Aquarium

Background: Coming out of a conscious decision to move towards a more sustainable art practice, Aquarium forms part of a recent series of artist books that explore new possibilities for everyday packaging and other paper-based detritus that is usually consigned to the rubbish bin, while also engaging with expanded notions of the book itself.
Contribution: Aquarium offers an exploration of how the inherent visual properties of the waste materials themselves might drive pictorial narratives and inform the artwork formats, specifically how the layered 'windows' of business envelopes can suggest an aquatic environment, which in turn alludes to the transport of surface mail by sea. The marine motifs also help to directly link the impact of business transactions in our consumer culture on vulnerable environments. The work offers an expanded understanding of the book form, while encouraging viewers to re-evaluate the paper-based packaging and waste they generate themselves.
Significance: The book was one of the 38 works selected for inclusion in the 2017 Banyule Award for Works on Paper finalists' exhibition from a competitive field of 410 entries from around Australia. The eminent judging panel included CEO of Climarte Guy Abrahams, Director of Monash University Museum of Art Charlotte Day and senior curator at MPRG Danny Lacy.