In residence. 2021
letterpress, etching, woodblock print, found objects, ceramics, orange blossom water, charcuterie
Developed while in residence at NMTafe’s shopfront gallery, these works aim to perforate the already permeable membrane between art and the everyday. In the midst of a rental crisis, this project functions as an archive of a space we briefly lived, worked, ate and had at least one (opening) party. Despite the overwhelming mundanity of the situation, these reminders memorialize our access to a building with wooden floors, central location, high ceilings and vintage accents - which like our own rental homes, was fleeting. While these spaces left us with an impression, we ultimately erased our own in time for the new occupants.
Using the ornate grates, carefully laid tiles and relics of removed wall text, our cast plates function as archival footage of residences we only had brief access to during a period of rental upheaval. The clay is a reference to the popularity of pandemic hobbies, where idle hands became increasingly drawn to art as a way to pass the time – with generally banal and at times gumpy outcomes proliferating. In the background of this new found creativity, professional artists floundered as paid opportunities dissolved and the spectre of cost of living forced many artists back into ‘real jobs’. The works therefore wryly embrace function, as form has been charmingly eschewed.