Exterior wall panels - Wollongong Art Gallery 2016-19

Pictures of Pictures of Pictures

All of these panels have their origins in other pictures, including my own paintings, which also have their origins in other pictures. The world is awash with images. These panels are an eclectic mix of images gathered from just about anywhere, including the advertising pages of vintage DIY instruction manuals. They reflect a collagist approach, navigating the spaces between Pop's loud embrace of popular culture, Surrealism's quirky transformation of reality and the crisp saturated hues of 60s abstraction.

My usual process is to select one or two obscure black and white line images. Thrown into a chaotic mix of colour and shape on the computer screen, the found images emerge as key elements within an open-ended narrative. The rough bitmapped composition that results is then given material form as an acrylic painting, a process that involves much fine tuning and adjustment. In this particular project the images were then scanned and printed as large panels, returning them to the digital realm.

The bright, flat colour in these panels unifies dissimilar images, giving them new contexts and significance. Arranged in an alternate reality, intriguing relationships develop. In the absence of an explicit storyline, the recognisable fragments are an invitation to the viewer to invent their own scenario. Each person's web of associations will be different. If there is an overarching principle, it is to invite the viewer to engage with the ambiguity of experience.

I'd like to think that somehow these panels echo Wollongong Art Gallery's dramatic curved facade. Making them, I always had in mind the passer-by. An art gallery is a place of imaginative possibilities, and I wanted the panels to reflect that.