~ exhibited at DADAA as part of (sub)urban: Queering the suburbs 2023
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IT'S A SIGN (and it's in the stars)
digital print on knitted polyester flag, safety cone extension bar, barrier mesh, carabiners
WITCHES' (colour field)
acrylic, aerosol and trades-marker on canvas, MDF board, safety tape
(& "online residency" via CoStar)
photo credit: Paul Sutherland
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IT’S A SIGN (and it’s in the stars) is a large-scale collage comprised of a series of phone photos, taken on local suburban scavenger hunts for all 12 zodiac signs, arranged to resemble a flag.
Aries: the fast drivers, the live on a whim types, perhaps prone to a bit of road rage
Taurus: those who enjoy good authentic grub, quaint comforts and loyally support mum and pop businesses
Gemini: buzzed, on the grind and has a keep cup to go
Cancer: well...
Leo: the local icons
Virgo: has a favourite parking spot at their GP
Libra: those who keep their balance in check
Scorpio: cool, impenetrable, might get caught on CCTV for trespassing
Sagittarius: the Archer in this case, hates to be held up during peak hour
Capricorn: saving for their big Euro trip
Aquarius: because we're not sure what's going on up there
Pisces: the dreamers and the fish out of water types
In making this work I wanted to explore the concept of orientation and seeing where identity and place(ments) conjunct. Orientation is a word that encompasses a complexity of meanings, but in essence it describes positioning oneself in relation to your surroundings. Place based identities and other identities (such as sexuality or gender) are orientations that seek to define themselves aesthetically through flags. Flags are objects with connotations to colonial histories, used as a tool by institutions of power. It is a tradition, like astrology, that queer culture has co-opted and made their own.
For this project, I have mostly been interested in the methods of Mundane Astrology or “astrology of the world”. This most ancient branch of astrology views people, place, and community as one conglomerate, in contrast to the more familiar Natal Astrology that mainly focuses on the individual. Subtle nods to queerness and queer archetypes in my work (the witchy bisexual that asked me for my birth time included) point to the existence of a similar collective community. A community that forms perhaps because we’ve been denied access to participate in or be afforded the same individual agency as those in the majority culture.
“What you do in the comfort of your own home is none of my business”
As themes of pride, visibility, safety, and myth building emerge, I want to ask, “What are the implications of an Australian flag hoisted proudly over a public space versus a pride flag or trans flag hung up in the living room of a queer share house?”
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The sky is a mirror
A planet is a body
The universe extends infinitely
The only way out is through