Jean Baptiste Apuatimi Crescent, 2024, oil on board, oil on board, 51 x 41 cm
Artist statement
Whitlam-in-Progress is an ongoing body of works documenting the the building of a Canberra suburb first exhibited in Places and Spaces at CCAS-Lakeside. In 2025 I have expanded on this series with twelve new works to be exhibited at Brunswick Street Gallery from November 13-30. The latest exhibition is titled Blue Poles is Not a Park and the timing by chance coincides with the 50th Anniversary of Whitlam’s dismissal.
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. I am 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 me as I observed these building sites during the 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 I recognise my complicity in this process. In using video to record myself painting, I attempt to openly situate myself within this framework – of new construction, of art washing, of re-making nature into suburbia – encouraging the viewer to consider the perspective of the artist and their role in the communication of place.
List of works exhibited in Places and Spaces
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 40.5 cm
9. Jean Baptiste Apuatimi Crescent, 2024, oil on board, oil on board, 51 x 40.5 cm
Norma Tullo Street, oil on board, 40 x 22 cm
Kathleen Shillam Chase, 2024, oil on board, 46 x 61 cm
Painting en plein air in Whitlam, 2024.