materials+production

TRACEY MOFFATT’S COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS USUALLY INVOLVE A NARRATIVE, SUCH AS IN HER 1997 SERIES, “UP IN THE SKY.” ALTHOUGH THE STORY IS NOT EXPLICIT, THE SERIES IS MEANT TO REFLECT THE LIVES OF INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN AND THEIR STRUGGLES AGAINST A GOVERNMENT RELOCATION POLICY. THIS PHOTOGRAPH IS PART OF A SET OF 25 PHOTOGRAPHS ACTED OUT AND SHOT AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF QUEENSLAND’S OUTBACK. THEY WERE THEN PRINTED OUT USING THE TECHNIQUE CALLED OFFSET PRINTING WHICH INVOLVES TRANSFERRING THE IMAGE ON PRINTING PLATE ONTO A RUBBER AND THEN ONTO THE SURFACE TO BE PRINTED.

ROSALIE GASCOIGNE IS MOST WELL KNOWN FOR HER ARTWORKS PIECED FROM THINGS SHE FOUND AROUND HER, PARTICULARLY IN CANBERRA WHERE SHE RESIDED IN HER LATER YEARS. HAVING MOVED FROM NEW ZEALAND TO CANBERRA, HER WORK IS SAID TO REFLECT HER PERSPECTIVE OF THE AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE. THIS PIECE, “FULL FATHOM FIVE,” WAS PART OF HER 1998 EXHIBITION WHERE ALL OF HER WORKS WERE MOSAICS MADE FROM PIECES OF WOODEN BOXES AND REFLECTIVE ROAD SIGNS. THIS WORK OF ART WAS MADE OF SCRAPS OF WOOD SHE HAD GATHERED THAT SHE HAD SAWN INTO BLOCKS. THEY WERE THEN ARRANGED AND MOUNTED ON A PIECE OF WOOD. SHE COMMONLY CHOSE MATERIALS LIKE CORRUGATED IRON, TIN, ENAMELWARE, WIRE AND (IN THIS CASE) WOOD THAT WITHSTOOD WEATHERING QUITE WELL.