Art and Representation - Fiona Hall

Australian artist Fiona Hall is renowned for transforming ordinary objects and materials into complex and allusive works that are witty, humorous, ironic and fiercely critical.

Hall's "Understory" (1999-2004) employs glass beads (the currency of colonisation) threaded onto wire to create three-dimensional objects depicting elements of plant and human material. The use of camouflage patterning aptly depicts the juxtaposition of nature and the conflicts over territory threatening it. The works are realistic in shape of natural objects, however, are only representation of their texture and from. With Hall's use of materials, the works resemble less of a "real" object, and become a representation. A recurring motif is the use of camouflage patterning – a symbol of our time that transforms the patterns of nature into the fabric of conflict and hostility. "Understorey" brings together fragments of a beautiful, fragile, transient realm, and in the way of science, traps them in the filing system of the museum display cabinet.

Fiona Hall
"Understorey"
1999-2004.
Glass beads, silver wire, rubber, boar’s teeth.
Private collection, Sydney.