AWAY/A WAY, perspex, dimensions variable, cecilia white 2013

Cecilia White was selected for the HIDDEN 2013 Sculpture/Installation Walk at Rookwood Necropolis, Sydney.

AWAY/A WAY_cw

AWAY/A WAY_cw

In literal terms ‘AWAY’ suggests movement to or from another place, both departure and emergence. It can also be read as ‘A WAY’, suggesting a path, a mediating connection or resolution between distant points. Death creates both the ultimate distance and desire to connect or resolve.  Memory, like breathing, is a form of movement dislocating, altering experiences, transforming our mind, body and emotions. And again, like breathing, memory is also a mediator, a path along which grief’s dissonance, the (not) t/hereness, may find some balance between loss and (multigenerational) existence.

Inspired by the order and paths of the Rookwood Military Cemetery, where her father is remembered, Cecilia White explores the cut of grief and the path of memory with which the self may actively connect. AWAY’s outline, like an arm-raised questioning self, asks what connection, alignment may arise, like memory and breath, if a person were to enter and engage with the space AWAY? What is remembered or resolved? And when AWAY moves away, after de-installation, what trace reveals its self? Quoting the Dalai Lama  ‘even emptiness is full’ this work, including a solo performance reflects on connection, life and that we are each others’ breath.

The Rookwood Necroplis is an inspired space. Generous in both physical and spiritual size, it offers a rare opportunity to engage with the shift from life to death in myriad ways and A/WAY. Existence is both absence and presence – for without one, we would not have the other.  The de-installation of AWAY/A WAY reminds us of that, leaving a trace – as emotions always do… at least for a while.

trace away_cecilia white 2013

HIDDEN 2013 Sculpture Walk
www.hidden.rookwoodcemetery.com.au/
21 September – 30 October 2013

rookwood_old cemetery

This project has benefited from an Arts & Design Grant courtesy of Arc @ UNSW Limited.

in sight_cecilia white