De-Natured

De-Natured was my 2006 exhibition at Brenda May Gallery, Danks St Sydney.
The thoughts behind this exhibition was the unfolding of my response to the information I received and reacted to regarding Hurricane Katrina in the US in 2005.

The information I honed into was that money, ownership and material possessions appeared to be ‘greatest loss’ people suffered.
I looked at my life and if this had always been the case?
What was significant and important to me 40years earlier?
I was aware of the changes from a nature based life to one infront of screens.
I thought about the loss of skills and connection to nature.
In my childhood the weekend was for slowing down, gardening and fixing things around the house. It was about using your hands, using tools. I loved the sound of mowers in the distance, people immersed in their garden, reaching up into trees or on their hands and knees in the soil ….my generations connection to nature.

In 2005, in general, people outsourced their gardening, they spent more time with technology and spent their weekends getting things done or being entertained.
As a child, I lived on a small property with trees and nature all around, however, in 2005 I lived in a townhouse in suburbia with a garden I couldn’t swing a cat in.

The ghost, empty tools, I created for this exhibition were about the loss of skills, the loss of the meagre connection to nature I had 40 years ago, in Oz, when I was a kid. It is about the change that is happening towards technology dominated connections….and the skill set change.

Title: 3m Extension Cord
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: 0.7m x 0.5m (Life Size)

Title: Garden Tools
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: approx. 3m x 2m (Life Size)

Title: Work Tools 3
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: approx. 0.5m x 0.65m (Life Size)

Title: Push Mower
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: approx. Life Size

Title: Brace
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: 0.45m x 0.25m (Life Size)

Title: exhibition in Situ
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax

Title: Saws
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: 0.8m x 0.1m (Life Size)

Title: Long handled Secateurs
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: 0.3m x 1.1m (Life Size)

Title: Cordless Drill
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: 0.3m x 0.25m (Life Size)

Title: Work Tools 1
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: approx. 0.45m x 0.8m (Life Size)

Title: Work Tools 4
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: approx. 0.9m x 1.1m (Life Size)

Title: Paint Brushes
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: approx. 0.3m x 0.3m (Life Size)

Title: Sander
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: 0.6m x 0.7m (Life Size)

Title: Work Tools 2
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: approx. 0.65m x 0.35m (Life Size)

Title: Work Tools 5
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: approx. 1m x 0.45m (Life Size)

Title: Planer
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: approx. 0.15m x 0.25m (Life Size)

Title: Tape Measure
Date: 2006
Material: New Zealand Flax
Size: approx. 0.1m x 0.1m x 0.25m (Life Size)