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Dance Of The Flowering Gum

By Jade Elford

"My pieces for this exhibition combine older works with new. They unite through their minimalist arrangements and use of black and white photographs with coloured ones. For my two recent collages, I looked through my pile of torn out pages (some that I have kept since 2016) and chose backgrounds that instantly set up an idea.

When I saw the photo of the boy and his stick insect, that Velvet Underground song came into my head: 'I'm sticking with you'. I knew I needed some glue sticks to complete the scene. I didn't know where I was going to find pictures of glue. I thought that I was going to have to resort to accepting junk mail in the letterbox and pray that there would be a Big W 'Back to school' catalogue inside. My friend who works at an art store came through for me after I asked her if she had any pamphlets showcasing glue. She gave me two copies of an annual ordering book of art supplies. The glue sticks are also a nod to analogue collage.

My second recent piece formed after I picked out a page that featured a giant shell. I wanted to come out of the shell. I didn't have any printed photos of myself, so I chose a nude woman to represent me. A personal work. The black and white shells are the former homes of other shy people, who grew confident and left the shells for good."

[Studio Portrait credit: Hilary Green]

collage 40x34cm framed