The Ambassadors; bad op

Research Background The originality of these works lies in the way the works set up a positive irresolution between depiction and the very optically of their means of depiction. Reflectivity of metallic and iridescent media are used, along with colour, to amplify the optical character of the works. Significance These two works were exhibited at Sutton Gallery, a long established Melbourne private art gallery that has a strong national reputation. The exhibition that included these works was curated by Associate Professor Jon Cattapan of the University of Melbourne, himself an artist with a highly regarded national profile. These works investigate the elusiveness of imagery. A visual motif of a human skull is used in both works. In The Ambassadors a negative and positive version of the skull image are presented side by side. These images are rendered use metallic and iridescent media. These media change apparent reflectivity as the viewing angle shifts, thus causing the double motif to shift perceptually. In bad op a grid of coloured dots is laid over a faint, shimmering metallic image of the skull. The dots act as a camouflaging screen; the skull image only reveals itself discernibly when the canvas is viewed obliquely.