Artists statement

In 'The Frilled-neck Filly of Bundoora Homestead', West reflects upon the influence of European domestic animals over the Australian environment and the radical impact of introduced animals on the natural flora and fauna. The ‘Frilled-neck Filly’, a fantastic hybrid curio of lizard and horse, takes up a somewhat menacing stance a short distance away from Bundoora Homestead, a stately Queen Anne style Federation mansion and horse stud. The artwork was created first as a diorama with a hand-painted background and then photographed through glass, flattening the texture to further distort the legitimacy of colonial settlement.

Artist Bio
Sharon West is a local Darebin artist with a studio in Northcote who practices principally in the mediums of painting, assemblage and digital media. Since 1999 she has taught visual arts in the School of Art at RMIT University. In 2009, West completed her Masters of Art at RMIT University examining the relationship between settler and Indigenous cultures within the context of Australian colonial art history.

She is the recipient of various awards including the Excellence in Conceptual Photography Award Kodak Salon (CCP, 2011) Bendigo Bank Emerging Award for the ANL Maritime Art Awards (Mission to Seafarers, 2011), and winner of the Darebin Art Show (2011). Her artwork is held in public collections including the State Library of Victoria, City of Melbourne and the Museum of the British Empire (UK) as well as many private collections.