This painting, as part of, “The Vandemonians: a Catalogue of Hobartian Mythology”, was created as an exploration of the imagined, in-between landscape created through local folklore and myth. My dad...
This painting, as part of, “The Vandemonians: a Catalogue of Hobartian Mythology”, was created as an exploration of the imagined, in-between landscape created through local folklore and myth.
My dad is an ex-reporter for the ABC, so growing up when we'd take drives together in the car, as we passed different landmarks he would tell my sister and I small snippets of events which had taken place in those locations. As a result, I've found that there are many locations which, for me, are mapped by a specific narrative.
“The Crash”, depicts the scene of a truck crash which occurred on the Bridgewater Bridge. The truck was carrying a load of cat food and so when it was reported on, the crew pocketed a couple of the cans which had rolled free. Over time, this scene was so dramatised in my mind that it'd become a mad scramble, people arriving out of nowhere to opportunistically grab the cans, and it was only when I began painting the piece that I checked in with my father about the story again and heard the slightly less exciting truth. It was this discrepancy that I was interested in exploring, the space between the factual and the fantasy, and how at times, the mythical feels more real.