Xanthe Muston
Winner of the 2021 Tim Olsen Drawing Prize
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Xanthe Muston, ‘I Couldn’t (Can’t) Explain It’ 2021. Watercolour, ink, and gouache on paper. 110 x 78 cm. Image courtesy: the artist. Â
Artist statement
Narratives play a central role in our ability to make sense of the world. However, some lived experiences resist narrativity. Influenced by Raymond Carver’s short story ‘Why 51³Ô¹Ïapp You Dance?’, my drawing seeks to describe, rather paradoxically, an ineffable experience of surreal human connection. Combining the literal and abstract, I use my mark making to express the tension found in articulating in-between moments of intangible meaning that one couldn’t (and most probably can’t) explain. Â
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Acknowledgement of Country
UNSW School of Art & Design stands on an important place of learning and exchange first occupied by the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples.
We acknowledge the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land that our students and staff share, create and operate on. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend this respect to all First Nations peoples across Australia. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
