Grace Wood There Are No New Waves, Only Ocean Installation view LON Gallery October 26 - November 21 2020

Grace Wood
There Are No New Waves, Only Ocean
Installation view
LON Gallery
October 26 - November 21
2020

Grace Wood
To be contained (Buckets)
C-type photographic print framed in Victorian Ash
61 X 76 cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$1,600

Grace Wood
To be contained (Buckets)
C-type photographic print framed in Victorian Ash
61 X 76 cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$1,600

Grace Wood
To be held (the Lion Lady Venus, Yeezy Fall 2020)
Digital photographic print on wallpaper, mdf, paint
120 X 190cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$3,900

Venus de Milo with pom poms (Issey Miyake Fall 2020) (Verso)
C-type photographic print on Cansen Rag, mounted on board with handpainted edge
50 X 60cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$900

Grace Wood
To be held (the Lion Lady Venus, Yeezy Fall 2020)
Digital photographic print on wallpaper, mdf, paint
120 X 190cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$3,900

Venus de Milo with pom poms (Issey Miyake Fall 2020) (Verso)
C-type photographic print on Cansen Rag, mounted on board with handpainted edge
50 X 60cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$900

Grace Wood
To be held (the Lion Lady Venus, Yeezy Fall 2020) (Detail)
Digital photographic print on wallpaper, mdf, paint
120 X 190cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$3,900

Venus de Milo with pom poms (Issey Miyake Fall 2020) (Verso)
C-type photographic print on Cansen Rag, mounted on board with handpainted edge
50 X 60cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$900

Grace Wood
To be held (the Lion Lady Venus, Yeezy Fall 2020) (Verso)
Digital photographic print on wallpaper, mdf, paint
120 X 190cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$3,900

Venus de Milo with pom poms (Issey Miyake Fall 2020)
C-type photographic print on Cansen Rag, mounted on board with handpainted edge
50 X 60cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$900

Grace Wood
To be held (the Lion Lady Venus, Yeezy Fall 2020) (Verso Detail)
Digital photographic print on wallpaper, mdf, paint
120 X 190cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$3,900

Venus de Milo with pom poms (Issey Miyake Fall 2020)
C-type photographic print on Cansen Rag, mounted on board with handpainted edge
50 X 60cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$900

Grace Wood
To be held (the Lion Lady Venus, Yeezy Fall 2020) (Verso Detail)
Digital photographic print on wallpaper, mdf, paint
120 X 190cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$3,900

Venus de Milo with pom poms (Issey Miyake Fall 2020)
C-type photographic print on Cansen Rag, mounted on board with handpainted edge
50 X 60cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$900

Grace Wood
To be held (the Lion Lady Venus, Yeezy Fall 2020) (Verso Detail)
Digital photographic print on wallpaper, mdf, paint
120 X 190cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$3,900

Venus de Milo with pom poms (Issey Miyake Fall 2020)
C-type photographic print on Cansen Rag, mounted on board with handpainted edge
50 X 60cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$900

Grace Wood
Portals
Digital photographic print on wallpaper installed in vitrine
89 X 127 cm
Ed 3 + 2 A.P.
2020
$2,200

Grace Wood
You can’t change the ocean or the weather, no matter how hard
you try, so it’s best to learn how to sail in all conditions
Digital photographic print on wallpaper, mdf, paint
90 X 120cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
$2,800

Grace Wood
You can’t change the ocean or the weather, no matter how hard
you try, so it’s best to learn how to sail in all conditions
Digital photographic print on wallpaper, mdf, paint
90 X 120cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
$2,800

Grace Wood
You can’t change the ocean or the weather, no matter how hard
you try, so it’s best to learn how to sail in all conditions
Digital photographic print on wallpaper, mdf, paint
90 X 120cm
Ed. 3 + 2 A.P.
$2,800

Grace Wood
There Are No New Waves, Only Ocean
Installation view
LON Gallery
October 26 - November 21
2020

Grace Wood’s practice is sprawling and tangential. For Wood, the sourcing, splicing and recontextualization of imagery found in virtual
spaces is a process through which to explore the endless possibilities of access and dispersion online. Creating collage-based installations,
Wood exploits the active status of the contemporary photographic document to examine the rapidly shifting idiosyncrasies of the internet
archive, art history and pop culture. Wood’s practice dismantles photography’s strict mnemonic function, using found photographs, inter-
net images, archival documents and iPhone snaps to alter archives and produce new mythologies.

In her current exhibition at LON Gallery – There are no new waves, only ocean – Wood responds to the particularities of 2020, creating
spliced visual metaphors that reflect upon heightened interest in ideas around illness and viruses. Exploring the semantic multiplicity
of terms such as ‘waves’ and ‘second wave’, Wood draws analogy between ideas of contagion and the natural world to demonstrate the
power of both as forces that engulf and drown.

