Each piece in Tobias’ latest exhibition, Siege, is constructed around a classic gallery plinth. ‘An empty plinth is the ironic logical sequence when following the trajectory of deconstructing the structures that define Western art. A blank plinth is so rich and classic, an ark for art,’ he says.
The use of wood as the prime material is sympathetic both to Tobias’ skills as a sculptor and as one of the materials inherent to medieval architecture. The wood is from a timber yard, suspended in a tertiary state having already been dressed but neutral. ‘It is from this position that I like to approach materials rather than from a raw or primary state,’ says Tobias.
Tobias Richardson is an associate lecturer in studio practice with Charles Darwin University’s School of Creative Arts and Humanities.
He has exhibited widely in Darwin for the last three and believes the conversion of alternate spaces into a place to display art is essential: ‘The historical Wesleyan Church associates the work with the past, which is the underpinning of Siege’.
Siege will be showing at the Wesleyan Church, George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, Darwin, from 16 March to 1 April 2007, with the opening on Friday 16 March from 6pm.