Heaven

ARTISTS STATEMENT

 
HEAVEN is one of three series of photographs taken in Paris, during my Australia Council residency at the Cite studio. It is about beauty trapped in an exquisite substance which turns into decor. These are fragmented views of the ornate, opulent ceilings of the Louvre. Walking through this celebrated museum I felt overwhelmed by the crowds of tourists and the superabundance of famous art works. I found myself glancing repeatedly towards the fantastic stucco creatures hovering over us all, above the traffic. I felt disorientated by these upward glimpses of angelic figures writhing over the architectural structure. The rythmic billowing and sweep of their drapery is petrified as a hard substance: gold. Through the viewfinder of my camera these fragments become almost abstract expressions of rapture. This celestial beauty is preserved by a Midas-like curse.

Anne MacDonald