SCULPTURE AT SCENIC WORLD 2017
Katoomba NSW Australia
A memorial intervention exploring the social and environmental impacts of mining and acknowledging the valuable natural resources of the future.
Photo: Keith Maxwell
Through site-specific environmental installations I seek to challenge the predictability of expectations & ‘cultural homogeneity’. Recently I have explored the impacts of creating contemporary interpretations of commemorative memorials and monuments as a way of initiating conversations, increasing awareness of the value and security of our natural resources and the ecosystems that shelter them.
Photo: Keith Maxwell
This conceptually multi-layered intervention is inspired by my research into the social, environmental and historical impacts of natural resource mining. Through examining the value of ‘home’ and the transient nature of mining communities, I have created a memorial intervention using this coal miner’s cottage as a platform to accommodate this complex inside/outside work. It is part of a series of my site-specific projects located in various decommissioned mines and quarries, and contains salt-coated works created during my recent residency at Hill End. I created site-based interventions, at this historic NSW gold mining town, investigating the value of possessions and their relationship to the impacts of resource extraction while exploring notions of displacement narratives/nomadism.
The focus of my practice is the concept of transition, including notions of unpredictability, vulnerability and ephemerality. It is informed by issues relating to human ecology, cultural displacement, consumption, materialism and adjusting climates.
Sally Kidall 