The changing landscape of Wyndham has been captured in an unusual exhibition at the Wyndham Art Gallery.
Mother and son Sue Anderson and Aubrey Comben have teamed up to present Local, a series of paintings, ceramics and photographs that depict the area’s historic roots and people, and its growth of more recent times.
Anderson, who has worked as an artist at Point Cook for almost 30 years, says the Wyndham she now lives in is vastly different to the sweeping rural town she remembers.
“When we first moved there, we [with her husband] were two of 15 people in the area.”
Her works include pastels, oils on linen, lithographs and ceramics, and a depiction of the encroaching homes and daily traffic.
Birds are another common theme in her art.
In his black and white photographic series, Comben, 22, focused on people whose lives and livelihoods are under threat from development.
Comben spent time with a professional net fisherman in Port Phillip Bay, while at Werribee South he joined market gardeners and a septic tank cleaner while recording his exhibition pieces.
“There’s a lot of effort in putting the camera down and getting to know people before you can take pictures,” he said. “My sole purpose … isn’t to be aesthetically pleasing; it’s to tell the story.”
Local is at Wyndham Art Gallery until June 26.