There are no new waves, only ocean reminds us that the floodgates of the internet provide new opportunities and challenges. In creating
surreal mythologies through her work, Wood asks us to consider who these images belong to. If they belong to the internet, they belong
to everyone, having entered public discourse through bootleg sharing. Wood readily demonstrates her own complicity in this process of
downloading and manipulating, instead offering a critique of digital technology’s capacity to generate, alter and namelessly disperse
images, void of accountability.

The effects of reduced mobility and connectivity have not only influenced the visual outcomes of Wood’s practice but also the way in which
she works. Being unable to move freely, Wood’s practice of mining the internet for images has found new meaning as one of the only
ways to maintain connection with people, ideas, inspiration outside of your immediate surroundings. Whilst digital technology has been
our primary source of access to information since the end of the 20th century, there is a new found dependency in attempting to access
the people we love, the places we miss, the communities we need. Wood explores this dependency through notions of tethering – its
multiple definitions exemplifying the intricacies in her practice.

tethering (noun)
          1. the action of tying an animal with a rope or chain so as to restrict its movement.
          2. the linking of a computer or other device to a smartphone in order to connect to the Internet.

Rather than a simple translation of the global crisis, Wood explores the paradox of connectivity afforded by the internet. Through process
of mapping personal references and eclectic research interests, Wood interrogates the rapid and unconscious cataloguing of imagery we
encounter every day. Referencing art historical traditions and contemporary sub-cultures, Wood merges the past and the present as a way
to blur the line between fact and fiction.

In To be held (the Lion Lady Venus, Yeezy Fall 2020), Wood frames the artefact as a traceable but unknowable object. The work translates
Wood’s research into Der Löwenmensch, or The Lion Man/Lady, a sculpture carved from mammoth ivory dated at 40,000 years old.
The sculpture is considered the oldest known to humankind, found in a cave in Germany in 1931. Interestingly, originally having been
declared The Lion Lady, modern science has identified it to be a representation of a male. In To be held, pieces of the original sculpture
are scattered throughout the large collage with hands reaching out from them and objects adorning them. In their stylised representation,
Wood exposes the fetishization of history and the readiness with which historical narratives pervade contemporary culture. In stripping
any object of its totality, Wood posits historical information as active fragments and unknowable truths. In juxtaposing centuries-old
artefacts and contemporary fashion, the device of anachronism becomes central to Wood’s work.

Similarly, in Venus de Milo with pom poms (Issey Miyake Fall 2020) Wood draws influence directly from Salvador DaIi’s Venus de Milo
with Drawers: a half-size plaster reproduction of the ancient Greek Venus de Milo sculpture, altered with pompon-decorated drawers in the
figure’s forehead, breasts, stomach, abdomen, and left knee. Dali’s work exemplifies Surrealist concerns by merging the rational forms of

both cabinet and female form to spark a new psychological encounter. The work fetishizes the uncanny sexual fantasy of merging these
two objects into a wholly useless form. In Venus de Milo with pom poms, Wood emphasises this process of unifying disparate elements to
create alternative encounter. The artefact is no longer a relic but can be manipulated, re-made and dressed up. Incorporating elements of
fashion culture in her works, Wood also explores the commodification of objects and the often synonymous sexualisation of the female
body. The incorporation of pearl elements as hanging devices throughout the exhibition ties together these elements of Wood’s enquiry. In
their natural state, pearls are formed as repellents, made by marine oysters and freshwater mussels as a defence against an irritant such
as a parasite entering their shell or damage to their fragile body. Once removed and transformed into wearable adornment, the pearl
is deemed valuable for something other than its original use. As is declared by Dali’s work, the commodification of objects to ultimately
suspend their practicality is explored throughout Wood’s practice, the image transcending object-ness as it demonstrates its malleability.

Throughout the exhibition, the use and disruption of framing devices is central to facilitating processes of recontextualization. This effect
is most prominently deployed in Portals – a digital photographic print on wallpaper installed in a vitrine. The image the least visually
manipulated in the show, instead its display functioning to expose Wood’s interest in the ways we access information and how these
portals influence what we see. In Portals, the pearl motif returns to frame glimpses of blue-sky subset into a vast mountainous landscape.
The decorative pearl framing suggests a domestic or feminisied space, and one could conclude these portals are mirrors looking back at
the viewer. It is difficult to discern whether one image has been cut-through or the other overlaid, forcing us to abandon any naturalised
assumption of foreground and background. There is an immediate sense of disorientation in viewing Portals, as the horizon line no longer
acts as an assured and stable reference point. At a time in which the screen functions as a portal to the world, Wood became interested in
how art can also function as a type of access point. Pearl framed glimpses of sky, and other framing devices throughout this body of work,
act as a directive to contemplate the relationship between images and their borders: what is included and what is excluded? In Venus
de Milo with pom poms (Issey Miyake Fall 2020), a catwalk model is centred but not contained within a wooden frame. In letting each
image intermingle, none is discernible as its original but rather becomes a part of a new whole. What Wood’s practice does best is propel
unlikely images into a state of dependency, dismantling hierarchies that assign value to images of the past, present and future.

