Conversations with the Collection

Sean Cordeiro and Claire Healy & Charlotte Minnett

SEAN CORDEIRO AND CLAIRE HEALY

The material constructions, deconstructions and reconstructions of familiar objects within the gallery space by collaborators Sean Cordeiro and Claire Healy question our attachment to place and property. In The plastic menagerie 2006 Cordeiro and Healy have constructed a nest of museum showcases or vitrines and housed within each vitrine is an animal shaped inflatable toy, the type usually found poolside. Each vitrine is made from laminated pine, the type of material used to make inexpensive, ubiquitous furniture. Rather than the elegant handcrafted vitrines of the museum, these ‘storage solutions’ have a certain DIY appeal.

CHARLOTTE MINNETT
Ascham School
Hope 2010
Collection of works

My work explores the links between optimism and suffering and shows the audience that to construct hope is a choice one always has, regardless of their situation. Cranes, as a symbol of hope, came from the well-known story of Sadako and the 1000 paper cranes. Within this story the most inspiring quality for me was the persistence and blind optimism that Sadako maintains. The story behind the willow pattern designs on which my drawings were based, is one of love and perseverance. The umbrella is used to symbolize protection against negative situations, a barrier preventing the destruction of hope.

Download the ARTEXPRESS 2011 Education Resource.