Aaron Philander

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ARTIST CATALOGUE

The Shed

This body of work engages with coloured identity, specifically the reclamation of pride in my colouredness. Having attended a privileged, predominantly white primary school and being surrounded by white groups of friends, I felt I lost my sense of colouredness. This discomfort of being pulled in two directions of not being white enough or not being coloured enough, forced me to act in certain ways to cope and fit in. Having to perform a kind of whiteness to fit in, but then evidently feeling a sense of guilt and resentment towards my otherness. 

I use precariousness as a way of grappling with these issues of discomfort. The feeling of uncertainty/instability is expressed throughout the work, and the precarity of the way work is constructed and exhibited is evident. The confrontational nature of the work is present because of its precarity, not only toward myself but the viewer as well. Forcing the viewers to become active facilitators/collaborators as they navigate their way through the work.

The materials I use are embedded in personal experiences. These materials hold the essence of where my colouredness lies, as most of the materials are found in my shed. They hold memories of my coloured family; these rusted weathered materials have an obscure beauty that is difficult to appreciate at first glance, which echoes some of my feelings around heritage and identity. Whether it be the rusted tools that have been sitting in the shed or the weathered relics that were found in my nana’s cupboards, when these materials are reconstructed into something new, they bring a sense of home into the exhibition space and my understanding of what colouredness is.