5 September – 21 September 2024
about the exhibition
Alex Asch and Mariana del Castillo have close connections: migrants from the Americas, artists, educators, colleagues and husband-wife. At the core of this exhibition is a concern for the environment and the impact of nature on materials: the slow cycle of compression, extraction and erosion. This exhibition focuses on the landscape between the Wiradjuri country (Snow Valleys) and Yorta Yorta country (Northern Victoria) and Wandi Wandian country (Shoalhaven region) and explores the transformations driven by climate change. Alex and Mariana have a collective determination to represent this visual space and to choose works for the exhibition that are in dialogue with one another. Alex and Mariana’s artist statements are below:
“I have always been drawn to weathered materials, to the iconic form-ply that is used to erect the concrete structures of our cities, to galvanised steel used to construct our rural buildings, to the painted signs of our roadways abandoned in tips, reclamation yards and rural properties across the Southern tablelands. In my studio with these gathered materials embedded with their histories of place replete with concrete residue, accidental marks of overuse and relentless weathering I begin to create collages, shaping and moving the pieces into abstracted compositions, seeking to capture that scarred and vivid memory of landscape.” Alex Asch
“My work seeks to translate the experience of being in the landscape. I hear and feel its rhythms and gestural energy and attempt to visually represent this robust and fragile environment. My art practice is primarily grounded in studio experimentation. I focus on surface textures through mark making, mono-printing, collage, stitching and painting. I am interested in the symbiotic relationship between location and memory. The knot is used as a visual tool to express my anxiety around my participation in humanity’s strain on our natural world. The ‘Facescapes’ were inspired by a recent visit to Yorta Yorta country (Winton Wetlands). I was deeply affected by the enormous regeneration program taking place. For the first time in many years the catchment was full of water and the dead red gums stretched out like a monochromatic field of twisted burnt and bleached figures. In contrast the regeneration of new life was evident across the surrounding landscape and the edges of the wetland.” Mariana del Castillo
