Conceived during Valender’s artistic residency at The University of Melbourne’s Dookie campus for the Centre of Visual Arts’ Art + Ecology program, Field stands as a mesmerising multi-channel video installation.
Comprising four films — Re-search, Bovine Harp, Artist as Animal and Sediment — the exhibition unfolds against the scenic backdrop of endless canola fields and dairy farms in Dookie.
Each film seamlessly blends sculpture, performance and video, exploring various facets of agricultural life and the intricate connection between art and the natural world. Sediment recently earned international recognition as the Australian recipient of the Saatchi Art for Change prize.
Navigating the intersection of art and agriculture, Field takes spectators on an unexpected journey through the region.
Through Valender’s lens, the familiar landscape of Dookie is transformed, inviting viewers to witness the region through an outsider’s eyes.
“While making the works for Field, I was instantly drawn to the rhythm and mechanics of the college’s robotic milking shed and laboratories,” Valender said.
“The seemingly endless fields of golden canola, with brilliant blue cloudless skies overhead, also made the surrounding landscapes ready-made artworks in themselves.”
Valender’s cinematic landscapes encourage viewers to reassess the profound connections embedded in the heart of the countryside, presenting a colourful celebration of the resilience that defines rural life.
“Through her durational performances, Jen Valender highlights the labour and resilience required by the farming industry to succeed,” SAM curator-community Caroline Esbenshade said.
“The work is a celebration of the region, an invitation to see the fields and paddocks around us as cinematic landscapes and a nod to the ties between the metropolitan and suburban to the rural.”
Field is more than an exhibition; it is an immersive experience transcending conventional boundaries, bridging the gap between urban and rural, art and agriculture.
Jen Valender’s Field is on display at the Hugh D.T. Williamson Community Gallery at SAM until May 5, with free entry.
