Jean Baptiste Apuatimi Crescent, 2024, oil on board, oil on board, 51 x 41 cm
Artist statement
Whitlam-in-Progress is a new series of works currently showing at CCAS-Lakeside documenting the the building of a new Canberra suburb. The urban renewal and expansion of Canberra over the past decade has generated much debate. Questions are often asked about where and what kind of housing should be built to address the housing affordability crisis. Katie is interested in the environmental and social consequences of these decisions and the complex relationship between art and urban development. The large scale of much of the housing, the materials consumed, and the waste created became most evident to her as she observed these building sites during her painting process.
Recognising the power of art to make and embed meaning, creative practitioners are often called upon to help create meaningful places. In the case of Whitlam many of the street names and parks have been named after Australian artists and artworks – Olive Cotton View, Blue Poles Park and Maymuru Way to name a few – in recognition of Gough Whitlam’s support of the arts. This naming and placemaking by association creates an odd juxtaposition between people and place that previously did not exist. Art is used to validate and invite community participation in urban developments and produce social attachments. The perverse result of this is increased property prices, a practice commonly referred to as art washing. There is a fine line between the destruction and creation of place as the landscape is remade into something else. As an artist Katie recognises her complicity in this process. However, using video to capture herself painting, she attempts to openly situate herself within this framework – of new construction, of art washing, of re-making nature into suburbia – and encourages the viewer to consider the perspective of the artist and their role in the communication of place.
List of works
1. Peter Sculthorpe Avenue, 2024, oil on board, 46 x 61 cm
2. Kathleen Shillam Chase, 2024, oil on board, 46 x 61 cm
3. Olive Cotton View, 2024, oil on board, 30 x 30 cm
4. Judy Cassab Street, 2024, oil on board, 36 x 26 cm
5. Nita Veronica Pannell Street, 2024, oil on board, 40 x 22 cm
6. Norma Tullo Street, 2024, oil on board, 40 x 22 cm
7. Judy Cassab Street in Progress, 2024, Digital video (9:37mins), Dimensions variable
8. Dr Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher James Crescent, 2024, oil on board, 51 x 41 cm
9. Jean Baptiste Apuatimi Crescent, 2024, oil on board, oil on board, 51 x 41 cm
Norma Tullo Street, oil on board, 40 x 22 cm
Kathleen Shillam Chase, 2024, oil on board, 46 x 61 cm