Abbie Read Migrant 2021
(landscape study in chalk and charcoal)
Charred tree stump (local), carved wooden acanthus leaf excavated from colonial decorative ornament (Eastern Europe), chalk stain
.
Acanthus Mollis L.
Invasive coloniser.
Native to Europe.
Disperses widely.
Competes for natural resources.
Resists eradication once established.
Transforms the endemic landscape.
This ornamental motif infiltrates each continent, each timeline;
from the Corinthian capitals of ancient Rome to the Victorian tapestries of William Morris;
Ever present, all-pervasive, the consummate weed.
.
In Early May, at Dane Mitchell’s studio we (Isabella Young, Celine Frampton and I) did a mini installation and critique. My work titled ‘Migrant’ comprised a charred tree stump and a carved wooden acanthus leaf. The top surface of the stump (locally sourced), I left untreated after charring in order to preserve the velvet-like texture reminiscent of Victorian sumptuousness. The leaf was extricated from an ornamental carving originating in Eastern Europe and treated with a chalk stain. Notes from the crit were as follows:
Dane – Does it have to be a sculpture? Could this image/idea be a photo or a drawing instead?
Dane – The text is quite prevalent. Is the text a surrogate for the work? Or is the work a surrogate for the text?
What’s most important?
Celine – Fragility. Decay/destroyed. It’s static in its decay. Decay is a process but this is a pause in this process. Not necessarily entropic – halted.
Dane – Don’t assume the necessity of the text to explain what’s going on. Let the work speak.
The work is operating and therefore not the text.
Dane – the wooden leaf sits in the space between being a replica and a symbol. Interesting space in which it sits. What does that mean for the other objects/ Where do they sit on that spectrum?
Visual proposition
Scale and presence – more of these? A formidable number of these? (Autumn leaves en masse)
Production/edition
Physical impact
Not hyper-real, nor totally ornamental
Beyond the symbolic
Not trying to trick the eye
Extracted from colonial furniture. Secondary to physical presence and the effect it’s having.
Research Brett Graham at the Govett Brewster
https://govettbrewster.com/exhibitions/brett-graham-tai-moana-tai-tangata
(Colonial ornate carved domestic forms)
Abbie Read 