For Wood, the ocean and its patterns provide a metaphor for the rhythms of this year. In exploring parallel ideas of contagion and the
natural world, a sustained tension permeates Wood’s work. The sea provides a metaphor for the uncertainty of a source: one can know
the original force and its predicted direction, but its form morphs and adapts as it transcends contexts. As the world experiences ‘waves’
and ‘second waves’, and exerts every effort to disrupt this natural progression, Wood deploys recurring water-toned motifs to encapsulate
the uncontrollable and necessarily reflective function of this year. As the title of the exhibition suggests, there are no new images, only
new ways to see them.

In To be contained (Buckets), Wood’s tongue in cheek title reminds us of the absurdity and unpredictability of a year in which survival has
hinged on community cooperation and illuminated the often-unforgiving pursuit of individual gain. In this work, Wood explores what is
known as the ‘crab mentality theory’ to reflect on the way in which social climates dictate personal and collective behaviour. Crab men-
tality is best described by the common phrase, ‘if I can’t have it, neither can you’” When a cast of crabs are placed in a bucket, it is true
that one can easily escape, however, its efforts will be undermined by the group to ensure collective demise. Or out of fear of this very
outcome, individual ambition will not be pursued in the first place. It is difficult to consider this without considering the rhetoric around
‘the herd mentality’ that infiltrated public discussion for much of this year. Interestingly, both mentalities rely on the premise of conformi-
ty, declaring individual gain or difference as detrimental to collective good. In To be contained (Buckets), handbags stand in as make-shift
buckets, whilst suspended fish reminiscent of Danish lamps work to unify uncanny natural elements. With glimpse of high-end luxury
fashion brands overlaying a traditional Hokusai Japanese landscape, we are confronted by the contemporary world’s relentless commodi-
fication of objects that fuel trends and inspire conformity. Through what systems and practices do we assign value to objects and images?
In To be contained, the representational function of each image becomes a vehicle for demonstrating both difference and complicity. In
the cartography of disparate elements, Wood constructs a strange but familiar narrative. The relationality between images reminds us of
the exhausting task of ordering the world through visual means.

When earlier in this year five experienced surfers were killed by a massive seafoam wave of the coast of the Netherlands, Wood became
interested in the unruly and unforgiving phenomenon. A quick Google demonstrates just how frightening the capabilities of seafoam
are, completely drowning coastal towns, covering cars, buildings and street lights in thick white foam. As Wood warns in the title of her
work, You can’t change the ocean or the weather, no matter how hard you try, so it’s best to learn how to sail in all conditions. In this
digital photographic print, an aerial image of Earth’s weather patterns provides the backdrop for a series of floating objects. Whipped up
into frenzy, bronze busts and colonial statues are ripped from the solidity of plinth or ground. Wood’s work reminds us of the necessity
of the natural world’s rhythms. The work suggests a relinquishing control, not to naturalise the order of things but to illuminate our own
complicity in refusing to learn or adapt.

This is the underlying tension throughout There are no new waves, only ocean. Wood’s recent body of work was produced under the
conditions of a year that provided endless tangents of inquiry. There is no accumulative comfort in encountering images that feel familiar,
but rather a confrontation with the need to constantly reflect on the unstable and assumed value we assign to images. Ultimately, Wood’s
acute eye makes maps the possibilities of virtual access to sense of the relationship between objects and moments in time.

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Grace Wood graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) in 2014 and has since exhibited
extensively in Australia.

Some recent exhibitions include A weird kind of fiction-consumption, LON Gallery, Ersatz, Cool Change Contemporary, WA, 2019; The
world, a liver (receives everyone and everything), Mayfair Gallery, NT; Edibles, St Heliers Street Gallery, VIC, 2019; Looking but not seeing,
Benalla Art Gallery, VIC, 2018; Spring 1883, the Hotel Windsor, 2018; There is a pain - so utter, Gertrude Glasshouse, 2018; Last Drinks,
LON Gallery, 2018; SATURATED : SATURATION, Sister Gallery, SA, 2017; Is this necessary?, Cut Thumb Laundry QLD, 2017 and Like a Has-
selblad on the moon, West Space, 2017. Grace completed a public art commission for City of Stonnington in 2020 and has been awarded
a major commission at the Botanic Gardens as part of PHOTO 2021 Festival. Grace’s practice has been profiled in Art Collector and Vault
Magazines.

Her work is held in public and private collections in Australia, including the City of Stonnington and Artbank.

LON
GALLERY