You are invited to the opening of Understory, an exhibition of paintings by Elizabeth Barsham and glass sculptures by Helene Boyer
When: 6 pm Friday 12 November 2021; exhibition runs to end of November
Where: Nolan Art Gallery, Level 1, Salamanca Arts Centre, 77 Salamanca Place, Hobart
Off to Exploit the Antipodes
Artist statement: “These paintings are about the colonial takeover of trouwunna, as seen from a safe distance.
Throughout my life the narrative of Tasmania’s indigenous people has been told and retold, changing from a tale of the regrettable annihilation of a ‘dying race’ (and the death of the ‘last Tasmanian’) to the reclamation of cultural identity by the palawa.
As the descendant of convicts who arrived in the first British ships I realise many of my ancestors must have been complicit in the colonial genocide. The question is how to deal with this knowledge.
As usual when confronted by something complicated, I retreated to my studio to explore the issue in paint.
The result is eight large, complex, playful oil paintings. As you’d expect from the subject matter, their humorous characters and seductive colour don’t quite obscure the darkness and violence. Expect anthropomorphic forests infested by inchoate, chthonic figures and strange encounters with the all too present inhabitants of ‘Terra Nullius’ as the colonisers set about the business of exploiting the antipodes.”
Featured image above: All the Pretty Ships Came In, oil on canvas, 91 cm x 122 cm.
