Katie West works with installation, textiles, and social practice to reveal culturally complex notions of place and belonging. In this series, West draws on an archive of family photos capturing life on a wheat and sheep farm in Noongar Yued country. An extension of her work with textiles, these pieces draw attention to unintended textural details and the material and cultural implications of these found objects. Light and movement are emphasised and re-presented in sparse compositions through obscuring figures, forms, and objects. From this vantage point, the material qualities of photographic paper come to the surface—patterned textures derived from manufacture and processing with the accumulation of dust and scratches due to handling. This coupled focus invites closely examining one’s experience of place, earthly elements, and personal archives.
All images courtesy the artist and Dominik Mersch Gallery.
Mud Maps
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