James Powditch
About the work
The idea of Canberra & planned cities in general has always intrigued me, that battle between the ideal and the reality. It’s one that plays out in much of my work, an idealised ‘plan’ or structure to the work, predetermined, that then must be built from very real and imperfect elements. The conflict often results in compromises, sometimes the plan must be altered to accomodate a material and sometimes a material will be altered to suite the plan and sometimes the interaction of plan & material gives unexpected results altogether. This work plays with the notion of the latter. The idealised plan of Lake Burley Griffin is painted in blue over a printed watermark of central Canberra, it’s shape geometrically precise & balanced, an idealised starting point that bares only a passing resemblance to the lakes final shape.
Exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW in 2009 as a finalist in the Wynne prize.
Images
About the artist
James Powditch is a mixed media artist living and working in Sydney with a background in set building and props making. His work incorporates elements of sculpture, assemblage, painting and architecture often interrogating aspects of history, politics, environmentalism, pop culture (in particular film) and religion. He is a past winner of the Mosman Art Prize and The Blake Prize for Religious Art. He has been a regular finalist in some of Australia’s most prestigious art prizes including The Archibald Prize (8x), The Wynne Prize (10x), The Sulman Prize (6x) and The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (2x) He is represented by Nanda/Hobbs Sydney.
- Made in Australia- Lake Burley Griffin
- 2009
- Mixed Media Exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW in 2009 as a finalist in the Wynne prize.
- Sculpture
- 240x156cm