Iconic Toxic Drums, 2002













































The first image is rather like a medieval icon. The aged wood comes from a food safe owned once by my great uncle and hence very, very old. I worked with pure pigments and gold leaf to create iconic images






  I saw these wonderful (to me as an artist) piles of toxic drums at Murrarie in the late 90's. Yes! Last century! They were in pile upon pile awaiting their final trip to Victoria where they were to be destroyed and their toxicity eradicated (hopefully) forever. What they had contained could perhaps be determined by a forensic expert but their contents and man had certainly made a spectacular display of colour and mystery graffiti upon them.
Nowdays, drums seem to come in the plastic variety. Only shipping containers can rival the colours and complexity of these now long dead drums.
I have, perhaps, feminized them somewhat..seen stained glass windows and feminine form.
This work was done for the first year of my Master's Degree, Monash University, 2002. I share them with you and hope you can love them for their shapes, colours and hidden messages as I do.  These photos were taken at my exhibtion, Fe2O3 at the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery







Some of the series have been sold and I can't find their photos at the moment. Typical!










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