WRITE OFF 2018

Vehicular decay – the complex beauty in the unattractive.

The 2018 photographic series documents the decay of the automobile as seen in car-recycling yards. It features close-upshots of engine bays in landscapes of vast rows of cars.

Hundreds of smashed cars, row upon row with their bonnets up, are picked apart by car-lovers for the remaining salvageable parts. The skeletal structures of these once-loved vehicles now lay idle like carcasses in a mechanical wasteland. the works document the vehicular forms decaying over time, fascinated by the abstract patterns and contrast in texture, shape and size.

Black and white photography alludes to the history and nostalgia that these vehicles carry. In passing, they recall memories of our first car, family outings, road trips and work. They were once highly valued, looked after, polished and cleaned. In contrast, the audience is alerted to the dark realities of rampant consumerism and the devastation of our environment as it becomes increasingly mechanised. The aftermath is a vehicle graveyard – the sombre consequence of our car-dependent culture.

The works were on display at gaffa gallery Sydney. https://www.gaffa.com.au/exhibition/in-passing

WRITE OFF, 2018, INKJET PRINT, 45 X 31 CM, EDITION OF 3 + 1 AP