薛美龄 IMAGE ARCHIVE

OF COLOUR

These compositions resulted from an Australia Council for the Arts funded residency at the University of Massachusetts in 2009. I became acquainted with the term ‘people of colour’ in reference to the non-European portion of the American population. I am interested in how colour can be symbolic of diversity.

In 2010 I created a series of compositions titled ‘Hitching’. This was in reference to the tendencies of species to use vehicles to assist in distributing their populations. Earlier artworks used examples such as lantana and morning glory that grow on the side of roads, train tracks and waterways.

Another example was the introduction of eucalyptus to California in 1770 to generate wood for the expanding railway system. The species has established itself there and is now classified a weed.

Most recently, I have been using limited colour to investigate gentrification. In each composition grass is depicted as an intruding element. In gardening it is the function of grass to minimalise the biodiversity of designated areas.

Title Image: This detail is from the Hitching series depicting oleander and a motor vehicle.

 

 

This is a second detail from the same composition.

 

 

This is a detail from Hitching Cross-country that depicts the introduction of
Eucalyptus to California to assist in the expansion of the railway system.

 

 

This is a recent artwork depicting a seed pod of the
Coastal Banskia which is the floral emblem of Logan City.


 WHERE
WHAT
WHEN