GALLERY 1
FOYER SPACE + SPACE B
EDEN
LIA STEELE
Eden is a series of photographs that examines the transitory stage of youth and
human’s relationship with nature through thirty-five portraits of young people from
around Australia.
In each headshot the subject is placed unclothed with nature as a backdrop,
staring impassively at the camera. With no evidence of the subjects’ context (apart
from tattoos or piercings) the images present, with idealised sincerity, the romantic
beauty of youth.
By referencing the biblical Garden of Eden, and by placing young people in edenic
backgrounds, Lia Steele explores the notion of youth as an idyllic time of purity and
innocence, an unspoiled paradise.
For the three-week duration of the exhibition, the work will be divided into the
conventional gallery-space format plus eleven large-scale prints installed
throughout the grounds of the Abbotsford convent.
These outdoor works mark and compliment the re-birth of Spring.
The harmonisation of the artworks within the naturalistic setting will allow viewers
to feel a balance between nature and culture, witness the cycle of birth, death, and
rebirth, and lament upon the sanctity of life.
