David Capra

Fairfield City Museum and Gallery
Histories, Memories, Other Territories| 7 July - 19 August 2007

The concept for Schizophrenic Still Life began at a monastery in Borgo San Lorenzo, Tuscany with my observation of the objects the monks owned and used in their daily routine; a toothbrush, prayer book or a hair comb. At about the same time I found out that my grandmother’s garage had burnt down in Western Sydney, the place where we were storing all her important photographs, letters and objects. This event was difficult to face since the garage was an important part of my personal history – the place where I developed a fondness for collecting and where my art making began.

This series of seven still life collages illustrates an attachment to these objects rendered with a sensitivity I saw in the monks. Whenever something new is said at each viewing of this work, the meaning is multiplied and new dialogues are created between unrelated realities where cohesion is not important.

I am drawn to mediums associated with kindergarten as I find this is when an artist is most confident and works from a stream of consciousness, rather than adhering to formal principles of art.