Place in art involves the human experience in a landscape. It grows from identifying oneself in relation to a particular piece of land on the surface of planet Earth. Identity is the concept one develops about oneself that evolves over the course of a life. Many artist use place in their work to express, explore and question ideas about identity. The two artist I will be discussing in this essay are John Olsen and Hossein Valamanesh because they both explore a sense of identity and place, although, through different medias, paintings and installations or sculptures. John Olsen uses place to explore identity in his works. John Olsen has stated that what he has managed to achieve in Australia is ‘the real beginnings of a proper sense of identity …show more content…
The essence of Valamanesh’s art lies the link between humans and the natural world and an impression of place informed by cultural history and personal memory. Valamanesh immigrated from his birth country Iran to Australia in 1973. In 1974 he journeyed with a crowd of artists and musicians, visiting Aboriginal communities including Papunya and Warburton. Valamanesh had a strong liking of the cultural and spiritual connections to the land he saw in these communities and through this he began to connect to his new country, an experience that had a deep impact on his future development as an artist. Valamanesh draws on Iranian culture, and his own memories of growing up in Iran, infuse into many of his works. In Longing Belonging, a photograph by Rick Martin of a Persian carpet burning in the Australian mallee scrub is presented behind the burnt carpet itself . This unlikely occurence in an unlikely place incorporates the sense of finding oneself in a new land and integrating into a foreign landscape. The ancient lands of the Australian desert and the often arid landscape of Iran are not the same and yet for Valamanesh they have similarities and echoes. The carpet indicates Iranian cultural traditions. The carpet is partly ravaged in fire in a dry landscape that has been shaped by fire over many thousands of years. This work expresses a sense of trying to discover cultures and the struggle of this process, of
Observation of the first piece in the series showcases the warm Australian desert tones contrasted against a cool blue night sky. This creates a different tone compared to the other pieces, which is enhanced with the inclusion of Truganini’s image in the sky, who is often historically known as ‘The last surviving Tasmanian Aborigine’ (Krischer 2012, 123). Therefore, the addition of her faded image in within the composition constructs an evocative feeling of loss, portraying the destructive impact of colonisation in Indigenous culture. Similarly, the geometric lines and perspective shapes contrast with the other painted styles of the artwork, and with Truganini being at the central vanishing point, it furthers that sense of loss. Thus, through the design principle of contrast, Bennett effectively conveys the historical and cultural impacts that colonisation had on Indigenous people across Australia and the concern over his personal
Anne Zahalka was born in 1957 and comes from an immigrant background with Jewish Viennese and Catholic Czech heritage. She grew up in Australia at the time when immigration was increasing and people were becoming more aware of the range of cultural groups, which evidently influence her works. Due to this, her artworks revolves closely around Australian culture, focusing on themes such as traditional cultures, activities and relationships within a place. Zahalka intends to invent artworks which not only connect to her but to the audience culturally and personally, such as her series of work ‘Welcome to Sydney’ and ‘Hotel Suite’. Zahalka tends to have staged quality within her works, through the process of utilising computer technology to underline her concepts and manipulating imagery, ergo emphasising her intentional meanings, aswell as constructing a temporary studio on location.
Longstaff, Simon. "Australian Identity." Ethics.org.au. St. James Ethics Centre, Dec. 1995. Web. 16 Aug. 2011. .
The East Kimberly region of Western Australia has been depict as a place of ‘grinding poverty, violence and racist exclusion in which so many Aboriginal people in the east Kimberley live, and yet at the same time through art it communicate the beauty and grandeur of their lives. ‘For those trying to communicate through art with the issue of death, harsh, pain and even compassion, were seen as necessary to maintain memories and record of Aboriginal historical events. The thirst for telling such companionate story is not easily interpreted, however, if we look at history we could see the influence of real tradition of aboriginal art emerge.
Unlike Gordon Bennett, who grew up struggling from his Aboriginal heritage, Tony Albert, a founding member of Queensland's Indigenous art collective proppaNOW explores political, social and cultural issues that are relevant to Indigenous Australian in today’s society. Albert’s artistic practice has a range of media and applications producing 2D wall art, sculpture and installation based works. According to Albert, he began to see the ‘problematic representations of his identity’ (Art Monthly Australia, 2015, p.55) after discovering the work of contemporary Aboriginal artists Tracey Moffat and Gordon
Taylor, S. (2009) ‘Who We Think We Are? Identities in Everyday life’, in Taylor, S., Hinchliffe, S., Clarke, J. and Bromley, S. (eds), Making Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University.
