Concrete expressions of life’s changing psychology
When you stand in front of one of Elliott Routledge’s sculptures, you are met with a reflection of yourself.
When you stand in front of one of Elliott Routledge’s sculptures, you are met with a reflection of yourself.
Towering at about 2m tall, the glass-reinforced concrete statues explore the psychology of early life and the impact it has on our long-term make-up.
“I’ve got two young kids, my wife is a human design expert and she was talking about what things change people when they’re younger and how they continue to affect us later on in life,” Routledge, 37, said. “My challenge is to represent that in my work.”
His work will be presented for the first time as part of the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair in September on behalf of the Olsen Gallery.
The Woollahra-based gallery in Sydney’s east is a veteran of the fair, having presented every year since its inception in 2011.
“It’s really the only opportunity in Sydney to bring together our artists,” gallery manager Benjamin Clay said.
“We typically follow exhibitions one after the other through the gallery, so it’s a great chance to pull our whole stable together alongside the best artists in the country and around the world.”
The Olsen Gallery will also present works of oil painter Dani Mckenzie and theatrical portrait photographer Jacqui Stockdale.
Routledge has chiselled hand-sculpted shapes that are balanced together, and coated them using heavy-duty construction material to create extrusions and facades, much like the large-scale murals he traditionally paints on streets and buildings, but this is the first time he has experimented with concrete monuments.
“They’re an extension of my painting work. I’ve basically taken elements of my painting and turned them 3D,” he said.
“I’ve been working with a concrete expert out west, who is guiding me on the best practices, but it’s been pretty unconventional for me.”
Routledge will be featured alongside established painters, like Aida Tomescu on behalf of Fox Jensen Gallery.
Tomescu’s collection of oil paintings is an extension of her prize work, Silent Spring – an explosion of reds and pinks on a linen canvas representing the Australian landscape.
The Sydney Contemporary Art Fair kicks off on September 9. Tickets are now available.
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