Congratulations to Nicholas Folland who has just unveiled the installation Flirt at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, commissioned by curator Isobel Parker Philip as part of The National: New Australian Art 2019.
“This pile of discarded crystal and glassware coalesces into topographical peaks and troughs based on a map of Lord Howe Island – a small landmass located east of Port Macquarie – that has been mirrored, distorted and partially submerged. This semi-fictional geography forecasts the rise in sea levels right around the corner…
The glass objects that form Folland’s re-imagined island are castaways from a Western world steeped in class hierarchies. They are status symbols that recall a time and place where greed and entitlement made it permissible to possess the natural world as well as material goods… The landscape – like any – might be resplendent and overwhelming but it is not impervious to our actions. Its vulnerability hangs in the balance.” – courtesy AGNSW
The National: New Australian Art 2019
Art Gallery of New South Wales 29 March – 21 July 2019
Carriageworks 29 March – 23 June 2019
Museum of Contemporary Art 29 March – 23 June 2019
Installation view: Nicholas Folland Flirt 2019, domestic crystal and glassware, nylon coated stainless steel thread, 440 x 800 x 250 cm. Exhibited at Art Gallery of NSW as part of The National 2019: New Australian Art. Photo: AGNSW, Diana Panuccio.