Janet Laurence: After Nature | Review
Janet Laurence: After Nature at the Museum of Contemporary Art draws attention to wider environmental concerns while comprehensively tracing the evolution of contemporary Australian artist Janet Laurence’s work across her career.
The exhibition is curated by Rachel Kent and is split into two segments across the same floor; on one side a vast survey of Laurence’s research and work is displayed while on the other a work specifically commissioned for this exhibition features. This commissioned work acts almost as a trophy for Laurence’s practice as it immerses the senses in the beauty of nature while contrasting it with elements that are both hostile and artificial. It epitomises Laurence’s work which opens discussion and blurs the lines between what is natural and what is artificial, allowing us to question our impact on the natural environment.
The massive installation Theatre of the Trees (2018-19) has been constructed with ever-changing and engaging sheer drops of fabric featuring complex, layered digital forest projections that engage all our senses. This work is also comprised of a series of anti-rooms which showcase specimens, vials and scientific paraphernalia. Overall, this combination of mesh, glass, video and image installations bewilder our senses evoking a rainforest and laboratory while simultaneously feeling somewhat out of place in the traditional gallery space.
We question the legitimacy of this world Laurence has immersed us in, and begin to question the validity of silken, fabricated strands of mesh and the shaky projections of organic matter. In addition, the sterile concrete floors and large white walls play a large role in catapulting us back into the reality of the gallery space. Laurence’s use of the space is more than a camouflage, but rather, acts as an allusion to allow us to see how the boundary between nature and the artificial has been blurred in real life.
On the other side of the exhibition Laurence presents a survey of her art-making, which showcases decades of her research into the natural environment, specifically trees, and their use as a metaphor for healing the planet and the repercussions when we mistreat the environment and manipulate it. In her visual discussions she distinguishes between life and death within nature presenting an overarching idea of ephemerality. In the work Heartshock (After Nature) 2009, a monumental dead tree lies in the centre of the gallery space (for which an entire wall of the gallery had to be removed). This work is a stand-out and a direct reference to death in relation to nature.
The immense scale of the work encompasses viewers within its branches and we empathise for the pain this tree has endured and the wounds that have been childishly bandaged up. However, on close inspection we see that the tree has been sown into segments and arranged to create a holistic sense of life. The tree is merely a decomposing remnant of natural beauty that once lived. There is juxtaposition in the materials; we see a deceased tree that is scribbled in borer damage, yet also the wet sap that appears newly formed. This in turn creates a sense of immortality for viewers as we cannot distinguish between the life and death of this specimen. It leads us to think about the impact on the environment and the impact of our manmade, technological filled world.
Janet Laurence: After Nature commands the gallery environment through its scope and the use of scale. At a time when environmental concerns are paramount it captivates audiences with its beauty while challenging our thinking about the human impact on nature. Laurence’s exhibition enables us to ponder the essence of life, death and immortality of the environment in our contemporary world and beyond.
