Portrait of a House

EXHIBITION This Sydney exhibition offered an artist’s behindthe-scenes observations of the making of Peter Stutchbury Architecture’s Indian Head House, uncovering the soft edges beneath a tough house.

Words by Penny Craswell Photography by Louise Whelan

Portrait of a House is a visual story of a house, told by a photographer, yet rather than focusing on the end result, the portrait is of its emergence and evolution. This eight-minute film and accompanying stills are by artist Louise Whelan, and their subject is Indian Head House by Peter Stutchbury Architecture. Louise’s footage and photographs consist of a series of tableaus with minimal storytelling that nevertheless offers a powerful sense of place and architecture. Indian Head House is Peter’s own home in Avalon Beach in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Louise filmed the building over four years, a process that enabled her to capture every stage of its evolution: from diggers on site and carpenters sanding wood to, ultimately, the lived-in home. Peter’s respect for First Nations culture and knowledge is reflected in the opening moments of the film, during which Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison talks about the land and First Nations architecture and art. The film then begins with images of nature, a digger moving a rock, and a guitar player, presented without narration, instilling a sense of meditative calm and a focus on imagery, both still and moving, that continues throughout the film. Indian Head House has been described as the “tough house with soft edges,” and it is this softness that the film pursues. Peter talks about the house, including the difference between an intellectual and an aesthetic architecture; about being in tune with nature; and about how his partner, architect Fernanda Cabral, highlighted the importance of sociability in the project and heightened his awareness of the social responsibility they have as architects. The film shows how the pair lived on site in a tent during construction – a suggestion of Fernanda’s that, Peter says, made sense not just financially but also spiritually. The next section of the film focuses on the local craftspeople who constructed and finished the house by hand, and includes an interview with maker Jeffrey Broadfield. It then returns to Peter, who speaks about his idea of a “palette for the edge” – a notion connecting architecture to the land. As the film’s focus shifts, so too does Louise’s gaze, capturing people sanding wood, polishing metal and levelling off poured concrete, before homing in on details of the coast, a jagged rock, an ocean pool, and the shadows and reflections where one building edge meets another. At times, however, this preoccupation with beautiful details felt esoteric, as if holding the complete story of the house out of reach. Peter Stutchbury Architecture’s remarkable and much lauded residential designs are frequently published, but Louise’s film and photographs offer something different: an abstract, artist’s impression of the craft, the care and the collaboration on which this house depends. Peter’s houses are deeply rooted in nature and place, using elements of the landscape as important design features. This ethos is a good match for Louise, whose artistic practice focuses on environmental and humanitarian issues, and the aesthetics of memory. In distilling four years of careful observation into a short film and photographic series, Louise has looked beyond the tough building in pursuit of its soft edges. Portrait of a House was exhibited at Manly Art Gallery and Museum from 2 September to 16 October. magam.com.au 01 A summer Sunday lunch on site at Indian Head House with Peter Stutchbury, Fernanda Cabral and friends, 2017.

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