Photographic print/Print
Maker & role
Gerwyn Davies (b.1985), Artist
Production date
01 Nov 2021
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Object detail
Title
Elizabeth Farm
Production place
Collection
Measurements
H: 120 x W: 120cm (H: 1200 x W: 1200mm)
Production notes
Produced as part of a series of 12 images to be exhibited with associated costumes in Iridescent exhibition at Museum of Sydney 4 Dec 2021- 24 April 2022
Credit line
Commission, 2021
Corporate Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Corporate Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Caption
Elizabeth Farm, Gerwyn Davies, 2021, archival inkjet print
Description
Queer contemporary photographic artist and costume maker Gerwyn Davies was commissioned to create 12 original photographs responding to 12 sites managed by what was Sydney Living Museums (SLM) and the NSW State Archives and Records Authority (SARA) now Museums of History NSW. Davies makes a series of queer interventions into the sites, dramatically transforming them into stages upon which extravagant performances are played out for the camera. Rather than recount the familiar narratives of these properties, Davies has drawn upon the whispers and slivers of their lesser-known histories, reimagining them in a way that often challenges the official narratives using humour and subversion.
This image, take in the garden at Elizabeth Farm, was inspired by the ornate schneeballen vases in the collection Vaucluse House, and the story of the Macarthur family. The establishing of European style gardens as part of colonial bungalows and villas was common practice by the colonial elite in NSW. The establishment of these gardens acted as a means of displaying wealth and taste, as well as a physical stamping of the landscape in an act of ownership.
This image, take in the garden at Elizabeth Farm, was inspired by the ornate schneeballen vases in the collection Vaucluse House, and the story of the Macarthur family. The establishing of European style gardens as part of colonial bungalows and villas was common practice by the colonial elite in NSW. The establishment of these gardens acted as a means of displaying wealth and taste, as well as a physical stamping of the landscape in an act of ownership.
Accession number
HHT2021/16
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