Departures 2011
This work is a series of three carved wooden suitcases containing suspended paper boats cast from Vietnamese Do paper. The boats, encased in Perspex, are based on boats from around the world, from Asian fishing boats to gondolas of Venice.
In many Asian cultures there is a custom of burning paper objects to send a message to the spirits; therefore paper boats have significance to the afterlife of any person that has had a relationship with boats during their lifetime.
These suitcases could have been carried by a person migrating to Australia in the last century: they represent familiar objects from the past. This work poetically combines Western and Eastern cultures; reflecting journeys made in this life and journeys to the next. It is about the things we carry through life both physically and in our imaginations.
Departures was selected as a finalist for HIDDEN: Rookwood Cemetery Sculpture Walk 2011 and Sculpture in the Vineyards 2011.
Departures: Wood, perspex, paper
Exhibited:
HIDDEN Rookwood Cemetery 2011.
Sculpture in the Vineyards 2011.
Photography: Mike Buick