OLIVIA BLUNDEN

INSPIRED BY THE VIBRANT WORKS OF ROY ARDEN, ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG AND THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS OF JEFF WALL, I SET OUT TO PRODUCE A COHERENT SERIES OF IMAGES THAT CAPTURES THE COLOUR, INTENSITY AND RARITY OF THE DYNAMIC AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE AS A RESULT OF CLIMATE CHANGE. I WANTED THE COLOURS TO BE THE MAIN FEATURE OF EACH IMAGE AND WORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE IMAGE PLACEMENT TO CREATE AN AESTHETICALLY PLEASING COLLAGE. WITH A RANGE OF SOURCES I HAD AMPLE CHOICE OF IMAGES AND COULD CREATE A CONTRASTING SERIES.

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I THINK THAT EVERY COLLAGE HAS COMPLEMENTARY VECTORS CREATED BY THE COLOURS TO EMPHASISE THE MOST SALIENT IMAGE. I WAS WORRIED THAT MY AUDIENCE WOULD THINK THAT I'M MAKING THE ISSUES OF EXTINCTION, DROUGHT, DEFORESTATION, WAR ON WASTE AND POVERTY TOO PRETTY, BUT I WANTED TO EXPRESS THE BEAUTIFUL THINGS WE COULD POTENTIALLY LOSE AS A RESULT.

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I WANTED EACH COLLAGE TO HAVE ITS OWN UNIQUE SET OF CHARACTERISTICS THAT COMPLEMENT THE SERIES AS A WHOLE, AND SO I CREATED A PHOTO ASSEMBLAGE BY FASTENING TOGETHER CLIPPINGS FROM MAGAZINES, BOOKS, ARTICLES AND PHOTOGRAPHS THROUGH THE DIGITAL MEDIUMS OF SCANNING AND PHOTOSHOP TO CREATE THIS SERIES. THIS ALLOWED ME TO EXPLORE THE ISSUES SURROUNDING GLOBAL WARMING THROUGH MANY DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS.

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MY COLLAGES ARE DENSE BECAUSE OF MY UNIQYE AND HEAVILY RESEARCHED APPROACH AND BY DRAWING UPON THE CONCEPTS OF COLOUR, TEXTURE, LINE, SHAPE AND POSITIONING, I WANT MY AUDIENCE TO EXPERIENCE THE VISUALS OF A CHANGING AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE.