Artist’s Statement

‘Dwelling Place’ grew from historical research and observations of the Victorian interior of Lanyon Homestead, surrounding paddocks, river, and distant landscape.

Its supporting structure of a burnt, twisted stand suggests impermanence and the indigenous population’s firestick practices, which maintained the grasslands before European occupation.

The glass cloche is a protective device. In ‘Dwelling Place’, it represents preservation, but also containment. The wire contains the history of European settlement in its manufacture, the bending and unbending for different uses over time, and the suggestion of fencing and the constraint imposed on the indigenous population and the landscape by colonial settlement. The line of wire also expresses the Brindabellas surrounding Lanyon.

Stone is solid and permanent. Here the central “stone” represents something precious, its transparency and reflection in the black base also suggest impermanence. This is the challenge for curation and conservation: how to present and preserve objects and stories through time.