PASTEUP
Octopus
Every year on March 4, I publicly display an artwork to honour the memory of an old friend. One of the smartest, gentlest, funniest people I’ve ever known, he consistently encouraged me to confront my fears. The diver in this work is heading straight for the mouth of the octopus, unarmed and ready for whatever might come. Even though the two are completely mismatched size-wise, I feel like there is a chance that the octopus will lovingly embrace the diver rather than devouring her – they are made of the same stuff after all. This work directly addresses a theme I am fascinated with – the fight/flight scenario. See also Fight/Flight.
ARTWORK
Inky
The ink outlines including suckers were all done by hand using the old school nib-dipping method - scary, but a great experience. I created multiple orange and yellow ink textures using a process similar to watercolour painting, and combined them together with the outlines in Photoshop. The swimmer was illustrated with a stylus in Photoshop. The whole work was printed at B0 and the swimmer pasted up separately. The piece went up on a doorway in Napier St Fitzroy and stayed there for a good 4 months :)
