Alison Mackay | Thinking Inside the Box OLSEN Annexe, 11 – 28 September 2024
Alison Mackay’s distinctive paintings on unfolded domestic packaging explore the eclectic interiors of ‘The Artists’ Houses’ in Far North Queensland, Kulki Beach house at Cape Tribulation and the surrounding Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest.
The irregular shape of these tiny panoramas highlights the dimensionality of each space, whether it’s inside or outside. Up close, the detailed observations celebrate everything from interior décor to the patterns on tropical fish.
The unfolded packaging – repurposed tea and drug packets, food and takeaway containers and collaged book pages – shows the surrounding circumstances, both mental and physical, for the artist. Books being read, food consumed and even Covid test packets from the height of the pandemic when some of the works were made.
The media used are deliberately simple - just Sharpie pens and gouache – with the initial drawings made in situ. The direct and indelible mark-making using the Sharpie pen is part of the commitment to the process. Marks, once made, are not able to be erased. The colour, in the form of gouache paint, is added later in the studio.
These works reference concepts of recycling and consumer culture, but are also an exploration and celebration of the places, both inside and outside, that are important to the artist.
Alison Mackay
The Artists' Cottage (Kitchen) sharpie, gouache and collage on unfolded tea packet
29 x 47 cm
#35904
Framed
$1,500
Alison Mackay
The Artists' Beach House (Wonga) sharpie and gouache on unfolded tea and drug packets
29 x 53.5 cm
#35905
Framed
$1,700
Alison Mackay
Kulki (Rainforest Clearing)
sharpie and gouache on unfolded tea and drug packets
33 x 80 cm
#35906
Framed
$2,000
Alison Mackay
Balcony Birds
sharpie, gouache and collage on unfolded tea and drug packets
33 x 52 cm
#35907
Framed
$1,700
Alison Mackay
The Peacock Wallpaper (Artists' Tree House) sharpie, gouache and collage on unfolded tea and drug packets
29 x 48 cm
#35908
Framed
$1,500
Alison Mackay
The Green Sofa (Artists' Cottage) sharpie, gouache and collage on unfolded drug packets
34 x 48 cm
#35909
Framed
$1,500
Alison Mackay
The Artists' Nook FNQ (diptych) sharpie and gouache on unfolded takeaway containers
38 x 76 cm
#35910
Framed
$2,000
Alison Mackay
Kulki Rainforest
sharpie and gouache on unfolded champagne boxes
55 x 75 cm
#35911
Framed
$2,200
Alison Mackay
The Bird Shelf (Artists' Tree House) sharpie, gouache and collage on unfolded tea and printer ink packets
29 x 60 cm
#35912
Framed
$1,800
Alison Mackay
#35913 Framed
$1,500
Alison Mackay
The Artists' Tree House FNQ
sharpie, gouache and collage on unfolded tea and drug packets
29 x 69 cm
#35914
Framed
$1,700
Alison Mackay
Bathroom (The Artists' Cottage)
sharpie and gouache on unfolded tea packet
29 x 47 cm
#35915
Framed
$1,500
Alison Mackay On the Deck (Kulki)
sharpie and gouache on unfolded drug packet
23 x 24.5 cm
#35916
Framed
$1,100
Alison Mackay White Tip (GBR)
sharpie and gouache on unfolded drug packet
23 x 27.5 cm
#35917
Framed
Alison Mackay
Alison Mackay Sweet Lips (GBR)
sharpie and gouache on unfolded drug packet
31 x 42 cm
#35919
Framed
$1,500
Alison Mackay
The Elephant Curtain (Artists' Nook) sharpie and gouache on unfolded tea packet
29 x 32 cm
#35920
Framed
$1,200
Alison Mackay
Strangler Fig (Kulki)
sharpie and gouache on unfolded packaging
44 x 40 cm
#35921
Framed
$1,500
