Belgrade Art Studio Residency

Alana Wesley Australia

Year of Residency: 2019

Education

  • 2016 Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours), Sydney College of the Arts
  • 2015 Alfred University, New York, Exchange
  • 2013-2015 Bachelor of Fine Arts, UNSW Art and Design Sydney

Awards

  • 2018 Finalist in Stonevilla Wearable Art Prize
  •  Finalist in Pro Hart Outback Prize, Broken Hill Regional Gallery

Exhibitions

  • 2018 Your Abiding Impression, Alpha Gallery, Newtown NSW
  • The Living Room, Our Neon Foe, Leichhardt NSW
  • Two Down, Broken Hill Art Exchange, Broken Hill
  • 2015 After the Show, Jon Wood Studio, New York
  • 2018 The Joke Is On You, Kudos Gallery, Paddington NSW
  • 2017 Fallacy, 107 Projects, Redfern NSW
  • They Are Flying, Spot81, Chippendale NSW
  • 2016 Xmas Climate Change Variety Hour, Verge Gallery Darlington NSW
  • 2015 Fcklty of Kontrolled Kaos, Articulate, Leichhardt NSW Hornell Art Festival Hornell, New York
  • 2014 Fluid, Monster Mouse Gallery, Marrickville NSW The Democracy of Drawing, Airspace, Marrickville NSW
  • 2013 The Home Show, A&D Space, Paddington NSW
  • 2011 MOP Feature Show, MOP Gallery, Chippendale NSW

Artist statement

Alana Wesley is a Sydney based performance and installation artist. Her works often explore our complex emotional and physical attachments to places, eras and objects. Wesley incorporates a "forensic aesthetic" within her practice, often focusing upon how humans attribute narrative meaning to the most basic of matter, as though they are detectives investigating clues from a crime scene.

Wesley often challenges our experience of space, both real and constructed.Her installations are highly atmospheric and beckon participants to explore and interact , as well as trigger a wide range of physical, visceral and emotional experiences. In these installations, found materials- particularly everyday objects-often feature as a prime component. A narrative is often gained from the way through which Wesley curates these objects within the space. Within her work, disparate objects are suddenly placed in dialogue with one another to create new , and often darkly humorous, readings.

Visually, Wesley has a particular preoccupation with kitsch paraphernalia and often uses kitsch as a vehicle to ironically extend upon the themes of memory and fetishized object hood that feature throughout her work.

This year, Wesley went on a residency to Broken Hill in regional NSW to complete a range of site specific performances inspired by Australian horror films . Most recently, she completed a solo body of work where she collected a variety of objects from participants that reminded them of past relationships and proceeded to cast those objects,like fossils, in amber resin.

Project

Trace/Place is an ongoing found object project I wish to initiate that explores object-hood, collective memory and forensic aesthetics; aspects that I have previously focused upon throughout my practice. Inspired by traditional mueseological methods of collection and display, I will collect a variety of objects left behind by people at iconic sites in Belgrade and display them as historical artifacts in their own right (presentation will involve plinths and display cases exhibiting the objects, as well as a fake “acquisition” numbering systems). <

Trace/Place will question our regard for objects as historical and cultural “documents”, particularly in the context of Belgrade, given its tumultuous  history that continues to morph and develop like a palimpsest . Ultimately, this research-based project will critique how we memorialize places, periods and experiences through matter, be it official artifacts in a museum setting, or kitsch souvenirs on a mantelpiece.
I have always been drawn to the notion of a “trace”; a remnant of a whole that is imbued with meaning. Given that I would be a foreigner to the city, I would be curious as to what I,as well as other overseas visitors, would qualify as a genuine “trace” from Belgrade- would it be a photo taken next to the Belgrade fortress? A bottle of Šljivovica to take home? A historical document from the Ottoman empire? Or something as simple as a hat that someone lost by the side of the road?

Having an incredibly diverse and politicized history, trying to summarize a unilateral identity for Belgrade seems impossible. This installation based project would thus seek to initiate inquiry into who deems objects as historically important and explore how their agenda may shift cultural and political narratives.

Articles and Reviews

Alana’ website – Visit.