Burning Memory
In 2001, Burning Memory employed the metaphor of a housefire to investigate psychological space in cinema. The series was looking at psychological ploys of film such as montage sequences and the intensity of cinematic light – in that it appears to come from within or beyond the screen – and the image of the burning house was a brilliant subject. The fire had great visual and chromatic intensity and the light came from within. It was also time-based, and could be shown in its various stages of destruction or intensity, so there could be a play on the dramatic staging of the event. A small black & white video in the entrance that introduced the burning house as a historical event, and explored it as a cathartic image in film This was a sequence of scenes from documentary footage of fires in Australia (Ash Wednesday) and burning houses in films, such as Rebecca, Gilbert Grape and Badlands. Theatrical lights were set up to intensify the light depicted in the oil paintings.

Essay for this exhibition

Burning Memory was shown at:
TCB art inc
Imperial Slacks, Sydney
Mnemotech, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts