I live in Melbourne, the most locked down city in the world. It would be so easy to say Covid-19 changed everything about how I lived my life, except it did not; the various governments of our country did.

As I played solitaire at home, the elected representatives of the Australian people played their own political games. At first the rules which governed the people of my city were streamed every day on the news, but these were later relegated to YouTube as they became muddled and confounded by an increasing number of daily press conferences held by those that governed other states and territories in completely different ways.

Lucky for us, we had a joker in our pack. As each day blurred into the next, who else could possibly explain the multiple inconsistencies of what it has meant to live in Australia in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic?

I am interested in the contribution of the visual artist to society, and in particular how art assists us to understand the world and our place in it.

This series of paintings serves as a visual history of the socio-political framework of Australia during 2020-21. They ask the viewer to respond to the way our country has been governed during this period of time and, in so doing, consider the humanity of the people we have chosen to lead us.      

The Boredom Overtook Us (installation view), 2021

multiple oil on canvas paintings on wall  

2200 x 5500 x 50 mm

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Out of Acess, 2021  

oil on Canvas  

1020 x 760 x 50 mm

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Sittin' at the Table, 2021  

oil on Canvas  

1020 x 760 x 50 mm

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Know When to Hold 'em, 2021  

oil on Canvas  

1020 x 760 x 50 mm

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Every Hand's a Winner, 2021  

oil on Canvas  

1020 x 760 x 25 mm

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The Boredom Overtook Us, 2021  

video  

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