Backyard Summer; a Sisyphean existence

There’s a mythology of the suburbs in Australia that’s intertwined through all our hearts. My new body of work speaks to a history we all share, envisioned through endless suburban summers.

There’s a blurring of chronology in the works, evoking nostalgia with contemporary imagery. This brings into focus the looping narrative of life in the suburbs, moving into a new house, getting a dog, making friends, giving birth, raising kids, the house emptying out, quietness before the kids of kids return.

In a way, I'm exploring a Sisyphean existence where struggles are repeated over and over, played out on different stages.

Compounding it all is the drying out of the continent, the evaporating reservoirs, emptying of rainwater tanks, switching on of desalination plants, which brings into question the very nature of how we celebrate summer.

The exhibition opening at Michael Reid Murrurundi has just been featured in the Spring Edition of Art Edit.