AMY JOY WATSON

Tectonic 3, 2020 | 84 King William Road, South Australia | Commissioned by City of Unley

Inspired by geology and ‘deep time’ Amy Joy Watson has referenced banded rock formations in developing Tectonic 3. The bands or layers of strata speak of time; a significant part of Amy’s practice whose works are often laboriously hand stitched, and are a nod to the thousands of years it has taken for our surrounding landscapes to evolve. With its bright colours and geometric form it could even be a meteorite that has landed from another world or perhaps a trace of an ancient landscape breaking through the surface of King William Road.

Tectonic 3 is part of a series of sculptures by artist team Greg Mitchell, Quentin Gore and Amy Joy Watson. The artists have considered the built environment we live in and placed it in the context of the natural world, a subject that will only become more relevant with time. Timeless and elemental materials, granite and steel, which feature in each work, remind us of our place in time and our fragile relationship with planet earth. With elegance, whimsy and subtlety, the works speak of our inherent connection to nature, time and, by association, the site of King William Road.

Photography by  Sam Oster/ Silvertrace

Untitled, 2018  | Barrack Place, Clarence Street, Sydney | Collaboration with UAP (Urban Art Projects)

Exploring ideas of weightlessness and illusion Amy Joy Watson has conceived a legion of enigmatic floating polyhedra that are suspended by large balloons as if captured in mid air. These objects seem to be alive; upon entering the arcade you feel as though you are intruding upon a party and when you leave they continue to with their games.

Photography by Rachel See

Celestial Bodies, 2015 | Daniel Mannix Building, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne 

The artwork, a series of six intricately woven timber geometric forms are suspended as heavenly bodies, tethered by lines and netting causing them to appear to be floating through space. These split spherical forms reference stars and planets and the nets speak of their orbit in the universe. Repetition and reinterpretation of triangular patterns can be found throughout the installation which speak to Catholic theology around the Trinity and man’s connectedness to God and to all of creation.

Collaboration with iAM (Independent Arts Management)

Photography by Lisbeth Grosmann