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| Rox De Luca with her work. photo: Ian Hobbs Media |
Rox De Luca is an artist based in Sydney. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Visual) from Canberra School of Art/ANU (1985) and a Graduate Diploma in Arts Administration, University of NSW (1988). Rox exhibits regularly in solo and group exhibitions. In 2020 she held a solo exhibition Still gleaning for plastics, on the beach, at Articulate project space, Sydney, and was selected for Contour 556 in Canberra. Her grants and awards include a Fremantle Arts Centre Artist Residency in 2019, Sculpture by the Sea in 2013 and 2016, NSW Gallery Society Award.
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Rox De Luca, Various garlands, found plastics and wire |
My current work focuses on concepts of consumption, abundance and waste, and arises from the plastic detritus I collect from my local beaches, Bondi Beach and Rose Bay. The process of collecting and sorting the plastics by colour and size is fastidious. I follow this initial gathering and sorting process by threading the components onto strings of wire. The resulting sculptural garlands and tangled mound constructions are reflections of my coastal home and the greater human landscape of waste. When completed, these bundles stand in stark contrast to the ease of disposability associated with the materials that arrive on the shoreline or accumulate as landfill, as evidence of our collective human neglect and destruction of the environment around us. My gleaning of plastics has usually been a solo practice, but during this difficult global pandemic, I have been buoyed by social interactions with others who are concerned with the plastics problems we humans are facing. Participating in clean-up groups like Splash for Trash (Rose Bay), or Bondi Beach Clean Up, or meeting The Sisters of Perpetual Plastix and Rebecca Prince-Ruiz from Plastic-free July, are ways to reflect upon, albeit sombrely, our relationship with plastic and how we plan to continue to live in this world.
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Rox De Luca, Tristeza negra, (detail), found plastics and wire |
During my residency at Gunyah, I plan to make the most of the tranquil setting - to read, write and reflect on my practice, without the usual domestic constraints and interruptions. I welcome the opportunity to be away from my home and home-based studio, which has changed since the Pandemic as family members are connected to home more often. In addition, the Gunyah residency would allow me to respond to a different coastal location. I would also like to connect with local environment groups or individuals, to walk locally and look for plastics along the area’s waterways.
To see more of Rox's work go to her website roxdeluca.com
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Rox De Luca, Tristeza roja, (detail), found plastics and wire |
