Digitally printed vinyl on columns, Western Sydney University, Parramatta Square, Parramatta. Commissioned by Western Sydney University for WorldPride Sydney 2023
Queer Wanderings expresses the intimacy and entanglement of queer urban lives. In her book ‘Queer Phenomenology’ philosopher Sara Ahmed describes the sense of disorientation that results from seeing the world differently. In response to this, queer people in urban space orient toward each other. Commonalities of experience and desire lead to interweaving paths, which create geographies of shared spaces and networked relations.
As we emerged from Covid-19 lockdown, and came back to the city streets, I experienced a re-meeting of many queer kin and connections. In the return of urban social life, chance meetings resumed – at the coffee shop, on the dance floor, at the protest. I discovered and created new communities of lovers and friends. The city was overlaid once more with swirling links of personal connection and care.
The drawing series ‘Queer Wanderings’ emerged from this experience. Through links of overlapping arrows, works on paper mapped personal experiences of queer spatiality. These small drawings were then expanded to an architectural scale. Appearing like coiled maps, the looping arrows invite playful physical exploration to follow their trajectory.
Previous
Next