Culture

Blue Oyster art project space from March 8
To encounter Clare Fleming’s At once we are rootless and harbouring, floating on an inland sea (I am here) is to be immersed in a deeply personal inner landscape. Clare Fleming is an artist based in Dunedin and a Dunedin School of Art BFA graduate. The works are a manifestation of Fleming’s sense of dislocation in the world. There is a sense of intimacy and fragility combined with an exploration of the multifaceted concept of “place” and what that means in relation to identity. The sculptures consist of large eucalyptus branches, dressed in mover blankets, which resemble mangroves as the branches are spread out like large roots. Inside the branches are stranded suitcase parts, moulded together to resemble ships, with small lights at the top of the branches, as though they are lighthouses leading the ships astray.  Eucalyptus branches are symbolic of Fleming’s birthplace of Australia, with the recycled moving blankets representing both the excesses of mass production and the comforting nature of a blanket. The ships made of suitcases refer to the previous places Fleming has lived, her inability to put “roots” down, and to new adventures she will uncover. The distorted sounds of crashing waves and tiny lights reflect hope as they point the way to these new adventures. 
 
At once we are rootless and harbouring; floating on an inland sea (I am from here) is arguably Fleming’s most intimate work, also retaining a sense of political responsibility heavily engrained in previous projects such as We Are Optimistic’s Patriarchy Free Zone: Imagination Station at OUSA Art Week 2010. Through her sense of dislocation Fleming also considers the dark history of colonisation in New Zealand and Australia. She also examines the effects of globalisation, such as whether it is possible to contain “place”, production and consumption and whether the need for a “pure” or original home is relevant in society today. At once we are rootless and harbouring; floating on an inland sea (I am from here) is currently on at the Blue Oyster project space, along with The fullness of empty pockets by Colleen Altagracia and Arytipidal by Andy Leleisi'uao.