Jonathan McBurnie, TOO MANY BIRDS (HEAVY BLUES) (detail), 2019. Ink, watercolor and collage on paper, 57 x 77cm. Courtesy: the artist and Artspace Mackay, Mackay.

North Queensland artist Jonathan McBurnie draws upon the aesthetics of professional wrestling, a performative genre he describes as a fascinating paradox: “on one level it’s a fiction with planned storylines and predetermined victories and losses; and on another level it’s all too real with a high physical toll, frequent injuries and subsequent self-medication.” The exhibition of new drawings on a large, immersive scale are inspired by parallels between professional wrestling and McBurnie’s personal experience of continuing his creative practice amid illness and the impact of an ongoing recovery.

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