OLIVIA SIDDAWAY | FRAGILITY

Our brains are the most complex part of our body, the epicentre of our thoughts, emotions, decisions, and actions. It takes just one unwanted passenger, a tumour, an imbalance in chemistry to ignite our minds trickery with these physical or psychological influences. When our minds are hijacked, we can morph and change into an unrecognisable soul to those we had previously become familiar and loved. Finely woven and precious our brains are, sensitive receptors to the world around us. As humans we have a special connection to nature where our experiences within this environment is known to have therapeutic benefits that deactivates the amygdala to decrease stress. Fragility is a series of photomontages produced with the cyanotype alternative process, that looks to explore this connection. The intersection between the delicacy of the mind with memento mori that reflect more than life and death but trigger our thoughts to subconsciously churn over our morality and the wheel of life. Juxtaposed with natural elements and organic shapes to promote calm and enable our brains to create new pathways for ideas to flourish and grow. With the combination of skeletal structures and natural motifs this exhibition explores our intricate yet vulnerable minds and our mental struggles realised through imagery of the beautiful but fleeting natural world. 

WHEN | 8 MAY - 16 JUNE

WHERE | LONG GALLERY

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Olivia Siddaway is a Melbourne-based artist exploring the intersection between traditional photographic processes and contemporary mixed media techniques. She focuses on subject matter that explores empty spaces, natural textures, anthropomorphic aspects of objects, and the debris of human life. Using historical methods to produce imagery with ultraviolet light on different surfaces, Olivia employs a monochromatic palette to convey complex emotive content.