The Underwood


The Underwood employs the motif of an enchanted undergrowth, both as an ecological allegory and as a personal tale in which the artist’s experience of a queer childhood (spent largely in an imagined realm) and coming of age is drawn from. In this fable a mysterious force embodied as a sinuous curve, sweeps through the undergrowth and disrupts its inhabitants. It could be read as an unruly breeze, a mischievous will-o-wisp or possibly as something more sinister. The Underwood  was exhibited at Hazelhurst Art Centre and Gaffa Gallery, Sydney.

The Underwood, Installation view, Broadhurst Gallery, Hazelhurst Art Centre, October 2018
Dimensions Variable
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Underwood, Installation view, Broadhurst Gallery, Hazelhurst Art Centre, October 2018
Dimensions Variable
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Underwood, Installation view, Broadhurst Gallery, Hazelhurst Art Centre, October 2018
Dimensions Variable
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Underwood, Installation view, Gaffa Gallery, July 2018
Dimensions Variable
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Chrysalis, installation view, 2018
Pigment liner, watercolour and gouache on paper
230x 165cm
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Chrysalis, 2018
Pigment liner, watercolour and gouache on paper
230x 165cm
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Chrysalis, detail, 2018
Pigment liner, watercolour and gouache on paper

Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Ceremony, installation view, 2017-18
Pigment liner, watercolour gouache on paper
111 x 168 cm
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Ceremony, 2017-18
Pigment liner, watercolour gouache on paper
111 x 168 cm
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Ceremony, 2017-18
Pigment liner, watercolour gouache on paper
111 x 168 cm
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Emergence, 2017
Pigment liner, watercolour gouache on paper
110cm x 145cm
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Emergence, detail, 2017
Pigment liner, watercolour gouache on paper
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Conjuror, 2016, The Fae, 2016, installation view
Dimensions variable
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Conjuror, 2016
Pigment liner and watercolour on paper
68cm x 110cm
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Fae, 2016
Pigment liner and watercolour on paper
70cm x 110cm
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Imps, installation view, 2018
Pigment liner on paper, custom cut matt boards, hand painted frames
Dimensions variable
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Imps #1, 2018
Pigment liner on paper, custom cut matt board, hand painted frame
27.7 x 36.6cm
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Imps #2, 2018
Pigment liner on paper, custom cut matt board, hand painted frame
27.7 x 36.6cm
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Imps #3, 2018
Pigment liner on paper, custom cut matt board, hand painted frame
27.7 x 36.6cm
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Imps #4, 2018
Pigment liner on paper, custom cut matt board, hand painted frame
27.7 x 36.6cm
Photo: Ellen Dahl

The Imps #5, 2018
Pigment liner on paper, custom cut matt board, hand painted frame
27.7 x 36.6cm
Photo: Ellen Dahl