Chrystal Rimmer
Dead Weight
Plastic waste , debris, steel, concrete
190 x 50 x 50cm
$5000
about
the
work
‘Dead Weight’ symbolises the profound sense of loss felt when witnessing the death of forest ecosystems.
Drawing on visions of burning forest on the East Coast of Australia in the summer of 2019-2022, the ghostly white trunks of the dead and dying trees haunt me. In an attempt to remedy this haunting, the construction of ‘Dead Weight’, involves several acts of care.
Collecting plastic waste from forest floors, I clear the landscape of pollution. Then melting, casting and welding the plastic waste together to create a permanent structure, I prevent the waste from returning to the landscape.
These small acts of care become ongoing acts of resistance. Suddenly, this ghost begins to symbolise resilience rather than loss.
bio
In an exploration of ‘nature’ and the intricacies of human experience, Chrystal Rimmer ventures into the dynamic interplay between art, science and personal mythos.
Enchanted by future geologies, biologies, and ecologies, her creations delve into the fabric of our contemporary world, where trash melds seamlessly into the landscape's narrative. Rimmer dismantles the oversimplified dichotomy between nature and humanity, questioning conventional notions of 'wilderness' and the ‘pristine’. Plastic metamorphoses into nature itself—a living, ubiquitous entity. Here, a man-made material becomes a battlefield for challenging antiquated notions—a contemporary panorama that blends synthetic and organic currents, capturing visions of our entangled world.
Chrystal Rimmer is a 2019 MFA graduate from The National Art School. Rimmer recently returned from two international residencies in the Netherlands and Scotland where she explored the material qualities of aluminium waste and microplastic pollutants found along shorelines and bodies of water.
Having received numerous accolades, notably the esteemed Lift Off Award upon completing her MFA at The National Art School, Chrystal Rimmer's work resides in numerous private collections both nationally and internationally. Her exhibition history includes WAYOUT Art Space, DRAW Space and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
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