The recent photographs in this exhibition by Anna White celebrate neighbourhood, the unique and quirky, seen by chance.  Photographed in Australia and Indonesia, they also explore connections between the aesthetics of these neighbouring countries.

 

In her painting practice White has been investigating the poetic, abstraction, pattern, chance and colour for many years.  Since obtaining a smart phone several years ago this exploration has incorporated photography.  She is instinctively drawn to building facades and domestic spaces that reflect her artistic interests.

 

White was excited to find that by pairing photographs taken in Indonesia during a recent visit with others documenting her local neighbourhoods in Melbourne, that an interesting dialogue occurred. A façade that looks like a stage set seen in Jogjakarta is paired with a hand-painted door photographed in Fitzroy.  A green swan planter spotted in Northcote is juxtaposed against a verandah located in a village in East Java. 

 

What do these paired images say about the different lives lived in these two neighbouring countries?  And what do they say about the neighbourhoods that we think we know and sometimes take for granted?  The unusual details in one place that we might think exotic could perhaps be overlooked in our own backyard.

 

Anna White is a Melbourne based painter and photographer.  She has studied painting at RMIT, and has completed both an MFA and PhD in Fine Art from Monash University.  She has been exhibited widely and her work is held in both Australian and International collections.

 

www.annawhite.com.au