Boxes - Woollahra - 2019

In this work I have used the residential home as a metaphor for identity, in a response to my observations and thoughts about the importance of identity and how the house can be used to illustrate its many facets.

The individual need for personal identity is essential for the wellbeing of us all. This of course is influenced in many ways, whether by family, cultural, political, religion, or local community clubs, the need to be accepted will always be paramount and our identity challenged.

When I finished this work it was hard not to see similarities to American folk singer and social activist Peter Seeger's work, in his song "Little Boxes". The song follows its populist and political sentiments on how governments can create an illusion of autonomy, as was such during the McCarthy era of the late 1940's and 1950's.

Boxes, is an abstract interpretation of Social Identity, where each box is made the same size, differing only in height and placed close to each other. The same size represents the need to belong and the height is the point of difference that represents autonomy, while the narrow laneways between each box creates a sense of security, bringing us together in times of need.

The Bell (after Edgar Allan Poe’s Poem `The Bells’)

  Woollahra - 2023

Edgar Allan Poe’s Poem ‘The Bells’, depicts the sounds of the bell as a metaphor of the human experience, through childhood, youth, maturity, and death, and in these written words he interprets the nostalgic sounds imbedded in our memory. But as the soundscape of our human experience changes and the bells fall silent, in what way will it have an effect on future generations.

In most things change comes about as a natural progression as we find better ways to improve our way of living. As a child I can still remember the early morning sound of the horse’s hooves on the road as the milkman made his rounds, then came the van and a now a memory is all that is left. The Soundscape that is a part of our Cultural Identity will undoubtedly change, but we should be alert to Social Change and the implications in may have on our Identity. It is documented that in some communities the ringing of the bell has been silenced by petition, I can only wonder to the reasons behind the silencing of the Bell, a sad day.

When the Clanger falls silent will we awaken too late to the `merriment their melody fortells’ or to `a tale their terror tells of despair’. [1]