Companions

In Companions, materials are active partners in each practice, and the subsequent works are collaborations: the result of a push and pull between human and non-human companions.

The artists in Companions choose to work with materials and processes that are not stable or fixed. Things that respond, often unpredictably, to light, air and time. Some of the materials are living, and continue to grow and morph. Others will dry, decay or eventually die. The artists are not in complete control throughout the process of making, nor once a work is ‘finished’ and presented for exhibition.

It is somewhat of a paradox that the independence of these materials is what makes them companions to the artists. Rather than inert matter to be mastered and shaped to human will, they work alongside the artists in shaping the trajectory of each work. These materials also carry strong visceral and symbolic associations. They tell stories, hold memories and desires, and are important in the practice of culture.