kendal murray

The Transformative Effect of Landscape

Arthouse Gallery 20/06/2019

Landscape provides both context for the stories at play in the miniature artworks and underscore the implicit values and cultural significance of our constructed relationships with nature. Public parks have been depicted on the two landscaped covered purses “Catch, Snatch, Mismatch” and “Bird in Hand, Promised Land” to represent the sanctuary provided by green space within an urban area. We are aware of the constructed design of the public gardens in these artworks, which suggests the space has been provided for the community as a functional interlude to urban life. The landscapes referred to in the mirrored compacts “Quiver, Shiver, Deliver, Upriver” and “Out of the Blue, Kangaroo” suggest a greater separation from urban areas and the propriety expected of the public, implicit in the designs of urban parks. Social obligations are still anticipated in national parks and beaches, but with a greater separation from the urban experience, a transformation to self is imagined as more complete. Linked to sensory memories, these transformative experiences form part of our social imagination about landscape and are idealised and imbued with nostalgia.

Kendal Murray. 2019

Bird in Hand, Promised Land
12.5cm x 14cm x 13cm
mixed media assemblage
SHOWS