I have a particular fascination with the sea urchin, a harbinger of ecological change, whose fragile beauty is largely overlooked.
In this work, the imprints of urchin specimens and individual fragments buried in wax transform when lit. The ambiguous forms take on an aura of preciousness, complementing the glowing negative spaces.
Wax as a medium is an ideal recipient and holder of traces and the degradable quality of wax also serves as an apt metaphor for indexicality and fragility.
timber, aluminium extrusions, LED lights, wax, urchin fragments
54 x 49 x 14 cm
Finalist
Judges of the 2012 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize: Guido Belgiorno-Nettis AM (Trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW and Director of the Transfield Foundation), Natalie Wilson (Assistant Curator of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of NSW) and Professor Janice Reid AM (Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Sydney and Trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW).
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