Artist Vicki West has put herself front and centre in her latest exhibition… and she’s hoping people won’t think she has tickets on herself.
West features prominently in a number of self-portraits and a video for muka, which opened at the Wyndham Art Gallery last week.
Works feature ways she interacts with traditional materials that have been used by Aboriginal people for thousands of years.
In particular, she uses bull kelp, a kind of seaweed that grows on the shorelines of Tasmania.
West said it was the first time she has featured in her own work, and the first time she has embraced film and photography.
“This [exhibition] I’m really nervous about because it’s almost like I’m a bit ego-centric,” she laughed.
“It’s something very different to what I usually do.”
“It was hard, but I think the images are absolutely beautiful.”
West, a Trawulwuy woman from north-east Tasmania, has exhibited throughout Australia and overseas for the past 20 years.
She often creates sculptural objects and installations from kelp that has washed up on beaches.
“Traditionally, kelp was used to make water carriers, which were essential for survival,” she said.
“muka was all about me being embedded in the landscape.
“Because I make so many objects, I actually wanted to show that we’re not separate from the landscape.”
muka will be at Wyndham Art Gallery, 177 Watton Street, Werribee, until January 8, 2017.