An individual’s ‘Sense of Place’ is predominantly their place of belonging and acceptance in the world, may it be through a strong physical, emotional or spiritual connection. In Tim Winton’s novel ‘The Riders”, the concept of Sense of Place is explored through the desperate journey of its protagonist, Fred Scully. Scully’s elaborate search for identity throughout the novel is guided and influenced by the compulsive love he feels for his wife Jennifer and their family morals, the intensity of hope and the destruction it can cause and the nostalgic nature of Winton’s writing. Two quotes which reflect the ideals of a person’s Sense of Place are “Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him.’(Aldous Huxley) and “It is not down in any map. True places never are.” (Herman Melville). Huxley and Melville’s statements closely resemble Fred Scully’s journey and rectify some of his motivations throughout the text.
Belonging is a fluid concept that adapts and shifts within a person’s lifetime. It is subjective and can encourage feelings of security, happiness and acceptance or conversely alienation and dislocation. One's perception of belonging, and therefore identity, is significantly influenced by place and relationships established within one's environment. This is evident in Steven Herrick's free verse novel “The Simple Gift” and the short story “The River that wasn’t ours” by Ashley Reynolds.
In the late 80s, Barry Lopez has published his essay called “A literature of place”. He wrote this literature to describe the natural world and our relationship with it. In the essay, he suggests how important of setting that plays role in literature, that helps a reader to get into a theme of a story, and how important of a place that can affects human life. Lopez leaves two different idea about how place can be so important to human. First of them is; “I would say a sense of place is also critical to the development of a sense of morality and of human identity.” This passage from “A literature of place” shows Lopez’s idea which he believe that a place can be a great factors that influence human to create and change and improve their morality, identity and imagination to be like the
Before beginning our discussion on the chosen Australian surrealists, background discussion of surrealism, its influence and impact, is necessary. Surrealism is the first international art movement in Australia. In fact, European surrealists perceive Australia as a “surrealist place” because of its vastness, its distance from the other continents and its appeal as a “down under”. When the surrealist movement b...
Adrienne Rich once wrote an open letter titled “Politics of Location” that profoundly opened my eyes to a relevantly obvious concept of self-identity. More often than not, one fails to see the truth that sits right before his or her own eyes. However, it is still the responsibility of the individual to be accountable for that truth. The concept of politics of location is simply that one’s life experiences affects one’s perspective. Unintentionally, individuals make themselves the center of reality. When, in actuality, one is only the center of his or her own reality. Rich also goes on to explain that people are different; yet, individuals have an uncanny since of imagined community. That being, the feeling that
Irwin, Mary. “Sense of Place”. Interview by Interview by Mrs. Thibo’s H-English 10 class. 12 May 2010.
The expression of the malleability of our identities according to our surroundings is also expressed within individuals interactions with sublime landscapes. the impact of sublimity is seen in ‘We are the playthings of the forces that laid out the oceans and chiselled the mountains’ utilising personification expression that greater forces such as sublime landscape can have a profound impact on individuals identify by enforcing dominion of a God like form.
In conclusion, the formation of one’s identity has many components. Beginning at the onset of adolescence and continuing to expand, grow and form and reform as we live through the struggles or success of life. Many theorists have endeavored to clarify the development of identity formation. However, Erik Erickson offered one significant theory involving the formation of one’s identity. Expounding on Erickson theory, Marcia developed his Identity Status Model according to the existence or absence of crisis and commitments. These four statuses, diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and achievement can combine in various ways to produce a self. One’s sense of identity is determined largely by the choices and commitments made, therefore, having a well-developed sense of self can provide an individual with insight to their strengths, weaknesses, and individual uniqueness. An individual that finds themselves
A place, for me, is somewhere that I am familiar with and I recognize it in some way as my own special geographic location. It is somewhere I am emotionally attached to and it is a place that I wish to remain at. I personally feel that it has taken me years to achieve this particular comprehension about where for certain that place is for me in my life, and to make out why I feel a certain way about being within the walls of my own home. I have now come to realize that my home is where my heart will always truly be, because I believe it is the only place where I will always be loved without