Was scheduled to run until 4 April but, sadly, the physical
exhibition has now been taken down and the gallery closed because of COVID-19.
A virtual version is going to be put on the Art, Not Apart website. In the
meantime, you can view some of the images here or at
https://artnotapart.com/artist/2020/sophie-dumaresq/.
Sophie Dumaresq’s body of work “The Hairy Panic” comprises
a series of photographs of a land art installation on the windswept grasslands
surrounding Lake George, plus her pink tumbleweed sculptures that feature in
the images. This work is a significant part of the “Today I, Tomorrow You”
exhibition which, in turn, was part of the recent “Art, Not Apart” Festival.
There are also half a dozen other photographers’ images to see.
Hairy Panic, Untitled #4
Each tumbleweed was made by Dumaresq’s own hands from
chemically processed and hand-dyed human hair and painted pink steel. The pink
colour references harmful pesticides. They took something of a battering when
exposed to the elements for the photography, but still look great. I’m told
that Dumaresq has been regularly and lovingly combing the hair.
Hairy Panic, Untitled #6
A Canberran, Dumaresq is an artist working in photo media,
in addition to large and small-scale sculptural installation. In 2009 she
attended a student internship program at Questacon. She completed her Diploma
in Photography (Honours) at Spéos School for Photography (Paris and London) and
has participated in group exhibitions in Australia, France, Greece and Germany.
She is currently studying at The Australian National University’s Sculpture and
Spatial Practices Workshop.
“Pancium effuse” (commonly known as Hairy Panic), is a
species of grass native to inland Australia that, in dry and windy conditions
combined with soil toxicity levels, can thrive and become a tumbleweed.
Naming the project after the tumbleweeds was done to share
a narrative with viewers, causing us to reflect on past and present-day
treatment and documentation of the land and its inhabitants.
Hairy Panic, Untitled #10
What consequences will our present-day treatment practices
have for the future? What do our patterns of consumption, destruction and
creation demonstrate? How do we relate, show empathy for and evolve with and
within our surrounding environment?
Production principles also highlight the power to both
shape and be shaped by landscapes, past, future and present. The use of
photographs reflects on the arguably violent legacy of the medium, through
documentation within both the sciences and social sciences, towards women,
indigenous communities, other minority groups and all those who have
historically fallen outside of the Western definition of what is human.
Viewing the work allows us to seriously consider the
intersection of humans and material culture. Human hair was chosen due to its
nitrogen bonds, that can be used as fertiliser absorbed by both the soil and
the crops we then consume. The hair was collected from women to draw attention
to the connection of that of the female body and that of livestock,
agricultural and sexual means of production and reproduction.
Using art to reflect is a common and important practice.
Here the reflecting is on the history and politics behind the aesthetics of
landscape documentation - as both a means of production and a means of
aesthetic communication of what it is to be alien.
Hairy Panic, Untitled #13
In addition to being works to contemplate, the images
consider "how our present-day treatment of the land will not only have
consequences in the future but are already happening and are here."
They explore symbiotic cycles of consumption, destruction and creation
demonstrating how as a species we relate, show empathy and evolve with and
within our surrounding environment.
Hairy Panic, Untitled #15
Photographically, the pink (of the tumbleweeds) works
particularly well in the sunlit landscapes, particularly when the overhead
clouds are similarly coloured by the light. The pink sculptures also contrast
with smoky skies in those images reminding us of the recent fires, very
possibly caused by our treatment of the land.
Hairy Panic, Untitled #8
Sadly, the physical exhibition has now been taken down and
the gallery closed because of COVID-19. A virtual version is going to be put on
the Art, Not Apart website. In the meantime, you can view some of the images at
https://artnotapart.com/artist/2020/sophie-dumaresq/.
This review was first published in the Canberra Times and is also on my own blog at https://wordpress.com/post/brianropephotography.wordpress.com/606
This review was first published in the Canberra Times and is also on my own blog at https://wordpress.com/post/brianropephotography.wordpress.com/606
