My work examines a man-altered landscape. I photograph the excavated sandstone basements in my hometown of Sydney, Australia and also textured walls and rusted steel dumpsters that reference the paintings of the Abstract Expressionists.
Sydney is based on a vast area of rock that has been quarried for centuries; we construct our buildings and excavate their basements from it. Enormous cutting discs are used to slice the stone leaving ridges and furrows. The stone’s porosity allows moisture to seep through and the lack of bleaching sunlight allows layers of algae and other microbial elements to build up exquisite patterns. The circular marks made by the cutting discs become the brush strokes of a painter. The coloured algae becomes the paint. Likewise the rusted and peeling paint and decals on dumpsters and doors – created by Nature’s weathering, also become impressionistic images.