EUNICE McALLISTER - ARTNOWFNQ, CAIRNS ART GALLERY, 17 DECEMBER 2022 - 12 FEBRUARY 2023
I contributed four works to this biennial exhibition which awards three fellowships:
![The Age of Tantalum (2022)>](The Age of Tantalum (2022).jpg)
"The Age of Tantalum (2022)" Tantalum is a major mineral in capacitors that power mobile phones and computers, an element for this age. The modern caryatid central to the work holds a mobile phone. The village in the background sits economically and figuratively on a coral foundation.
![Subterranea (2022)>](Subterranea (2022).jpg)
"Subterranea (2022)" This work uses the lava tubes of the interior. A small dinosaur and upended architecture suggest ancient volcanism. (I use images of giant clams without their shells which have been taken as souvenirs by tourists for decades).
![The Main Road (2022)>](The Main Road (2022).jpg)
"The Main Road (2022)" This work is suggested by the chaos of the road - it is a wonder to me that lipstick palms can thrive on the road islands of busy four lane highways.
![Wildlife at Dusk (2022)>](Wildlife at Dusk (2022).jpg)
"Wildlife at Dusk (2022)" contains elements of the light industrial precinct - the hot food lamps and condiments of a takeaway, orchids illustrating the window of the local Thai restaurant, auto shops, football field, the ubiquitous gray fence. At dusk, everything shuts for the day and wildlife emerges – a stealthy crocodile under a shredded nylon tarp, stylized bats under the gas meter cage.