Thursday, November 5, 2020

2020 BOTANIC ART PRIZE, 2 November 2020 - 1 January 2021. Gallery 125, York Western Australia


Banksia Man, Christophe Canato’s work is inspired by the 1918 published adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepieby Australian author May Gibbs.

 

The central story arc concerns Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and their adventures along with troubles and the villains of the stories; the Banksia Men.

 

In the original series of books the villains "big bad" Banksia Men are modelled on the appearance of aged Banksia "cones", with follicles for eyes and other facial features. But Christophe Canato is proposing a contemporary version with his Banksia Man where the follicles became part of the man body, the leaves will be placed such as a super hero/villain mask and hairy flowers of the Banksia specimen are completing a fiction decor. 

 

To reinforce the notion between fantasy and real, Canato uses multiple layers of photographs to deliver a final image more or less fuzzy, evanescent as in a dream. The powdery colours bring a feeling of serenity and softness to the disturbing character.

 

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