I have been collecting coffee cups from family members in Mildura – mostly from broken and old used sets. These new works are more about using objects and elements of nature that already evoke memory and then imbuing them with another more personal layer. In a way these works are actually more personal than the drawings as they are more intimate in scale and also more reflective in process and intent.
From these cups I have developed two works The first is The Weight of My Culture (cups and saucers), it has the names of my parents and all their siblings and beneath the glass cup is a sardine which has been painted on the wooden base. The sardine is the fish out of water, a symbol that I have been using for years to represent my parents’ migration from Italy to Australia. Usually I use it either individually or in three to represent each parent and myself.
Weight of my Culture (cups and saucers), ceramics, gouache and wooden base, 25h x 22w x 22d cm.
Weight of my Culture (cups and saucers, detail, ceramics, gouache and wooden base, 25h x 22w x 22d cm.
Weight of my Culture (cups and saucers, detail, ceramics, gouache and wooden base, 25h x 22w x 22d cm.
Weight of my Culture (cups and saucers, detail, ceramics, gouache and wooden base, 25h x 22w x 22d cm.