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Nature and Form
19 February, 2019 - 2 March, 2019
Greta Costello
Nature and Form
19 February – 2 March 2019
hours:
Tuesday – Friday 11am to 5pm,
Saturday 11am to 3pm
admission: Free
Nature and Form presents medium format and 35mm analogue photography. The aesthetic is minimalistic, with a strong awareness of composition, contrast and form. Captured between 2015-2018, the works feature sparse components; tree trunks, concrete structures, hard lines and architectural features. Human details are set against this backdrop, inviting a consideration of the experience of the diminishing untrammelled natural world as it is viewed through the lens of a post modern landscape.
The imagery is inspired by a fascination with architecture, seasonal change, modern cities and the impermanence of individual human activity in constructed settings. Texts by Rebecca Solnit, installation art by Andy Goldsworthy, and the graphic street-scape paintings by Jeffrey Smart have influenced both the aesthetic and context of the exhibition.
Subjects grasp the available fragments of natural elements in engineered settings; mother and child soak up a dose of sunlight, a tree stands in conversation with an empty bench seat, a figure gazes at the ocean. Can the horizon drown out the encroaching concrete and bitumen? These urban scenes are contrasted with imagery pertaining to what was once a more authentic representation of nature and the passing of time – gnarled wood, melting snow and charred bushland.
This exploration is furthered by the imagery’s seemingly subconscious tendency to anthropomorphise organic and constructed forms; tree trunks mimic human form, architectural form mimics human gesture. Thereby a simulacrum of the human in natural and built environments is created, as both an acknowledgement of and an attempt to latch on to this fleeting connection.
Greta is a tertiary qualified professional with an interdisciplinary skill set. She is passionate about visual communication, language, arts & culture. She has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, using imagery to engender a greater awareness of the human condition. In 2012 she was awarded a Masters of Art History & Theory. She applied theoretical research gained during this degree to art programs which were conducted in Groote Eylandt, (NT), in 2013 and 2014, and in Warmun in 2015 & 2016.
Greta predominantly uses analogue photography to create imagery that explores human interaction with and footprint upon natural and urban environments.