Seeing Nature Anew
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE, JANET LAURENCE, AT COMO THE TREASURY
destination 5 minute read
How do you want your art to make people feel?
I want my art to make people feel and be curious.
We’re pleased to announce that Janet Laurence will be joining us at COMO The Treasury from August 5th to 16th as our Artist-in-Residence. Guests will be able to visit her studio in the State Buildings, and watch one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists at work. In this COMO Conversation, we discuss Janet’s inspirations, the secret language that informs her art, and her hopes for mending our broken relationship with nature.
Janet Laurence
Sydney-born Janet Laurence explores the interconnection of living things through mixed-media practice including painting, sculpture, photography, installation and video. Her work is a sensory journey through the natural world, offering a moving commentary on the power and fragility of the environment. Her art is exhibited in collections across Australia as well as internationally, with a critically acclaimed recent exhibition, Tears of dust, at Melbourne’s Museum of Australian Photography.
Who are the artists — past or present — that inspire you the most?
A broad range of artists have inspired me, and all for very different reasons. From the Old Masters, I love Titian for his sensuality. And then there’s Piet Mondrian’s early works — looking at the metaphysical aspects of nature inspired by the Theosophy movement. I also really admire the work of the German visual artist Rebecca Horn, and Eva Hesse’s sculptures.
How would you describe your style?
I find it difficult to describe my style because my work is usually installation. It’s about the associations between one work and another, rather than a single iconic picture. I’m much more interested in the whole atmosphere of a group of works. My work is multisensory, but it is not technology-driven. I use different materials to express different ecological states.
Why is engaging with Australia’s nature so important?
Living in Australia, we’re dominated by our relationship to the landscape. But it is so incredibly fragile. I first realised how dire the situation was when I returned to Australia after seven years of living in Europe. I was very shocked by the relationship that we have with our environment, and the colonial history that underlays it. I really wanted to work with it: I became the flying artist — constantly travelling around Northern Queensland, Northern New South Wales and the Northern Territory, witnessing firsthand the necessity of understanding nature. My life’s work is dictated by the urge to care for our environment, and protect it through my art.
What’s your creative process?
My creative process changes according to the media I am using. I often work on a few things at the same time, in order to create the rhythm and connection between different pieces. I want a conversation to happen between elements. Within each work, I have a secret language of alchemical afterlife. It’s as if everything is living and animated, and different matter and materials hold the stories. I want the material I’m using to have its own life and relationships.
If there’s one thing you want people to take away from your work, what is it?
I’d like people to walk away with a real concern for the fragility of nature — and the desire not to look away. I hope we as people can have a reconciliation with the natural environment, and recognise our interconnection. We don’t just need to care for nature; we need to love it.
Janet Laurence will be at COMO The Treasury as Artist-in-Residence, from August 5th to 16th. For more information, please speak to the concierge.
