FINDING BEAUTY WITHIN
RAW BACKYARDS, Lisa Garland; and INSTINCT, Lucia Usmiani Despard Gallery
Until October 14
Price range: Garland — all $2500 in editions of five. Usmiani — $2350-$9250
Despard Gallery presents two very contrasting shows by sculptor Lucia Usmiani and North-West Coast-based photographer Lisa Garland. Usmiani’s work seems to have taken a huge leap in this show. She’s long been taking found tin objects — soft drink and beer cans, biscuit tins, olive oil containers and anything else she is able to gather up — and making patterns with the tin, which she carefully cuts up. These works are the largest by her I can recall seeing, and the sheer amount of labour required to create them is impressive: each one consists of a lot of tin and aluminium sliced carefully and woven together into enticing patterns.
Usmiani retains enough of the original images, which were visible on the cans and tins for anyone to be able to see what it was before it became art, but altered so the new patterning dominates. The results are a treat for the eye, recalling traditions of weaving and quilting — art practices long associated with women, and with intense, repetitive labour. While the works are beautiful, there’s a rich undercurrent of ideas: Usmiani weaves in notions around waste re-use in a commodity culture, alongside a subtle commentary on the demands of labour. There are similarly intense images that Usmiani has constructed with burnt matches, but for me, it’s the vast metallic patterns that really grab my attention.
Lisa Garland deserves praise. Her output is consistently strong, and any opportunity to see her work is a pleasure. Raw Backyards is a collection of newer works from Garland that mix up her explorations of the rough terrain of the North-West Coast, where Garland lives and makes her art, with her images of the people she lives with.
Garland is known for intimate portraits of people in their personal habitats. In this new show, Garland has focused on backyards. The feeling she knows her subjects, she has spent time with them and that they are friends, is as strong as ever. The people are photographed with love and respect.
Garland explores the place she’s in: the rugged coast, the stark bush, and the human structures and interactions that might be found among the overwhelming beauty of the region’s landscapes. One such building is Dome House, a structure of corrugated iron