Elke Wohlfahrt: For Better or Worse

ROOMSHEET

Open 11am-5pm, Thursday to Sunday, from Thursday 19 April until Saturday May 5^th, consistent with the project space project on at the same time.

Closing drinks: Friday 4 May, 6-8pm.

This is an ongoing project commenced approximately 10 years ago. I confronted my upbringing as a child in Germany post WWII where silence was used to compensate and cope with the guilt load of the past. This memory was triggered by my encounter with the silence of suburbia, which isolated me again with its eerie quietness.

The reaction in my artistic practice was to carve little busts without mouths, which lived in dwelling-like objects that I built for them. The tightness of these early structures related to the high-density apartment housing in Germany, which in the past 10 years has been replicated over and over in Sydney. The latest structures are more reflective of my wishful thinking that there is more creativity in the world.

In 2003, we protested against the invasion of Iraq. In vain, our protests were ignored as if we had never spoken up. Today our situation is even worse. Not only do our politicians and bosses rarely appreciate our opinions and wishes, we are even bombarded with fake news. Maybe one day my busts will change and get lips and mouths reflecting those who don’t give up and continue to voice what is true and just.