Illustrations of Crops and Livestock
Symbolic of settlement, depictions of crops and livestock are recurrent in my arts practice. What began over a decade ago as papercut renditions of totemic animals and flowers has diversified into intarsia, participatory art, performance, animation, and sculptures.
I have created artworks sheep, both live and depicted, for a number of reasons. Firstly, they might be considered symbolic of British colonialism. Secondly, in reference to Dolly the cloned sheep, I have animated one in homage to neo-luddism. Thirdly, many migrants from China during the mid-19th century because shepherds. Android dreaming is an animation that featured in the inaugural White Night Ballarat in 2017. By contrast, the projection of a horse was used in an exhibition at Sydney’s Town Hall, which was curated by Catherine Croll in 2012.
North Queensland during the 19th century
In recent years, many of my depictions have been intended as offerings. In some instances, they were intended to honour specific residents who had previously resided in a location. These include the cabbage farmers in Redlands and the maize farmers in Logan.
For Rearranged: Art of the Flower, I made a set of florals representing crops sold at the Brisbane Markets prior to the Chinese market gardeners being banned in the early 20th century.