Elyse Pulbrook
The Jannali High School
CAST IN MEMORY
Sculpture
Latex
I have investigated concepts of personal identity, the deterioration of memories over time and domestic spaces. I have an ongoing interest in the ways in which identity is constructed. I represent these concepts as both literal and metaphorical enclosures. I made this body of work by casting elements of my childhood home in latex, which resembles human skin in texture and colour. Latex naturally deteriorates over time but, as it is a plastic, it never entirely decomposes, just like memories.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: Heidi Bucher, Jon Cattapan, Robert Boynes, Do Ho Suh, Gregor Schneider.
Marker's Commentary
A fitting title, Cast in Memory is a series of cast latex sculptures that communicate the artist's connection to place. Grounded deeply in her personal memories of her everyday, the artist depicts a series of life size sculptures of a window frame, door, chest of drawers, a light switch and handle that have been taken directly from features of her childhood home. Reminiscent of the installation practice of Do Ho Suh, the body of work makes direct connections to the way we try to reinforce memory through artistic practices given the unreliable and complex nature of memory. Keeping the raw properties of the latex as a consistent aesthetic quality was a sophisticated choice and enhances the materiality of the work in referencing memory as an impression that diminishes over time. The colour and surface of the latex bring to mind human skin in texture and tonality and makes further layered connections between the forms and the human connection they are documenting, material as metaphor. This is an excellent example of a body of work that is comfortable in its minimal state with mature choices evident and demonstrates how simple ideas can make evocative artworks.