20. Brenton Drechsler

20. Brenton Drechsler

Title: Looking West
Prize Status: Emerging Artist Prize Winner
Category: Emerging Artist
Dimensions (cm): 91h x 122w
Medium: Oil On Canvas

Statement:

This work depicts the main asphalt path that divides Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi, down its centre. The view faces West, towards Hutt Street. The green and white stripe depicts my inhuman alter-ego, disrupting, disturbing and distorting the landscape. My alter-ego cares not for the rules of perspective or is overly fond of neat and tidy straight lines. The intention of my alter-ego is to subvert the landscape, twisting and turning its familiarity into something alternative. I do this to speak to my subjective queer experiences, in heteronormative environments. The paint is handled loosely and speaks to foggy but passionate, personal memories of this well-worn path, often at night. In my twenties, I rented a room behind The Three Benches Cafe in Dulwich, on Swift Avenue, which is a short walk from the racecourse. I also worked there, part time. My second part time job was at the Historian Hotel, on Coromandel Place, in the CBD. I used this pathway to walk, ride and sometimes run to and from, from shift to shift, 5 to 6 days a week. I felt content doing hard, honest work in hospitality – yet constantly unsettled by the experiences I faced as a Queer person, serving a predominantly conservative and heteronormative crowd. The memories of these years are good ones punctuated by less than good, yet my connection to this path is one of peace, contemplation – via walking in the fresh air – and optimism for a creative future.