PURE RESPONSIBILITY

2007, Oil on Linen, 100 x 100cm

Finalist, 2008 Alice Art Prize
Finalist, 2009 Churchie Emerging Art Award

Conceived during the  debate about whether the term sorry means empathy with, or accepting responsibility for, a given situation, “Pure Responsibility” invites the question, what is responsibility?

The orange sunset, caused by light refracting off particles in the atmosphere, combined with the hazard symbol, suggests a poisoned landscape. In this context it could be interpreted as a comment on the modern industrial complex. But then there are entirely different avenues of thought. The Dylan Thomas poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” with its famous line “rage, rage against the dying of the light” suggests not accepting one’s fate as predestined. The question could thus become; is this about denying, or accepting, responsibility for the inevitable. And this is just a starting point from which various stories depart in unexpected ways. By playing with surface and space, the viewer is invited to question what is real and what is not.