Tara Denny: Decorum

Void_Melbourne presents Tara Denny’s debut solo exhibition with the gallery, Decorum.

An artist is kept in hospital under mandatory confinement, handed mysterious slips of paper stating, ‘Sorry we could not make your order.’ How should one behave in times like these? Decorum, a new exhibition by Tara Denny, focuses on pulling the fragmented self back together in the face of a breakdown. Found materials are threaded into cast resin, plied with layers of spray paint and glue atop planks of wood to form wall-mounted sculptures. The lustre of metallic surfaces, such as cutlery or makeup, evoke the leftovers of late nights with peculiar company.

In her ambitious new work, Wishlist, the artist reckons with the formal echoes of a foregone nation’s flag. From this rupture emerge clusters of Pittman shorthand glyphs, translating words from Mina Loy’s Dada feminist manifesto. An indulgent romp ensues: dancing shoes; Sydney rock oysters; Victorian Leadlight glass; heritage listed house colours; Glomesh purse; and cast mantle pieces tied together with a delicate lattice of wax. Together they resemble a grotesque opulence, hiding beneath the illusory Australian dream.