Emma Pinsent
PhD Art & Design
Emma Pinsent, ‘Coming together, falling apart’ 2023, Cotton voile, organic and inorganic matter from Arakwal beaches (saltwater, fungi, eroded coffee rock, rust from objects), copper oxide, thread and steel eyelets, H 2.5 x L 3.5 m. Image courtesy: Emma Pinsent. Photo: Emily Dimizantos.
Artist statement
Coming together, falling apart makes porous boundaries between the inside and outside. Made in collaboration with the local matter of Arakwal beaches in Northern NSW, the fabric was submerged in the ocean and left in the dunes for months to erode with the elements and rust from car bodies dumped on site. A ubiquitous feature in the domestic space, the now-weathered curtain invites the very elements we try to exclude. The work bears witness to the precarity of the coast, allowing us to bear witness to it, too.
@emmapinsent
Acknowledgement of Country
UNSW School of Art & Design stands on an important place of learning and exchange first occupied by the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples.
We acknowledge the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land that our students and staff share, create and operate on. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend this respect to all First Nations peoples across Australia. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
