MATTER - KOLBUSZ SPACE, PERTH 12.8.22
Taking as its subject the notion of weeds, MATTER is a body of work that seeks to question the anthropocentric tendency of assigning value to the natural world.
on MATTER
Put simply, a weed is a question of context; a plant successfully occupying an ecological niche outside of that which it is native to. It is a pejorative term we use to define those untameable species that grow and thrive in unwanted and inconvenient places. Many of which we originally, deliberately, introduced them to. Yet, to identify and subscribe to this uncomfortable thought process compels a re-thinking of all the same ideas that conveniently assert our status within the world. By extension, questioning our dominance; be it in terms of ecology – or otherwise.
MATTER sees Kotsoglo working with plants considered noxious weeds in Australia (namely Broom, Gorse and Blackberry). These same plants are native to Scotland, where Kotsoglo has lived for the last few years. Using a laborious hatching technique to build layers of tone and texture, these species are represented alongside those endemic to Western Australia in a manner that leaves the two barely distinguishable from one another.
Employing a range of black and white drawing techniques, from hatching to erasing, MATTER presents a dynamic cross-section of Kotsoglo’s creative output. From work that sits at the intersect of naturalism and abstraction, to works with elements overtly expressionistic in nature, MATTER seeks to invite close attention and contemplation in exploring the complexities of an untameable world.