December 2011. VIVO’S GALLERY
The exhibition “Reaching Port” grew from working at Station Studio in Port Douglas as artist-in-residence. Boats and fish continue to be metaphors in my work and are used again here in what I think will be the final exploration of my family’s migration to Australia. At the same time, I have been reading a book edited by Carina Houng called “The Boat People” which contained gut-wrenching accounts of people who fled Vietnam in the 70’s. As well, today’s news is full of accounts of the current wave of boat people. The exhibition is not about them, but I think somehow they have crept in.
I recently discovered that in March of 1999 a boatload of refugees was washed up at Holloways Beach (the location of my studio). There seems to be a mystery as to where they came from and where they went. There is a story that local artist, Ken Brinsmead used to sit at my favourite cafe on Holloways Beach to paint or sketch and write in his journal every morning. He witnessed the event and made some paintings about them. Perhaps it is they who have crept into my paintings.
Fishing is an activity that spans time and culture, as does the use of the fish as a symbol in art. As well as being a literal depiction of a common activity at Port Douglas the fish is my metaphor for spirituality, creativity and the feminine. The fish, with their layers of meaning, may, or may not be caught.
