SPACE 2 : OLIVIA SIDDAWAY

Exhibition dates. 26 Jan - 6Feb, 2022
Opening night. Thu 27 Jan 2022, 6 - 8.30pm.

Olivia Siddaway is a Melbourne based photographic artist that works with both analogue and alternative processes. She is most interested in darkroom techniques and explores the sensitising of different surfaces paired with digital negatives to produce images with ultra-violent light. Working primarily in medium format Olivia is drawn to natural and urban landscapes and compositions that employ a shallow depth of field.

Her exhibition entitled “Life is a Journey” is a series of 15 images that are a combination of black and white silver gelatin prints, cyanotypes on paper and a fabric photogram.

This body of work has been inspired by the stillness of place that is devoid of life however human presence is felt. With each image depicts the juxtaposition between the beginning of a journey and the human desire for escapism. Represented through compositions of doorways, windows, paths and roads, each image leads the viewers gaze into the depth of the photograph to imagine and wonder what could be beyond. The eye following that cobblestone road with uncertainty of the destination and wondering if this path will provide an escape from tragedy and hardships. What will be discovered at the end of the road, through the window or behind that door. Is it what we have been craving and wishing for or is the grass not always greener on the other side.

Exhibition view