Wim Wenders and Wings of Desire. The first three images were taken as I wandered around my father's shed on one of many visits home with the kids. Dad’s shed was his circus tent. He was the magician, performing amazing tricks that endlessly fascinated me as a child, fixing and repairing broken objects to working order, welding, building, restoring rusted wrecks of cars dragged from far-flung paddocks and boxes of muddied parts.
Dad passed just a few months ago and the grief is still sharp on my breath. Like The Carny, he slipped suddenly and quietly from this world. The final two images, colour, in reference to Wings Of Desire, were taken this year after his passing. We stood to watch the sun set, amongst the giant river reds and yellow box. The farm is someone else’s now - the grief ebbs and flows - the carnival moves on…
Short Memory
Responding to Scotty: song choice Short Memory by Midnight Oil for Life Sounds Like at Tanks Arts Centre with Regular Rick
