ENTRAPMENT

Jenni Kemarre Martiniello

Friday 26th August 2011 - Saturday 1st October 2011

CCAS Gorman MIDDLESpace

By reworking traditionally woven eel and fish traps in glass, Martiniello encourages the viewer to refocus on the subject of these works. Striking objects in their own right, woven traps are often sidelined as simply women's craft, yet they are highly intricate and sophisticated works of art in addition to their practical application. These traps in glass are purely for display and reflection, which highlights not only the beauty of the object, but also questions the removal of Aboriginal people from their traditional lands and the increasing rarity of previously essential traditions such as weaving.

Martiniello explores the loss of land and country not only through displacement but also as the result of industry in her work Pilbara. This piece is influenced by her photography of country and is a celebration of the richness and colour of the land - land that is being increasingly decimated by the mining industry.

In White Mist Rising, photographs of Martiniello's family are trapped behind glass panels that have been partially sandblasted to create a white mist, a blurring out of individuality, identity and culture by colonisation. As much as white Australia tries to cover up the tragic and despicable treatment of Aboriginal people it remains to be seen through the mist and demands to be confronted.

Image: Jenni Kemarre Martiniello, White Mist Rising (wall installation), 2011, Sandblasted glass panels, heritage photos, barbed wire, 100cm x 100cm