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)" 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)" 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)" 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)" 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.