Petalody
Petalody
Petalody
My grandmother began learning Ikebana (the ancient art of Japanese flower arrangement) in the early 1950s. For her it was a purposeful distraction, a way to fill gaps in her relationships. I recall the asymmetrical oddities that populated her house in Newport, New South Wales, when I was a child. They were usually our first topic of conversation. Petalody began as a way of composting my grandmother's passion, and of organising it in decidedly flawed ways.
Petalody is the result of a year-long series of photographic visits to my grandmother, her house, and garden. The work became a passage between family—attended by intimacy, resistance, resolutions, and inevitable change. In stories re-enacted with mantelpiece props, snippets of conversation re-arranged with petals, or just the making of images—photography became a way of spending time.
Links
GRANTPIRRIE exhibition (2006)
Heide Museum of modern Art, Perfect for every Occasion Photography Today curated by Zara Stanhope (2007)
Dougal Phillips review for Art and Australia (2006)
Catalogue essay by Simon Power (2006)
Petalody
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| Title: | Petalody |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: | Installation view - GRANTPIRRIE 2006
C - Type prints on aluminium Image courtesy of artist and GRANTPIRRIE |
Petalody
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| Title: | Petalody |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: | Installation view - GRANTPIRRIE 2006
C - Type prints on aluminium Image courtesy of artist and GRANTPIRRIE |
Petalody
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| Title: | Soft tempers |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
72 x 50 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | I want the baby but I don't want you |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
63 x 50 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | You would not have any feelings at all if you didn't feel something |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 80 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | He is not your child, send him back |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 72 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | Machine guns are simplicity itself |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 66 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | Sleeping and waking are not what they used to be |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 67 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | Mirage from an incinerator in the heat of summer |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 67 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | I can feel the trees while I'm talking #1 |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
65 x 93 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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|
| Title: | Kill them with kindness |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
65 x 82 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | I can feel the trees while I'm talking #3 |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
65 x 85 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | Getting round in the dark without a torch |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
65 x 95 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | It's good to be busy cause it means you're getting on |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
65 x 82 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | The little girl got hit by a golf ball in the temple |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 64 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | You read things about kids |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 66 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | Her hair got stuck in the spa and she drowned |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
63 x 50 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | Boer War re-enactment |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 63 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | Carpal tunnel Ken Done |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 63 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | Taken away without any clothes on |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 63 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | The classical lovely school |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 60 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | Surmising this, that and the other |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 63 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | My hand has just turned frozen, so I'll go and have a cup of coffee in the sun |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 63 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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|
| Title: | Empty text |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 66 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | Multiplication problems in the icy castle |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 66 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | TV warming bones |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 66 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | Reminiscing about operations |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 74 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | Shouldn't be drinking what you're drinking when you're taking inflammatories |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 63 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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|
| Title: | Woollen gold digger |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 66 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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|
| Title: | Touch of diarrhoea |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 66 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | You have to worry about trees |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 79 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | A mass not a mess |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
65 x 80 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | I can feel the trees while I'm talking #2 |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
65 x 82 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | Cancer galaxy with salt and vinegar testicles |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
50 x 63 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | He would bash his head against the pavement #2 |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
82 x 65 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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|
| Title: | He would bash his head against the pavement #1 |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
82 x 65 cm C - Type print on aluminium |
Petalody
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| Title: | A lighthouse to illuminate cracks in the veranda |
| Year: | (2006) |
| Media: |
From the series Petalody
65 x 80 cm C - Type print on aluminium |