This new body of work is titled 'The Tourists'.
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| 'Waiting for a train', oil on board, 60cm x 60cm |
A few months ago I was looking through my collection of household objects for still life composition ideas. I found an old suitcase, a pair of binoculars, a Kodak camera made of black bakelite and a set of cups made of anodised metal. These items had shapes and design elements that I found interesting and it's why I hadn't thrown them out or given them away. They were travel accessories that belonged to my parents and grandparents. I also found photographs of my grandparents on their holidays - sometimes using these objects.
It started me thinking about how and why people travel. How do they enjoy their surroundings? What did we choose to photograph when we had only 24 shots on a roll of film? How do we remember a place if we don't have a camera?
When I looked again at my dad's paintings of landscapes and landmarks, I saw an interesting way of combining our work. My new works would focus on people travelling to a destination and enjoying a landscape, whilst my dad's works show the atmosphere and grandeur of places. Two parallel ways of looking at the nature of tourism - human behaviour versus destination.
'The Tourists' will open on Saturday 6 August at my studio gallery in Plympton, South Australia.
