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Now they are gone
I hold them
Hannah Bertram’s practise explores the possibility of preciousness in that which is overlooked and fleeting rather than what is traditionally esteemed, conserved or revered as precious. The complex position of Ornament - that simultaneously adds value and is functionally superfluous - is used to transform banal materials into temporary installations. Her work proposes an alternative experience of preciousness in which value is found not in the perpetuity and richness of ornamented objects, but within the subtlety of transient experiences.
Throughout Bertram’s practise she employs worthless materials, decoration, absence and temporality to question preciousness. Materials such as dust, ash, dirty water and grime are salvaged from the overlooked remains of life in motion. These materials normally settle as a patina over our domestic existence gently acknowledging the passing of time, or alternatively are removed from these spaces creating an illusion of timelessness. In the installation now they are gone, I hold them, Bertram uses ash from the recent Victorian bushfires. This seemingly worthless material, which is the actual and poetic echo of prior life, is transformed into a delicate ornate installation.
The decorative motifs, which are familiar imagery in much of Bertram’s work, reference the traditional function of ornament as adding value to an object. In prior works the patterns have plainly related to recognisable decorative objects such as lace, oriental carpets, wallpaper etc. In now they are gone, I hold them there is a shift away from direct references, into new freeform repetitive rhythms. Whilst still intricate and opulent the patterns which have been created through the action of washing away the ash, are now looser, meandering and haphazardly irregular.
The preciousness located in her installations, however, is not only found in the design or the materials but also in the immaterial ephemera of experience. The temporality of her work seeks to shift the value of the work from the concrete object, to the fugitive realm of experience. Once the work is gone, it is held in the mind of the viewer.
I hold them
Hannah Bertram’s practise explores the possibility of preciousness in that which is overlooked and fleeting rather than what is traditionally esteemed, conserved or revered as precious. The complex position of Ornament - that simultaneously adds value and is functionally superfluous - is used to transform banal materials into temporary installations. Her work proposes an alternative experience of preciousness in which value is found not in the perpetuity and richness of ornamented objects, but within the subtlety of transient experiences.
Throughout Bertram’s practise she employs worthless materials, decoration, absence and temporality to question preciousness. Materials such as dust, ash, dirty water and grime are salvaged from the overlooked remains of life in motion. These materials normally settle as a patina over our domestic existence gently acknowledging the passing of time, or alternatively are removed from these spaces creating an illusion of timelessness. In the installation now they are gone, I hold them, Bertram uses ash from the recent Victorian bushfires. This seemingly worthless material, which is the actual and poetic echo of prior life, is transformed into a delicate ornate installation.
The decorative motifs, which are familiar imagery in much of Bertram’s work, reference the traditional function of ornament as adding value to an object. In prior works the patterns have plainly related to recognisable decorative objects such as lace, oriental carpets, wallpaper etc. In now they are gone, I hold them there is a shift away from direct references, into new freeform repetitive rhythms. Whilst still intricate and opulent the patterns which have been created through the action of washing away the ash, are now looser, meandering and haphazardly irregular.
The preciousness located in her installations, however, is not only found in the design or the materials but also in the immaterial ephemera of experience. The temporality of her work seeks to shift the value of the work from the concrete object, to the fugitive realm of experience. Once the work is gone, it is held in the mind of the viewer.
h a n n a h b e r t r a m