Chapter 1 - 3

Chapter 1 through to Chapter 3 are a series of installations and documentation as a homage and/or parley to the passing of my father. 

Chapter 1 is a site-specific work located on half an acre of planted gum trees and native vegetation in Mildura, Victoria.  

The installation consisted of 12 white linen flags that were hung between these trees with blue nylon string. A sheet of copper was also suspended. The work was placed in situ on the first anniversary of the passing of my father. The flags hung for 12 months while the environment around it shaped the fabric.   My plan was to document the work each time I returned home to Mildura. However, the Pandemic changed that, and instead I was lucky enough to quarantine in Mildura. I documented the work, watching it evolve. The beauty of hearing the fabric and copper blowing in the wind, being able to immerse myself within the work, and to document the installation throughout its many different changing surroundings throughout the year made it even more special.   

The site of the installation was chosen because the native gum trees were planted by my father and I when I was a child, and I have watched them grow since. 

Chapter 1 is a homage and a parley. The white flags act as a conversation that had once occurred, a memory being relived and a means to reflect. The environment that is the Mallee has a special way of shaping a person, just like it shapes the place itself. I wanted to capture this feeling of belonging and moulding of one’s life by the environment that we have: the human hand of loved ones or the weather’s constant impact. By exposing the White Linen to the elements, it too changed and was formed. It became a sound scape, a wind vane and building supplies for the local birds. 

On the second anniversary, Chapter 1 was taken down and replaced by Chapter 2. This time the number of flags was reduced to three. Chapter 2 also was left in situ for 12 months and removed on the third anniversary. 

Chapter 3 has been constructed from elements of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, objects from this period that reflect this way of exploring and collecting. A single trestle table still stands as the last time an object was placed upon it (by my father). Like a display of strange objects that have one connection, the moment captured and shaped through a conversation. This work draws on the site sample of other works, not in its plant matter but the domestic object.