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02
UNDERTOW
Client
Year
MidCoast Council
2022
Selected and developed as one of the first two permanent works for the Barrington Coast Art Trail, Undertow is a sculpture that responds to a brief for artworks which tell the stories of local community, flora and fauna. The design challenged the expected format of a painted mural with a novel installation that responds dynamically to the touch of visitors and changing conditions of the site.
The patina of the concrete is left raw to provide a rich background for the new totems. Cicadas represent the observable, cyclical movements in life. They wait, rusting orange, to be discovered as their amber shells might be. Each wing is perforated with a unique set of contours from the communities and landscape surrounding the work. Above them, stars render the unfathomable movements of the cosmos; distance hiding the violent reality of their beauty.
Divining the constellations of our own stories—be they stars, cicadas or the patterns of places we come from—grants them an authenticity and permanence within us. Undertow presents a personal story, but offers a universal narrative to those who relate with the work.
Artist
Photography
Luke Grey
Alex McIntyre