Interview

Artist Interview for the exhibition Zonal Marx / VCA Gallery / Melbourne / Jan 2007

What are some things you collect or obsess over?
I collect what people might call rubbish. But only quite specific pieces of rubbish that align themselves to elusive rules that I make up. I have piles of other people’s scraps: lists, doodles, ripped bits from magazines. Also anything hand crafted that once might have been cherished then discarded over time. I like objects infused with other peoples care & attention. Then there are observations, snippets of conversations that I scribble down. The interesting part is when compiling all these bits I will look for cryptograms and re-occurring symbols that I imagine have hidden portents for me. For example… in a short space of time, picking up a book of Thurber’s Sketches & Dog tales in a free basket outside a second-hand store. Meeting a boy named Feeley (the name of Thurber’s first and favourite dog). Finding a shopping list with ‘DOG’ scrawled large across it. These all go together. I obsess over things that repeat. Or incidents of synchronicity. Sometimes I think the world is wonderfully coded and I furiously try to decipher the clues that are left for me. Other times I resign myself to the view that my stale brain is just throwing up elaborate treasure hunts to keep itself entertained amongst all the shopping.

If you could direct me one place or destination, where would it be and what should I do there?
Go to one of the cold, grey parts of New Zealand. Then lie on a bed for your formative years reading nothing but science fiction novels whilst brewing up large pots of San Pedro cactus to extract the mescaline.

What are your greatest doubts? And are these preoccupations or insecurities expressed in your artwork?
I bath in failure every day! Failure as an artist. Failure at smooth social interactions. Failure to return my library books on time. Failure to be a good daughter. Failure to make any money. Failure to stick with anything. My artwork is a channelled mess of all these insecurities.

What was the last thing you saw on the street and picked up?
I pick up anything with handwriting on it. Shopping lists are very telling and exciting of course. Last year I was at the supermarket and I picked up a yellow post-it note stuck to the floor. There was only three items noted: mushrooms, butter and balsamic vinegar. A rather unexciting list by all accounts. But I pocketed it, found what else I was looking for and left the store. Once out the doors I surprised myself with by impulsively picking up a dropped till receipt in the carpark. I wouldn’t usually pick up till receipts, as there’s nothing of the personal in them. Anyway I read the receipt and found the items listed were:

MUSHROOMS 1.79
FARMLAND BUTTER 375GRAM 1.89
MAZZETTI BALSAMIC VINEGER 250ML 2.79

I stuck the post-it note to the till receipt and now they hold a special place in my collection.

Can you describe what you’re thinking about when you are drawing? Is your internal state reflected in each drawing or is your mind elsewhere?
I can get really frustrated when I’m drawing. I tell myself to just leave it alone. You always have to OVERDO everything! Put down the pen. Walk away. You’ll ruin it. But before I reach that point there is absolute serenity when I’m just distractedly following the lines around in some half conscious fugue state.