Sixteen illuminated glass shields held aloft by electric cables cast their ethereal shadow on a cloud-like oblong white podium at the heart of My Country, a breathtaking new exhibition hosted at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia. Emerging artists from each Australian state and territory were commissioned for the exhibition, and the resulting artworks will all become part of the Gallery’s permanent collection.
These violent delights, Aidan Hartshorn’s stunning sculptural lighting installation, marks a new direction for the Walgalu and Wiradjuri man raised in the small rural town of Tumut nestled in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains. Each of the diamond-shaped glass panels represents both the proud tradition of Wiradjuri bark shields and also the erasure of Culture through the 16 dams of the Snowy Hydro system, vanishing the Tumut River and flooding the sacred site where he should have been initiated.
