2023 Tatiara Art Prize Winner

Ray HARRIS ​

(Adelaide, South Australia)

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Ophelia of Suburbia
video performance, 4.20 min. duration

acquired by Tatiara District Council 

 

Artist statement:

Ophelia of Suburbia nods to an earlier work of mine, again referencing well known paintings of Ophelia brought into a modern suburban context.

 

Ophelia of Suburbia speaks as the character and her poignant depictions of love, death, grief, and nature but extended to our current enduring environmental devastation, anxiety, and detachment. Peacefully laying in the murky waters of the natural landscape, unaware of the danger and distress she is truly in, while around her houses are built, traffic hustles past and neighbourhoods extend further and further into precious natural landscapes. 

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Made while on residency in Port Noarlunga, a place of many beautiful, varied landscapes; rivers, beaches, forests and the ocean, Ophelia dies by her own hand without even realising, much like we are doing to ourselves as we push forth in the capitalist name of progress.